There are two complementary clues to the formation of feudal system in western Europe. One is the formation and change process of feudal system and feudal system, and the other is the serfdom process of free farmers. We call these two processes feudal.
The starting point of feudalism in western Europe-Salik Code.
In the fifth century, Franks were divided into two branches. One moved to the middle reaches of the Rhine, called Pouard by the river, and the other entered North Gaul, called Salik by the sea, which Clovis was king.
Salik Code is a compilation of Salik customary law, which was formed in the early 6th century, about 565,438+065,438+0 years ago. It reflects the social life of Franks after they entered Gaul in the 5th and 6th centuries, including both German social factors and some Gaul-Roman social factors. The feudal process of western European society is based on this.
After Clovis entered Gaul, he handed over the occupied uninhabited land to the Frankish rural commune. He occupied the land of the Roman royal family himself, and gave part of it to the nobles and Qin Bing, forming a Germanic land ownership system, which rarely infringed on the big real estate of the Roman landlords and churches in Gaul. Therefore, there are three kinds of land ownership reflected in the code: rural commune land ownership, royal land ownership and aristocratic landlord land ownership.
Generally speaking, rural commune is a social organization of free peasants developed from clan commune, which is characterized by public and private land cultivation and administrative autonomy. However, some people think that it was re-formed in the medieval landlord manor.
The serfdom of free peasants.
At first, all the free peasants in Frank were members of the commune. They had the rights and obligations to participate in the war, share profits, use the commune land and attend the general meeting of members. In the second half of the 6th century, King Hill Bolic (56 1 ~ 584) issued an imperial decree to amend the Code of Salik, stipulating that if the deceased had no children, the land would be inherited by his daughter and could not be returned to the commune. In this way, the cultivated land of the commune has gradually decreased.
However, the main reason of Frank peasant serfdom was not the result of economic differentiation, because it was a natural economy at that time, and the economic differentiation was slow, but mainly caused by external violence. External violence comes from two aspects: first, aristocratic landlords use their privileges to forcibly annex the autonomous land of commune farmers, and farmers who have lost their land are forced to take refuge in big landlords and gradually become serfs. The second is the frequent military service, foreign expansion and foreign invasion in the 6th ~10th century. On the other hand, the military system has also changed. From the original infantry or light cavalry to heavy cavalry, the combat effectiveness has been strengthened, but the expenditure has also increased greatly. It is estimated that only four small farmers could match a cavalry at that time. This situation has caused many farmers to simply seek the protection of a secular aristocrat nearby, hand over their land to the aristocrat for cultivation, and only pay taxes and services to this aristocrat, which not only avoids the heavy military service and taxes of the government, but also avoids extortion and theft of others.
In France, there are still some serfs called "CERF". Most of them are descendants of slaves, and their status is lower than that of Wei Lan. Wei Lan is actually a permanent tenant farmer, his land is hereditary, and his labor has certain traditional standards. Joseph was arbitrarily exploited by his master and could buy and sell with the land. Generally speaking, Wei Lan is often richer than free farmers and tenant farmers.
After the reform of fief system in Charles Martel in the first half of the eighth century, the process of serfdom of Frankish farmers was accelerated.
In 847, the molson decree of Charles, the bald king of West Frank, stipulated that "any free man must choose a master, a king or a vassal of the king".
The serfdom of free peasants continued until 1 1 century.
Feudal system and its formation and development
The first stage: during the Morovian dynasty, in the 6th and 7th centuries, the king distributed the land to officials, and the land fiefs were linked to public office. This land is unconditional. With the passage of time, big noble's power rose and the king's military and economic strength weakened.
The second stage: When Charles Martel was a court minister in the eighth century, he carried out the reform of fief system, combining fief with vassal system, thus taking an extremely important step towards the feudal system in Western Europe. Another opportunity for the reform of the fief system is the change of the military system. In contact with Arabs, western Europe learned to use stirrups, which made cavalry develop from light to heavy, and armor and aristocratic badges appeared accordingly. More importantly, it needs full-time combat. Ordinary frank farmers can't afford it, and they don't have the ability, while knights need land and farmers to support them. In this way, stirrup → military system reform → social system (feudal system) reform.
Why can't the western cannon dropped by missionaries in China at the end of Ming Dynasty cause social system changes in China? Gu Zhun raised the question like this.
Matt confiscated a lot of property from the rebel nobles and the church and enfeoffed it to his vassal knight. The vassal, that is, the vassal, swore allegiance to the vassal on the condition that the cavalry served. This military fief is called fief. If the vassal fails to perform his duties, the vassal has the right to recover the fief. This right and obligation are mutual and a contractual relationship. The vassal should also protect the vassal and not bully his wife and daughter. If it is violated, the characteristic of feudal system in western Europe is its reciprocity. Under the feudal system, no one is a ruler with unlimited power. If the upper power is absolute and irresistible, it is not the feudal system in western Europe, but the absolute monarchy. This is very different from the concept of feudal system in China that we usually understand.
The reform of fief system in Charles Martel continued until the Dwarves and Charlemagne of Caroline Dynasty, because even Charlemagne didn't have enough money to build a professional army at that time. Lords at all levels also have their own vassal knights, forming layers of enfeoffment. During the war, the princes of these princes joined the royal army under the command of their immediate lords, and there was only a single line between them, forming "the princes of my princes, not my princes."
The extensive implementation of the fiefdom system led to the following consequences: ① the process of feudalism was accelerated, feudal lords of all sizes competed for labor, and free peasants were turned into serfs; (2) It consolidated the status of small and medium feudal lords, laid the foundation of chivalry, and excluded farmers' right to be soldiers; (3) Formed a pyramid-shaped feudal hierarchy, which was progressive in turn.
Every knight lives on the taxes and labor of farmers who own fiefs. The knight had administrative, judicial, tax and other administrative powers over his fief. The king sometimes gives some big lords and church nobles some immunity. Immunity, also called privilege, means that the territory of these lords is not under the jurisdiction of the king's agents or officials. Therefore, fiefs tend to be independent kingdoms.
The third stage: the fief was originally lifelong, and the fief was returned to the owner after the death of the vassal, not hereditary. If the vassal's heirs want to continue the previous relationship, they have to renew the vassal ceremony. In the ninth century, fiefs gradually became hereditary territory. In 877, Charles, a bald man in West Frank, issued the Chersi Act, recognizing the inheritance of fiefs and privileges.
After the death of Charlemagne, the dispersion of kingship, endless civil war and foreign invasion made the original orderly pyramid hierarchical rule into chaos. With the support of his vassals, Ors, the original government official, evolved from a royal official to an independent local prince. In essence, political division is the most normal and common social state of feudal system. For kingship, the prosperity of feudal system is the dark age of kingship.