However, feudalism started to decline with the increase in commerce, the rise of towns, and the population decline caused by the black plague. Although we usually associate feudalism with medieval Europe, characteristics of feudalism are also visible in many other historical societies like Japan and Rome. Manorialism or seignorialism is an economic and social structure based on the medieval manor in which a noble enjoyed a variety of rights over land and tenants.
An essential component of the feudal society, this system basically describes the land distribution and rural economic organization. Moreover, manorialism originated in the Late Roman Empire and was popular in medieval Europe. In manorialism, peasants were totally under the jurisdiction of the lord of their manor. They were also economically, politically, and socially obligated to him.
The manor a landed estate of the lord was the centre of the economy. Furthermore, the main house was surrounded by small tenant houses, the village, farming lands, and common areas used by the entire community.
Dependent holdings — land used by tenants known as serfs or villeins who were obligated to supply the lord with agreed-upon goods or services.
Free peasant land — land cultivated by peasants who were free, but under the jurisdiction of the manor. These were less common than the other two types of land. Manor courts where legal trials took place also played a central part in the medieval justice system. The manor court handled disputes between tenants theft, assault, accusations, etc.
However, the king or his representatives handled greater offences or criminal activities in a much larger court. As Europe began to shift towards an economy based on commerce, and with the weakening of feudalism, manorialism also began to decline. By the 17 th century, most areas that depended on manorialism had converted to a commerce-based economy. Feudalism is a social, political and economic system having as its basis the relation of lord to with all land held in fee and as chief characteristics homage, the service of tenants under arms and in court, wardship, and forfeiture.
In contrast, manorialism is an economic and social structure based on the medieval manor in which a noble enjoyed a variety of rights over land and tenants. Feudalism relates to the interdependent relationship between king and nobles — the king provided land and privilege while the noble protected the king as needed. On the contrary, manorialism relates to the relationship between lords and peasants.
In brief, feudalism is a social, political and economic system having as its basis the relation of lord to with all land held in fee and as chief characteristics homage, the service of tenants under arms and in court, wardship, and forfeiture.
The main difference between feudalism and manorialism is that feudalism describes the relationship between the king and his lords, whereas manorialism describes the relationship between landowning aristocrats and peasants. Unlike fief holders, the serfs were not obliged to provide military assistance to their lord. On the contrary, it was the lord who owed military protection to his serfs.
Both feudalism and manorialism determined the social status of an individual that eventually became hereditary. But unlike fiefs which could have been initially taken away, the lord could not withdraw the land from his serfs. The peasants were, however, tied to the land and could not move away from their land nor choose their lord.
Fief holders could grant a part of their fief together with the serfs to someone who then became their vassal and the new lord to the serfs on the received fief. Feudalism and manorialism were the predominant landholding systems in most parts of medieval Europe.
They were closely related and provided the basis for the feudal society that survived until the 19th century in some parts of Europe. However, they cannot be used interchangeably because there were some important differences between both landholding systems.
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