These men were called the tenants-in-chief and in return for all this they had their own duties to the King. Their duties were to be loyal to the King and give him advice. They also had to supply soldiers in time of war, pay taxes to the king and even give him gifts on special occasions.
Under the tenants in chief were the tenants. This group of people also had duties which included; being loyal to the tenants in chief and giving them advice. They also had to give soldiers in time of war, pay their taxes and give gifts on special occasions.
The lowest class in the feudal system was the peasant class. Their duties were; to obey their tenant or lord and be loyal to them. As well as working for the lord three times a week on farming work or other jobs. Their taxes were usually payed by crops, animals or service. This was because they did not have much of their own land or money. Furthermore they still had to give gifts to the lord on special occasions.
There were many advantages and disadvantages to each class in the feudal system. The advantages of being the King were that he had others to manage his land for him. He also had wealth and therefore power, especially in government. The disadvantages of being the king were that he had heavy responsibilities and if he did not watch out he could even become a puppet to the barons. He would also have a lot of enemies and so he would had to always watch his back for people trying to assassinate him.
There were also advantages and disadvantages of being a tenant-in-chief. Advantages of being a tenant-in-chief were that they had some say in government and they also had wealth which equalled power. The disadvantages were that when their king summoned them to go to war they had to either fight, or pay someone else to do it for them.
The advantages for the tenants were that they had some say in government, but not much. They also had some wealth, but not as much as the king or the tenants in chief. The tenants got protection and shelter from their tenant in chief. The bad things about being a tenant were that they had to keep the peasants happy, so that they did not try to overthrow him. They also had to fight which was bad if they were not skilled.
The peasants had had the least number of advantages out of any of the lasses in medieval society. The peasants had little say in their own life, let alone in the government. Some of the higher people in the village had a small say in their own life, such as the bailif. The peasants also got shelter and protection from their tenants. One of the bad things about being a peasant in medieval England was that they had little or no say in their life, for instance they could not even leave their village without the permission of their lord. They also sometimes had to fight when there was a war on, but the peasants were usually kept back to look after the crops. In medieval times changing status was very hard, so people who were born in to the peasant class usually stayed there for their whole life.
The feudal system carried on for along time. In the end it could not sustain because of a number of reasons. The first was that as time went along the use of money, instead of land or assets became more common. This made a fault in the feudal system because feudalism was based around land ownership and barter. The other reason for the down fall of the feudal system was that people in lower classes stoped respecting the hierarchy. They also realised that they out numbered the people in the higher classes. This was the reason for many peasant revolts in medieval England.
