Freemen were not part of the land, or bonded to it. Freemen, Vagrants and the Clergy FreemanĪ freeman is probably what most of us would identify with most closely. The main reason for that was the fact that the Feudal system was a pyramid which exerted power by means of ownership of land since the bottom of the pyramid (peasants, serfs) did not own land but were “serfs” of the land, they could not accumulate a surplus because of heavy taxation.Ī person in a condition of servitude, required to render services to a lord, commonly attached to the lord’s land and transferred with it from one owner to another.Īs with every system, the feudal system also had its exceptions. But historically, the greatest percentage of population was living most of their lives not in a state of poverty, but in an equilibrium (living hand-to-mouth) where they were able to produce only the food/materials required to ensure their survival (and sometimes not even that, which would lead to times of famine). Surplus of commodities (grains, livestock, building materials etc.) leads to the accumulation of wealth. We live in an economy of abundance and this social mobility we enjoy is only possible because of surplus. In addition to that, wealth accumulation was often impossible since people (peasants, serfs, slaves) could very likely spend their whole lives without ever seeing or using a single coin. Passing from one class to another was not just a matter of wealth, but also of social and/or legal contract. The feudal system was much closer to the caste system.
Medieval timesĭuring the medieval period, however, this was fairly difficult, if not utterly impossible. I say loose because in modern times, although sometimes hard, it is fairly common that within a lifetime someone can easily step up (or down) not just by one, but possibly many, rungs on the social ladder.
In modern society, we commonly refer to social strata as a loose structure which varies from country to country and which, in most cases, is measured based on income and the habits which derive from it.
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