Synonyms:
feudalism, feudal_system
Meaning: the social system that developed in Europe in the 8th century; vassals were protected by lords who they had to serve in war
Usage examples
This subjection was the labor of the German epoch which gave birth to feudalism.
The lady-abbess, on the other hand, was part of the two great social forces of her time, feudalism and the Church.
When feudalism was established, society had to die of the same disease which killed it under the Caesars,--I mean accumulated property.
All enjoyments for some, all privations for the rest, that is to say, for the people; privilege, exception, monopoly, feudalism, born from toil itself.
The times which paved the way for the advent of feudalism and the reappearance of large proprietors were times of carnage and the most frightful anarchy.
The destruction of feudalism, the conversion of the serf into the commoner, the emancipation of the communes, and the admission of the Third Estate to political power, were deeds accomplished by Christianity exclusively.