We explain what the feudal mode of production is, how it emerged, its social classes and other characteristics. Also, the beginning of capitalism.
What is the feudal mode of production?
A form of socioeconomic organization that existed in Europe during the Middle Ages. The term “mode of production” refers to a Marxist analysis of history, which describes different societies over time based on their economic activity and the relationships of their social groups.
In feudal societies Political power was decentralized and exercised independently by feudal lords which, as a whole, constituted the warrior and religious nobility. This social group monopolized land ownership in a context in which agricultural production was the main source of wealth and the basis of the economic system as a whole.
According to Karl Marx's theory, the feudal mode of production historically precedes the capitalist mode of production. It consisted of an economic dynamic of submission and exploitation of the peasantry by the feudal lords. The peasants had the status of serfs, that is, they owed their work to the feudal lord and their freedom was limited.
In turn, the group of feudal lords formed an aristocracy. To maintain their privileges and this system of economic exploitation, the aristocracy was constituted as a closed caste. Feudal lords were linked through vassalage relationships that established bonds of honor and military loyalty.
The feudal mode of production emerged towards the end of the 11th century AD. C., when the kingdoms of Western Europe weakened. The kings created fiefs and gave them to noble warriors for their protection and government. Since then, the basis of the economic system was agricultural production organized in a feudal manner.
Features of the feudal mode of production
The feudal mode of production It was essentially a model of agricultural exploitation. It was supported by the peasantry in charge of the production of goods and governed by feudal lords. Each feudal lord was a landowner who exercised political and legal power over the peasants of his fiefdom.
The peasants or serfs gave their respective feudal lords a majority portion of the product of their work in exchange for military security, order and jurisprudence. In addition, they obtained permission to live within the fiefdom, where their families settled.
In this way, a relationship of exploitation was established between lords and peasants: the peasants had the status of serfs and the feudal lords appropriated the product of peasant labor.
What were the fiefs?
The fiefs were the minimum productive unit of the system. They were territorial units directed by the nobility (dukes, barons and other noble titles), and were divided territorially into:
- Stately or Sunday reservations whose production was destined to pay tribute to the feudal lord.
- Meek where the peasantry carried out the production of their own goods and guaranteed their subsistence.
See also: Feudal lord
The Church in feudalism
For its part, the Catholic Church also consolidated its power in the feudal mode of production. Many members of the ecclesiastical hierarchy owned fiefs and acted as feudal lords. In addition, the Church collected a special tribute (the tithe) from the entire population.
The Church was present in all villages and established the bases of social behavior. All inhabitants of the fiefs were subject to Christian morals and doctrine.
Furthermore, the Church provided spiritual legitimacy to the Crown: kings, elected from the aristocratic warrior and land-owning caste, were considered to rule by the grace of God.
Social classes of feudalism
In the Marxist analysis of the feudal mode of production, two social classes are distinguished: the feudal lords and the peasantry.
The lords could be lay (they had noble titles such as count, duke or baron) or religious (they belonged to the ecclesiastical hierarchy of the Catholic Church).
As feudal lords they appropriated the work product of the peasantry and they enjoyed different privileges. Between them, they controlled political, legal and moral power, had differentiated access to goods, monopolized land ownership and had better living conditions.
For its part, The peasantry was obliged to work for their own subsistence and that of the feudal lords. Part of the product of their work was delivered to the feudal lords, through different types of tribute:
- Tribute at work. The peasants worked the lord's lands (the so-called “lordly reserves”) and in the construction and repair of the fiefdom's assets.
- Tribute in kind The peasants had to deliver to the lord part of the agricultural product they obtained from their lands (called “mansos”).
- Tribute in money. Some lords demanded payment in money, which the peasants obtained through the sale of their products in the nearby market.
The differentiation between nobility and peasants was class-based. That means that there was no upward or downward mobility between the two social classes.
Nobility was transmitted by blood and fiefs were inherited through families. There were some ways of social advancement: being a war hero, joining the clergy and marrying people from noble families.
Towards the end of the Middle Ages A new social class emerged, the bourgeoisie. Originally, the burghers were the inhabitants of the “burgs” (settlements that were created around the feudal castles) who were subject to the payment of rents or tributes to the lords.
However, unlike the peasants, the bourgeoisie were dedicated to commerce or the practice of trades. Thanks to this activity, they accumulated wealth, which, over time, allowed them to consolidate their social position.
In the 14th century, an economic and social crisis transformed some of the bases of the feudal mode of production. This crisis occurred due to a sharp drop in agricultural production and a large decrease in population, due to hunger and the epidemic of diseases.
The crisis of the 14th century resulted in an improvement in the living conditions of the peasantry. At the same time, the cities grew and the bourgeoisie began to have an increasing role.
End of the feudal mode of production
The feudal mode of production in Western Europe It came to an end around the 15th century with the resurgence of centralized states. Throughout the 14th and 15th centuries, the kings consolidated their power and took away functions from the feudal lords.
This process was influenced by the appearance of the bourgeoisie as a new social class, the consequences of the crisis of the 14th century and a wave of peasant and urban revolts against the feudal lords.
Emergence of the capitalist system
After the great crisis of the 14th century, The economic recovery generated the necessary conditions for a new social and economic order based on the existence of private property, capital and the emergence of wage labor.
In these new conditions, the power of the bourgeoisie was consolidated which was constituted as a social class that obtained its wealth from commercial companies. The bourgeoisie benefited from the growth of modern monarchies.
In the capitalist mode of production, the power of the bourgeoisie no longer resided in blood lines, but in capital, that is, in the amount of money it could accumulate.
- Modern Age
- Industrial revolution
- Slave mode of production
References
- Ackermann, ME, Schroeder, MJ, et al. (2008). “Feudalism: Europe”. Encyclopedia of World History. Vol II. Facts on File.
- Marx, K. (1990). Contribution to the critique of political economy. 21st century.
- Rojas, CAA (1986). The feudal mode of production. Mexican Journal of Sociology48(1), 27-85.
