In the eleventh century the Catholic church instituted the Peace of God to stop knights from constantly battling each other and especially to stop them from hurting and killing noncombatant persons such as clergy, the poor, merchants and women. The church urged knights to take an oath of respect for …

See carruca aratum|see carruca .

A carruca is a heavy, wheeled plow, that revolutionized agriculture in the high middle ages, . The aratum , a light, wooden, non-wheeled plow was used previously. The aratum could be effective in the light soil regions of the Mediterranean, however it was ineffective in the dense clay soils of northern and …

Manorialism extended the concept of feudal fiefdom's as a principal land owner, or Lord, was the overseer and master of a Manor. The Manor was the principal dwelling on the Lord's property or estate. The Lord had servants on the Manor known as serfs. The Lord was allowed to retain …

Subinfeudation is the term for the hierarchical structure that existed between Lords and their Vassals in the middle ages. At the top of the structure there were kings. The kings in turn had Vassals who were powerful Lords or Barons. These powerful Lords were also major land owners, who in …

A benefice was a grant of land provided by land owners in exchange for maintenance of their large land estates, or military service. The benefice was an integral part of feudalism as this was often the principal bond between the Lord and it's Vassals.