SocietyEurope
Feudal society
Power built on land and oaths rather than taxes and officials
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"Feudalism" is a term coined afterwards, and many historians hold that it conceals more than it explains — arrangements varied enormously from place to place. But it catches something real: without a state that could levy taxes, military service had to be paid for in land. The system withered as a money economy returned and princes could hire soldiers again.
For children
When central authority disappeared in western Europe, society was held together by personal oaths: a knight swore loyalty to a lord and received land in return. The peasants who worked that land were bound to it.
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Part of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org