Overview

The European feudal system was intimately linked with the creation of a military upper class. Historians widely credit the development of a relatively stable feudal system as one of the main factors behind the rise of the modern nation-state in European history. The feudal system that rose to prominence in medieval Europe effectively grew out of and displaced the older social organization, principally Germanic in origin, which revolved around small groups of warriors. Changing attitudes toward land ownership and fealty, or obedience, to a lord necessitated the creation of a new social system.

These changes, however, may be linked to new advances in military technology. Because the feudal system empowered a military aristocracy, changes in warfare that accompanied the new social system must be taken into consideration. One of the main technological innovations that had a lasting...