Feudalism
![Roland pledges his fealty to Charlemagne; from a manuscript of a chanson de geste, c. 14th century (?)](/Images/godic/202412/21/Rolandfealty0832.jpg")
![Castle – a traditional symbol of a feudal society (Orava Castle in Slovakia).](/Images/godic/202412/21/Slovakia_Oravsky_Podzamok0832.jpg")
![Herr Reinmar von Zweter, a 13th-century Minnesinger, was depicted with his noble arms in Codex Manesse.](/Images/godic/202412/21/Codex_Manesse_Reinmar_von_Zweter0832.jpg")
![](/Images/godic/202412/21/Bayeux_Tapestry_scene23_Harold_sacramentum_fecit_Willelmo_duci0832.jpg")
Feudalism was a combination of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structuring society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.