# Feudalism — WHE Definition Discussion

**URL:** <https://community.worldhistory.org/t/feudalism-whe-definition-discussion/1730>\
**Category:** WHE Articles\
**Created:** [November 22, 2018, 5:02pm UTC](https://community.worldhistory.org/t/feudalism-whe-definition-discussion/1730 "2018-11-22T17:02:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![markzcartwright](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/community.worldhistory.org/markzcartwright/32/35_2.png) [@markzcartwright](https://community.worldhistory.org/u/markzcartwright)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2018, 5:02pm UTC](https://community.worldhistory.org/t/feudalism-whe-definition-discussion/1730/1 "2018-11-22T17:02:20Z")

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Feudalism was the system in 10th-13th century European medieval societies where a social hierarchy was established based on local administrative control and the distribution of land into units (fiefs). A landowner (lord) gave a fief, along with a promise of military and legal protection, in return for a payment of some kind from the person who received it (vassal).

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_This is a companion discussion topic for the original content at [https://www.worldhistory.org/Feudalism/](https://www.worldhistory.org/Feudalism/)._

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**Author:** ![markzcartwright](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/community.worldhistory.org/markzcartwright/32/35_2.png) [@markzcartwright](https://community.worldhistory.org/u/markzcartwright)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2026, 7:38pm UTC](https://community.worldhistory.org/t/feudalism-whe-definition-discussion/1730/2 "2026-07-28T19:38:39Z")

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