Manorialism
Manorialism was the economic system of the Middle Ages. Manorialism was based primarily around medieval manors. In the manorialistic system, people supported each other based on mutual obligations. The knight were provided food by the serfs and in return the knights proteted the manor and the serfs. The serfs also produced food for the vassals and lords. The lords and vassals provided the serfs with shelter, agricultural equipment, and farming lands. The church was the center of society. The serfs had to pay a tithe or wedding tax to churches if they wished to marry each other. Weddings acould also only take place with the consent of the lord. Manorialism was based on bartering rather than coin money. The things people used to barter had no determined value. People could have used basically anything that had some type of value to barter and the deal would only advance based on how much a person was willing to accept or give up. The standard of living was also very low for most during the period in which manorialsim was used. The lords were the most wealthy and usually lived a large castles. The vassals were the next wealthiest, then the knights, while the serfs were the poorest. Serfs lived in filthy shacks there were usually dark and vermin infested. This low standard of living among serfs caused many to aquire sicknesses or diseases oftenly.