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PROBLEMS IN THE FEUDAL TIME????
Feudalism developed in response to the inability of Germanic kings to defend their kingdoms.  Slowly, kings began to grant large sections of their kingdoms to powerful lords in return for military service to the king.  In granting away these large tracts of land, however, the kings lost control of their kingdoms, lost power, and became mere figureheads.  The great lords, in turn, would give away parts of their land to lesser lords, called vassals,  who would promise loyalty and military service in return for that land.  The basic arrangement of a feudal society is the exchange of land for service, in the case of lords, the exchange is for military service. The king expected his greater lords to provide an army to defend the kingdom when the king asked.  The greater lords expected the lesser lords to fight for them and to provide knights for his army.   By the year 1,000 in France, where feudalism was most developed, the king was no more powerful than one of his greater lords, and France was divided and subdivided into over 10,000 tiny feudal "kingdoms."

            One significant consequence of a feudal system was almost constant warfare among  feudal lords.  Since land was so valuable, disputes over land constantly broke out.  Kings and greater lords called on their lesser lords to fight for their land rights. 


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