Practiced in China, Europe, and Japan, the feudal system was a political and social system that distinguished the roles of different classes in society. Down the pyramid were the serfs who tilled the land and provided labor. They amassed wealth for the lords in exchange for military protection. In the middle of the pyramid were the vassals. They were required to be loyal to the lords; they took the oath of loyalty. They provided military protection to the territory. In return, they benefited by getting territorial security and finances. They were also regarded as the noble class. At the top of the pyramid were the lords who were the paramount rulers of the territories.
In as much as the feudal system worked, there were no equal gains between the individual players. Some parties were suffering from exploitation. The territory was kept running and stable but with the help of some parties at the expense of others. For instance, the lords and their associates were the major beneficiaries of the system. Though they were the key sources of authority, they pumped nothing into the system. The lords, being at the top of the pyramid, exploited the serfs and vassals.
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The vassals had to provide military service to the territory. They gave the service in exchange for land that they could survive on. The worst losers in the system were the surfs who worked tirelessly to feed the lords and vassals through goods and taxes. The peasants were not granted independent rights. They did not have the power to make their own decisions; they were mere subjects to the system. They spent their lives amassing wealth for the lords while surviving on subsistence living. The unfair treatment led to the fall of the feudal system as the surfs left their land to pursue personal interests such as trade in the wake of the emergence of centralized towns.
