feudalists
Medieval land grantors
Feudalists are advocates or supporters of feudalism—the medieval system in which land was held in exchange for service and loyalty to a lord.
The term appears in historical and political writing, often critically: The feudalists resisted any reform that threatened their inherited privileges.
It may be used loosely for anyone defending rigid hierarchies or aristocratic privilege.
Feudal superior or subject
- overlordSupreme feudal superior
- vassalLand-holding sworn subordinate
- lordNobleman or ruler
- serfBonded agricultural laborer
peasant · knight · noble · commoner · peerage · primogeniture · thane · gentry
Landed aristocratic residence
- demesneLord's private estate
- estateProperty and grounds
- acreageAmount of land owned
- tenureProtected employment status
freehold · entailment · enclosure · boundaries · proprietorship · inheritance · cultivation · stewardship
Rule by hereditary elite
- dukesHighest hereditary nobles
- earlsBritish titled aristocrats
- baronsTitled nobles, lowest rank
- countsTotals or matters
viscounts · marquesses · peerage · gentry · knighthood · courtiers · heraldry · lineage
Pledged devotion to authority
- homageExpression of deep respect
- titheTenth for clergy
- serviceAid or maintenance
- tributeOffering of respect
allegiance · oath · duty · bondage · villeinage · servitude · tenure · protection
Rural working class
- villeinageFeudal tenant bondage
- bondservantOne bound to serve
- thrallsPersons in bondage
- croftersScottish tenant farmers
tenantry · yeomanry · subjugation · toil · tillage · chattel · laborer · servitude
liege
Feudal superior or subject
serf · peasant · knight · noble · commoner · peerage · primogeniture · thane · gentry · patrician
manor
Landed aristocratic residence
tenure · freehold · entailment · enclosure · boundaries · proprietorship · inheritance · cultivation · stewardship · manorialism
aristocracy
Rule by hereditary elite
counts · viscounts · marquesses · peerage · gentry · knighthood · courtiers · heraldry · lineage · dynasty
fealty
Pledged devotion to authority
tribute · allegiance · oath · duty · bondage · villeinage · servitude · tenure · protection · benefice
peasantry
Rural working class
- villeinageFeudal tenant bondage
- bondservantOne bound to serve
- thrallsPersons in bondage
crofters · tenantry · yeomanry · subjugation · toil · tillage · chattel · laborer · servitude · manorialism
feudalistsdemocrats
Believers in popular sovereignty
egalitarians · levellers · liberals · constitutionalists · parliamentarians
feudalistsmodernists
Advocates of contemporary approaches
modernizers · progressives · industrialists · capitalists · reformers
feudalistssocialists
Advocates of shared ownership
communists · Marxists · abolitionists · trade unionists · collectivists