How Was The Transition From Roman Villas To Feudal Lordships?

From the 3rd century AD, the Roman Empire began to show obvious signs of exhaustion. The unity of the state begins to fragment, resulting in the decline of trade and exchange routes and, consequently, a fall in the power of the cities. The once urban society was gradually becoming the eminently rural society characteristic of the Middle Ages, with the exploitation of the countryside as an economic base..

How was this step from ancient society to medieval society made? What role did the countryside and, with it, the famous Roman villas have in this? How were these latifundia transformed into medieval fiefdoms? In today’s article we review this transition and tell you what the transition from Roman villas to feudal lordships was like.

The passage from Roman villas to feudal lordships: history of a transition

It is evident that ruralization was one of the basic characteristics of the configuration of medieval Europe. However, this does not mean we should think that the Roman world lacked power in the countryside. In fact, the core of Roman production and commerce were the villae or villas, agricultural holdings that rested in the hands of the dominus or lords and that, with their high specialization in products, were the sources of food for the Roman colonies and of his army. We can say that, without them, the Roman world would not have been sustained.

However, it is a fact that, starting in the 3rd century AD, an unprecedented ruralization is observed in the old Roman world, a ruralization that will lead to the fall of the cities and the rise of the countryside as the epicenter of the later medieval society. And, although rural fiefdoms are characteristic of the Middle Ages, we already find their germ in late ancient Europe, as we will see.

In the face of danger, I entrust myself to a powerful

The political and social upheavals of the 3rd century made many small landowners feel insecure. The state is breaking down and public power is practically non-existent. In this way, The peasants warn that they cannot be guaranteed minimum security, so they entrust themselves to their most powerful neighbors..

This is the patrocinium, through which a small owner places himself in the hands of the dominus (the large owner of the latifundia) to protect him militarily. In exchange, the protected person will provide him with a series of goods, which may be work goods (the obligation to work certain days of the week on the manor property) or the transfer of product (the obligation to give him part of the harvest).

As we can see, We are talking about a primitive feudal system, in which the countryside, with the domini at the head, control large areas of territory and a considerable number of its inhabitants.. This is reliable testimony of the extinction of state power, a characteristic of late-ancient society and, especially, of medieval society, in which a large part of the land (and military and judicial jurisdiction) is in the hands of individuals.

From slaves to colonists

The basis of the Roman economy was slaves, free labor who, furthermore, had no rights because they were not even considered men. Things begin to change from the 3rd century AD First, because the growing Church does not view the existence of slavery favorably; second, because, due to this social instability, many free peasants entrust themselves to powerful people and work for them, without losing their status as free men. These new workers will be the colonists, the seed of what will be, in the Middle Ages, the vassals.

Halfway between the slaves (who, however, continued to exist well into the Middle Ages) and the colonists were the serfs, men and women who were free but who were nevertheless subject to the lordly authority in a rather severe way. . The serfs were given a manso or plot of land with housing for their maintenance, but they were obliged to work for a few days in the manor reserve.. Despite being free, these serfs could not leave the dominus’ lands without his permission, so their status was, in reality, a middle path between slavery and freedom.

The great rural changes and the transformation of the towns

The breakdown of the state as a unifying entity takes power away from the cities. Consequently, the population emigrated to the countryside and settled around the great late Roman villas, entrusting themselves, as we have already seen, to the dominus. These are the 4th and 5th centuries, the golden age of the villae, which begin to become richer thanks to this unexpected influx of labor. As a result, the domini begin to behave like feudal “protoslords,” organizing around them a complex system of ceremonies and bringing together more and more responsibilities that were, originally, the state..

The late ancient Roman villas are, therefore, enormous lavishly decorated estates where the lord lives with his family and, around them, a multitude of slaves and settlers who are at his service. But the production of these villae is no longer destined for commerce, which has fallen precipitously along with the state; These are self-sufficient cells, whose surpluses are destined, rather, for the capricious consumption of these eminently powerful rural elites.

From the 6th century onwards there was a marked weakening of the traditional late Roman town in favor of the so-called “Carolingian town”, which would be characteristic of the first centuries of the Middle Ages. These are enormous agricultural properties, mostly concentrated in the areas of the Loire and the Rhine, which are heirs of the Roman villa but which, however, have a difference: they have two clearly differentiated parts. The first, the manor reserve, is intended for the dominus, and serfs and settlers must work there in exchange for protection and food. The second, the manso, was intended exclusively for the exploitation of the latter, although judicially it belonged to the lord.

Little by little, these great lords of the land begin to accumulate many plots, generally scattered, which will form an amalgamation of properties that will constitute the germ of future fiefdoms. A world that will be accentuated after the German invasions and the establishment of the committees (Carolingian world), duces (Italic world) and earldormen (Anglo-Saxon world), a type of private “officials” at the service of the monarch who will have authentic power in their territory. rural. The ancient world was ending and the Middle Ages entered Europe.