Throughout the medieval age, the Monarch’s authority in feudal society was absolute, enhanced by traveling justices who made sure the collection of taxes, levies, and the administration of royal justice. This centralization of power frustrated the barons, who felt significantly sidelined by a system that permitted the queen to govern without their input. The circumstance intensified during King John’s reign when his authoritarian way and military failures intensified their discontent.
This tension culminated in the Magna Carta of 1215, a historical effort to restrict the King’s power and safeguard the rights of the barons and the more comprehensive realm.
Feudalism in the Colonies: Transplanting a European System. When European inhabitants shown up in the Caribbean, they brought with them their custom-mades and religion and the feudal ideas of landownership and hierarchy. In British Colonies like Barbados, the plantation economy looked like a feudal estate, with wealthy landowners on top and a stiff social hierarchy beneath them. These plantation owners wielded considerable power, managing large systems of land and the labor of enslaved Africans who worked under harsh conditions.
Although the Caribbean’s social and financial realities differed from those of middle ages Europe, the underlying principles of land-based power and hierarchical control were similar. Over time, this transplanted system adjusted to the regional context, creating an unique colonial society that reflected European impacts and the extreme truths of life in the Caribbean. Learn more about how the decline of feudalism paralleled completion of slavery in the Caribbean.
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