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Due to the tumultuous nature of the High middle ages it can be shown through the actions of barons, kings, the church and the lives of serfs. Wars that were unruly and unlawful were waged for false reasons and costed thousands of lives over greed by the kings and the church. So overall it is not inaccurate to say the feudalism lead to a very unorganized and ever changing political climate where loyalty was the most valuable asset as well as land, however was also the most rare and hard to come by.

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First hand account of Thomas Beckett's death

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First hand account of Thomas Beckett's death

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"Then the unconquered martyr seeing the hour at hand which should put an end to this miserable life and give him straightway the crown of immortality promised by the Lord, inclined his neck as one who prays and joining his hands he lifted them up, and commended his cause and that of the Church to God, to St. Mary, and to the blessed martry Denys. Scarce had he said the words than the wicked knight, fearing lest he should be rescued by the people and escape alive, leapt upon him suddenly and wounded this lamb who was sacrificed to God on the head, cutting off the top of the crown which the sacred unction of the chrism had dedicated to God; and by the same blow he wounded the arm of him who tells this. For he, when the others, both monks and clerks, fled, stuck close to the sainted Archbishop and held him in his arms till the one he interposed was almost severed.

"Then he received a second blow on the head but still stood firm. At the third blow he fell on his knees and elbows, offering himself a living victim, and saying in a low voice, 'For the Name of Jesus and the protection of the Church I am ready to embrace death.'

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At the top of the church was the pope or the "bishop" then under him were the archbishops then abbots that would be the head of monasteries and churches then under the abbots were the monks who would do farm work or create and scribe texts.

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The church is hands down the most powerful and influential institution in all of the middle ages. Acting as the majority land owner during a time in which land ownership was considered to be the most valuable item in the world made it not only economical power, but the fact that it was the home of the predominant religion also made it wealthy in personal influence to nearly every citizen of Europe that was associated with the church. The great schism which occurred in the 11th century would later develop into bad blood seen in the crusades that were lead by the church in the name of salvation of the holy land, and then even the sacking of Constantinople the capital of Byzantine and the Greek church, marking a turn in which the church was able to convince Christians to kill Christians. Also the continuation of Gregorian Chant which was the first time in history that music has ever been recorded on sheet and used in religious ceremonies. Gregorian chant was considered secular text and music therefore members of the church (primarily monks) were required to memorize hundreds of chants that would be performed at mass. A music theorist will tell you how the development and monophonic nature of these chants were done to symbolize the monotheistic nature of Christianity and the natural conformity that is expected of follow. So with all of that in mind it is clear to see that the feudal system that allowed for the church to be so powerful was be responsible for the actions of the church to have taken place.

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Being a serf was by all means a rough gig, you worked for no pay on another mans land (that isn't even really his land), you can not read or write, your family can not read or write, it is virtually impossible to rise in the hierarchy, your government barely seems to care for you, and your life expectancy is only 30 years. So with that said being a serf is terrible and there aren't many popular first hand accounts from serfs because almost no serf could read or write as that privilege was held primarily by the church and eventually some nobility. HOWEVER, on the bright side there was a trend of good weather during the High Middle Ages so that meant that agricultural production was better than usual, and technological advancements for agriculture such as animal powered plows developed and became more popularized making work somewhat easier.

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"Homage was paid by a man to his lord for land. The vassal knelt before the (usually) seated king with his hands joined together as if praying (or begging) and the king put his hands around them.  The vassal was granted land, which he held from the king. He did not own it. Technically he held it only for as long as he provided the services to the king which he promised during his act of homage. The vassal became a tenant-in-chief. The services he promised to provide were usually military support to the king. If the land was given into the care of the church, the bishop or abbot was to provide the service of prayers and charity.  In theory at least, if those services were not provided, the king could take back the land and give it to someone else."

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Being a vassal was essentially the same as being the king, however in order to become a vassal one had to pay homage (meaning you had to become a kings man through ritual of loyalty) and you had a smaller land portion, however you could do all that the king could do so long that you paid your taxes to the true king and kept your loyalty to that king as byfeudal laws demanded. As a vassal to the king you were expected to have the ability to raise an army if the king requested it from you as you also had to ensure that serfs were working land properly as agricultural production by serfs was the most important source of food which also meant it was a large source of trade and income as well. With that said I believe that the system of barons are, besides the serfs, the backbones of the feudal system as the king relies on the organization of the Barons.

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The rule of kings during the Feudal period in Europe is a very complex piece of history even though the feudal system is a very basic set of ruling where currency is land and the man with the most land is king, that causes a lot of drama when the life expectancy for men during the Middle Ages to only be 30 years old and that means that if he's lucky he can have some kids and then maybe one of them will be old enough to take the throne and govern the land, if not the Dukes and Barons who own some of the kings land as his vassals will then ensue in war over the throne, which happened a fair amount during this era. Not to mention marriage into other royal families in other lands would further complicate things. Kings usually ruled in seclusion and attempted to spread their lands, one of the most notable kings was William the Conqueror who was exceptionally good at, you guessed it, conquering. He invaded England as he was the Duke of Normandy believing that Edward the Confessor had promised him the throne of England. While king William significantly increased trade routes by documenting routes and resources of England in the Doomsday Book, this however was rare for a king to be so involved in internal improvements. One thing to note is that at this time the kingdom that Charlemagne had accumulated had been split into the thirds the westernmost third was now considered the Kingdom of France while the two-third eastern portions were still considered the Holy Roman Empire. During this time the Great Schism between the Latin and the Greek church. In 1215 AD rebelling barons along with the archbishop of the church had to write the Magna Carta in order to put a limit upon what the king could and could not do, this was necessary as King John had lost so much of the land that was owed to Barons during the process of war that he could not recoup the losses not to mention he had terrible credibility with the people of his kingdom due to bad relations with the church.

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Being a knight was for the most part an honorary title that anyone could gain by completing the process of knighthood, however that is easier said than done as it is a five step, 21 year long process, that required funds and dedication from childhood. Five steps: Parents had to have the right connections for funding and teaching before the process could even fully begin, step 2 was the upbringing that consisted of the parents teaching the child the morals such as chivalry that a knight would follow. The third step would begin when the future knight was seven years old as the child would be sent to live at a lords castle or manor as a page in which he would essentially act as a servant to the  lord and learn basic etiquette. Once the page turned fourteen years old they became the squire of an actual knight and began basic training with weapons and learning heraldry, this step lasted for seven years until the squire was 21 years old, however a squire could ascend to the title of a knight earlier if they showed their bravery in war which squires participated in, usually on the front lines where many of them would die. Finally after reaching the age of 21 or proving their bravery sooner a man could become a knight. The actions of knights consisted of a fair amount of internal conflict until around 1100 AD when Pope Urban II initiated the first crusade that was done in the name of aiding the Byzantines as well as the reclaiming and salvation of Jerusalem the holy land.

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Initiated by Pope Urban II

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The wars that inspired Game of Thrones - Alex Gendler

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"Exulting with joy we reached the city of Jerusalem on Tuesday, June 6, and we besieged it in a wonderful manner. Robert of Normandy besieged it on the northern side, near the church of St. Stephen, the first martyr, who was there stoned for Christ's name. Next to him was Robert, Count of Flanders. Duke Godfrey and Tancred carried on the siege on the west. The Count of St. Gilles operated from the south, on Mount Sion, near the church of St. Mary, the Lord's mother, where the Lord supped with His disciples. . . .

During the siege we were unable to find any bread to buy for about the space of ten days, until a messenger came from our ships; also we were afflicted by great thirst, so much so that in fear and terror we had to water our horses and other animals six miles away. The fountain of Siloam, at the foot of Mount Sion, sustained us, but the water was sold among us at a high price. . . . We sewed up skins of oxen and buffaloes in which we brought the water six miles. The water we drank from such receptacles was fetid, and what with foul water and barley bread we daily suffered great affliction and distress. Moreover the Saracens hid near all the springs and wells and ambushed our men, killing and mutilating them and driving off the animals into their dens and caverns..."

Shows the Point of view of a night on one of the Crusades.

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"When King Stephen came to England he held his council at Oxford, and there he took Roger, bishop of Salisbury, and Alexander, bishop of Lincoln, and the chancellor Roger, his nephews, and put them all in prison till they surrendered their castles. When the traitors understood that he was a mild man, and gentle and good, and did not exact the full penalties of the law, they perpetrated every enormity. They had done him homage, and sworn oaths, but they kept no pledge; all of them were perjured and their pledges nullified, for every powerful man built his castles and held them against him and they filled the country full of castles.

They oppressed the wretched people of the country severely with castle-building. When the castles were built, they filled them with devils and wicked men. Then, both by night and day they took those people that they thought had any goods - men and women - and put them in prison and tortured them with indescribable torture to extort gold and silver - for no martyrs were ever so tortured as they were. They were hung by the thumbs or by the head, and corselets were hung on their feet. Knotted ropes were put round their heads and twisted till they penetrated to the brains..."

Supports the idea that whenever something in feudalism goes wrong a long period of suffering can ensue.

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Feudal system video, under William the Conqueror

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Feudal system video, under William the Conqueror

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Around the 8th century Europe saw the introduction of the feudal system brought in by French invaders, however this economical system was not very prevalent until around the 10th century. Given it was introduced in a time of chaos you would expect to be the antidote for the chaos, however I believe it could only last temporarily and in a way caused only a slight organizational improvement, simply because something tends to be better than nothing. At the heart of the Feudal system it follows the idea that a king will lend his land (a fief) to vassals in request of that vassals loyalty and patron-ship. This vassal may then do the same with his newly acquired land, however at the bottom of this food chain there is the serfs are the people who are tied to land in terms of that they work the land and live on it. With all of this important land men who must protect it are needed, these men are known as knights, any person who is exceptional at fighting can be a knight, this includes vassals. Last but not least the Church itself had a hierarchy that also took part in the feudal system, one very important idea to keep in mind is that the Pope was considered equally as powerful if not more powerful than the king