Defined: "The political and social order of societies that decentralize public authority and responsibility rather than vest them in a central government." (Bentley and Ziegler, p 390).
Lord and Vassal
The most important relationship in Medieval Europe was between the lord and vassal. The lord provided the vassal with land and in return "the vassal owed his lord loyalty, obedience, respect, counsel and military service".
Serf
A semifree individual who owed obligations to the lords whose lands they cultivated.
Manor
"The principal form of agricultural organization in western Europe. It was a large estate consisting of fields, meadows, forests, agricultural tools, domestic animals, as well as serfs bound to the land." (Bentley and Ziegler, p 393).
Rural Society
Medieval Europe was a rural decentralized society where economic activity was much slower than in China, India, southwest Asia, and the eastern Mediterranean. This was an agricultural society that traded very little with the rest of Eurasia.