Middle Ages Regents Practice

What economic structure supported the feudal system?

1. Capitalism

2. Socialism

3. Mercantilism

4. Manorialism

The correct answer is: Manorialism

The economic structure that supported the feudal system was manorialism. Manorialism was a system of economic organization during the Middle Ages, which involved the relationship between the lords and their vassals. In this system, the manor became the basic unit of economic power. A manor typically included the lord's lands, peasant villages, and agricultural areas, where serfs worked the land in exchange for protection and the right to work a portion of the land for their own subsistence. This system was essential for the functioning of feudalism because it established a self-sufficient economy within manors, allowing lords to maintain control over their land and support the feudal hierarchy. Peasants produced food and resources that sustained the local community, while the lords provided stability and security in an agrarian society. Manorialism thus provided the economic framework necessary for the social and political structures of feudalism to thrive. In contrast, capitalism, socialism, and mercantilism represent different economic systems that evolved much later. Capitalism, characterized by private ownership and free markets, does not align with the rigid class structures of feudalism. Socialism, which seeks to redistribute wealth and resources more evenly across society, contrasts sharply with