Feudal fragmentation

Feudal fragmentation is a term used to describe a time in Europe when most people lived in small communities on their own land with each landowner having more control over the people who lived there. During this time, kings and rulers did not have a lot of power and instead the land was divided up among many lords who each had a lot of power over their own land. The people living on the land had to follow the rules and laws set by the lord who owned that land or else they could be punished. This system was called feudalism and it lasted for many centuries in Europe.