ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Feudal land tenure in England

Okay, let me explain in a way that even a 5-year-old could understand.

Feudal land tenure is a way of dividing up land and assigning it to certain people in England a long time ago, like hundreds of years ago. Think of it like a big pie, but instead of slicing it evenly, people in power got to decide who got which pieces.

The biggest piece of pie went to the king, who was the person in charge of the whole country. Then, he would give smaller pieces to the lords, who were people that were loyal to him and helped him run the country. The lords would then give even smaller pieces to knights, who were soldiers that protected the lands.

In return for these pieces of land, the people who received them had to provide something in exchange. The king would expect the lords to provide soldiers for his army, and the lords would expect the knights to protect their land and provide them with food and supplies. This system was called ‘land tenure.’

It was a bit like a chain, with each person relying on the person above them to give them land, and in exchange, they had to do something for the person who gave it to them. Although it might seem unfair how the pie was divided, this was a system that worked for a long time, and it ensured that everyone had a role to play in keeping the country running smoothly.

So, in simple terms, feudal land tenure was a way of dividing and sharing land among the people in England a long time ago, so that everyone had a job to do in helping to run the country.