Editing Feudalism (section)

=== Classic feudalism ===
{{See also|Feudalism in England|Feudalism in the Holy Roman Empire|Examples of feudalism}}
The classic [[François Louis Ganshof]] version of feudalism<ref name=ebo/><ref name=ganshof/> describes a set of reciprocal legal and military obligations of the warrior nobility based on the key concepts of lords, vassals, and fiefs. In broad terms a lord was a noble who held land, a vassal was a person granted possession of the land by the lord, and the land was known as a fief. In exchange for the use of the fief and protection by the lord, the vassal provided some sort of service to the lord. There were many varieties of [[Feudal land tenure in England|feudal land tenure]], consisting of military and non-military service. The obligations and corresponding rights between lord and vassal concerning the fief form the basis of the feudal relationship.<ref name=ganshof/>