Feudalism: Landlord/Grundherren - Tenant/Hoerige Bauern

Hello Friends,
Please let me share with you an excerpt from a legal book which
explains feudalism compared with todays landlord-tenant relations very
well:

"The landlord and tenant relationship has its roots in feudalism, a
system of land use and ownership that flourished in Europe between the
tenth and thirteenth centuries. Under feudalism land was owned and
controlled by a military or political sovereign ruler (King). This ruler
gave portions of land she or he owned to another person (Duke or Count =
Landesherren), called a lord. The lord, in turn, could allow another
person, called a vassal (Knight = Grundherren), to use smaller portions
of the lord's land. The vassal pledged allegiance and military or other
service to the lord in exchange for living and working on the land
(mostly Serf-Peasants).

In 1066 the Normans of France conquered England and William the
Conqueror installed himself as king. King William used the feudal
framework of land control to retain political power in faraway lands.
Feudalism as a means of political control became obsolete by the
fourteenth century, but the hierarchical system of land use and
ownership remained.

The contemporary landlord and tenant relationship derives from the
relationship between the lord and the vassal. However, today the
landlord is the owner of the property---not, like the feudal lord,
merely the manager. The tenant is similar to the vassal because the
tenant does not own the property but is allowed to use it for a fee."

I hope I could help a little bit in understanding the structure of
mediaeval times.

Greetings from Upstate New York,
Guenter