The pyramid of promises
After Rome fell, protection and land traded hands in a pyramid: a king granted land to lords, lords gave loyalty and knights, peasants worked the fields for safety. Feudalism was that web of promises holding a chaotic world together.
A world built on land and loyalty
When the Western Roman Empire fell, strong central government went with it. In its place grew feudalism: kings granted land to nobles, who owed loyalty and soldiers in return. Nobles granted parts of that land to knights, and peasants worked the fields at the bottom.
The feudal pyramid
King at the top, then great nobles, then knights, then the peasants and serfs who farmed the land. Each level owed service to the one above and protection to the one below.