Feudalism
The Feudalism System was a system that decentralized the government of England. The King was the top of the system, with his appointed lords governing certain pieces of land. Beneath the lords were appointed knights. The knights oversaw the peasants (freemen) and serfs, who worked the land.
The King obviously lived in the palace and made most of the national decisions, like war and monopolies, etc. The lords either lived in the court, or in the castles on their land. The knights might have had manors or lived with “their” lord. The peasants were the “common people”. Their labor was paid for by giving them food and housing on the knight or lord’s land. The peasants could move wherever they wanted. The serfs were like the peasants; however, they could not leave the property, and if the property was sold or inherited, the serf had to stay on the property.
In war, the king would normally lead the charge. The lords would have a “wing” of the army, and each portion of a wing was commanded by a knight. The main foot soldiers themselves were the peasants in most cases.
Manorialism
Manorialism was the foundation that feudalism was built upon. Manorialism was a system in which a knight or a lesser lord (probably governed by an earl or higher ranking lord and then the king) would have a manor. This manor could be a castle, or just a big house. Freemen or Serfs would live on the land and work the fields in exchange for a place to live and security by the lord or knight. The manor was usually pretty self sustaining. It could produce almost everything it needed without importing it from the rest of the country or world. The peasant that lived on the manor would usually work two fields. They would work the common field and the manor field. The common field was where the peasants could raise food for themselves. The manor field was where they raised food for the lord or the knight.