The feudal system was introduced into Britain by William the Conqueror after the Norman Conquest of 1066. William brought feudalism from Normandy where it defined a hierarchy of control from the king all the way down to the poorest in the land. William allocated land in England to members of his family and the Norman lords who had helped him conquer the country. These people were known as tenants-in-chief. The land had been confiscated from the Saxon lords.

The tenants-in-chief did not get the land for free, they rented it from the king in exchange for providing the king with an army and money. The land allocated to the tenants-in-chief tended to be dispursed across the country rather than being one big area. These areas were known as manors.

The most important service a tenant-in-chief had to supply to the king was a number of knights. The king would request the knights in time of conflict or war. They could also be used for defending the king's many castles. The tenant-in-chief, or lord, had to provide for himself and his family and to support a number of knights. To do this the lord used people to work on the land growing crops and raising animals. Some of these people rented land from the lord

William the Conqueror summonsed his tenants-in-chief to a meeting at Salisbury in August of 1086. At the meeting the most powerful barons in the land swore an oath of loyalty to William ensuring William of their full support.

Chivalry defined the way in which a knight was supposed to behave and the ideas grew up in France during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries before coming to England. The knight was to show loyalty, morality and generosity. In other words the knight should always support his king or lord and be prepared to put his life on the line to protect him. The knight should always do the right thing and should be prepared to provide his time and energies for free. Chivalry is possibly best known for the the courtly love between the knight and his lady.