Which term refers to an economic system in which peasants live and work on a manor under a lord?

• A. Feudalism
• B. Primogeniture
• C. Manorialism
• D. Interdict

Answer: (C)

The key idea here is how land and labor were organized on a medieval estate. In a manor-based economy, peasants live on the lord’s manor, work the land, and provide labor or rents in exchange for protection and the right to farm part of the land for themselves. This system—the way a single manor generates surplus and binds peasants to the land—is known as manorialism. It represents the economic side of feudal society, detailing who works the land and how wealth is produced locally within an estate. Feudalism refers more to the broader web of lord–vassal obligations; primogeniture is about inheritance by the firstborn; an interdict is a church sanction. So the term that fits the description is manorialism.