Cultural Influences Medieval literature is best understood in the context of three powerful influences on medieval society: feudalism, the church and chivalry. The Feudal System ____________________________ was a political and economic system that William the Conqueror introduced to England after the Norman Conquest. Based on the premise that the _____________owns all the land in England, William kept a ______________of the land for himself, granted a fourth to the _______________and parceled out the rest to loyal __________________, who, in return, either paid him or supplied him with warriors called _________________. The barons ___________________________________to the king, the knights to the barons, and so on down the social ladder. At the bottom of the ladder were the conquered Anglo-Saxons, many of whom were __________________ (peasants who were bound to the land they could not own).