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How did Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels interpret the feudal mode of production?

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feudalism
feudalism Detail from the Heidelberger Sachsenspiegel showing the homage ceremony, in which the vassals put themselves under the protection of their lords by placing their hands between his hands, 14th century; in the Universitatsbibliothek, Heidelberg, Germany.

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels interpreted the "feudal mode of production" as a specific, necessary stage in their theory of historical materialism, situated between the ancient mode of production and the rise of capitalism.12

Rather than defining feudalism through traditional legalistic frameworks or elite relationships, they identified the essence of this stage as the exploitation of peasants by lords. Within their economic model, this system functioned as a "motor of history" where internal contradictions—such as the emergence of a merchant class demanding political rights—eventually led to the system's decline and the transition toward mercantilism and capitalism.12

Marx and Engels did not view this stage as a universal historical requirement for all societies, notably formulating a separate "Asiatic mode of production" for Asia. However, they endowed the feudal model with significant importance, as their followers later regarded it as a prerequisite for the eventual emergence of socialism and communism.1