Feudalism was a system where the king owned all the land, but exchanged the utilization of it to members of the nobility in exchange for (usually) military services. It can be seen from the description of feudal system that at heart of it was a system of relationships between lords and their vassals, with rights and duties on both sides.
It followed from this that medieval lords did not have dictatorial powers over their vassal. For example, a lord don't have any rights to help himself to his vassal’s property. Indeed, embedded within the system of western European feudalism was the principle that a lord could not tax his subjects without their consent. Nobles gave loyalty and military service.
