What were the factors that led to the feudal system in Europe? It seems like a very unnatural system to come about without being forced (although i could be wrong, of course) So was it Religion? Did the powerfull land owners just put it in place? necessity? Economic Factors?
What are the earliest examples of the Fuedel system we know of?
What led to the eventual collapse of this system?
In short the 'feudal' (note spelling) period or era is an interpretation of medieval society an interpretation created by lawyers and antiquarians from the sixteenth- and seventeenth-centuries concerned with land and landholding. Since then 'feudalism' became a holistic (ie. all encompassing) interpretation about the structure and nature of medieval society. The arguments between historians (historiography) is long, complicated, and occasionally quite vicious. We now know that much of the evidence on which we based a 'feudal' model is anachronistic and not reflective of the terminology deployed contemporaneously.
Here is a good discussion of the topic:
http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1xwqqf/high_and_late_medieval_europe_10001450/cfflog6