Final answer:
Under manorialism, society was organized around self-sufficient manorial estates where serfs worked the land and owed services to their lord. Trade was minimal and local, with surpluses often claimed by lords or the church. This system was part of a larger feudal structure during the High Middle Ages.
Step-by-step explanation:
Society and trade under manorialism were distinctly organized around the manor and the roles of the serfs and lords. The lord provided protection and resolved disputes while serfs, who were legally bound to the land, provided labor services to the lord. This self-sufficient economic system centered on the village or manor, where serfs worked both their own plots and the lord's land, shared resources such as draft animals, and gave a portion of their produce as a tax.
Trade was minimal and localized due to the rural and subsistence nature of the economy. Surplus produce often went to the lord or the church, minimizing the development of a commercial marketplace or significant trade networks within the manor. However, the nobility, which included the aristocracy and the church, could requisition goods directly from their estates and created a system of production and distribution that served their needs, bypassing a broader market system.
During the High Middle Ages, as Europe's population grew and agriculture advanced, manorialism sustained the economic and societal order, working in concert with feudalism to define the hierarchy and obligations of the time. The economic system was such that small farmers, craftsmen, and merchants formed the basis of the agricultural and, to a lesser extent, the trade economy within and between these manors.