Feudalism spread from France to Spain, Italy and Germany. The feudal system was originally a by-product from the Roman Empire. As the Roman Empire crumbled and the Viking raids increased, large landowners offered land and protection to their tenants in exchange for taxes and labor. By the 11th century, most parts of Germany were dominated by aristocrats. They considered it beneath themselves to farm the land so they offered the land to tenants in exchange for food and labor. They then bore arms and dispensed justice everywhere, even on their own lands.