Not sure if this is what you were alluding to in the next line but wasn't a form of early pseudo feudalism the norm in Germanic confederations?
Yes, I did allude to that with the reference to Jarls (lords), Karls (free men) and Thralls (serfs) in Germanic society. This was indeed form of early pseudofeudalism, which can be found in pretty much all Indo-European cultures (the caste system of India, for instance, likely derives from the same proto-Indo-European source).
What Charlemagne did, in founding his Christian empire, was largely terminate the proto-democratic elements of Germanic society. In addition, he really solidified class differences. Those were pretty vague in Germanic pagan society; leaders were regularly elected, so lordship was often not hereditary. When Charlemagne established his Stem Duchies, for instance, he put dynasties in charge. Previously, the duke ("Hartogh," "Hertog(h)," "Herzog") was essentially an appointed leader in a time of war. After the war, he did not retain his position. All free men (and sometimes women!) could vote in the
Thing, and while the Jarls often held a position of power as
Ealdern ("elders"), they could not just ignore the Karls.
A man could (temporarily) become an indentured Thrall to pay off debts, while a Thrall could be made a Karl for his services to his community. (And in certain tribes, a child of a Thrall was automatically a Karl; serfdom was not always hereditary.)
Charlemagne changed all that. A noble was a noble, a free man a free man, and a serf a serf. And the nobles basically owned the land. The Karls were decimated, along with the bastion of their power (the
Thing), and European society increasingly consisted of landlords and serfs. This was only reversed by the time of the Enlightenment, when democracy gradually started to return, as well as womens' rights etc.
That was what I meant by saying that feudalism is Charlemagne's legacy, and that Germanic culture, though far from perfect by modern standards, was more equitable and egalitarian than the Christian feudal society that replaced it.