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Feudalism

This article is about the classic, medieval, Western European form of feudalism. For feudalism in other societies, as well as that of the Europeans, see Examples of feudalism.

Investiture of a knight (miniature from the statutes of the Order of the Knot, founded in 1352 by Louis I of Naples)
Orava Castle in Slovakia. Medieval castles are often a traditional symbol of a feudal society.

Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structuring society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.

The classic definition, by François Louis Ganshof (1944),[1] describes a set of reciprocal legal and military obligations of the warrior nobility and revolved around the key concepts of lords, vassals, and fiefs.[1] A broader definition, as described by Marc Bloch (1939), includes not only the obligations of the warrior nobility but the obligations of all three estates of the realm: the nobility, the clergy, and the peasantry, all of whom were bound by a system of manorialism; this is sometimes referred to as a "feudal society".

Although it is derived from the Latin word feodum or feudum (fief),[2] which was used during the Medieval period, the term feudalism and the system it describes were not conceived of as a formal political system by the people who lived during the Middle Ages.[3] Since the publication of Elizabeth A. R. Brown's "The Tyranny of a Construct" (1974) and Susan Reynolds's Fiefs and Vassals (1994), there has been ongoing inconclusive discussion among medieval historians as to whether feudalism is a useful construct for understanding medieval society.[10]

  1. ^ a b François Louis Ganshof (1944). Qu'est-ce que la féodalité. Translated into English by Philip Grierson as Feudalism, with a foreword by F. M. Stenton, 1st ed.: New York and London, 1952; 2nd ed: 1961; 3rd ed.: 1976.
  2. ^ feodum – see Shumaker, Walter A. (1901). The Cyclopedic Dictionary of Law. George Foster Longsdorf. pp. 365, 1901 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ Noble, Thomas (2002). The Foundations of Western Civilization. Chantilly, VA: The Teaching Company. ISBN 978-1565856370.
  4. ^ "Feudalism", by Elizabeth A. R. Brown. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference ebrown was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference reynolds was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Halsall, Paul. "Feudalism?". Internet Medieval Sourcebook. Archived from the original on 18 October 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2007.
  8. ^ Harbison, Robert (1996). "The Problem of Feudalism: An Historiographical Essay". Western Kentucky University. Archived from the original on 29 February 2008.
  9. ^ West, Charles (2013). Reframing the Feudal Revolution: Political and Social Transformation Between Marne and Moselle, c. 800–c. 1100. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  10. ^ [4][5][6][7][8][9]

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