Feudalism

THE feudal organization of state and society is the dominant fact of medieval history on its institutional side quite as much as the city-state is the dominant fact of ancient history from the institutional point of view. Such dominant facts cannot be restricted chronologically to a definite period; they arise gradually and give way slowly to new conditions. But it may be said in a general way that the epoch when feudalism formed most characteristically the centre of political and social arrangements comprised the eleventh and twelfth centuries. From the thirteenth century onwards feudal law continued to be appealed to and feudal principles were sometimes formulated even more sharply than before, but the modern State was beginning to assert itself in most European countries in an unmistakable manner and its influence began to modify the fundamental conceptions of feudalism. In our survey of feudal society we shall therefore look for illustrations mainly to the period between the years 1000 and 1200, though sometimes we may have to draw on the materials presented by thirteenth century documents...