Debating the ‘feudal revolution’
Timothy Reuter|Janet L. Nelson
The ‘feudal revolution’ has become conventional shorthand for the disappearance, around millennium, of a ‘centre’ able to control localities, and appropriation by those bent on local dominance shell legitimate authority which this process left behind. combination with shifts in structures family settlement yielded encellulement, was rather more than Italian incastellamento writ large: at political cultural level it means small-scale forms organization very little set over them way overarching rule or community. Discussions originally stressed changes fundamental levels social organization, but T. N. Bisson's reconsideration underlines accompanying mentalities, especially relation role violence. contrast as he depicts is not simple one between peace before violence after an older whose primary maintaining public order newer ‘private’ practised masters castles their followers. This ‘personal, affective, inhumane; militant, aggressive, unconstructive’. Unconstructive not, Bisson lords armed gangs holding something like ideology violence, seen both sparse narrative sources period language used charters. Lordship only fact predatory, no doubt had always been would long remain, also consciously saw itself such.
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