The Middle Ages Without Feudalism: Essays in Criticism and Comparison on the Medieval West

Description

This volume brings together articles (including two hitherto unpublished pieces) that Susan Reynolds has written since the publication of her Fiefs and Vassals (1994). There she argued that the concepts of the fief and of vassalage, as generally understood by historians of medieval Europe, were constructed by post-medieval historians from the works of medieval academic lawyers and the writers of medieval epics and romances. Six of the essays reprinted here continue her argument that feudalism is unhelpful to understanding medieval society, while eight more discuss other aspects of medieval society, law, and politics which she argues provide a better insight into the history of western Europe in the middle ages. Three range outside the middle ages and western Europe in considering the idea of the nation, the idea of empire, and the problem of finding a consistent and comprehensible vocabulary for comparative and interdisciplinary history. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Preface Acknowledgements Feudalism I Afterthoughts on Fiefs and Vassals II Carolingian elopements as a sidelight on counts and vassals III Fiefs and vassals in twelfth-century Jerusalem: a view from the West IV Fiefs and vassals in Scotland: a view from outside V Did all the land belong to the king? VI The use of feudalism in comparative history Law VII Medieval law VIII The emergence of professional law in the long twelfth century States and Nations IX Government and community X The historiography of the medieval state XI Our forefathers? Tribes, peoples and nations in the historiography of the age of migrations XII How different was England? XIII Trust in medieval society and politics XIV The idea of the nation as a political community XV Empires: a problem of comparative history XVI Secular power and authority in the middle ages XVII Vocabularies for comparative and interdisciplinary history Index