Feudalism

Defining feudalism is difficult because there is no generally accepted agreement on what it means. In order to begin to understand feudalism, a working definition is desirable. The definition described in this article is the most senior and classic definition and still subscribed to by many. It refers to a general set of reciprocal legal and military obligations among the warrior nobility of Europe during the Middle Ages, revolving around the three key concepts of lords, vassals, and fiefs.

Bibliography

• Marc Bloch, Feudal Society. Tr. L.A. Manyon. Two volumes. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1961 ISBN 0226059790
• Francois-Lois Ganshof, Feudalism. Tr Philip Grierson. New York: Harper and Row 1964.
• Jean-Pierre Poly and Eric Bournazel, The Feudal Transformation, 900-1200., Tr. Caroline Higgitt. New York and London: Holmes and Meier, 1991.
• Susan Reynolds, Fiefs and Vassals: The Medieval Evidence Reinterpreted. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994 ISBN 0198206488
• Normon E. Cantor. Inventing the Middle Ages: The Lives, Works, and Ideas of the Great Medievalists of the Twentieth Century. Quill, 1991.