Feudalism wis a combination o legal an militar customs inmedieval Europe that flourished atween the 9t an 15t centuries. Braidly defined, it wis a wey o structurin society aroond relationships derived frae the hauldin o laund in exchynge for service or labour. Awtho derived frae the Latin wirdfeodum orfeudum (fief),[1] then in uise, the termfeudalism an the seestem it descrives war nae conceived o as a formalpoleetical seestem bi the fowk leevin in the Middle Ages.[2] In its clessic defineetion, biFrançois-Louis Ganshof (1944),[3]feudalism descrives a set o reciprocal legal an militar obligations amang the warrior nobility revolvin aroond the three key concepts olairds,vassals anfiefs.[3]
A braider definddtion o feudalism, as descrived biMarc Bloch (1939), includes nae anerly the obligations o the warrior nobility but an aw thae o aw threeestates o the realm: the nobility, theclergy, an thepeisantry boond bimanorialism; this is sometimes referred tae as a "feudal society". Syne the publication oElizabeth A. R. Brown's "The Tyranny of a Construct" (1974) anSusan Reynolds'sFiefs and Vassals (1994), thare has been ongaein inconclusive discussion amang medieval historians as tae whither feudalism is a uisefu construct for unnerstaundin medieval society.[4][5][6][7][8][9]
↑abFrançois Louis Ganshof (1944).Qu'est-ce que la féodalité. Translatit intae Inglis biPhilip Grierson asFeudalism, wi a forewird biF. M. Stenton, 1st ed.: New York an Lunnon, 1952; 2nt ed: 1961; 3rd ed: 1976.
