Did feudalism actually exist as we think of it in 'The West'?

There are arguments by prominent scholars that it didn't. Elizabeth Brown's paper Tyranny of a Construct - Feudalism and Historians of Europe kicked off the entire debate. Susan Reynolds' book Fiefs and Vassals also makes a convincing argument with a massive amount of factual material. read more

Elizabeth Brown's paper Tyranny of a Construct - Feudalism and Historians of Europe kicked off the entire debate. Susan Reynolds' book Fiefs and Vassals also makes a convincing argument with a massive amount of factual material. read more

Feudalism started in Europe after the fall of the Roman empire to solve the problem of law and order. There were no kings strong enough to rule over large areas at that time, and society needed to create a labor system with which to get things done. read more

Feudalism arose in Europe because of the need for a way to pull society back together after the Roman Empire collapsed in the West. Feudalism drew on older traditions of Germanic peoples to create order out of the chaos that followed the end of the Western Roman Empire. read more

(A) Feudalism did not exist in the period we call Medieval, i.e. it was a concept invented by later historians (who were falsely extrapolating a general rule from exceptional cases) and retroactively imposed; it must be dispensed with altogether if we are to have a less distorted picture of social relations across this long historical period. read more