(P/B) FEUDAL SOCIETY (VOLUME 1)

Παρουσίαση

Feudal Society is a great work of historical synthesis in the finest French tradition. The author treats feudalism as a living and vitalizing force in the society of Western Europe from the ninth to the thirteenth century. After surveying the social and intellectual conditions in which feudalism developed, Bloch examines the nature of the bond of kinship both as a predecessor and as a concomitant of vassalage. The core of the book is a masterly account of the creation of ties of dependence and of relations of lord and vassal, and the origins and nature of the fief. The nobility and their way of life, knighthood and chivalry, the clergy and other forces in society are also portrayed, and the work concludes with a discussion on feudalism as a type of society. Throughout, the author treats history as a living organism and an endless process of creative evolution. (From the publisher)

"Here is one of those rare books of impeccable scholarship (superbly translated by Mr Manyon) which no intelligent person could possibly read without pleasure and interest and excitement. What Bloch's book gives us is the anatomy of an age. Some would call it sociology rather than history, or at any rate historical sociology. If so, it adds a new dimension which most historical writing lacks." - Geoffrey Barraclough, The Observer

"This is not only a scholar's book for other scholars, or a mine of information for students, though it happens to be both these things as well, it is a book for every intelligent reader interested in the living past of Europe." - C. V. Wedgwood, The Daily Telegraph

Περιεχόμενα

FOREWORD BY T. S. BROWN
introduction: general scope of the inquiry
Part I - The Environment: The Last Invasions
I MOSLEMS AND HUNGARIANS
1 Europe Invaded and Besieged. 2 The Moslems. 3 The Hungarian Assault. 4 End of the Hungarian Invasions.
II THE NORTHMEN
1 General Character of the Scandinavian Invasions. 2 From Raid to Settlement. 3 The Scandinavian Settlements: England. 4 The Scandinavian Settlements: France. 5 The Conversion of the North. 6 In Search of Causes.
III SOME CONSEQUENCES AND SOME LESSONS OF THE INVASIONS
1 Disorder. 2 The Human Contribution: the Evidence of Language and Names. 3 The Human Contribution: the Evidence of Law and Social Structure. 4 The Human Contribution: Problems of Origin. 5 Lessons.
Part II - The Environment: Conditions of Life and Mental Climate
IV MATERIAL CONDITIONS AND ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS
1 The Two Ages of Feudalism. 2 The First Feudal Age: Density of Population. 3 The First Feudal Age: Intercommunication. 4 The First Feudal Age: Trade and Currency. 5 The Economic Revolution of the Second Feudal Age.
V MODES OF FEELING AND THOUGHT
1 Man's Attitude to Nature and Time. 2 Expression. 3 Culture and Social Classes. 4 The Religious Mentality.
VI THE FOLK MEMORY
1 Historiography. 2 The Epic.
VII THE INTELLECTUAL RENAISSANCE IN THE SECOND FEUDAL AGE
1 Some Characteristics of the New Culture. 2 The Growth of Self-Consqiousness.
VIII THE FOUNDATIONS OF LAW
1 The Ascendancy of Custom. 2 The Characteristics of Customary Law. 3 The Revival of Written Laws.
Part III - The Ties Between Man and Man: Kinship
IX THE SOLIDARITY OF THE KINDRED GROUP
1 The 'Friends by Blood'. 2 The Vendetta. 3 Economic Solidarity.
X CHARACTER AND VICISSITUDES OF THE TIE OF KINSHIP
1 The Realities of Family Life. 2 The Structure of the Family. 3 Ties of Kinship and Feudalism.
Part IV - The Ties between Man and Man: Vassalage and the Fie
XI VASSAL HOMAGE
1 The Man of Another Man. 2 Homage in the Feudal Era. 3 The Origins of Ties of Personal Dependence. 4 The Household Warriors. 5 Carolingian Vassalage. 6 The Formation of the Classical Type of Vassalage.
XII THE FIEF
1 'Benefit' and Fief: Stipendiary Tenement. 2 The 'Housing' of Vassals.
XIII GENERAL SURVEY OF EUROPE
1 French Diversity: the South-West and Normandy. 2 Italy. 3 Germany. 4 Outside the Carolingian Empire: Anglo-Saxon England and North-Western Spain. 5 The Imported Feudal Systems.
XIV THE FIEF BECOMES THE PATRIMONY OF THE VASSAL
1 The Problem of Inheritance: 'Honours' and Ordinary Fiefs. 2 The Evolution of Inheritance: the Case of France. 3 The Evolution of Inheritance: in the Empire. 4 The Transformations of the Fief as reflected in its Law of Succession. 5 Fealty for Sale.
XV THE MAN OF SEVERAL MASTERS
1 The Plurality of Homage. 2 Heyday and Decline of Liege Homage.
XVI VASSAL AND LORD
1 Aid and Protection. 2 Vassalage as a Substitute for the Kinship Tie. 3 Reciprocity and Breach of Engagements.
XVII THE PARADOX OF VASSALAGE
1 The Contradictions of the Evidence. 2 Legal Ties and Human Contact.
Part V - Ties oj Dependence among the Lower Orders of Society
XVIII THE MANOR
1 The Lord's Estate. 2 The Extension of the Manorial System. 3 Lord and Tenants.
XIX SERVITUDE AND FREEDOM
1 The Starting Point: Personal Status in the Prankish Period. 2 French Serfdom. 3 The Case of Germany. 4 England: the Vicissitudes of Villeinage.
XX TOWARDS NEW FORMS OF MANORIALISM
1 The Stabilization of Obligations. 2 The Transformation of Human Relationships.