How Feudalism Never Existed: The Tyranny of a Construct | Medieval History Documentary
by Viator in Terra

Medieval societies were heterogeneous, not just between but even within realms and domains. A king’s power was not absolute, elites and nobility were informal and were neither legally nor formally hereditary, and popular legitimacy formed an important role in succession. Societies and communities were largely autonomous, had their own leaders chosen by whatever method, and relied more on their members than governance by a duke, or count, or even the king.

0:00 Introduction

3:22 The Tyranny of a Construct

8:42 Two Feudal Connotations

21:53 Vassals, Fiefs, and Feudal Things

26:37 Vassalage and Medieval Social Institutions

35:49 Public and Private Affairs in Medieval Society

40:44 Nobility as an Informal Institution

50:57 Doing Away with Vassalage

57:21 Fiefs and Medieval Property Institutions

1:06:38 Before the Crisis of the 12th Century

1:15:26 Crisis, Bureaucracy, and Lawyers

1:26:57 Summary