Antiquity and Feudalism

What does this debate concern?

The nature of change from Roman to Medieval Europe

Name the 18th century historian and his argument…

Edward Gibbon, who saw a ‘decline and fall’ in the Empire, as barbarian hordes punished their weaknesses

20th century developments encouraged scholars to…

See more light in the Dark Ages

Which Belgian historian is prominent within this discussion?

Henri Pirenne

What did Pirenne argued?

The real ‘fall’ came with the fragmentation of the Mediterranean World following the rise of Islam in the 7th century

What has happened to much of Pirenne’s thesis?

It has been disproved by archaeological evidence

What part of Pirenne’s theory has been attractive for other scholars? Can you name one?

That the ‘Roman World’ was slowly transformed, attractive to individuals such as Peter Brown

What theory lies at the end of the modern spectrum?

That the Roman world’s transformation was relatively peaceful, with Barbarian groups accommodated by the Empire, and sometimes imitated or even invented

What period is argued to be the most significant period of change?

The decades around the year 1000

After what event in which year is political and socio-economic change supposed to have begun?

The fall of the Carolingian Empire in 888

What type of world emerged around the year 1000?

A feudal world

Who proposed the notion of a ‘feudal revolution’? Following what research?

Georges Duby, following his research on the Maconnais in Burgundy

Duby noted the loss of what?

Royal judiciary powers to the aristocracy

Reuter and Wickham argued that feudalism never did what?

Never arrived in the East - not an inevitable process

Whilst Wickham agrees with Reuter, he is also inclined to do what, because he is a marxist historian?

Inclined to find exploitation in all periods, and that aristocratic dominance reaches back to the 9th century

Wickham focusses on what?

Economic factors

Wickham is considered to be the most…

Famous Marxist mediaeval historian

Wickham’s centre of change is focussed around the year….

600

Wickham believes that modes of production were….

Not socially exclusive

Bisson argues what occurred around which year?

Bad, quick changes occurred around the year 1000

Bisson also argues that change often related to …

Manipulation and exploitation relating to lordship

After the fall of the Carolingian Empire’s collapse, Kings lost royal power and would eventually …

Only control the region around Paris