Elizabethan era Feudalism

A STUDY GUIDE

Prepared By: Briana Choynowski

As You Like It is produced by University Theatre, in collaboration with

West Chester University’s Department of Theatre and Dance
Table of Contents:
- The Renaissance Mindset
- Renaissance Religion
- Renaissance Politics
- Renaissance Social Class
- Renaissance Science and Education
- Renaissance Individual
- Renaissance come to England

- Humanism during the Renaissance

- European Feudal System
- KEY TERMS
- Knighthood
- The Nobility
- Elizabethan Village Life

- Elizabethan Women
- Upper Class Women
- Royal Elizabethan Women
- Lower Class Elizabethan Women
- Elizabethan Women and Marriage
- Elizabethan Women Appearance

- Feudalism
- Origins of the idea
- Development in 19th and 20th Centuries

- Renaissance Sites and Elizabethan Resources

 The Elizabethan era was associated with Queen Elizabeth I's reign (1558–1603)
and is often considered to be the golden age in English history. It was the height of the
English Renaissance and saw the flowering of English poetry, music and literature.
This was also the time during which Elizabethan theatre flourished, and William
Shakespeare and many others composed plays that broke free of England's past style
of plays and theatre.

Renaissance Studies: An Introduction

By Jeremy David Clos
Historical Director, The North Carolina Renaissance Faire

The Renaissance Mindset

Renaissance Religion
The Protestant reformation, in the philosophy of Martin Luther, John Calvin, and King Henry VIII
further lessened the power of the Catholic Church in Europe. Protestantism placed emphasis on ritual
and sacraments and placed the emphasis on an individual's direct relationship with God. At the most
simplistic, the view of some Protestants was that through the Bible and faith a person could achieve
salvation without the need for church hierarchy. Because Protestant countries were no longer bound
by an allegiance to the Pope, he could now wield little direct political power over the Protestant
nations, and the strategy of the church became to encourage Catholic nations to return the Protestant
nations to the church by whatever means necessary.

In England, King Henry VIII assumes the title of Supreme Head of the Church, placing both spiritual
and political power in the hands of the sovereign. This power would be extended by his son Edward
VI s government, rescinded under his Catholic daughter, Mary I, and restored under Queen
Elizabeth I.

Renaissance Politics

Stronger monarchies emerge in contrast to those which existed in the Feudal system. Many
sovereigns now claim the diving right to rule, rather than being the first man among equals.

The idea of being loyal to your nation becomes more important and there is a rise of patriotism and
nationalism. This is a departure from the universalism of the middle ages which is embodied in the
philosophical idea of Christendom. This departure emerges in the writings of the period which now
emphasize national and secular interests rather than focusing more exclusively on religious interests.

Renaissance Science and Education

The beginning of the scientific method emerges amongst alchemists of the period, who have a desire
to understand the nature of the world and how it works. Misconceptions still abound, but through
observation, experimentation, and study, new theories emerge.
Renaissance Social Classes
As the class system of the Medieval period begins to break down, there is a the rise of a Middle class.
Instead of stricter divisions of clergy, nobility, and peasants, society now has a rapidly growing
middle class of merchants, businessmen, and professional people.

There is more fluidity of social classes and people, with hard work and the favor of people in
authority, can distinguish themselves and raise their social standing with more ease than was possible
before.

Renaissance Science and Education

The beginning of the scientific method emerges amongst alchemists of the period, who have a desire
to understand the nature of the world and how it works. Misconceptions still abound, but through
observation, experimentation, and study, new theories emerge.

In education, this world and its beauty are given more emphasis than before. Secular writing and art
expand, and there is an increase in the number of schools and books available which allow more
individuals, including members of the new middle class, the benefit of education. There is still no
national system of education, however, and the economic status of the individual determines the
opportunities for learning and education.

The renaissance was an age in which there was a renewed interest in exploration and discovery. The
great voyages of discovery by sailors like Columbus and Magellan provide for a new knowledge of
the world which leads to the development of more accurate maps.

The Renaissance Individual

During the renaissance, the individual becomes more important than ever before. People gain
increased rights as individual human beings.

Humanism is often associated with the renaissance. Though this term is often given anti-religious
overtones, humanism does not imply a disbelief in God. Humanism simply gives more emphasis to
life and to this world. Emphasis begins to be placed on human things rather than spiritual or other
worldly issues. Humanism teaches that humans have worth as individuals and have potential and
capabilities which they should work to develop so that they may achieve and understand as much in
the world around them as possible. The common term Renaissance Man is related this humanist
idea: that we should try to be all we can.
The Renaissance comes to England

Just as with the beginning of the movement, no exact date can be placed on the beginning of the
renaissance movement in England. The renaissance was essentially Italian in its origin, essence,
and largely in its effusion over the rest of Europe. Since Italians were everywhere in the 16th
century, they were essentially the germ carriers of new ideas, modes, and manners, providing a
source of individual inspiration to the people with which they came in contact.

The English Renaissance is often dated from the arrival of the Italian sculptor Torrigiano, who was
commissioned by King Henry VII to create a grand tomb in the renaissance style for he and his
wife Elizabeth of York. This is the first renaissance monument created in England and is credited
with bringing the style to England for the first time.

Though Dutch, and not Italian, the great humanist scholar and theologian Erasmus was a lifelong
friend of King Henry VIII and his stay in England during Henry's reign helped spread humanist
ideals throughout England.

Humanism During the Renaissance

The Renaissance was an incredibly important turning point in Western Intellectual and
Cultural Tradition. All of these changes centered on the idea of Humanism -- in which, people
became less "God Centered" and more "Human-centered". I have narrowed down these changes,
and will discuss in detail, these changes in three major categories: Political, Education, and the
Humanism of Arts.
The major political changes of the Renaissance were from the old Feudal System of the
Middle Ages into a more flexible and liberal class system. This was most noticeable in Italy
(particularly in Florence), where the divisions consisted of the old rich, the new rich nobles, the
middle class, and the lower middle class (The poor didn't count). This created great conflict
between these social divisions. The new rich consisted of successful merchants, capitalists, and
bankers innovators of new systems of making money. The Humanism philosophy was also a
very popular with the people and many political leaders rose to high positions with support of
these ideals. Three humanists even became chancellors of Florence -- they used their rhetorical
skills to strongly rally the people of Florence against their enemies.
The great changes in Education of the Renaissance were inspired at first, by the desire of
Humanists to be wise and to speak eloquently. The idea of useful education for the people, and
very "well rounded" schooling in many different fields of learning were the new defined goals of
Renaissance education. People all over (Especially in Florence) revived the Ancient Greek
studies of Plato, Aristotle, and many others. People began seriously questioning what these
people said and re-developed the "Scientific Theory" in which you didn't just accept whatever
was said to you, but you tested the truth of it.
In the area of Humanism and the Arts, Renaissance Artists no longer were subordinate to
the interests and the values of the Clergy, and were able to create anything of their "artistic will".
Both men and women were now able to appreciated arts beyond just religious themes. Artists
could also now take advantage of new techniques, such as oil painting and linear perspective to
enhance the quality of their works. All of the great artists of the time used became who they were
solely because of this new artistic freedom that the Renaissance brought them. These artists also
created works that were more complex than before. Taking advantage of this, artists such as
Leonardo da Vinci -- the ultimate example of the Renaissance man working in all types of
educational fields, and Michelangelo who was possibly the most famous artist and sculptor in
history.
As you can see, the Renaissance was to great extent and a major turning point in history
from the Middle Ages in just about every element of the Society. The Renaissance have truly
become the original roots of our culture from the West. This was the time when people
questioned the past, and decided to go back to the schools of learning taking the past of the
Greeks into their present to make a better future.
 Hierarchical system during the Elizabethan time period.
 God
 King/Queen
 Nobility/Clergy
 Gentry
 Commoners (Adults)
 Commoners (Children/Teenagers)

****As You Like It was most likely written around 1598–1600, during the last years of
Elizabeth’s reign.
KEY TERMS involved in the Elizabethan monarchy:
 Parliament: Governing body of England made up of King/Queen, Privy Council,
House of Lords and House of Commons.
 King/Queen: The hereditary right to govern a country, supreme ruler over a
country.
 House of Lords: The upper house consisting of nobles. This house had 65
members.
 House of Commons: The Lower House, consisting of 2 representatives from
every county, city or town. (similar to our House of Representatives)
 Feudal System: A relationship between different ranks of society, in which the
rich and powerful gave land to others in return for work and military service.
 Landowners: People who inherited the right to occupy and use land. A person
could pay for land with military service. In actuality everything belonged to the
monarchy.
 Magistrate: One who is given power to enforce law and order; a justice of the
peace.
 Justice of the Peace: Local, unpaid official who is responsible for
maintaining law and order.
 Nobility: The upper class of society who has inherited their wealth and status.
 Gentry: People who are well born and have a profession, but not of nobility.
 Duke: a nobleman of high rank, the highest rank below a prince or a king
 Lord: a general title for a prince or sovereign or for a feudal superior (i.e. a baron)
before the use of ―prince‖ became settled practice, royal sons were styled Lord Forename or the
Lord Forename.
 Sir (Knight): a "gentleman soldier"
 Knighthood:
When a high born boy reached the age of seven, he was sent to live in the castle of another lord,
usually a close friend of his father's or relative. There he began his education as a page, running errands
in the castle and performing humble services for noblemen and ladies. He learned good manners,
reading, writing, numbers, singing, dancing, strumming the lute, reverence for God, how to use a sword,
and how to ride a horse. In the morning, he helped his lord dress, and served at meals, bringing in food
and drink.

Around the age of 13, the boy was apprenticed to a knight and became a squire. He was taught
skill with the sword, lance, and shield and he learned the duties and responsibilities of a knight. Squires
engaged in mock battles against each other and against dummies. If the squire hit the dummy exactly in
the center, it fell over, but if he hit it anywhere else, it would swing around and smack the erring squire
in the back. Squires also served their mentor. He looked after his master's horses, polished his weapons
and armor, and served him at meals. As the squire grew older, he was expected to follow his master into
battle, and protect his master if the knight fell in battle. Some squires became knights for performing an
outstanding deed on the battlefield, but most were knighted at home by their lord or father when their
training was judged to be complete.

When the squire was judged ready to become a knight, usually between 18 and 21, a time for the
knighting ceremony was set. On the night before the ceremony, the squire would take a cleansing bath,
fast, and would make confession. He would spend the whole night in the chapel praying to God for
guidance in his journey as a knight. The next morning , he dressed in white and entered the crowded hall
with his sword strung around his neck. The priest would bless the sword and then the squire knelt before
his lord (often the knight who had trained him). The lord asked the squire his reasons for wanting to
become a knight and if the lord was satisfied with his answers, the knight agreed to perform the
ceremony. The ladies and the knights would then dress the squire in new armor and the squire again
knelt before the lord. The Lord would then take a sword and tap him lightly on the shoulders three times
and made a short declaration such as "In the name of God and Saint George, I make thee a knight."

Knighthood was about more than just fighting, it was also about chivalry. At the beginning of the
Middle Ages, this meant good horsemanship, but by 1100 it had become a whole new way of life.
Knights were expected to be brave, and honorable, to uphold the honor of women, and to protect the
weak. Tales of chivalry were very popular during the Middle Ages, but even so, many knights failed to
live up to these high standards.

This was just the beginning of the young man's career as a knight. Knights protected the lord's
lands from invaders and fought in the lord's battles against other lords.
 The Nobility
The daily life and living conditions of renaissance nobility was sometimes vastly different from
that of their medieval ancestors. Marriages between the nobility in Europe had helped to spread
the artful, often opulent court styles from Italy into France, and throughout much of the rest of
Europe. The nobility engaged in a variety of sports, entertainments and pastimes including such
things as grand masques and balls and games such as tennis

Image and status became all-important. The nobility of the Elizabethan era spent vast amounts of
money on dress and personal adornment, sometimes putting themselves into debt to appear at
court in the latest fashions so as to appear more important. A new importance was placed on
education and accomplishment, though education was still more the province of men than
women. Still, men and women were literate, and reading for pleasure became more common, as
did playing music and writing letters.

Politics and interaction between the kingdoms of Europe changed as well in the wake of works
like "The Prince" by Machiavelli. A new importance was placed on the concept of "diplomacy",
and with it came things like ambassadors, spies and sometimes crafty and devious plots. The
reformation and the split between England and the Catholic Church also added new elements to
political intrigue in renaissance Europe, as did disputes over increased foreign trading and
exploration into the new world. No noblemen were completely removed from the pastimes of
political scheming.

Elizabethan Village Life

Elizabethan Village Life changed with the seasons - the busiest being during harvest and hay
making periods. People lived and worked in close family units and trades and specific skills were
passed from Father to son. A village would contain a variety of skilled men helping to maintain
the self-sufficiency of the village - blacksmiths, carpenters, builders, roofers, ploughmen,
cowmen , farmers and the peasants and laborers. Rural England had its own social hierarchy

 The Lord of the Manor

 The Gentry - gentlemen owners of local land
 Yeoman - English freemen who took on various roles of responsibility - jury service,
church wardens etc Free holders of land
 Tenants
 Skilled Laborers
 Landless Laborers (unskilled)
Elizabethan Women
Upper Class Elizabethan Women
Elizabethan Women were subservient to men. They were dependent on their male relatives to
support them. They were used to forge alliances with other powerful families through arranged
marriages. There was little dispute over such arrangements as Elizabethan woman were raised to
believe that they were inferior to men and that men knew better!

 Elizabethan women were tutored at home - there were no schools for girls
 Elizabethan women were not allowed to enter University
 Elizabethan women could not be heirs to their father's titles ( except female royals)
 Elizabethan women could not become Doctors or Lawyers
 Elizabethan women did not have the vote and were not allowed to enter politics
 There were no Elizabethan women in the Army or Navy
 Elizabethan women were not allowed to act in the theatres ( but women at court were
allowed to perform in the Masques)

Royal Elizabethan Women

Understanding the subservient role of Elizabethan women provides an understanding as
to why Queen Elizabeth was reluctant to marry. All of her immediate male relatives had died.
She was answerable to no male member of the family. Had she married all this would have
changed. Elizabeth would have been expected to obey her husband. Mary Queen of Scots placed
herself in this situation when she married Lord Darnley. He expected Mary to obey his wishes.
The same occurred when the Queen's own sister, Mary, married Philip of Spain - she was placed
in a subservient role to this foreign prince. The tragic Lady Jane Grey was used as a pawn to
further the ambitions of her powerful family by joining the family in marriage to the Dudleys.
She was, first of all, forced to marry Guildford Dudley. Jane did raise objections saying that she
was already promised to Edward, Lord Hertford. The punishment for disobey was the whipping
stool - Elizabethan girls were beaten into submission and this happened to Lady Jane. She was
later forced into taking the throne against her wishes. She was eventually executed by beheading
- she was just seventeen years old. These stories about the lives of Elizabethan women illustrate
how, even Royal Woman were totally dominated by the male members of their families.

Lower Class Elizabethan Women

Elizabethan Women from the lower classes were also expected to obey the male members of
their families without question. Lower class Elizabethan women would not have attended school
or received any formal type of education. Elizabethan women would have had to learn how to
govern a household and become skilled in all housewifely duties. Their education would have
been purely of the domestic nature in preparation for the only real career option for a girl -
marriage! Single Elizabethan women were sometimes looked upon with suspicion. It was often
the single women who were thought to be witches by their neighbors. All Elizabethan women
would be expected to marry, and would be dependent on her male relatives throughout her life.
Elizabethan Women and Marriage
Elizabethan women were expected to bring a dowry to the marriage. A dowry was an amount of
money, goods, and property that the bride would bring to the marriage. It was also referred to as
her marriage portion. After marriage Elizabethan women were expected to run the households
and provide children. Large families were the norm as the mortality rate for children and babies
was so high. Many Elizabethan woman made arrangement for the care of their children in case
they themselves died during childbirth.

Elizabethan Women - Appearance

The appearance of a noble Elizabethan woman was important. An Elizabethan woman aged
quickly during this era. Constant child bearing and pregnancies took its toll on a woman's body.
The Elizabethan diet lacked Vitamin C resulting in bad teeth and bleeding gums. A Medieval
woman might even dye her hair yellow with a mixture of saffron, cumin seed, celandine and oil!
Face make-up was applied to acquire a pale look. A pale complexion was so desirable that
Elizabethan women were bled to achieve the desired look. Face paint made from plant roots and
leaves was also applied. The white make-up was lead based and therefore poisonous -
Elizabethan women who applied this make-up were often ill and if it was used in sufficient
quantities it would result in death. The dress and clothing of Elizabethan women was a series of
different layers. Uncomfortable corsets were worn to create the desired look dictated by fashion.
The color and materials that were worn were not just a matter of choice. The type of clothing
worn by Elizabethan women was dictated by the Sumptuary Laws!
 Feudalism
Origins of the idea
~Elizabeth A.R. Brown

The terms feudalism and feudal system were generally applied to the early and central Middle
Ages—the period from the 5th century, when central political authority in the Western empire
disappeared, to the 12th century, when kingdoms began to emerge as effective centralized units of
government. For a relatively brief period, from the mid-8th to the early 9th century, the Carolingian
rulers, especially Pippin (reigned 751–768) and Charlemagne (reigned 768/771–814), had remarkable
success in creating and maintaining a relatively unified empire. Before and afterward, however, political
units were fragmented and political authority diffused. The mightier of the later Carolingians attempted to
regulate local magnates and enlist them in their service, but the power of local elites was never effaced. In
the absence of forceful kings and emperors, local lords expanded the territory subject to them and
intensified their control over the people living there. In many areas the term feudum, as well as the terms
beneficium and casamentum, came to be used to describe a form of property holding. The holdings these
terms denoted have often been considered essentially dependent tenures, over which their holders’ rights
were notably limited. As the words were used in documents of the period, however, the characteristics of
the holdings to which they were applied are difficult to distinguish from those of tenures designated by
such words as allodium, which has generally been translated as ―freehold property.‖

Fiefs still existed in the 17th century, when the feudal model—or, as contemporary historians
term it, the feudal construct—was developed. At that time, the fief was a piece of property, usually land,
that was held in return for service, which could include military duties. The fief holder swore fidelity to
the person from whom the fief was held (the lord, dominus, or seigneur) and became his (or her) man.
The ceremony in which the oath was taken was called homage (from the Latin, homo; ―man‖). These
institutions survived in England until they were abolished by Parliament in 1645 and, after the
Restoration, by Charles II in 1660. Until their eradication by the National Assembly between 1789 and
1793, they had considerable importance in France, where they were employed to create and reinforce
familial and social bonds. Their pervasiveness made students of the past eager to understand how they
had come into being. Similarities of terminology and practice found in documents surviving from the
Middle Ages—especially the Libri feudorum (―Book of Fiefs‖), an Italian compilation of customs relating
to property holding, which was made in the 12th century and incorporated into Roman law—led
historians and lawyers to search for the origins of contemporary feudal institutions in the Middle Ages.

As defined by scholars in the 17th century, the medieval ―feudal system‖ was characterized by
the absence of public authority and the exercise by local lords of administrative and judicial functions
formerly (and later) performed by centralized governments; general disorder and endemic conflict; and
the prevalence of bonds between lords and free dependents (vassals), which were forged by the lords’
bestowal of property called ―fiefs‖ and by their reception of homage from the vassals. These bonds
entailed the rendering of services by vassals to their lords (military obligations, counsel, financial support)
and the lords’ obligation to protect and respect their vassals. These characteristics were in part deduced
from medieval documents and chronicles, but they were interpreted in light of 17th-century practices and
semantics. Learned legal commentaries on the laws governing the property called ―fiefs‖ also affected
interpretation of the sources. These commentaries, produced since the 13th century, focused on legal
theory and on rules derived from actual disputes and hypothetical cases. They did not include (nor were
they intended to provide) dispassionate analysis of historical development. Legal commentators in the
16th century had prepared the way for the elaboration of the feudal construct by formulating the idea,
loosely derived from the Libri feudorum, of a single feudal law, which they presented as being spread
throughout Europe during the early Middle Ages.

The terms feudalism and feudal system enabled historians to deal summarily with a long span of
European history whose complexities were—and remain—confusing. The Roman Empire and the various
emperors’ accomplishments provided a key to understanding Roman history, and the reemergence of
states and strong rulers in the 12th century again furnished manageable focal points for historical
narrative, particularly since medieval states and governmental practices can be presented as antecedents
of modern nations and institutions. The feudal construct neatly filled the gap between the 5th and the 12th
century. Although Charlemagne may seem an anomaly in this evolution, he was presented as ―sowing the
seeds‖ from which feudalism emerged. A variety of Roman, barbarian, and Carolingian institutions were
considered antecedents of feudal practices: Roman lordship and clientage, barbarian war chiefdoms and
bands, grants of lands to soldiers and to officeholders, and oaths of loyalty and fidelity. In the 17th
century, as later, the high point of feudalism was located in the 11th century. Later rulers who adopted
and adapted feudal institutions to increase their power were labeled ―feudal‖ and their governments called
―feudal monarchies.‖ Despite the survival of institutions and practices associated with the medieval feudal
system in the 17th century, historians of that time presented medieval feudalism and the feudal system as
declining in importance in the 14th and 15th centuries. This period was later dubbed an age of ―bastard
feudalism‖ because of the use of salaries and written contracts between lords and dependents.

Those who formulated the concept of feudalism were affected by the search for simplicity and
order in the universe associated with the work of Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) and especially Isaac
Newton (1642–1727). Historians and philosophers were persuaded that if the universe operated
systematically, so too must societies. In the 16th century some students of the law and customs of the fief
declared that feudal institutions were universal and maintained that feudal systems had existed in Rome,
Persia, and Judaea. The philosopher Giambattista Vico (1668–1744) considered the fief one of
humankind’s eternal institutions. Adopting a similar position, Voltaire (1694–1778) contested the
judgment of Montesquieu (1689–1755) that the appearance of feudal laws was a unique historical event.
The philosophical historians of 18th-century Scotland searched for feudalism outside western Europe, and
they expanded the construct’s field of significance to encompass peasants as well as lords. Adam Smith
(1723–90) presented feudal government as a stage of social development characterized by the absence of
commerce and by the use of semi-free labour to cultivate land. Smith’s student John Millar (1735–1801)
found ―the outlines of the feudal policy‖ in Asia and Africa. The association popularly made between the
feudal construct and ignorance and barbarism fostered its extension to regions which Europeans scarcely
knew and which they considered backward and primitive.

Following Millar’s precedent, some later historians continued to look for feudal institutions in
times and places outside medieval Europe, most notably Japan. These efforts, predictably, resulted in
misconceptions and misunderstanding. Historians using the feudal model for comparative purposes
emphasized those characteristics which resemble or seem to resemble Western feudal practices and
neglected other, dissimilar aspects, some of which were uniquely significant in shaping the evolution of
the areas in question. For Westerners, the use of the feudal model necessarily created a deceptive sense of
familiarity with societies that are different from their own.

Development in the 19th and 20th centuries

In the 19th century, influenced by Adam Smith and other Scottish thinkers, Karl Marx (1818–83)
and Friedrich Engels (1820–95) made ―the feudal mode of production‖ one stage in their visionary
reading of Western historical development; the feudal model followed ―the ancient mode of production‖
and preceded capitalism, socialism, and communism. Marx and Engels rejected the traditional
understanding of feudalism as consisting of fiefs and relations among the elite and emphasized the lords’
exploitation of the peasants as the essence of the feudal mode of production. Marx and Engels did not try
to establish that the feudal period had existed universally; they formulated for Asia the idea of a specific
Asiatic mode of production. Still, by incorporating ―the feudal mode of production‖ into their design, they
endowed it with seminal significance. Their followers came to view the feudal stage as a necessary
prerequisite for the emergence of socialism, and socialist scholars and activists sought traces of it
throughout the world.

Marx and Engels’s model of Western historical development indicates how popular the feudal
construct had become by the middle of the 19th century. Their modification of the construct to serve their
own purposes demonstrates its pliancy. However, they were not unique in having shaped the feudal
construct to suit their particular perspective. The Australian medieval historian John O. Ward isolated 10
different sets of phenomena that historians had associated with feudalism. Some employed narrow
legalistic definitions like those elaborated by 16th-century lawyers. Others, following the English
historian Thomas Madox (1666–1726/27) and the French historian Marc Bloch (1886–1944), equated
feudalism with feudal society. They saw feudalism as encompassing many if not most aspects of medieval
society: peasants, whether free, unfree, or semi-free; a ruling warrior class with subordinates compensated
for military service by grants of land rather than money; fragmentation of power; and disorder—yet with
the family and the state retaining their importance. The American historian Joseph R. Strayer (1904–87)
laid special emphasis on the splintering of political and public power and authority, and he believed that
systematized feudal institutions and customs were compatible with the formation of large political units,
which he viewed as recognizable precursors of contemporary nation-states. Although Bloch and Strayer
employed the feudal construct throughout their careers, both admitted the idiosyncrasy of the various
definitions of the feudal labels that have been proposed, and both acknowledged that focusing on the
construct inevitably obscures the human beings, both individuals and groups, whose actions historians are
dedicated to comprehending.
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