History of the world economy - Polyak GB

II. THE MIDDLE AGES (V-XVII VV.)

9. The main features of the feudal economy. Typology of feudal development

After the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century , which occurred as a result of the development of the crisis processes of the ancient society and the invasion of the barbarians, * a socio-economic system, different from the ancient and barbaric (primitive communal), begins to form in Europe.

* Barbarians in the Roman Empire were called peoples who did not know the Latin language and were alien to Roman culture. The most significant ethnic groups of the barbarians, who came into contact with the empire, were the Celts, Germans, Slavs.

Italian humanists of the Renaissance period between the end of the Roman Empire and their modernity called the "Middle Ages" (medium aevum - literally the middle age) *. In the XVII century. This term began to be used by historians who divided world history into Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the New Time. Later, historiography clearly established the associative relationship of Antiquity with slavery, the Middle Ages - with feudalism, and New time - with bourgeois development.

* From the Latin medium, the term medievalism is the domain of historical science, which studies the history of the Middle Ages.

By the Middle Ages, historians refer to the V-XVII centuries. This period, the chronological framework of which is much smaller than the ancient history, was more progressive. This affected primarily the higher productivity of social labor and, most importantly, the creation of prerequisites for the further economic development of mankind. Particularly intensively in this period the states of Western Europe developed. It was in the Middle Ages that most of the modern European states formed and their borders were defined; On convenient trade routes, at the walls of castles and monasteries, many modern cities emerged; Languages ​​were formed, which today are spoken by the peoples of Europe. Medieval Europe, thanks to the development of productive forces, surpassed the Eastern empires, which had a more ancient history. As a result of the Great geographical discoveries, the world market and the colonial system were formed. Finally, in the depths of medieval feudal society a new socio-economic system, capitalism, arose.

9.1. General characteristic of feudalism

The essence of feudalism

The Middle Ages are the period of the birth, domination and disintegration of feudalism. The word " feudalism " comes from the late Latina feodum - estate (in Western Europe in the Middle Ages this word denoted land ownership, granted to the suzerain by his suzerain for hereditary use with the condition of feudal service being carried out by him).

In modern non-Marxist historiography there is a different understanding of the essence of feudalism. Part of the researchers, based on the legal concept, considers the main signs of feudalism: political fragmentation, the hierarchical structure of power, vassalage, and corporatism. Others consider feudalism in a complex way, and, besides these, pay attention to such signs as large landownership and peasant-seignorial relations. On the whole, the political and legal structure, the mentality of the feudal society is of decisive importance.

In Marxist historiography, feudalism is seen as one of the antagonistic socio-economic formations that follows the slave system and precedes capitalism. The main attributes include the following: the dominance of subsistence farming; A combination of large feudal land ownership and small (allotted) peasant land use; The personal dependence of the peasants on the feudal lord - hence the non-economic coercion; Extremely low and routine state of technology.