POLI 2520 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Feudalism
21 Nov 2017
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
A world of entities (states) just bumping into each other. All are functionally equivalent, even though there will be differences is size, economy etc. Idea that all states are functionally equivalent comes from a modern era idea about political authority. Political authority - making all the decisions for the people within the borders of a state, but not for those outside of the state. Political authority in the medieval world was not as neat or comprehensive as it was in the modern world. The state makes rules about police, birth control etc. One entity might govern religion for all of eastern europe. There were princes, kings etc. but they often deferred to other entities. While one person or group may be in charge of a certain thing, they are likely working under someone else. There were often complex relationships between leaders, and states, which lead to a complicated map.
