Pavlov's House Party
14th December 2009, 19:01
It is all too common these days to hear the defenders of capital make claims that capitalism has won over socialism, that class struggle ended with the Cold War, and that the current social and economic order will last forever. Had you taken a trip in time to the 15th century, you would have heard the feudal lords say the same thing of feudalism. The truth is that capitalism has not existed forever, and it replaced an even more brutal and backwards economic model called feudalism, starting in 1640 in England with Oliver Cromwell’s revolution against the feudal system.
But what is feudalism, and how did it originate? Much like the capitalist system that replaced it, feudalism was “born dripping from head to foot, from every pore, with blood and dirt” in Marx’s words on the former. Its origins were rooted in the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD, where the colossal Roman slave-based economy was collapsing amidst internal class struggle, warring political factions and Germanic raiding tribes such as the Franks, Goths, Vandals and Huns. Because these tribes had no real class or state structure, they could not prevent bands of warriors from raiding Roman settlements and farmlands, much like the Apache tribes of South-West USA could not stop warrior bands from raiding American settlements. Eventually, the Roman political structure collapsed and the tribes ended up conquering vast tracts of land in Western and Central Europe. It is theorized by some historians such as Mick Brooks and G.G. Coulton, that the political structure of feudalism had its roots in these raiding parties: with the leader of the band being elevated by his warriors and ruling the conquered lands as a king, and distributing them amongst his soldiers who became the feudal lords as a reward.
The transition from a primitive communist society to becoming a ruling class over advanced means of production left by the Romans was a setback, and the political system that emerged was a decentralized system of military obligations to those above in exchange for the command of land to those below. That is to say that a peasant owed military service to his lord in exchange for a plot of land, and the lord owed his own military service as well as that of his peasants to the king in exchange for the land he rented out to his peasants. The peasants would also have to pay a levy to their lord, often heads of cattle or grain. Feudalism eventually spread across Europe and played a progressive role in the colonization of previously uninhabited areas of Eastern Europe, and doubling the population of England between the years 1066 and the 14th century.
Feudalism was not without class struggle, as bourgeois depictions of it often forget. The peasantry was always at odds with the feudal lords because they wanted access to the land without having to pay a tax or offer their military service, and later on many lost faith in the Catholic church, whose clergy were tied hand and foot to the feudal nobility, because it failed to provide answers and cures it promised during the Bubonic plague which decimated 1/3 of Europe’s population and because of its role as a tool of control and oppression by the ruling class. These tensions often erupted in peasant’s rebellions such as the Great Rising in England in 1381, the Peasant’s War in Germany in 1524 and even religious wars like the Hussite Wars in Czechoslovakia. These constant rebellions almost always failed because they lacked a clear political solution to the feudal system, unlike the capitalists later on. These rebellions ended with the creation of centralized absolute monarchies such as the Tutors in England and the Bourbons in France. This centralization became essential for capitalism because it led to nation-states, where the monarch could direct the resources of his kingdom to fight wars and conquer and colonize other continents for valuable resources and gold. However the merchant class was at odds with the absolute monarchy and all bourgeois revolutions were aimed at disposing the monarch so the merchant class could consolidate its rule, such as the English revolution in the 1640s and the French revolution of 1789.
Feudalism would later be imported across the world by European explorers and conquerors, who left to find rare resources such as spices, gold, ivory and furs. Here in Canada, feudalism was implemented by France in Quebec and New Brunswick in the colony of New France. It was originally established to trade furs with the Natives, but after furs lost their value in Europe, they tried to create a sustainable colony with a system of “Seigneuries”, which was a division of land along the Saint Lawrence river and its tributaries in an agrarian feudal layout. The feudal system could not compete with the capitalist economy of the British colonies to the south and eventually the British capitalists overtook the French colony of New France and implemented capitalist-style townships alongside the seigneuries, and outperformed them in every field.
Because feudalism was essentially an agrarian system, the kings and lords had little interest in developing towns and cities. Merchants often formed guilds to ensure the quality and price of their products, but often the guild became a ruling oligarchy of the town. For example, in Derby, England in 1330, a Royal Commission was set up to investigate the town’s guild who held a monopoly over all the wares and trade that went through the city an re-sold them to the citizens at a massively inflated price. The early capitalists were important for the feudal lords because they brought wealth to the kingdoms through trade, which the king taxed, but the feudal order was digging its own grave by relying on the capitalists. These merchants were the nucleus of capitalism and would later overthrow the feudal order and become the ruling class.
With a successful bourgeois revolution, the absolute monarchy was overthrown (or eventually replaced with a constitutional monarchy like England) and the nobility no longer had a crutch to stand on. They were either decimated like in France (with the infamous guillotine), or became members of the capitalist class like in England. Because the feudal system was completely thrown out the window, the peasants and craftsmen no longer had to work without pay and offer their services to their lord, they became paid workers for a capitalist, who was more often than not their former feudal lord.
Bibliography:
G.G. Coulton, The Medieval Scene. Cambridge, University of Cambridge Press, 1967.
Marc Bloch, Feudal Society. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1970.
Göran Therborn, What Does the Ruling Class do When it Rules?. London, Redwood Burn Ltd, 1980.
Mick Brooks. http://www.marxist.com/History-old/historicalMaterialism.htm
NOTE: This is a beginner article, please tell me if my facts are wrong or anything, any feedback is appreciated:)
But what is feudalism, and how did it originate? Much like the capitalist system that replaced it, feudalism was “born dripping from head to foot, from every pore, with blood and dirt” in Marx’s words on the former. Its origins were rooted in the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD, where the colossal Roman slave-based economy was collapsing amidst internal class struggle, warring political factions and Germanic raiding tribes such as the Franks, Goths, Vandals and Huns. Because these tribes had no real class or state structure, they could not prevent bands of warriors from raiding Roman settlements and farmlands, much like the Apache tribes of South-West USA could not stop warrior bands from raiding American settlements. Eventually, the Roman political structure collapsed and the tribes ended up conquering vast tracts of land in Western and Central Europe. It is theorized by some historians such as Mick Brooks and G.G. Coulton, that the political structure of feudalism had its roots in these raiding parties: with the leader of the band being elevated by his warriors and ruling the conquered lands as a king, and distributing them amongst his soldiers who became the feudal lords as a reward.
The transition from a primitive communist society to becoming a ruling class over advanced means of production left by the Romans was a setback, and the political system that emerged was a decentralized system of military obligations to those above in exchange for the command of land to those below. That is to say that a peasant owed military service to his lord in exchange for a plot of land, and the lord owed his own military service as well as that of his peasants to the king in exchange for the land he rented out to his peasants. The peasants would also have to pay a levy to their lord, often heads of cattle or grain. Feudalism eventually spread across Europe and played a progressive role in the colonization of previously uninhabited areas of Eastern Europe, and doubling the population of England between the years 1066 and the 14th century.
Feudalism was not without class struggle, as bourgeois depictions of it often forget. The peasantry was always at odds with the feudal lords because they wanted access to the land without having to pay a tax or offer their military service, and later on many lost faith in the Catholic church, whose clergy were tied hand and foot to the feudal nobility, because it failed to provide answers and cures it promised during the Bubonic plague which decimated 1/3 of Europe’s population and because of its role as a tool of control and oppression by the ruling class. These tensions often erupted in peasant’s rebellions such as the Great Rising in England in 1381, the Peasant’s War in Germany in 1524 and even religious wars like the Hussite Wars in Czechoslovakia. These constant rebellions almost always failed because they lacked a clear political solution to the feudal system, unlike the capitalists later on. These rebellions ended with the creation of centralized absolute monarchies such as the Tutors in England and the Bourbons in France. This centralization became essential for capitalism because it led to nation-states, where the monarch could direct the resources of his kingdom to fight wars and conquer and colonize other continents for valuable resources and gold. However the merchant class was at odds with the absolute monarchy and all bourgeois revolutions were aimed at disposing the monarch so the merchant class could consolidate its rule, such as the English revolution in the 1640s and the French revolution of 1789.
Feudalism would later be imported across the world by European explorers and conquerors, who left to find rare resources such as spices, gold, ivory and furs. Here in Canada, feudalism was implemented by France in Quebec and New Brunswick in the colony of New France. It was originally established to trade furs with the Natives, but after furs lost their value in Europe, they tried to create a sustainable colony with a system of “Seigneuries”, which was a division of land along the Saint Lawrence river and its tributaries in an agrarian feudal layout. The feudal system could not compete with the capitalist economy of the British colonies to the south and eventually the British capitalists overtook the French colony of New France and implemented capitalist-style townships alongside the seigneuries, and outperformed them in every field.
Because feudalism was essentially an agrarian system, the kings and lords had little interest in developing towns and cities. Merchants often formed guilds to ensure the quality and price of their products, but often the guild became a ruling oligarchy of the town. For example, in Derby, England in 1330, a Royal Commission was set up to investigate the town’s guild who held a monopoly over all the wares and trade that went through the city an re-sold them to the citizens at a massively inflated price. The early capitalists were important for the feudal lords because they brought wealth to the kingdoms through trade, which the king taxed, but the feudal order was digging its own grave by relying on the capitalists. These merchants were the nucleus of capitalism and would later overthrow the feudal order and become the ruling class.
With a successful bourgeois revolution, the absolute monarchy was overthrown (or eventually replaced with a constitutional monarchy like England) and the nobility no longer had a crutch to stand on. They were either decimated like in France (with the infamous guillotine), or became members of the capitalist class like in England. Because the feudal system was completely thrown out the window, the peasants and craftsmen no longer had to work without pay and offer their services to their lord, they became paid workers for a capitalist, who was more often than not their former feudal lord.
Bibliography:
G.G. Coulton, The Medieval Scene. Cambridge, University of Cambridge Press, 1967.
Marc Bloch, Feudal Society. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1970.
Göran Therborn, What Does the Ruling Class do When it Rules?. London, Redwood Burn Ltd, 1980.
Mick Brooks. http://www.marxist.com/History-old/historicalMaterialism.htm
NOTE: This is a beginner article, please tell me if my facts are wrong or anything, any feedback is appreciated:)