Glossary
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Anarchynoun Definition of anarchy
1a: absence of government
b: a state of lawlessness or political disorder due to the absence of governmental authoritythe city's descent into anarchy
c: a utopian society of individuals who enjoy complete freedom without government
2a: absence or denial of any authority or established orderanarchy prevailed in the ghetto
b: absence of order : DISORDERnot manicured plots but a wild anarchy of nature— Israel Shenker
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FeudalismFeudalism, also called feudal system or feudality, French féodalité, historiographic construct designating the social, economic, and political conditions in western Europe during the early Middle Ages, the long stretch of time between the 5th and 12th centuries. Feudalism and the related term feudal system are labels invented long after the period to which they were applied. They refer to what those who invented them perceived as the most significant and distinctive characteristics of the early and central Middle Ages. The expressions féodalité and feudal system were coined by the beginning of the 17th century, and the English words feudality and feudalism (as well as feudal pyramid) were in use by the end of the 18th century. They were derived from the Latin words feudum (“fief”) and feodalitas (services connected with the fief), both of which were used during the Middle Ages and later to refer to a form of property holding. Use of the terms associated with feudum to denote the essential characteristics of the early Middle Ages has invested the fief with exaggerated prominence and placed undue emphasis on the importance of a special mode of land tenure to the detriment of other, more significant aspects of social, economic, and political life. | ||
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Manorialismnoun a system of economic, social, and political organization based on the medieval manor (see MANOR sense 2a) in which a lord enjoyed a variety of rights over land and tenantsThe combined impact of a money economy and the colonization movement allowed the peasants to escape from the servile dues and services of the old manorialism.— Norman F. Cantor
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vassalnoun Definition of vassal
1: a person under the protection of a feudal lord to whom he has vowed homage and fealty : a feudal tenant
2: one in a subservient or subordinate position
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