Feudal fragmentation

Feudal fragmentation ^[1] is a process whereby a feudal state is split into smaller regional state structures, each characterized by significant autonomy, if not outright independence, and ruled by a high-ranking noble such as a prince or a duke. ^{[2] [3]} Feudal fragmentation is usually associated with European history, particularly during the Middle Ages. ^{[4] [5]}

Feudal fragmentation occurs after the death of the legitimate ruler leaves no clear heirs, and rulers of various subdivisions of the original state fail at electing or agreeing on a new leader for the previous, larger entity. In some cases (for example, the Holy Roman Empire), such a leader may be elected, yet wield much lesser powers than those of his predecessor. Feudal fragmentation is related to the concepts of agnatic seniority and principate. ^[3]

Division of the Polish state in 1138:

  Seniorate Province.

  Pomeranian vassals under the rule of the Seniorate Province.

  Silesian Province of Władysław II.

  Masovian Province of Bolesław IV.

  Greater Poland Province of Mieszko III.

  Sandomierz Province of Henry.

  Łęczyca Province of Salomea of Berg.

Examples

This phenomenon has occurred in the history of several countries and regions:

• In the history of England, the Heptarchy
• In the history of Poland, the regionalization ^[6] or fragmentation of Poland (Polish : rozbicie dzielnicowe) refers to the period following the testament of Bolesław III Wrymouth (1138) that led to the split of the Kingdom of Poland into several mostly independent provinces, unified only by Ladislaus the Short approximately two centuries later, in the early 14th century ^{[2] [3] [7]}
• In the history of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, the period of fragmentation (Russian : феодальная раздробленность) that started from around the 12th century during the decline of Kievan Rus'. In Russia, it lasted up until the reign of Ivan IV of Russia; ^{[3] [8] [9]} the last appange Russian prince was Vladimir of Staritsa ^[10]
• In the history of Bulgaria, the late 14th century fragmentation of the Second Bulgarian Empire ^{[11] [12]}
• In the history of Hungary, the interregnum (1301–1323), Oligarchs
• In the history of Serbia, the fall of the Serbian Empire (1371–95)
• In the history of Georgia, the collapse of the Georgian realm (starting in the 13th century)
• In the history of Germany, the period described as Kleinstaaterei lasted from the 13th century (the demise of the Hohenstaufen dynasty and the rise of the Holy Roman Empire) to 1871 (the unification of the German states into the German Empire) ^{[3] [13] [14] [15]} Ernestine duchies remained divided until the formation of the State of Thuringia in 1920.
• After the extinction of the Duchy of Burgundy, some of its territory was absorbed by France's Louis XI, while its territory in the Low Countries (the Burgundian Netherlands) became the Habsburg Netherlands (also called the Seventeen Provinces), which itself splintered into the Spanish Netherlands and the Dutch Republic ^[16]
• In the history of France, the period after the fall of the Carolingian dynasty and death of Charlemagne to its unification by Louis XI ^{[17] [18] [19]} (see also Crown lands of France)
• In the history of Italy, the period from the invasion of Italy by the Lombards (which occurred shortly after Italy was united under the Byzantine Empire as a result of the Gothic War) until Italian unification ^[20]

According to Samir Amin, feudal fragmentation has been mostly a European phenomenon and did not occur in the history of China or Islamic Middle Eastern states. ^{[4] [21]} At the same time, the term feudal fragmentation has been used in the context of history of China (the Warring States period) ^[22] and history of Japan (the Sengoku period). ^{[23] [24] [25]}

See also

• Anatolian beyliks, after the decline of Sultanate of Rum
• Balkanization
• Division of the Mongol Empire
• Duchies of Silesia
• Decentralization
• Frankish Divisions
• Kleinstaaterei
• Gavelkind
• Petty kingdom
• Rump state
• Taifa periods, after the decline of the Caliphate of Córdoba (1031) and the Almoravid dynasty (1140s)

Notes

1. Piotr Górecki (2007). A local society in transition: the Henryków book and related documents. PIMS. p. 62. ISBN   978-0-88844-155-3.
2. (in Polish) Rozbicie dzielnicowe Archived 29 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine . WIEM Encyklopedia.
3. (in Polish) rozbicie dzielnicowe. PWN Encyklopedia.
4. Samir Amin, The Ancient World-Systems Versus the Modern Capitalist World-System, in André Gunder Frank; Barry K. Gills (1996). The world system: five hundred years or five thousand?. Psychology Press. p. 252. ISBN   978-0-415-15089-7.
5. Grzymala-Busse, Anna (2024). "Tilly Goes to Church: The Religious and Medieval Roots of European State Fragmentation". American Political Science Review . 118 (1): 88–107. doi: 10.1017/S0003055423000278 .
6. Norman Davies (30 March 2005). God's Playground: The origins to 1795 . Columbia University Press. p.  53. ISBN   978-0-231-12817-9 . Retrieved 23 May 2011.
7. Norman Davies (20 January 1998). Europe: a history . HarperCollins. p.  429. ISBN   978-0-06-097468-8 . Retrieved 23 May 2011.
8. Maureen Perrie (2001). The cult of Ivan the Terrible in Stalin's Russia. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 100. ISBN   978-0-333-65684-6. Bakhrushin, in turn, defended the post-Pokrovskii depiction of Ivan IV as 'a great statesman who smashes the remains of feudal fragmentation and lays the basis for the further development of the absolutist state'
9. George Ginsburgs; Roger Stenson Clark; Ferdinand Joseph Maria Feldbrugge; Stanisław Pomorski (2001). International and national law in Russia and Eastern Europe: essays in honor of George Ginsburgs. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 163. ISBN   978-90-411-1654-3. 2. The period of feudal fragmentation (feodal'naia nazdroblenost') or of the appanage principalities... with its nadir the fall of Kiev in 1240... 3. The formation of a centralized Russian state
10. Auty, Robert; Obolensky, Dimitri (1976). Companion to Russian Studies: Volume 1: An Introduction to Russian History. Cambridge University Press. p. 102. ISBN   978-0-521-28038-9.
11. Evgeni Tanchev; Martin Belov; Cristian Ionescu; C. A. J. M. Kortmann; J. W. A. Fleuren; Wim Voermans (2008). Constitutional law of 2 EU member states: Bulgaria and Romania : the 2007 enlargement. Kluwer. p. 1. ISBN   978-90-13-05635-8 . Retrieved 23 May 2011.
12. Selçuk Akşin Somel (2003). Historical dictionary of the Ottoman Empire. Scarecrow Press. p. 32. ISBN   978-0-8108-4332-5.
13. Reinhard Bendix (1980). Kings or people: power and the mandate to rule. University of California Press. p. 141. ISBN   978-0-520-04090-8.
14. Mikuláš Teich; Roy Porter (1993). The National question in Europe in historical context. Cambridge University Press. p. 153. ISBN   978-0-521-36713-4.
15. Keith Jenkins; Sue Morgan; Alun Munslow (2007). Manifestos for history. Taylor & Francis. p. 188. ISBN   978-0-415-37776-8.
16. R. C. van Caenegem (1991). Legal history: a European perspective. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 149. ISBN   978-1-85285-049-4.
17. Peter J. Hugill (1995). World trade since 1431: geography, technology, and capitalism . JHU Press. p.  48. ISBN   978-0-8018-5126-1 . Retrieved 23 May 2011.
18. Stefan Rossbach (1999). Gnostic wars: the Cold War in the context of a history of Western spirituality. Edinburgh University Press. p. 81. ISBN   978-0-7486-1024-2 . Retrieved 23 May 2011.
19. Nicholas Lampert; Gábor Tamás Rittersporn (1992). Stalinism: its nature and aftermath : essays in honour of Moshe Lewin. M.E. Sharpe. p. 86. ISBN   978-0-87332-876-0 . Retrieved 23 May 2011.
20. Donald Kagan; Steven Ozment; Frank M. Turner; A. Daniel Frankforter (13 June 2001). The Western Heritage: To 1715 : Brief Edition . Prentice Hall. p. 143. ISBN   978-0-13-041576-9 . Retrieved 24 May 2011.
21. Samir Amin (January 2011). Global History: A View from the South. Fahamu/Pambazuka. p. 18. ISBN   978-1-906387-96-9.
22. Thomas M. Magstadt (2010). Nations and Government: Comparative Politics in Regional Perspective. Cengage Learning. p. 277. ISBN   978-0-495-91528-7.
23. Jeffrey Kopstein (2000). Comparative politics: interests, identities, and institutions in a changing global order. Cambridge University Press. p. 182. ISBN   978-0-521-63356-7.
24. Paul N. Siegel (2005). The Meek and the Militant: Religion and Power Across the World. Haymarket Books. p. 210. ISBN   978-1-931859-24-0.
25. Jansen, Marius B. Jansen. (1995). The Emergence of Meiji Japan,p. 124 , p. 124, at Google Books; retrieved 6 July 2011

References

• Jansen, Marius B. (1995). The Emergence of Meiji Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN   9780521482387; ISBN   9780521484053; OCLC 60261738