Bastard feudalism is a term that has been used to describe feudalism in the Late Middle Ages, primarily in England. Its main characteristic is military service in return for money. Dante by Michelino The Late Middle Ages is a term used by historians to describe European history in the period of the 14th to 16th centuries (AD 1300–1500). ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II  -  Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification  -  by Athelstan 967  Area...

The term was coined by the historian Charles Plummer in 1885, but it is primarily associated with his contemporary William Stubbs. According to Stubbs, a shift in English history took place under Edward I, when the feudal levy was replaced with royal payment in return for military service by the great magnates. The system was duplicated on a lower level, between the magnates and their vassals. This led to ever increasing greed and ambition among the nobility, a tendency only exacerbated by the many sons of Edward III. The inevitable outcome was the disastrous civil strife of the late 15th century, known to posterity as the Wars of the Roses. Charles Plummer (1851-1927) was an English historian, best known for editing Sir John Fortescues The Governance of England, and for coining the term bastard feudalism. He is the best-known editor of Bede, and also edited numerous Irish and Hiberno-Latin texts, including the two volume Vitae Sanctae... 1885 (MDCCCLXXXV) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... William Stubbs (June 21, 1825 - April 22, 1901) was an English historian and Bishop of Oxford. ... Edward I (17 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), popularly known as Longshanks[1], also as Edward the Lawgiver because of his legal reforms, and as Hammer of the Scots,[2] achieved fame as the monarch who conquered Wales and who tried to do the same to Scotland. ... Roland pledges his fealty to Charlemagne; from a manuscript of a chanson de geste. ... This article is about the King of England. ... (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ... Lancaster York For other uses, see Wars of the Roses (disambiguation). ...

A strong challenge to the ideas of Stubbs was presented by K. B. McFarlane in the mid-20th century. McFarlane stripped the term of any negative connotation. To him, what was central to bastard feudalism was not the financial aspect (the sums involved were mostly negligible) but the concept of service in exchange for good favour. In a society governed on a personal basis, service to a lord was the best way to obtain favour in the form of offices, grants, etc. Furthermore, since the crown and the nobility essentially had the same interests at heart, military commissioning of great magnates was not in itself disruptive to society. The civil wars of the 15th century were caused by personal factors (particularly the failings of Henry VI), not by institutional ones. Recent historical research has shown that payment for military service goes back much further than the reign of Edward I, further discrediting the ideas of Stubbs. Kenneth Bruce McFarlane was the twentieth centurys most influential historian of late medieval England. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... Henry VI (December 6, 1421 – May 21, 1471) was King of England from 1422 to 1461 (though with a Regent until 1437) and then from 1470 to 1471, and King of France from 1422 to 1453. ...

Among today's historians, the concept of feudalism is considered problematic, bastard feudalism no less so. The term is therefore used only with caution, although it is not a dead concept. Roland pledges his fealty to Charlemagne; from a manuscript of a chanson de geste. ...

Bibliography

• William Stubbs, The Constitutional History of England. Oxford, 1875.
• K. B. McFarlane, England in the Fifteenth Century. London, 1981.
• Michael Hicks, Bastard Feudalism. London, 1995.

William Stubbs (June 21, 1825 - April 22, 1901) was an English historian and Bishop of Oxford. ... Kenneth Bruce McFarlane was the twentieth centurys most influential historian of late medieval England. ... Michael Hicks (b. ...

See also

• Overmighty subject

External links

• Livery and Maintenance