Feudal fragmentation
Feudal fragmentation
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]
Examples
This phenomenon has occurred in the history of several countries and regions:
- In the history of England, the Heptarchy
- In the
- 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)
- 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]
- 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 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
- Taifa periods, after the decline of the Caliphate of Córdoba (1031) and the Almoravid dynasty (1140s)
Notes
- ISBN 978-0-88844-155-3.
- ^ a b (in Polish) Rozbicie dzielnicowe Archived 29 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine. WIEM Encyklopedia.
- ^ a b c d e (in Polish) rozbicie dzielnicowe. PWN Encyklopedia.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-415-15089-7.
- .
- ISBN 978-0-231-12817-9. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
- ISBN 978-0-06-097468-8. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
- ISBN 978-0-333-65684-6.
- ISBN 978-90-411-1654-3.
- ISBN 978-0-521-28038-9.
- ISBN 978-90-13-05635-8. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
- ISBN 978-0-8108-4332-5.
- ISBN 978-0-520-04090-8.
- ISBN 978-0-521-36713-4.
- ISBN 978-0-415-37776-8.
- ISBN 978-1-85285-049-4.
- ISBN 978-0-8018-5126-1. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
- ISBN 978-0-7486-1024-2. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
- ISBN 978-0-87332-876-0. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
- ISBN 978-0-13-041576-9. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
- ISBN 978-1-906387-96-9.
- ISBN 978-0-495-91528-7.
- ISBN 978-0-521-63356-7.
- ISBN 978-1-931859-24-0.
- ^ Jansen, Marius B. Jansen. (1995). The Emergence of Meiji Japan,p. 124, p. 124, at Google Books; retrieved 6 July 2011
References
- ISBN 9780521484053; OCLC 60261738