Feudal fragmentation

Feudal fragmentation[1] is stage in the development of certain feudal states, in which it 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]

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]

Fragmentation of Poland between the sons of Bolesław in 1138:

  The Seniorate Province of Władysław II

  Silesian Province of Władysław II

  Masovian Province of Bolesław IV

  Greater Poland Province of Mieszko III

  Sandomierz Province of Henry

---

  Łęczyca Land

  Pomeranian vassals

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[5] or fragmentation of Poland (Polish: rozbicie dzielnicowe) refers to the period following the testament of Bolesław Krzywousty (1138) that led to the split of the Kingdom of Poland into several mostly independent provinces, unified only by Władysław Łokietek approximately two centuries later, in the early 14th century[2][3][6]
• In the history of Russia, the period of fragmentation (Russian: феодальная раздробленность) lasted from around the 12th or 13th century (in particular, the fall of Kievan Rus' after the Mongol invasion of Rus') to 1547, the year of the ascension of Ivan IV to the throne of the Grand Duchy of Moscow[3][7][8]
• In the history of Bulgaria, the late 14th century fragmentation of the Second Bulgarian Empire[9][10]
• In the history of Serbia, the Fall of the Serbian Empire (1371–95)
• 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][11][12][13]
• 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[14]
• In the history of France, the period after the fall of the Carolingian dynasty and death of Charlemagne to its unification by Louis XI[15][16][17]
• 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[18]

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][19] At the same time, the term feudal fragmentation has been used in the context of history of China (the Warring States period)[20] and history of Japan (the Sengoku period).[21][22][23]

See also

• Balkanization
• Duchies of Silesia
• Decentralization
• Kleinstaaterei
• Gavelkind

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. 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. 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.
6. Norman Davies (20 January 1998). Europe: a history. HarperCollins. p. 429. ISBN 978-0-06-097468-8. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
7. Maureen Perrie (2001). The cult of Ivan the Terrible in Stalin's Russia. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 100. ISBN 978-0-333-65684-6.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. Selçuk Akşin Somel (2003). Historical dictionary of the Ottoman Empire. Scarecrow Press. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-8108-4332-5.
11. Reinhard Bendix (1980). Kings or people: power and the mandate to rule. University of California Press. p. 141. ISBN 978-0-520-04090-8.
12. Mikuláš Teich; Roy Porter (1993). The National question in Europe in historical context. Cambridge University Press. p. 153. ISBN 978-0-521-36713-4.
13. Keith Jenkins; Sue Morgan; Alun Munslow (2007). Manifestos for history. Taylor & Francis. p. 188. ISBN 978-0-415-37776-8.
14. R. C. van Caenegem (1991). Legal history: a European perspective. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 149. ISBN 978-1-85285-049-4.
15. 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.
16. 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.
17. 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.
18. 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.
19. Samir Amin (January 2011). Global History: A View from the South. Fahamu/Pambazuka. p. 18. ISBN 978-1-906387-96-9.
20. Thomas M. Magstadt (2010). Nations and Government: Comparative Politics in Regional Perspective. Cengage Learning. p. 277. ISBN 978-0-495-91528-7.
21. 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.
22. 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.
23. 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