Brock Holden
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199548576
- eISBN:
- 9780191720680
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199548576.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
In the Middle Ages, the March between England and Wales was a contested, militarised frontier zone, a ‘land of war’. With English kings distracted by affairs in France, English frontier lords were ...
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In the Middle Ages, the March between England and Wales was a contested, militarised frontier zone, a ‘land of war’. With English kings distracted by affairs in France, English frontier lords were left on their own to organize and run lordships in the manner that was best suited to this often violent borderland. The centrepiece of the frontier society that developed was the feudal honour and its court, and in the March it survived as a functioning entity much longer than in England. However, in the 12th century, as the growing power of the English crown threatened Marcher honours, their lords asserted their independence from the king's courts, and the March became a land where ‘the king's writ did not run’. At the same time, the increased military capability of their Welsh adversaries put the Marcher lordships under enormous military and financial strain. This book describes how this unusual frontier society developed in reaction to both the challenge of the native Welsh and the power of the English kings. It examines how the ‘feudal matrix’ of Marcher power developed over the course of the 11th to 13th centuries.Less
In the Middle Ages, the March between England and Wales was a contested, militarised frontier zone, a ‘land of war’. With English kings distracted by affairs in France, English frontier lords were left on their own to organize and run lordships in the manner that was best suited to this often violent borderland. The centrepiece of the frontier society that developed was the feudal honour and its court, and in the March it survived as a functioning entity much longer than in England. However, in the 12th century, as the growing power of the English crown threatened Marcher honours, their lords asserted their independence from the king's courts, and the March became a land where ‘the king's writ did not run’. At the same time, the increased military capability of their Welsh adversaries put the Marcher lordships under enormous military and financial strain. This book describes how this unusual frontier society developed in reaction to both the challenge of the native Welsh and the power of the English kings. It examines how the ‘feudal matrix’ of Marcher power developed over the course of the 11th to 13th centuries.
Ad Putter
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198182535
- eISBN:
- 9780191673825
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198182535.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
This is an innovative and original exploration of the connections between Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, one of the most well-known works of medieval English literature, and the tradition of French ...
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This is an innovative and original exploration of the connections between Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, one of the most well-known works of medieval English literature, and the tradition of French Arthurian romance, best-known through the works of Chretien de Troyes two centuries earlier. The book compares Gawain with a wide range of French Arthurian romances, exploring their recurrent structural patterns and motifs, their ethical orientation and the social context in which they were produced. It presents a wealth of new sources and analogues, which provide illuminating points of comparison for analysis of the self-consciousness with which the Gawain-poet handled the staple ingredients of Arthurian romance. Throughout, the author pays close attention to the ways in which the modes of representation of Arthurian romance are related to social and historical context. By revealing in the course of their romances the importance of conscience, courtliness, and self-restraint, literati such as the Gawain-poet and Chretien de Troyes helped a feudal society with an obsolete chivalric ideology adapt to the changing times.Less
This is an innovative and original exploration of the connections between Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, one of the most well-known works of medieval English literature, and the tradition of French Arthurian romance, best-known through the works of Chretien de Troyes two centuries earlier. The book compares Gawain with a wide range of French Arthurian romances, exploring their recurrent structural patterns and motifs, their ethical orientation and the social context in which they were produced. It presents a wealth of new sources and analogues, which provide illuminating points of comparison for analysis of the self-consciousness with which the Gawain-poet handled the staple ingredients of Arthurian romance. Throughout, the author pays close attention to the ways in which the modes of representation of Arthurian romance are related to social and historical context. By revealing in the course of their romances the importance of conscience, courtliness, and self-restraint, literati such as the Gawain-poet and Chretien de Troyes helped a feudal society with an obsolete chivalric ideology adapt to the changing times.
Ira Katznelson
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780198279242
- eISBN:
- 9780191601910
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198279248.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
One area where Marxism has dealt with the city is the transition from feudalism to capitalism, although this discussion has been satisfactory only in part, since too much is compressed in the very ...
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One area where Marxism has dealt with the city is the transition from feudalism to capitalism, although this discussion has been satisfactory only in part, since too much is compressed in the very idea of this epochal transformation. Marxism's conception of feudalism has been too narrow: it has treated some 500 years of history in terms of a single direction of change, and it has flattened the dimensions and varieties of transition. Further, Marxism's insistence on parallel treatment as modes of production for feudalism (which fused sovereignty and property), and for capitalism (which did not), is misplaced. Yet even if Marxism's discussion of the transition has been flawed, it is here that some of the most important attempts to make cities a constitutive part of a key historical and theoretical problem are found. This chapter broadens and shifts the terms of this engagement of Marxism with the city – by so doing, it is possible to shed some light on the impact cities had on large‐scale change in early modern Europe, and, in turn, on the ways cities as places were altered by the demise of feudalism.Less
One area where Marxism has dealt with the city is the transition from feudalism to capitalism, although this discussion has been satisfactory only in part, since too much is compressed in the very idea of this epochal transformation. Marxism's conception of feudalism has been too narrow: it has treated some 500 years of history in terms of a single direction of change, and it has flattened the dimensions and varieties of transition. Further, Marxism's insistence on parallel treatment as modes of production for feudalism (which fused sovereignty and property), and for capitalism (which did not), is misplaced. Yet even if Marxism's discussion of the transition has been flawed, it is here that some of the most important attempts to make cities a constitutive part of a key historical and theoretical problem are found. This chapter broadens and shifts the terms of this engagement of Marxism with the city – by so doing, it is possible to shed some light on the impact cities had on large‐scale change in early modern Europe, and, in turn, on the ways cities as places were altered by the demise of feudalism.
Jeffrey G. Snodgrass
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195304343
- eISBN:
- 9780199785063
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195304349.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter presents Bhat ballads featuring linguistically talented bards who dominate and control their lords and benefactors. Bhat praise of kings and patrons in their practice as well as in their ...
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This chapter presents Bhat ballads featuring linguistically talented bards who dominate and control their lords and benefactors. Bhat praise of kings and patrons in their practice as well as in their myths and epics is less an acknowledgment of Rajput (former feudal landlords of Rajasthan) or Kshatriya (Warrior) supremacy — be it based on generous patronage, martial sacrifice, or some other virtue — and more a Bhat tactic for establishing their own importance as cunning bards who themselves defend and protect their patron-lords. In shifting the focus from patrons to the insights of the author’s bardic informants and the power of linguistic representation, this chapter hopes to draw more explicit attention to the imaginative dimensions of caste hierarchies and the arbitrariness of social centers and peripheries, It also argues that Bhat poetics parallel many of the insights of contemporary postmodern and poststructuralist theories. This chapter ends by exploring the manner Bhats use stories and puppet dramas placing themselves in close relationship to kings and nobles to help them appropriate the roles and statuses associated with royal bards, which in turn enables them to better exploit the modern tourist industry.Less
This chapter presents Bhat ballads featuring linguistically talented bards who dominate and control their lords and benefactors. Bhat praise of kings and patrons in their practice as well as in their myths and epics is less an acknowledgment of Rajput (former feudal landlords of Rajasthan) or Kshatriya (Warrior) supremacy — be it based on generous patronage, martial sacrifice, or some other virtue — and more a Bhat tactic for establishing their own importance as cunning bards who themselves defend and protect their patron-lords. In shifting the focus from patrons to the insights of the author’s bardic informants and the power of linguistic representation, this chapter hopes to draw more explicit attention to the imaginative dimensions of caste hierarchies and the arbitrariness of social centers and peripheries, It also argues that Bhat poetics parallel many of the insights of contemporary postmodern and poststructuralist theories. This chapter ends by exploring the manner Bhats use stories and puppet dramas placing themselves in close relationship to kings and nobles to help them appropriate the roles and statuses associated with royal bards, which in turn enables them to better exploit the modern tourist industry.
Antony Black
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199533206
- eISBN:
- 9780191714498
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199533206.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Islam retained clans and often tribes whereas Europe moved towards nuclear families. In Europe, significant social and political relationships were based on oath rather than kinship, whether between ...
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Islam retained clans and often tribes whereas Europe moved towards nuclear families. In Europe, significant social and political relationships were based on oath rather than kinship, whether between lords and followers (‘feudalism’) or among householders in city communities. Church and 'umma remained as universal societies. In Europe, territorial units of government became more entrenched, and, unlike in Islam, the nation sometimes became a political unit. Islam was well-disposed towards commerce. In Europe, the idea of the corporation as a legal body with specific legitimate powers favoured the city-state. In both societies, social inequalities and classes were justified, in Christendom by the organic metpahor, in Islam by a theory of the four social ‘orders’.Less
Islam retained clans and often tribes whereas Europe moved towards nuclear families. In Europe, significant social and political relationships were based on oath rather than kinship, whether between lords and followers (‘feudalism’) or among householders in city communities. Church and 'umma remained as universal societies. In Europe, territorial units of government became more entrenched, and, unlike in Islam, the nation sometimes became a political unit. Islam was well-disposed towards commerce. In Europe, the idea of the corporation as a legal body with specific legitimate powers favoured the city-state. In both societies, social inequalities and classes were justified, in Christendom by the organic metpahor, in Islam by a theory of the four social ‘orders’.
Ira Katznelson
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780198279242
- eISBN:
- 9780191601910
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198279248.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Defeated in the East and discredited in the West, Marxism has broken down as an ideology and as a guide to governance. However, for all its flaws, it remains an important tool for understanding and ...
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Defeated in the East and discredited in the West, Marxism has broken down as an ideology and as a guide to governance. However, for all its flaws, it remains an important tool for understanding and raising questions about key aspects of modern life. In Marxism and the City, Ira Katznelson critically assesses the scholarship on cities that has developed within Marxism in the past quarter century to show how some of the most important weaknesses in Marxism as a social theory can be remedied by forcing it to engage seriously with cities and spatial concerns. He argues that such a Marxism still has a significant contribution to make to the discussion of historical questions such as the transition from feudalism to a world composed of capitalist economies and nation‐states and the acquiescence of the western working classes to capitalism. Katznelson demonstrates how a Marxism that embraces complexity and is open to engagement with other social–theoretical traditions can illuminate understanding of cities and of the patterns of class and group formation that have characterized urban life in the West.Less
Defeated in the East and discredited in the West, Marxism has broken down as an ideology and as a guide to governance. However, for all its flaws, it remains an important tool for understanding and raising questions about key aspects of modern life. In Marxism and the City, Ira Katznelson critically assesses the scholarship on cities that has developed within Marxism in the past quarter century to show how some of the most important weaknesses in Marxism as a social theory can be remedied by forcing it to engage seriously with cities and spatial concerns. He argues that such a Marxism still has a significant contribution to make to the discussion of historical questions such as the transition from feudalism to a world composed of capitalist economies and nation‐states and the acquiescence of the western working classes to capitalism. Katznelson demonstrates how a Marxism that embraces complexity and is open to engagement with other social–theoretical traditions can illuminate understanding of cities and of the patterns of class and group formation that have characterized urban life in the West.
Arndt Sorge
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199278909
- eISBN:
- 9780191706820
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199278909.003.0003
- Subject:
- Business and Management, International Business
Layered societies evolve distinctive institutions and culture, partly against and partly by way of internationalization. The latter nexus is often neglected but demonstrated well in the case of ...
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Layered societies evolve distinctive institutions and culture, partly against and partly by way of internationalization. The latter nexus is often neglected but demonstrated well in the case of Germany. Social spaces are typically segmented, such that opposite meanings are allocated specific sub-spaces; co-exist at close quarters; and become temporarily interdependent. This vitiates any treatment of society being uniformly marked by specific characteristics. Internal opposition of meanings and external effects together fuel an evolutionary dialectic, which makes different characteristics prevail, alternate, and become intertwined at different moments. Such developments congeal into a meta-tradition which resembles the swing of a pendulum. A meta-tradition encases the dialectics of internationalization and provincialization, and other recombinations of opposed characteristics into novel institutions. In the case of Germany, a salient opposition governing the meta-tradition is between economic liberalization and corporatist economic and political association. The dialectic between these has been stimulated by international exposure, politically and economically. The fundamental casing of the meta-tradition is called the South Germanic bedrock (as against the North Germanic, Scandinavian, bedrock).Less
Layered societies evolve distinctive institutions and culture, partly against and partly by way of internationalization. The latter nexus is often neglected but demonstrated well in the case of Germany. Social spaces are typically segmented, such that opposite meanings are allocated specific sub-spaces; co-exist at close quarters; and become temporarily interdependent. This vitiates any treatment of society being uniformly marked by specific characteristics. Internal opposition of meanings and external effects together fuel an evolutionary dialectic, which makes different characteristics prevail, alternate, and become intertwined at different moments. Such developments congeal into a meta-tradition which resembles the swing of a pendulum. A meta-tradition encases the dialectics of internationalization and provincialization, and other recombinations of opposed characteristics into novel institutions. In the case of Germany, a salient opposition governing the meta-tradition is between economic liberalization and corporatist economic and political association. The dialectic between these has been stimulated by international exposure, politically and economically. The fundamental casing of the meta-tradition is called the South Germanic bedrock (as against the North Germanic, Scandinavian, bedrock).
Pushpa Prasad
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195684476
- eISBN:
- 9780199082100
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195684476.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Indian History
The Lekhapaddhati, whose translation with full annotation is offered in this volume, is unique in the whole body of ancient Sanskrit texts. It is a collection of actual or specimen documents (lekhas) ...
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The Lekhapaddhati, whose translation with full annotation is offered in this volume, is unique in the whole body of ancient Sanskrit texts. It is a collection of actual or specimen documents (lekhas) by unknown compiler, in use for public transactions, administration, rules for drafting land grants, treaties between kings, credit and banking system, mortgage deeds, creditor (dhanika/vyavahāraka) and debtor’s relations, judicial disputes, and private letters. Presumably, written as a guide for official scribes and professional letter writers, it is the sole non-epigraphic repository of grants and other public and private documents from early medieval India. These cover the eighth to the thirteenth centuries and relate to pre-Sultanate period of Gujarat. Their genuineness is shown by the fact that the texts of the royal grants or charter (patra) in this collection match closely with the texts from copper-plates. The large compass of other documents reveal many aspects of daily life, social customs which otherwise would remain obscure. Remarkable, for example, are the slavery deeds which show how much were girl slaves under the control of their masters and how caste taboos were utterly set aside where work by, or treatment of, female slaves was concerned. On what has been called ‘Indian feudalism’, the Lekhapaddhati’s evidence has been extensively used by the propounder’s of the theory as well as its critics. But it has to be remembered that the Lekhapaddhati has also much on trade, bills and drafts, land grants as a gift, and affairs of private life. Here we meet the lordly rulers, the stern officials, the gentlemen in town, the merchant, the slave master, the careless wife, and the forgetful husband. The book should appeal to those who want to look beyond the dynastic history, to the history of everyday life, private and official.Less
The Lekhapaddhati, whose translation with full annotation is offered in this volume, is unique in the whole body of ancient Sanskrit texts. It is a collection of actual or specimen documents (lekhas) by unknown compiler, in use for public transactions, administration, rules for drafting land grants, treaties between kings, credit and banking system, mortgage deeds, creditor (dhanika/vyavahāraka) and debtor’s relations, judicial disputes, and private letters. Presumably, written as a guide for official scribes and professional letter writers, it is the sole non-epigraphic repository of grants and other public and private documents from early medieval India. These cover the eighth to the thirteenth centuries and relate to pre-Sultanate period of Gujarat. Their genuineness is shown by the fact that the texts of the royal grants or charter (patra) in this collection match closely with the texts from copper-plates. The large compass of other documents reveal many aspects of daily life, social customs which otherwise would remain obscure. Remarkable, for example, are the slavery deeds which show how much were girl slaves under the control of their masters and how caste taboos were utterly set aside where work by, or treatment of, female slaves was concerned. On what has been called ‘Indian feudalism’, the Lekhapaddhati’s evidence has been extensively used by the propounder’s of the theory as well as its critics. But it has to be remembered that the Lekhapaddhati has also much on trade, bills and drafts, land grants as a gift, and affairs of private life. Here we meet the lordly rulers, the stern officials, the gentlemen in town, the merchant, the slave master, the careless wife, and the forgetful husband. The book should appeal to those who want to look beyond the dynastic history, to the history of everyday life, private and official.
David Levine
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520220584
- eISBN:
- 9780520923676
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520220584.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
Looking at a neglected period in the social history of modernization, this book investigates the centuries that followed the year 1000, when a new kind of society emerged in Europe. New commercial ...
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Looking at a neglected period in the social history of modernization, this book investigates the centuries that followed the year 1000, when a new kind of society emerged in Europe. New commercial routines, new forms of agriculture, new methods of information technology, and increased population densities all played a role in the prolonged transition away from antiquity and toward modernity. The book highlights both “top-down” and “bottom-up” changes that characterized the social experience of early modernization. In the former category are the Gregorian Reformation, the imposition of feudalism, and the development of centralizing state formations. Of equal importance to this book's portrait of the emerging social order are the bottom-up demographic relations that structured everyday life, because the making of the modern world, in the book's view, also began in the decisions made by countless men and women regarding their families and circumstances. The book ends its story with the cataclysm unleashed by the Black Death in 1348, which brought three centuries of growth to a grim end.Less
Looking at a neglected period in the social history of modernization, this book investigates the centuries that followed the year 1000, when a new kind of society emerged in Europe. New commercial routines, new forms of agriculture, new methods of information technology, and increased population densities all played a role in the prolonged transition away from antiquity and toward modernity. The book highlights both “top-down” and “bottom-up” changes that characterized the social experience of early modernization. In the former category are the Gregorian Reformation, the imposition of feudalism, and the development of centralizing state formations. Of equal importance to this book's portrait of the emerging social order are the bottom-up demographic relations that structured everyday life, because the making of the modern world, in the book's view, also began in the decisions made by countless men and women regarding their families and circumstances. The book ends its story with the cataclysm unleashed by the Black Death in 1348, which brought three centuries of growth to a grim end.
Monika Baár
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199581184
- eISBN:
- 9780191722806
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199581184.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
As Chapter 7, ‘Feudalism and the National Past’, explains, the period of feudalism was believed to represent a rupture in national life: the historians maintained in unison that it was a foreign ...
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As Chapter 7, ‘Feudalism and the National Past’, explains, the period of feudalism was believed to represent a rupture in national life: the historians maintained in unison that it was a foreign development, the result of colonization, which never fully penetrated their societies. The chapter assesses the humanitarian and utilitarian arguments with which they supported their demands for the abolition of feudalism: they championed the emancipation of non‐privileged classes by endowing them with civic liberties and the right of property ownership. Furthermore, it explores how the historians utilized a mainstream argument of the age according to which trade and industry and medieval towns played a seminal role in the weakening of the feudal system. Last but not least, the chapter focuses not only on the content but also on the form of the proposed changes and tackles the historians' attitudes to liberalism, democracy, reform and revolution.Less
As Chapter 7, ‘Feudalism and the National Past’, explains, the period of feudalism was believed to represent a rupture in national life: the historians maintained in unison that it was a foreign development, the result of colonization, which never fully penetrated their societies. The chapter assesses the humanitarian and utilitarian arguments with which they supported their demands for the abolition of feudalism: they championed the emancipation of non‐privileged classes by endowing them with civic liberties and the right of property ownership. Furthermore, it explores how the historians utilized a mainstream argument of the age according to which trade and industry and medieval towns played a seminal role in the weakening of the feudal system. Last but not least, the chapter focuses not only on the content but also on the form of the proposed changes and tackles the historians' attitudes to liberalism, democracy, reform and revolution.
J. R. Maddicott
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199585502
- eISBN:
- 9780191723148
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199585502.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History, Political History
This chapter traces the evolution of assemblies from the Norman Conquest to the death of Henry II. It shows that the Norman kings took over the Anglo‐Saxon institution of the witan, but transformed ...
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This chapter traces the evolution of assemblies from the Norman Conquest to the death of Henry II. It shows that the Norman kings took over the Anglo‐Saxon institution of the witan, but transformed it in two ways: by making attendance depend on tenure (those present were the leading tenants of the crown), and by demanding counsel as a feudal right, to which the lord‐king was entitled. It analyses the king's reasons for wanting counsel—it spread responsibility for major decisions and promoted political harmony—and the magnates' reasons for attending councils to give it. Though notions of restraints on the crown were very much in the air, promoted by the coronation charters which some kings granted at the start of their reigns, there was as yet no sense that councils were able to impose those restraints. But at the end of the period the introduction of national taxation was beginning to give rise to the need for magnate consent for taxes. This was to be one of the roots of parliament.Less
This chapter traces the evolution of assemblies from the Norman Conquest to the death of Henry II. It shows that the Norman kings took over the Anglo‐Saxon institution of the witan, but transformed it in two ways: by making attendance depend on tenure (those present were the leading tenants of the crown), and by demanding counsel as a feudal right, to which the lord‐king was entitled. It analyses the king's reasons for wanting counsel—it spread responsibility for major decisions and promoted political harmony—and the magnates' reasons for attending councils to give it. Though notions of restraints on the crown were very much in the air, promoted by the coronation charters which some kings granted at the start of their reigns, there was as yet no sense that councils were able to impose those restraints. But at the end of the period the introduction of national taxation was beginning to give rise to the need for magnate consent for taxes. This was to be one of the roots of parliament.
Rabindra Ray
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198077381
- eISBN:
- 9780199081011
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198077381.003.0006
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
The central concept of the Naxalite metaphysic was the characterization of the Indian economy as ‘semi-feudal, semi-colonial’. The characterization is not so much the description of a state of ...
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The central concept of the Naxalite metaphysic was the characterization of the Indian economy as ‘semi-feudal, semi-colonial’. The characterization is not so much the description of a state of affairs as an injunction to the action of a particular kind. The characterization also does not refer so much to facts of the economy in a ‘materialist’ sense, but to perceived experiences of personality which are reified into an economic terminology. Semi-feudalism accrues from a schema which sees the Indian economy as progressing from a state of feudalism to a state of capitalism, in which semi-feudalism is an intermediate state. This chapter also considers the agrarian conditions in India and the question of the mode of production.Less
The central concept of the Naxalite metaphysic was the characterization of the Indian economy as ‘semi-feudal, semi-colonial’. The characterization is not so much the description of a state of affairs as an injunction to the action of a particular kind. The characterization also does not refer so much to facts of the economy in a ‘materialist’ sense, but to perceived experiences of personality which are reified into an economic terminology. Semi-feudalism accrues from a schema which sees the Indian economy as progressing from a state of feudalism to a state of capitalism, in which semi-feudalism is an intermediate state. This chapter also considers the agrarian conditions in India and the question of the mode of production.
Rabindra Ray
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198077381
- eISBN:
- 9780199081011
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198077381.003.0007
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
The theoretical tradition to which Charu Mazumdar himself links his speculations is the Marxist–Leninist–Maoist. In the materialist metaphysic of these schools, what Mazumdar wants to bring about is ...
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The theoretical tradition to which Charu Mazumdar himself links his speculations is the Marxist–Leninist–Maoist. In the materialist metaphysic of these schools, what Mazumdar wants to bring about is the New Democratic revolution. This is to establish the rule of the vast majority of the nation, composed specifically of the peasantry, the proletariat, the petty bourgeoisie, and the national bourgeoisie, upsetting the rule of the landlords, the comprador bourgeoisie, the US imperialists, and the Soviet social-imperialists, who constitute a tiny minority. The terminology in which what became for Mazumdar Jotedar-rajya was codified, defined India as a semi-feudal, semi-colonial country. This chapter also considers the initial formulations of revolution in terrorist tracts. Mazumdar’s view of the revolution is unarmed peasants turning ferociously on their armed oppressors, killing them and snatching their weapons to found an army that will liberate the whole country.Less
The theoretical tradition to which Charu Mazumdar himself links his speculations is the Marxist–Leninist–Maoist. In the materialist metaphysic of these schools, what Mazumdar wants to bring about is the New Democratic revolution. This is to establish the rule of the vast majority of the nation, composed specifically of the peasantry, the proletariat, the petty bourgeoisie, and the national bourgeoisie, upsetting the rule of the landlords, the comprador bourgeoisie, the US imperialists, and the Soviet social-imperialists, who constitute a tiny minority. The terminology in which what became for Mazumdar Jotedar-rajya was codified, defined India as a semi-feudal, semi-colonial country. This chapter also considers the initial formulations of revolution in terrorist tracts. Mazumdar’s view of the revolution is unarmed peasants turning ferociously on their armed oppressors, killing them and snatching their weapons to found an army that will liberate the whole country.
S. J. Connolly
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780198208167
- eISBN:
- 9780191716546
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198208167.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
By the second half of the 16th century, the extension of English power across most parts of the island was reflected in the growth of new institutions of central and local government, in particular ...
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By the second half of the 16th century, the extension of English power across most parts of the island was reflected in the growth of new institutions of central and local government, in particular by the creation of counties. Attempts to assimilate Gaelic lordships into a social hierarchy modelled on that of England continued. But there were also attempts to plant colonies of English on land seized from native rulers. Meanwhile, attempts to persuade the nobility of English descent to abandon their private armies sustained by feudal levies encountered violent resistance. The chapter looks critically at claims that the 1560s and 1570s saw a clear shift from a vision of reform to a policy of colonization backed by physical force. The career of the Ulster warlord Shane O'Neill — involving constant shifts in alliance between English, Scots, and competing Gaelic lords — illustrates the primacy of short term expediency over ideology.Less
By the second half of the 16th century, the extension of English power across most parts of the island was reflected in the growth of new institutions of central and local government, in particular by the creation of counties. Attempts to assimilate Gaelic lordships into a social hierarchy modelled on that of England continued. But there were also attempts to plant colonies of English on land seized from native rulers. Meanwhile, attempts to persuade the nobility of English descent to abandon their private armies sustained by feudal levies encountered violent resistance. The chapter looks critically at claims that the 1560s and 1570s saw a clear shift from a vision of reform to a policy of colonization backed by physical force. The career of the Ulster warlord Shane O'Neill — involving constant shifts in alliance between English, Scots, and competing Gaelic lords — illustrates the primacy of short term expediency over ideology.
Elliot Kendall
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199542642
- eISBN:
- 9780191715419
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199542642.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
This chapter introduces the great household as a late medieval social structure and introduces models of exchange, based on the work of Pierre Bourdieu and Marcel Mauss, as a means of describing the ...
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This chapter introduces the great household as a late medieval social structure and introduces models of exchange, based on the work of Pierre Bourdieu and Marcel Mauss, as a means of describing the economics of power in the period. Two models in particular will be central to the book's argument: one-sided ‘magnificence’ and asymmetric reciprocity or aristocratic ‘reciprocalism’, which emphasizes mutuality as well as hierarchy. The great household is introduced with discussion of membership, lordship, aristocratic status, landed interests, household office, livery, retinue, and ‘bastard feudalism’.Less
This chapter introduces the great household as a late medieval social structure and introduces models of exchange, based on the work of Pierre Bourdieu and Marcel Mauss, as a means of describing the economics of power in the period. Two models in particular will be central to the book's argument: one-sided ‘magnificence’ and asymmetric reciprocity or aristocratic ‘reciprocalism’, which emphasizes mutuality as well as hierarchy. The great household is introduced with discussion of membership, lordship, aristocratic status, landed interests, household office, livery, retinue, and ‘bastard feudalism’.
John McManners
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198270034
- eISBN:
- 9780191600685
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198270038.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
The general assemblies of the clergy, dominated by the bishops, voted taxation to the crown, presented remonstrances to the king, and also (in the absence of a general council of the church) made ...
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The general assemblies of the clergy, dominated by the bishops, voted taxation to the crown, presented remonstrances to the king, and also (in the absence of a general council of the church) made doctrinal and disciplinary pronouncements. The assemblies effectively upheld the privileges of the clergy, aided by an efficient bureaucracy created for the collection of taxes. The occasion of granting supply allowed the presentation of the grievances of the Gallican Church arising from the complex and often unjust system of the assessment of the tax burden. Debates about taxation were endless; provinces annexed to the kingdom since 1561 enjoyed a different tax regime; arguments were constant about the array of minor taxes owed in certain circumstances; and some institutions built up heavy tax arrears. Lay complaints about clerical exemption from ‘ordinary’ taxation were constant and vocal, but overall assessments of the amount of tax paid by the Church reveals a considerable increase in the course of the century.Less
The general assemblies of the clergy, dominated by the bishops, voted taxation to the crown, presented remonstrances to the king, and also (in the absence of a general council of the church) made doctrinal and disciplinary pronouncements. The assemblies effectively upheld the privileges of the clergy, aided by an efficient bureaucracy created for the collection of taxes. The occasion of granting supply allowed the presentation of the grievances of the Gallican Church arising from the complex and often unjust system of the assessment of the tax burden. Debates about taxation were endless; provinces annexed to the kingdom since 1561 enjoyed a different tax regime; arguments were constant about the array of minor taxes owed in certain circumstances; and some institutions built up heavy tax arrears. Lay complaints about clerical exemption from ‘ordinary’ taxation were constant and vocal, but overall assessments of the amount of tax paid by the Church reveals a considerable increase in the course of the century.
Deepak Lal
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199275793
- eISBN:
- 9780191706097
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199275793.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
This chapter sketches an economic theory which might be able to explain both the origins and the resilience of the Hindu social system as expressed in its twin pillars: the caste system and the ...
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This chapter sketches an economic theory which might be able to explain both the origins and the resilience of the Hindu social system as expressed in its twin pillars: the caste system and the village “community”. It considers another novel aspect of Hindu customs — its ban on cow slaughter. It focuses on the north, in particular on the Indo-Gangetic plain, which was the crucible of Hinduism, and its social expression in the caste system. The chapter also outlines the variant of the Hindu social system that was established in the southern peninsula by about the 6th to 9th centuries AD, and the reasons for the form it took.Less
This chapter sketches an economic theory which might be able to explain both the origins and the resilience of the Hindu social system as expressed in its twin pillars: the caste system and the village “community”. It considers another novel aspect of Hindu customs — its ban on cow slaughter. It focuses on the north, in particular on the Indo-Gangetic plain, which was the crucible of Hinduism, and its social expression in the caste system. The chapter also outlines the variant of the Hindu social system that was established in the southern peninsula by about the 6th to 9th centuries AD, and the reasons for the form it took.
Brock W. Holden
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199548576
- eISBN:
- 9780191720680
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199548576.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
This introductory chapter begins with a brief historical background of the focus of this book, which is the March of Wales from 1087 to 1265. Europe and the roots of its culture were the creation of ...
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This introductory chapter begins with a brief historical background of the focus of this book, which is the March of Wales from 1087 to 1265. Europe and the roots of its culture were the creation of the High Middle Ages, the first period of European expansion. That expansion was important, for prior to it there existed a number of different Europes: Frankish, Celtic, Slavonic, and Muslim. The chapter discusses the neglect of the March by 20th-century modern scholarship; how the book differs from other family and lordship studies, the five baronial families to be examined — the Braoses, Cliffords, Lacys, Monmouths, and Mortimers.Less
This introductory chapter begins with a brief historical background of the focus of this book, which is the March of Wales from 1087 to 1265. Europe and the roots of its culture were the creation of the High Middle Ages, the first period of European expansion. That expansion was important, for prior to it there existed a number of different Europes: Frankish, Celtic, Slavonic, and Muslim. The chapter discusses the neglect of the March by 20th-century modern scholarship; how the book differs from other family and lordship studies, the five baronial families to be examined — the Braoses, Cliffords, Lacys, Monmouths, and Mortimers.
Brock W. Holden
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199548576
- eISBN:
- 9780191720680
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199548576.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
This chapter examines the role of the Royal Government in the border region of Herefordshire and the adjacent Marcher lordship. It argues that the king played a greater role in the shaping of the ...
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This chapter examines the role of the Royal Government in the border region of Herefordshire and the adjacent Marcher lordship. It argues that the king played a greater role in the shaping of the March than is sometimes allowed. Although the customs of the Marcher lords were largely respected and their independence at times given free rein, most notably under Richard I, they were still tenants-in-chief and could not afford to ignore the king. The kings of England took varying approaches to the March. Henry I intruded new men into the region on a scale not seen again until the middle years of Henry III's reign. Henry II halted Marcher ambitions by reaching an accommodation with the Lord Rhys, a satisfactory agreement as long as the two men lived. Richard I had too pressing concerns elsewhere, and for a space of time the March reverted to a cockpit for baronial ambitions and vendettas.Less
This chapter examines the role of the Royal Government in the border region of Herefordshire and the adjacent Marcher lordship. It argues that the king played a greater role in the shaping of the March than is sometimes allowed. Although the customs of the Marcher lords were largely respected and their independence at times given free rein, most notably under Richard I, they were still tenants-in-chief and could not afford to ignore the king. The kings of England took varying approaches to the March. Henry I intruded new men into the region on a scale not seen again until the middle years of Henry III's reign. Henry II halted Marcher ambitions by reaching an accommodation with the Lord Rhys, a satisfactory agreement as long as the two men lived. Richard I had too pressing concerns elsewhere, and for a space of time the March reverted to a cockpit for baronial ambitions and vendettas.
Brock W. Holden
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199548576
- eISBN:
- 9780191720680
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199548576.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
This chapter examines the history of the March during reigns of Richard I and John. The fortunes of the Braose and Lacy families changed greatly between the death of Henry II in 1189 and that of his ...
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This chapter examines the history of the March during reigns of Richard I and John. The fortunes of the Braose and Lacy families changed greatly between the death of Henry II in 1189 and that of his son King John in 1216. On the other hand, the Cliffords, Monmouths, and Mortimers held their ground and, during the tumultuous events of John's reign, positioned themselves advantageously for the future by developing closer links to the Crown. Richard I's reign was marked by a turning away from the policy of royal control and containment of Marcher ambitions which Henry II had pursued since 1172. This in effect licensed the magnates of the south-eastern March to resume their ambitions for the conquest and domination of neighbouring Welsh regions. John's reign in turn was marked by the rise of one of these magnates, his favourite William III de Braose, to even greater heights of landed power, in the most dramatic exercise of patronage by that king.Less
This chapter examines the history of the March during reigns of Richard I and John. The fortunes of the Braose and Lacy families changed greatly between the death of Henry II in 1189 and that of his son King John in 1216. On the other hand, the Cliffords, Monmouths, and Mortimers held their ground and, during the tumultuous events of John's reign, positioned themselves advantageously for the future by developing closer links to the Crown. Richard I's reign was marked by a turning away from the policy of royal control and containment of Marcher ambitions which Henry II had pursued since 1172. This in effect licensed the magnates of the south-eastern March to resume their ambitions for the conquest and domination of neighbouring Welsh regions. John's reign in turn was marked by the rise of one of these magnates, his favourite William III de Braose, to even greater heights of landed power, in the most dramatic exercise of patronage by that king.
