manorialism, actually
feudalism is the political system
feudalism is the political system
September 15, 2025 at 9:40 PM
manorialism, actually
feudalism is the political system
feudalism is the political system
March 16, 2024 at 1:44 PM
this is simply not how the middle ages or manorialism work
January 15, 2026 at 11:07 PM
this is simply not how the middle ages or manorialism work
Because a paystub won’t do?
Corporate landlords; one step away from manorialism.
Corporate landlords; one step away from manorialism.
September 29, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Because a paystub won’t do?
Corporate landlords; one step away from manorialism.
Corporate landlords; one step away from manorialism.
Only if you have literally no other notion of any system of hierarchical power not founded in capitalism, and/or no sense that capitalism and manorialism are fundamentally different socioeconomic systems of legitimacy and hierarchy.
People joke about how certain internet DMs the villain is always capitalism, but also if everyone's running characters that are plucky underdogs against the system it's kind of hard for the villain to not be capitalism.
February 17, 2026 at 7:29 AM
Only if you have literally no other notion of any system of hierarchical power not founded in capitalism, and/or no sense that capitalism and manorialism are fundamentally different socioeconomic systems of legitimacy and hierarchy.
Can't wait for Manorialism 2.
September 23, 2026 at 5:40 PM
Can't wait for Manorialism 2.
Anyway, maybe I should pencil in a basic primer on manorialism for the blog.
March 17, 2025 at 4:13 AM
Anyway, maybe I should pencil in a basic primer on manorialism for the blog.
My version goes like this, "Medieval European communities were generally structured by two systems: vassalage and manorialism. Under manorialism, the main productive resource (land) was controlled by aristocrats (the lords of manors) and worked by peasants who, while free, were tied to their land."
October 20, 2025 at 5:47 PM
My version goes like this, "Medieval European communities were generally structured by two systems: vassalage and manorialism. Under manorialism, the main productive resource (land) was controlled by aristocrats (the lords of manors) and worked by peasants who, while free, were tied to their land."
My own solution in the past has been to speak of a political structure - vassalage - which connected kings, aristocrats and retainers, and then an economic system - manorialism - which connected aristocrats and peasants.
I can explain that in a simple, foundational model, which we can build on.
I can explain that in a simple, foundational model, which we can build on.
October 20, 2025 at 3:44 PM
My own solution in the past has been to speak of a political structure - vassalage - which connected kings, aristocrats and retainers, and then an economic system - manorialism - which connected aristocrats and peasants.
I can explain that in a simple, foundational model, which we can build on.
I can explain that in a simple, foundational model, which we can build on.
True manorialism has never been tried
February 6, 2026 at 3:44 PM
True manorialism has never been tried
I don't know if this is the best approach, but the way I've ended up teaching this when I get into the Middle Ages (as a non-medievalist) is to talk about the eventual joining of a system of rural economic organization (manorialism) with a system of fragmented military-political power (vassalage).
when I read this article in the 90s, I was wholly persuaded that feudalism is not something that was particularly real, moreover, it's not useful. I haven't changed my mind, I'm afraid. And I find the "neofeudalism" etc vexing.
www.jstor.org/stable/18695...
www.jstor.org/stable/18695...
The Tyranny of a Construct: Feudalism and Historians of Medieval Europe on JSTOR
Elizabeth A. R. Brown, The Tyranny of a Construct: Feudalism and Historians of Medieval Europe, The American Historical Review, Vol. 79, No. 4 (Oct., 1974), pp. 1063-1088
www.jstor.org
March 9, 2025 at 10:58 PM
I don't know if this is the best approach, but the way I've ended up teaching this when I get into the Middle Ages (as a non-medievalist) is to talk about the eventual joining of a system of rural economic organization (manorialism) with a system of fragmented military-political power (vassalage).
This. Except it's not "late stage capitalism"--there's no such thing.
It's late stage California NIMBY manorialism.
It's late stage California NIMBY manorialism.
For history’s sake, record of a late stage capitalism life arc
January 8, 2025 at 11:01 PM
This. Except it's not "late stage capitalism"--there's no such thing.
It's late stage California NIMBY manorialism.
It's late stage California NIMBY manorialism.
Understanding manorialism level: impossible.
February 17, 2026 at 12:30 PM
Understanding manorialism level: impossible.
He’s a farmer in the same sense that lords in the Middle Ages were farmers.
October 26, 2025 at 3:34 PM
He’s a farmer in the same sense that lords in the Middle Ages were farmers.
Arguably more important! Cruelty and power alienates people, and manorialism & aristocracy are extremely interpersonal-loyalty & reciprocity systems, that's why the elites in epic poems are always reveling with one another & giving gifts - so when shit gets hard they'll fight for each other.
Oh yeah something I think the last decade of medieval-themed media missed is that generosity and hospitality were just as effective displays of power as cruelty.
(Byzantine/Roman emperors and empresses *were* expected to make displays of charity during public appearances, because to medieval people generosity demonstrated wealth more than hoarding it did, so it's more complicated than "but they really didn't care lmao.")
April 23, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Arguably more important! Cruelty and power alienates people, and manorialism & aristocracy are extremely interpersonal-loyalty & reciprocity systems, that's why the elites in epic poems are always reveling with one another & giving gifts - so when shit gets hard they'll fight for each other.
(whereas nobody knows what ‘manorialism’ means. insert the xkcd comic about geologists and average knowledge about chemical formulas for olivine here)
July 30, 2026 at 10:39 PM
(whereas nobody knows what ‘manorialism’ means. insert the xkcd comic about geologists and average knowledge about chemical formulas for olivine here)
Would be manorialism lover really
November 28, 2025 at 6:52 AM
Would be manorialism lover really
Part of the reason I want to separate them is to note that they do not always come together. Manorialism, as an economic system, pre-dates the emergence of real vassalage-based-polities in the aftermath of the post-Carolingian fragmentation.
October 20, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Part of the reason I want to separate them is to note that they do not always come together. Manorialism, as an economic system, pre-dates the emergence of real vassalage-based-polities in the aftermath of the post-Carolingian fragmentation.
@bretdevereaux.bsky.social what is it these days with self-proclaimed 'libertarians' who want to implement manorialism for VC billionaires conditional on vassalage to Trump?
I know the word has its issues, but I think the "feudalism" rhetoric is going to stick. This is nuts.
I know the word has its issues, but I think the "feudalism" rhetoric is going to stick. This is nuts.
Balaji Srinivasan suggests giving Elon Musk “control of a huge swath of land surrounding Starbase, Texas” & designate that land as “a military base or … similar, so that [Musk] can fence it off & determine at his sole discretion who can enter.” Then replicate in other states w/ other Tech Bros. 1/
March 17, 2025 at 4:08 AM
@bretdevereaux.bsky.social what is it these days with self-proclaimed 'libertarians' who want to implement manorialism for VC billionaires conditional on vassalage to Trump?
I know the word has its issues, but I think the "feudalism" rhetoric is going to stick. This is nuts.
I know the word has its issues, but I think the "feudalism" rhetoric is going to stick. This is nuts.
the term unhelpfully conflates the economic relationships between peasants and lords (manorialism) with the military/political relationships between greater and lesser aristocrats (vassalage)
October 29, 2025 at 7:07 AM
the term unhelpfully conflates the economic relationships between peasants and lords (manorialism) with the military/political relationships between greater and lesser aristocrats (vassalage)
Proto-capitalism exists in Essos, especially Bravos, which basically Venice and Amsterdam combined. Clearly GRRM understands that better than manorialism
December 28, 2024 at 12:20 AM
Proto-capitalism exists in Essos, especially Bravos, which basically Venice and Amsterdam combined. Clearly GRRM understands that better than manorialism
Love conflating manorialism and communes. 🤦♀️
April 4, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Love conflating manorialism and communes. 🤦♀️
And sometimes the 'vassals' in such a polity are not lords with manor-estates (so not 'manorial' vassals) but rather things like cities which do not (always) run on manorialism as their economic structure.
So it's two, substantially but not completely, overlapping systems.
So it's two, substantially but not completely, overlapping systems.
October 20, 2025 at 4:24 PM
And sometimes the 'vassals' in such a polity are not lords with manor-estates (so not 'manorial' vassals) but rather things like cities which do not (always) run on manorialism as their economic structure.
So it's two, substantially but not completely, overlapping systems.
So it's two, substantially but not completely, overlapping systems.
"technofeudalism" is a popular slogan but I think this is false. The essential experience of labor under manorialism is rooted relations; the essential experience of labor under cyberpunk is precarious relations.
November 12, 2025 at 3:55 PM
"technofeudalism" is a popular slogan but I think this is false. The essential experience of labor under manorialism is rooted relations; the essential experience of labor under cyberpunk is precarious relations.