(3) Feudalism refers to a type of socio-economic organization of society as a whole, a mode of production and of the reproduction of social classes. Finally, the armed forces involve, as a key element, a heavy armed cavalry which is secured through private contracts, whereby military service is exchanged for benefits of some kind (Strayer, 1965 Ganshof, 1947). It is a form of rule in which political power is profoundly fragmented geographically in which, even within the smallest political units, no single ruler has a monopoly of political authority and in which political power is privately held, and can thus be inherited, divided among heirs, given as a marriage portion, mortgaged, and bought and sold. (2) Feudalism refers, more broadly, to a form of government or political domination. It constitutes a relationship in which a freeman (vassal) assumes an obligation to obey and to provide, primarily military, services to an overload, who, in turn, assumes a reciprocal obligation to provide protection and maintenance, typically in the form of a fief, a landed estate to be held by the vassal on condition of fulfilment of obligations (Bloch, 1939–40). (1) Feudalism refers strictly to those social institutions which create and regulate a quite specific form of legal relationships between men. There are three main competing conceptualizations. Modern discussions of feudalism have been bedevilled by disagreement over the definition of that term.
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