Page "Feudalism" Paragraph 3

There is also a broader definition, as described by Marc Bloch ( 1939 ), that includes not only warrior nobility but all three estates of the realm: the nobility, the clerics, and the peasantry bonds of manorialism ; this is sometimes referred to as a " feudal society ".

Since 1974 with the publication of Elizabeth A. R. Brown's The Tyranny of a Construct, and Susan Reynolds ' Fiefs and Vassals ( 1994 ), there has been ongoing inconclusive discussion among medieval historians as to whether feudalism is a useful construct for understanding medieval society.