early medieval states
This is based (loosely) on Chris Wickham's model - see http://magistraetmater.blog.co.uk/ for the blog post that inspired this…
3 sorts of early medieval states:
- those with a salaried army
- examples include
- Byzantium
- later Roman Empire
- Ummayad Caliphate
- highly organised
- comprehensive written records
- effective taxation system
- professional military class
- highly hierarchical social order
- examples include
- those with a landed army
- less hierarchical social system
- miltary service by obligation
- solidiers raised from peasantry
- no taxation system as such
- few written records
- but increasing use of charters to define relationships and obligations
- also seen in marriage contracts
- work of Georges Duby on changes in form of marriage between 900 and 1200 in medieval France
- see The knight, the lady and the priest for a summary
- work of Georges Duby on changes in form of marriage between 900 and 1200 in medieval France
- compare with medieval social networking
- also seen in marriage contracts
- examples include
- Gothic Italy
- Lombard states in north Italy
- Visigothic Spain (Asturias)
- Merovingian Francia
- but increasing use of charters to define relationships and obligations
- memory of panoply of late Roman empire and a desire to hark back to these forms
- cf Gregory of Tours History of the Franks and comments re the provision of soldiers at public expense
- early medieval Welsh successor states and use of late Roman titles eg Protector and land tax system (need to revisit this)
- those with no effective organisation
- little or no records
- records that do exist are maintained by the church
- military organisation limited to personal warband of leader
- no network of social obligation between landholders
- examples include
- early anglo saxon england
- viking states including viking ireland
- early mediveval scotland
- no memory or continuity with late roman forms
- tends over time to evolve into something like a state with a landed army
- example later anglo saxon england and the development of the fyrd
- little or no records
questions
- did social organisation impact on travel/trade
- did people at the time make such distinctions
- is Wickham right to argue the landed army model more stable as creation of tax system generates substantial administrative overhead (can one make a tenuous arguement about Cromwell's new model army versus the Cavalier army which was essentially a continuationof the Tudor model)
- implications for different levels of military skill, deployment of more sophisticated military technology, general military effctiveness
page revision: 5, last edited: 02 Jan 2010 01:32