--- Wilson Fisk wilsonfisk2@yahoo.com wrote: >
Yes. But as time went on various people promised various bits of the country to others "in perpetuity to them and their heirs" creating the compromise system known as 'bastard feudalism', traces of which survive today. Esp. in London, strangely.
Which over the centuries I guess lead to the war of the roses
Not, really the War Of The Roses (which was really no such thing) was a series of quite nasty *dynastic* battles fought over forty or so years. Not a lot to do with ownership of land. More to do with blood and recognition of it.
One theory when I studied the period at university was that bastard feudalism had led to political instablility because the great magnates (In particular Richard, Duke of York) owned a sufficient amount of land to rival the power of the king. The Tudor settlement (which was invented by Edward IV, just to confuse matters) ensured that the majority of land was owned by the King and his supporters or family and ensured that the great magnates couldn't put armies in the field against him. The dynastic battles on this reading only became possible because of the system of bastard feudalism.
The theory was falling into disfavour, as it was being argued that what Edward IV and Henry VII did was manage Bastard Feudalism effectively rather than invent something new. The wars were then attributed to misgovernment by Henry VI.
Ob B7: The new High Council in season IV were obviously the equivalent of the Tudors - rebuilding a broken system. Star One was obviously the Federation equivalent of a strong monarchy. Was Servalan deposed because she spent all her time gadding around the galaxy chasing Avon, or did she lay the groundwork for the expansion of the Federation only to find the new lot take over in her absence and nick the credit ?
Stephen.
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