English

Halperin Ch. Feudalism in Russia, Then and Now: Vladimir Shlapentokh’s Concept of a «Feudal Society»

Modified Date
Published Date:

Section: Recensionis / Reviews

Posted in Recensionis / Reviews

Title of the article

Feudalism in Russia, Then and Now: Vladimir Shlapentokh’s Concept of a «Feudal Society»
Authors Halperin, Charles J. — Bloomington, Indiana, USA, doctor in History, Independent Scholar, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Scopus ID 26033131400
In the section Recensionis / Reviews
Year 2015 Issue 2 Pages 208-226
Type of article RAR Index UDK   Index BBK  
Abstract Based upon medieval European history Vladimir Shlapentokh’s Contemporary Russia as a Feudal Society defines «feudalism» as a Weberian «ideal type» characterized by a weak central government which produces multiple power centers, increased crime and corruption, private security, and the dominance of personal relations in politics and the economy. This article concludes that his «ideal type» is based too much upon evidence from outside the medieval period. Shlapentokh has deduced rather than demonstrated the connection between weak central government and the elements he identifies as «feudal». Closer examination of the arguments of revisionist medieval historians who dispute the concept of «feudalism» and earlier studies of early Rus’ «feudalism», both of which Shlapentokh slights, further impugns the linkages which Shlapentokh posits. However, Shlapentokh’s monograph should encourage specialists in early Rus’ to undertake new comparative studies of «feudal» institutions.
Keywords Shlapentokh, feudalism, ideal type, Pavlov-Sil’vanskii
Full text version of the article. Article language English
References

  • Ash, Ronald G.; Birke, Adolf M. (eds). Princes, Patronage, and the Nobility: The Court at the Beginning of the Modern Age, c. 1450–1650. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. 507 p.

    Bagge, Sverre; Gelting, Michael H.; Lindkvist, Thomas (eds). Feudalism. New Landscapes of Debate. Turnhout: Brepols Publ., 2011. 232 p.

    Bakhrushin, Sergey Vladimirovich. Vopros o russkom feodalizme v nauchnoy literature [in English], in Bakhrushin, Sergey Vladimirovich. Trudy po istochnikovedeniyu, istoriografii i istorii Rossii epokhi feodalizma. (Nauchnoe nasledie). Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1987. P. 53–80 (in Russian).

    Bold, Bat-Ochir. Mongolian Nomadic Society. A Reconstruction of the «Medieval» History of Mongolia. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2001. 204 p.

    Bovykin, Vladimir Valentinovich. Mestnoe upravlenie v Russkom gosudarstve XVI v. St. Petersburg: Dmitriy Bulanin Publ., 2012. 150 p. (in Russian).

    Brown, Elizabeth A. R. The Tyranny of a Construct: Feudalism and Historians of Medieval Europe, in American Historical Review. Vol. 79. № 4. October, 1974. P. 1063–1088.

    Cheyette, Fredric. ‘Feudalism’ — A Memoir and an Assessment, in Belle S. Tuten; Tracey L. Billado (eds). Feud, Violence and Practice: Essays in Medieval Studies in Honor of Stephen D. White. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate Publ., 2010. P. 119–133.

    Cheyette, Fredric. Introduction, in Feudalism. New Landscapes of Debate. Turnhout: Brepols Publ., 2011.P. 1–13.

    Crummey, Robert O.Aristocrats and Servitors: The Boyar Elite in Russia, 1613–1689. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983. 315 p.

    Culpepper, Jack M. The Legislative Origins of Peasant Bondage in Muscovy, in Forschungen zur osteuropäischen Geschichte. Bd 14. Berlin, 1969. P. 162–237.

    Gurevich, Aron Yakovlevich. Iz vystupleniya na zashchite doktorskoy dissertatsii A. L. Yurganova (Kategorii russkoy srednevekovoy kul’tury), in Odissey. Chelovek v istorii. Moscow, 2000. P. 295–302 (in Russian).

    Halperin, Charles J. Muscovy as a Hypertrophic State: A Critique, inKritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History. Vol. 3. 2002. P. 501–507.

    Halperin, Charles J. Review of Bat-Ochir Bold ‘Mongolian Nomadic Society. A Reconstruction of the «Medieval» History of Mongolia’, in Canadian-American Slavic Studies. Vol. 37. 2003. P. 203–204.

    Hellie, Richard. Enserfment and Military Change in Muscovy. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1967. 432 p.

    Henshall, Nicholas. The Myth of Absolutism. Change and Continuity in Early Modern European Monarchy. London: «Longman» Publ., 1992. 245 p.

    Hyams, Paul. The End of Feudalism? Review of ‘Fiefs and Vassals: The Medieval Evidence Reinterpreted’ by Susan Reynolds, in Journal of Interdisciplinary History. Vol. 27. 1997. P. 655–662.

    Kivelson, Valerie A. On Words, Sources, and Historical Method: Which Truth About Muscovy?, in Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History. Vol. 3. 2002. P. 487–499.

    Kollmann, Nancy Shields. Crime and Punishment in Early Modern Russia. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012. 503 p.

    Kollmann, Nancy Shields. Kinship and Politics: The Making of the Muscovite Political System, 1345–1547. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1987. 324 p.

    Miller, Alexander. Feudalism in England and Russia: Suggestions for a Comparative Study of Early English and Muscovite Political and Social Institutions, in Slavonic and East European Review. Vol. 14 (42).1936. P. 585–600.

    Ostrowski, Donald. The Military Land Grant Along the Muslim-Christian Frontier, in Russian History. Vol. 19. 1992. P. 327–359.

    Ostrowksi, Donald. Early Pomest’e Grants as a Historical Source, in Oxford Slavonic Papers. Vol. 32. 2000. P. 36–63.

    Pavlov-Sil’vanskiy, Nikolay Pavlovich. Feodalizm v drevney Rusi. St. Petersburg: «Brockhaus and Efron» Publ., 1907 (reprinted: Pavlov-Sil’vanskiy, Nikolay Pavlovich. Feodalizm v Rossii [in English]. Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1988). P. 4–149 (in Russian).

    Pavlov-Sil’vanskiy, Nikolay Pavlovich. Feodalizm v Rossii. Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1988. 690 p. (in Russian).

    Pavlov-Sil’vanskiy, Nikolay Pavlovich. Feodalizm v udel’noy Rusi. St. Petersburg, 1910 (reprinted: Pavlov-Sil’vanskiy, Nikolay Pavlovich. Feodalizm v Rossii. Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1988). P. 152–542 (in Russian).

    Pipes, Richard. Was There Private Property in Muscovite Russia?, in Slavic Review. Vol. 53. 1994. P. 524–530.

    Poe, Marshall. The Truth About Muscovy, in Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History. Vol. 3.2002. P. 473–486.

    Reynolds, Susan. Afterthoughts on Fiefs and Vassals, in Reynolds, Susan. The Middle Ages without Feudalism: Essays in Criticism and Comparison on the Medieval West. Part I. Farnham [u. a.]: Ashgate Variorum, 2012. P. 1–15.

    Reynolds, Susan. Early Medieval Law in India and Europe: A Plea for Comparisons, in Medieval History Journal. Vol. 16. 2013. P. 1–20.

    Reynolds, Susan. Fiefs and Vassals after Twelve Years, in Feudalism. New Landscapes of Debate. Turnhout: Brepols Publ., 2011. P. 15–26.

    Reynolds, Susan. Fiefs and Vassals in Scotland: A View from Outside, in Reynolds, Susan. The Middle Ages without Feudalism: Essays in Criticism and Comparison on the Medieval West. Part IV. Farnham [u. a.]: Ashgate Variorum, 2012. P. 176–193.

    Reynolds, Susan. Fiefs and Vassals in Twelfth-Century Jerusalem: A View from the West, in Reynolds, Susan. The Middle Ages without Feudalism: Essays in Criticism and Comparison on the Medieval West. Part III. Farnham [u. a.]: Ashgate Variorum, 2012. P. 29–48.

    Reynolds, Susan. Fiefs and Vassals: The Medieval Evidence Reinterpreted. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994. 544 p.

    Reynolds, Susan. The Use of Feudalism in Comparative History, in Kedar, Benjamin Z. (ed.). Explorations in Comparative History. Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 2009. P. 191–217.

    Reynolds, Susan. The Middle Ages without Feudalism: Essays in Criticism and Comparison on the Medieval West. Farnham [u. a.]: Ashgate Variorum, 2012.

    Rowland, Daniel. Ivan the Terrible as a Carolingian Renaissance Prince, in Harvard Ukrainian Studies. Vol. 19. 1995. P. 594–606.

    Shlapentokh, Vladimir. Early Feudalism. The Best Parallel for Contemporary Russia, in Europe-Asia Studies. Vol. 48. 1996. P. 393–411.

    Shlapentokh, Vladimir; Woods, Joshua. Contemporary Russia as a Feudal Society: A New Perspective on the Post-Soviet Era. Bassingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. 288 p.

  • Shlapentokh, Vladimir; Woods, Joshua. Feudal America. Elements of the Middle Ages in Contemporary Society. University Park, PA: Penn State Press, 2011. 170 p.

    Song, Joonseo. Review of: Vladimir Shlapentokh, Contemporary Russia as a Feudal Society: A New Perspective on the Post-Soviet Era (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007), Choice (Oct. 2008) (URL: http://www.academia.edu/3791854/Review_of_Vladimir_Shlapentokh_Contemporary_Russia_as_a_Feudal_Society_A_New_Perspective_on_the_Post-Soviet_Era_Palgrave_Macmillan_2007_Choice_Oct._2008 (last visit ― December, 13, 2013)).

    Sverdlov, Mikhail Borisovich. Vasiliy Nikitich Tatishchev — avtor i redaktor «Istorii rossiyskoy». St. Petersburg: Evropeyskiy dom Publ., 2009. 341 p. (in Russian).

    Szeftel, Marc. Aspects of Feudalism in Russian History, in Coulborn, Rushton (ed.). Feudalism in History. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1956. P. 167–182.

    Tschebotarioff-Bill, Valentine. National Feudalism in Russia, in Russian Review. Vol. 9. 1950. P. 209–218.

    Weickhardt, George G. Was There Private Property in Muscovite Russia?, in Slavic Review. Vol. 53. 1994. P. 531–538 (reprinted: Weickhardt, George G. Early Russian Law. Idyllwild: C. Schlacks, 2008. Chapter 4. P. 67–76).

    Yurganov, Andrey L’vovich. Kategorii russkoy srednevekovoy kul’tury. Moscow: MIROS Publ., 1998. 447 p. (in Russian).

    Zimin, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich. Oprichnina Ivana Groznogo. Moscow: Mysl’ Publ., 1964. 535 p. (in Russian).

 

Tags: Shlapentokh, feudalism, ideal type, Pavlov-Sil’vanskii

  English