Draft on Feudal Monarchy in Britain

Author: Meng Guanglin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-03-01
Features: This book conducts an in-depth and systematic examination of important issues related to the English feudal monarchy during the period from the Norman Conquest to the Magna Carta. It includes the formation and development of the monarchy, its relationships with secular nobles, the Church, and cities, as well as the political system, nature, and status of the monarchy. It argues that after the Norman Conquest, the English king, leveraging his dual political identity and status as both the ruler of the nation and a feudal overlord, continuously overcame feudal centrifugal tendencies and gradually established a centralized monarchy. Although the English feudal monarchy still bore the imprint of feudal overlordship, it had in fact become the highest public political authority in the kingdom. While there were conflicts and struggles between the English feudal monarchy and the nobility and the Church, close political cooperation and alliances were the mainstream of their relationship, with the nobility and the Church rather than the urban populace forming the political foundation of the feudal monarchy. It challenges and refutes traditional Western mainstream views, demonstrating strong academic innovation.