Feudal States of Europe (Unabridged Selection‪)‬

After the collapse of the Carolingian Empire, the era of large states was over. In feudalism everything was expressed in different terms from those employed in the ancient city-state or in the Roman Empire. Even the Holy Roman Empire consisted of feudal fiefdoms only nominally under the control of the Emperor.

A chapter from Lynn Thorndike’s History of Medieval Europe.