Practice question · Select all that apply
Which claims about the "three orders" model are defensible?
Hints
- Three of these are true of the scheme; one confuses it with a different set of relations.
- The three orders say nothing about fiefs, homage or vassalage.
Show the answer
- B. It is prescriptive: it describes how society ought to be arranged
- C. It appears just as townspeople and a money economy begin to make it inaccurate
- D. It was set out by bishops around 1025 to 1030
Why
The scheme is a piece of ideological work by churchmen, and its timing is the giveaway: it asserts a stable tripartite order precisely when merchants, artisans and a cash economy are producing people who fit none of the three. It is also silent about lords and vassals, which is why it cannot be a description of "feudalism".
Practise Feudal Society
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