Lecture 2

Breakdown of the feudal relations of production I

Around the 14th century, the feudal relations of production began to weaken in
central and northern Europe (France, Germany and England). This happened as
the lords used less of extra-economic force upon peasants and granted them
more freedom. We do not exactly know why this happened. There are multiple
explanations provided by economists and economic historians. They gathered
under three models (explanations) of the breakdown of feudalism-

1. Commercialization and urbanization model (Maurice Dobb and Paul

Sweezy)

According to Dobb, in the 14 th century the lords’ expenses increased because

their retinues got too big. The lords had to raise their income.

Initially, the lords tried to exploit the peasants more. But this did not work,
since the peasants were already too badly exploited.

So many lords tried to commercially cultivate the demesne. But commercial

demesne cultivation was not a success since it was done by servile peasants
without wages (they did not work hard). Along with this there was a general
reduction of exploitation.

The lords, thus, gave the servile peasants more freedom (they might give them
the option of buying their freedom by producing a certain quantity of work).

This is how, as per Dobb, the breakdown of the feudal relations of production
was triggered. Dobb’s explanation is called the internal mover thesis.
Paul Sweezy says that the decline of feudalism was triggered by the emergence
of settlements of merchants and craftsmen outside the manors.

In the 14th century relatively free settlements of merchants and craftsmen

were coming up outside manors. They bought their freedom by paying the king
or meeting the requirements of the lord.

According to Sweezy these settlements were organized on the basis of a more

rational division of labour. They exposed the inefficiency of the manor.

They also undermined (broke) the self-sufficiency of the manor (the manor
people could buy certain things from the merchants and craftsmen, they did
not need to produce everything).

So, the population of the manor acquired specialization and began to produce
things for the market to earn money.

Meanwhile, the lords wanted to buy the luxury goods being sold by the
merchants and craftsmen outside the manor. The lord needed to increase his
income and tried to exploit the peasants harder.

However, since the peasants now had learnt to produce for the market, they
began to run away to the settlements of merchants and craftsmen which
gradually developed into towns and cities.

This is how the decline of feudalism took place according to sweezy. This
explanation is called the ‘external mover thesis’.

2. Class relations theory- Rodney Hilton

The manors had two classes- Lords and peasants. According to Hilton,
feudalism collapsed because of the contradictions inherent in its class
structure.
A great class division existed between lords and peasants- the two did not
interact.
This limited the lord’s ability to interfere in the manorial economy or the
cultivation of the demesne.

Due to the class gap, the lord’s ability to govern the manor was also limited –
the lord governed with the help of notable peasants.

In this situation, there was commercial growth in the Europe in the 14 th

century- there were new commodities in the markets. The lords wanted to buy
them. The lords tried to increase their incomes through greater exploitation.

Thus, class divide between the lords and peasants lead to class conflict- there
were rebellions by peasants.

Eventually, many peasant communities in France and Germany earned greater

freedom from the lords.

Finally, the decline of feudalism was speeded by the Black death plague
epidemic in 1348. One third of Europe’s population died. The number of
peasants greatly reduced after the epidemic, so the lords had to treat them
better. The demands made upon them were reduced and the peasant
communities got more prosperous – many of them began to produce meat and
wool for the market.

3. Demographic Model – Jason W. Moore

According to Moore, there was socio-ecological contradiction inherent in

feudalism.

The basis of the feudal economy was the exploitation of the peasantry, but
peasants were not given any incentive to increase production.
So, the peasants had no resources to make productive investments in
agriculture.

Peasant, instead, tried to increase production by having large families – more

children meant more working hands.

The continuously growing population led to soil exhaustion and caused crop
failures. Crop failures caused famines – there was a big famine from 1315-17
extending from France to Russia.

The famines left the population undernourished and left it vulnerable to

diseases. So, when the Black Death epidemic broke out, large numbers died
and there was a shortage of peasants.

Lords had to treat the peasants better. In one century after the Black death, in
England, France and Italy, rents fell by 40% and wages rose by 400%.