I’ve been giving some thought about feudalism lately, namely because The Daermad Cycle takes place in a feudal world. It’s a feudal world where the throne has been empty for 100 years, but society has not broken down into utter chaos. Some of the rigs (lords) fight among themselves and two in particular vie for the throne, but the day to day life of farmers and artisans is doing just fine.
I really didn’t know much about feudalism when I started writing the book. It is the defacto government system of most fantasy worlds, but as I am researching it, I began to realize that I have volunteryist leanings. So how does a volunterist view feudalism? While it’s not absolutely necessary to agree with the political system in my book, I wondered how I might write it believably?
I’ve discovered that feudalism is not exactly what I thought it was. It wasn’t a strong, top-down totalitarian system, but something more local and organic. The kings were actually pretty weak and often the vassals were highly dependent upon the serfs. This is actually influencing the end of Daermad Cycle for the better.
So here’s one of the articles I’ve been reading to change my mind on this subject.
What's Your Opinion?