How I Started Digging into This Mess
Alright, so last night I was scrolling through random history forums, right? Kept seeing folks oversimplifying why feudalism took over Europe. Everyone just repeats “Oh, fall of Rome, invasions, boom! Feudalism!” Like tossing spaghetti at a wall and calling it dinner. Bugged me enough to grab my laptop and dig in.
Started pulling up old notes from uni days and cross-checking with different sources online. Wanted the real messy story, not just the highlight reel. Turns out, blaming everything on Rome collapsing is like blaming your messy room solely on that one sock you dropped last Tuesday – way too simple.
What Actually Happened (The Ugly Version)
Here’s the mess I pieced together:
- Stupid Gavelkind: Those Frankish kings – seriously, big idiots. Kept splitting their kingdom like a birthday cake between all their sons every single time a ruler kicked the bucket. Think your manager splitting your team into six micro-teams every quarter because they can’t decide. Result? No big, strong central power anywhere. Just chaos.
- Vikings & Friends Showing Up Uninvited: Imagine you’re already struggling because your bosses are clueless. Then suddenly, raiders start busting down your doors – Vikings from the north, Magyars from the east, Muslims from the south. It’s like three different Karens demanding to see the manager at your worst shift ever. Local guys? Useless. Central king? Too far away, too slow. Zero help.
- Cash? What Cash? Turns out, money basically vanished. Trade routes? Dead in the ditch. Kings couldn’t even pay soldiers properly – coins were as rare as a quiet co-worker. So what’s the genius plan? “Hey, instead of cash, how about I give you this chunk of land? You just promise to fight for me when I snap my fingers.” Instant pyramid scheme: land-for-protection deals got passed down like generational trauma.
My “Eureka” Moment (Kinda Obvious)
After getting lost in dates and names for hours, it clicked: Feudalism wasn’t some fancy new invention. It was the ultimate desperation DIY fix. Like when your car breaks down in the middle of nowhere and you patch it up with duct tape and sheer willpower.
- No strong king? Find a local tough guy (lord).
- Raiders at the door? Build a wooden tower (castle, sorta).
- No paycheck? Pay with dirt (fiefdom).
Boom. Suddenly all these messy, localized solutions hardened into a system because nothing else was working. It wasn’t grand strategy; it was triage for a continent falling apart.
Why This Matters Today (Personal Rant)
Kinda reminds me of my last gig. Tech manager kept making these giant, messy decisions – tearing down projects, reshuffling teams willy-nilly. Predictable result? Total chaos. Teams formed little protective bubbles (“fiefdoms” ha!), managers acted like mini-lords guarding their territory, favors got traded under the table like military service contracts… and nobody trusted central planning anymore.
So yeah. Medieval kings and my idiot ex-boss? Same picture. Systems collapse when trust fails and resources vanish. People grab whatever scraps of power they can reach. Feudalism didn’t “spread” – it was the duct tape holding a broken continent together.
