Fief, féodalité, féodalisme. Enjeux sociaux et réflexion historienne

摘要

Fief, Féodalité, Feudalism. The notion of "feudal system" emerged in the 18th century in the context of polemics connected to the profound social transformation of that period; at the same time it also served as an instrument in these confrontations. Above all, the "feudal system" served as a foil against which the two key demands of "freedom of commerce" and "freedom of conscience" were argued. It is thus important to pinpoint exactly in what way these two claims constituted, in and of themselves, a decisive break with the feudal system. The first claim corresponded to the advent of the contemporary idea of property and thus opposed the conception of the unity of the "personal" and "real" relationships in the feudal system; and the second claim established the present conception of religion which made it impossible to think of the church as the dominant institution of the feudal system. The rest of the article attempts to follow the evolution, beginning with the 18th century, of the social condition, particularly in France and Germany, in which these two important conceptual departures operated.