IMC 2012: Sessions

Session 1131: Twilight Zone: Party Strife, Feuding, and Private Warfare in the Late Middle Ages, II

Sponsor:	Department of Medieval History, Universiteit Leiden
Organiser:	Peter Hoppenbrouwers, Department of Medieval History, Universiteit Leiden
Moderator/Chair:	Johannes A. Mol, Department of History, Fryske Akademy, Leeuwarden / Universiteit Leiden
Paper 1131-a	Bastard Feudalism and Private Warfare in the Late Medieval Low Countries (Language: English) Peter Hoppenbrouwers, Department of Medieval History, Universiteit Leiden Index terms: Military History, Social History
Paper 1131-b	Party Strife and Private Warfare in the Duchy of Guelders (Language: English) Aart Noordzij, Department of Medieval History, Universiteit Leiden Index terms: Military History, Social History
Abstract	During the final centuries of the Middle Ages the Low Countries were ridden by violent clashes between interest groups, called 'parties', that, on the one hand, coincided with antagonistic family networks but, on the other hand, could easily be politicized, i.e. connected with larger political issues. Exactly this ambiguous setting, in a twilight zone between a public/political and a private/familial field of action, makes party strife an attractive subject of historical research. Especially when linked to such typical phenomena of late medieval ‘politics' as feuding, bastard feudalism, and private warfare, it could contribute to a better understanding of the counterweights that were build-up against the slow but relentless rise of the modern state in Western Europe.