Lost in Translation: Georges Duby, Yuri Bessmertny and Feudalism

Georges Duby and Yuri Bessmertny appreciated each other — the trajectories of their scientific evolution were similar, they were connected by a relationship of mutual sympathy. It is not surprising that in his first monograph, “Feudal Village and Market in Western Europe of the 12th — 13th centuries” (1969), Bessmertny referred to Duby more than to anyone else. But at the same time, in his book one can detect a sincere misunderstanding of the general concept of Georges Duby. Although the French historian considered the relationship between peasants and lords to be the essence of the medieval social system and saw the lordship as the basic unit of medieval society, he tended to prioritize the political power of the lords over the property relations and the concentration of land wealth in the hands of feudal lords. This was fundamentally at odds with the dominant version of Soviet marxism, and even with the views of some French followers of Marc Bloch. To explain the reason for this misunderstanding, it is proposed in this article to trace the evolution of Georges Duby’s views on the medieval world, reflected in his use of the terms “féodalité” and “feudalism”. It is also important to take into account the difficulties of translating this terminology into Russian. By the end of the 1960s, the views of Georges Duby had not yet formed into the complete theoretical model that he would develop in the next decade. It should be noted that, starting in the 1970s, Yuri Bessmertny made great efforts to introduce Soviet historians to the works of Georges Duby. At the time, the central place in his presentation of Duby’s ideas was occupied by the concept of “feudal revolution”, although Bessmertny himself never completely agreed with it.

Keywords

Yu. Bessmertny, G. Duby, M. Bloch, J.-L. Ganshof, feudalism, feodalité, seigneury, medieval studies

Received

26.02.2024

Publication date

31.07.2024

Number of characters

33499

Cite

GOST	Uvarov P. Lost in Translation: Georges Duby, Yuri Bessmertny and Feudalism // ISTORIYA – 2024. – V. 15. – Issue 6 (140) [Electronic resource]. URL: https://history.jes.su/S207987840031617-7-1 (circulation date: 01.11.2024). DOI: 10.18254/S207987840031617-7
MLA	Uvarov, Pavel "Lost in Translation: Georges Duby, Yuri Bessmertny and Feudalism." ISTORIYA 15.6 (140) (2024) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840031617-7
APA	Uvarov P. (2024). Lost in Translation: Georges Duby, Yuri Bessmertny and Feudalism. ISTORIYA 15(6 (140)) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840031617-7

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