Title:Introduction and Analyses of the Debates on the Origin of English Feudalism: Centered with the Norman Conquest Theory of the Western Scholars

Author:Wang Yunlong, Professor, Institute of the Middle Ages Studies, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China 130024

Abstract：Medievalists have been discussing the origin of English feudalism and the impacts of the Norman Conquest for over a century without reaching a common understanding about whether that conquest fundamentally transformed English society. In 1891, J. H. Round claimed that William the Conqueror introduced the feudalism into England, which has become the orthodox theory about this issue. In the second half of the 20th —century, a number of historians challenged Round's theory in a variety of ways. They claimed that the feudalism had some pre—conquest roots and the changes that English society underwent between c.1050 and c.1200 were caused not only by the conquest but also by the more general facts which had transformed much of the Western Europe during that period. Brown'sOrigins of English Feudalismshows that the origin of English feudalism is much more complex than previously asserted. Under careful examinations, the orthodox interpretation and Brown's book have both been proved illogical according to the facts of English history.

Keywords：Norman Conquest; Feudalism; England