[cellurdur]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

A genereralization that does not hold up under scrutiny. The "people" were no more loyal than the ever-shifting nobility. One look at post-Black Death Europe and peasants fleeing manor holdings en masse seeking higher wages and freedom from the rigid tenancy of their feudal overlords would show that. To which "people" and "which "lords" are you referring to, and what time period and place? You hold an idealization that is about as true as saying "all U.S. citizens are and have been loyal to the federal government."

Yes it's a generalisation, but it would be accurate to say that the majority of citizens have been loyal to the Federal government.

Again, to whom are you referring? Your ever-shifting argument is as confused as it is confusing.

No you brought in words like patriotism, which I actually said did not exist. Instead of nations people were loyal to Houses. This is precisely why bad monarchs were replaced with other members of the family. Just think about the logic today. Can you imagine a situation where the people of Libya fight to remove Khadafi and then place his son in charge? A bad leader would be overthrown, but loyalty to the family remained.

Yes, that was part of my argument. What is yours, exactly?

No I brought up the taxes. You seemed to think that I had mentioned nationalism, even though I had said nationalism as we know really took off in the 18th century.

When, in particular, did peasants think a lord was not forced on them? I am sure the nobility would stress their belief in a god-given right to rule, but I'm not sure their tenants would be on board.

Peasants probably thought their Lords were not forced after long periods of subjugation, decrees from religious figures and brutal suppression. After a few hundred years of a House in charge, in begins to be the norm. People were on board a lot more than you think and that is why it worked.

And the Bayeux Tapestry was a wondeful bit of propaganda by Norman adherents of William the Bastard (probably his half-brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, but nothing is certain). That it resided in Normandy and not in England leaves some question as to its power as a piece of propaganda, since those subjugated probably never saw it.

In the case of William the Conqueror he went to great pains to appease the people. He gave several reasons why he had been promised the throne. Only declared himself king after the Witan ratified it, was anointed by English clergy, had the blessing of the pope and married into the English royal family. These are the actions of a man, who wants to establish legitimacy. In the end that was not even enough and he decided to brutally crush the peasants in the North.


As for the Bayeux Tapestry, we don't know where it displayed originally. It's widely agreed that it was made in England and would not surprise me if it was displayed there for some time before being sent to France.

Edward III and his unpopular mistress were largely ignored the last 20 or so years of his life. Edward did not die beloved.

Edward III was not ruling towards the end of his life and a lot of tragedies like the Black Death had befallen , but he was still beloved and remained so. A lot like with King Richard I, it is a fairly modern phenomenon in criticising the two. Both of them remained wildly popular and Edward III was thought as the best king since King Arthur.

The "Magna Carter" is a hip hop album. I believe you mean the "Magna Carta".

Yes mistake, but the point still stands. A very, very bad king was defeated and on his knees. Not only was he a bad king, but he had proven time and time again to be dishonest and untrustworthy. Yet the barons still let him remain king. Can you think of any modern setting where a country removes their leader to put one of their relatives in charge?