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Feudal fragmentation
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<h2 id="examples">Examples</h2> <p>This phenomenon has occurred in the history of several countries and regions: </p> <ul><li>In the <a href="/facts/History_of_Poland/EBcnbP5r">history of Poland</a>: <ul><li>The regionalization<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> or <a href="/facts/Fragmentation_of_Poland/xTSvSzDg">fragmentation of Poland</a> (<a href="/facts/Polish_language/lzpvYDvV">Polish</a>: <i>rozbicie dzielnicowe</i>) refers to the period following the <a href="/facts/Testament_of_Boles%C5%82aw_III_Wrymouth/wS0yyFxd">testament of Bolesław III Wrymouth</a> (1138) that led to the split of the <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Poland_(Piasts)/vT5922LI">Kingdom of Poland</a> into several mostly independent provinces, unified only by <a href="/facts/Ladislaus_the_Short/dfbUXrqe">Ladislaus the Short</a> approximately two centuries later, in the early 14th century<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a></li> <li>The fragmentation of the <a href="/facts/Duchy_of_Silesia/WMRaNch4">Duchy of Silesia</a> into <a href="/facts/Duchies_of_Silesia/pb86PxwR">numerous smaller duchies</a> under the <a href="/facts/Silesian_Piasts/h3W5YUbP">Piast dynasty</a>.</li></ul></li> <li>In the <a href="/facts/History_of_Belarus/5sU3Kgsa">history of Belarus</a>, <a href="/facts/History_of_Russia/HfXrheLa">Russia</a> and <a href="/facts/History_of_Ukraine/w7AEHeXR">Ukraine</a>, the period of fragmentation (<a href="/facts/Russian_language/ETXrTgHV">Russian</a>: феодальная раздробленность) that started from around the 12th century during the decline of <a href="/facts/Kievan_Rus%27/oYbNWrwR">Kievan Rus'</a>. In Russia, it lasted up until the reign of <a href="/facts/Ivan_the_Terrible/T0kT4xAs">Ivan IV of Russia</a>;<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a> the last appanage Russian prince was <a href="/facts/Vladimir_of_Staritsa/XcKV04yI">Vladimir of Staritsa</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a></li> <li>In the <a href="/facts/History_of_Bulgaria/Kxl6EQME">history of Bulgaria</a>, the late 14th century fragmentation of the <a href="/facts/Second_Bulgarian_Empire/zAWspoUj">Second Bulgarian Empire</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15"><sup>15</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16"><sup>16</sup></a></li> <li>In the <a href="/facts/History_of_Hungary/U45ApRM0">history of Hungary</a>, the <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Hungary_(1301%E2%80%931526)/Rezly4mF">interregnum</a> (1301–1323), <i><a href="/facts/Oligarch_(Kingdom_of_Hungary)/yDtg3lrc">Oligarchs</a></i></li> <li>In the <a href="/facts/History_of_Serbia/JuQFtLur">history of Serbia</a>, the <a href="/facts/Fall_of_the_Serbian_Empire/1AtppyG6">fall of the Serbian Empire</a> (1371–95)</li> <li>In the <a href="/facts/History_of_Georgia_(country)/1ufeSdRL">history of Georgia</a>, the <a href="/facts/Collapse_of_the_Georgian_realm/jSrJHJ17">collapse of the Georgian realm</a> (starting in the 13th century)</li> <li>In the <a href="/facts/History_of_Germany/wpsDxebT">history of Germany</a>, the period described as the <i><a href="/facts/Kleinstaaterei/2JX6PY4j">Kleinstaaterei</a></i> lasted from the 13th century (the demise of the <a href="/facts/Hohenstaufen/zcy1ntA6">Hohenstaufen</a> dynasty of the <a href="/facts/Holy_Roman_Empire/6mdobnXN">Holy Roman Empire</a>) to 1871 (the <a href="/facts/Unification_of_Germany/u0kyV3jW">unification of the German states</a> into the <a href="/facts/German_Empire/lwQutJyN">German Empire</a>).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:17" href="#fn:17"><sup>17</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:18" href="#fn:18"><sup>18</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:19" href="#fn:19"><sup>19</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:20" href="#fn:20"><sup>20</sup></a> Many of the smaller states were eliminated during the <a href="/facts/French_Revolutionary_wars/S6nK1AT0">French Revolutionary</a> and <a href="/facts/Napoleonic_wars/jo0MdaTD">Napoleonic wars</a> but several remained in their aftermath. Even within the German Empire many small states remained: the <a href="/facts/Ernestine_duchies/ET7VEnea">Ernestine duchies</a> remained divided until the formation of the <a href="/facts/State_of_Thuringia_(1920%E2%80%931952)/qarsN0Y0">State of Thuringia</a> in 1920 and others remained until their abolishment under Nazi rule or by the occupying powers after WWII.</li> <li>After the extinction of the <a href="/facts/Duchy_of_Burgundy/XVFYR4rR">Duchy of Burgundy</a>, some of its territory was absorbed by France's <a href="/facts/Louis_XI/8WqL9L1y">Louis XI</a>, while its territory in the <a href="/facts/Low_Countries/umPWQ5hV">Low Countries</a> (the <a href="/facts/Burgundian_Netherlands/vnqJvJ6y">Burgundian Netherlands</a>) became the <a href="/facts/Habsburg_Netherlands/qKjvseHF">Habsburg Netherlands</a> (also called the <a href="/facts/Seventeen_Provinces/FphfVQIA">Seventeen Provinces</a>), which itself splintered into the <a href="/facts/Spanish_Netherlands/p1whtCQm">Spanish Netherlands</a> and the <a href="/facts/Dutch_Republic/PlxBXbKF">Dutch Republic</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:21" href="#fn:21"><sup>21</sup></a></li> <li>In the <a href="/facts/History_of_France/QqxdUDKQ">history of France</a>, the period after the fall of the <a href="/facts/Carolingian_dynasty/L3WWV4It">Carolingian dynasty</a> and death of <a href="/facts/Charlemagne/o0PlxScC">Charlemagne</a> to its unification by <a href="/facts/Louis_XI/8WqL9L1y">Louis XI</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:22" href="#fn:22"><sup>22</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:23" href="#fn:23"><sup>23</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:24" href="#fn:24"><sup>24</sup></a> (see also <a href="/facts/Crown_lands_of_France/J1QLRckQ">Crown lands of France</a>)</li> <li>In the <a href="/facts/History_of_Italy/S9Vfe3N5">history of Italy</a>, the period from the <a href="/facts/Lombards/C4r74rGL">invasion of Italy by the Lombards</a> (which occurred shortly after Italy was united under the <a href="/facts/Byzantine_Empire/njEELXWF">Byzantine Empire</a> as a result of the <a href="/facts/Gothic_War_(535%E2%80%93554)/sm4MTPVq">Gothic War</a>) until <a href="/facts/Italian_unification/B1x6mLbU">Italian unification</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:25" href="#fn:25"><sup>25</sup></a></li></ul> <p>According to <a href="/facts/Samir_Amin/uqIFgbP8">Samir Amin</a>, feudal fragmentation has been mostly a European phenomenon and did not occur in the <a href="/facts/History_of_China/TNqRSvQ4">history of China</a> or <a href="/facts/Islam/zDLbL45C">Islamic</a> <a href="/facts/History_of_the_Middle_East/qv2JxgHl">Middle Eastern states</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:26" href="#fn:26"><sup>26</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:27" href="#fn:27"><sup>27</sup></a> At the same time, the term feudal fragmentation has been used in the context of history of China (the <a href="/facts/Warring_States_period/8P3avwna">Warring States period</a>)<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:28" href="#fn:28"><sup>28</sup></a> and <a href="/facts/History_of_Japan/XYqQMJCQ">history of Japan</a> (the <a href="/facts/Sengoku_period/xv3vXWPD">Sengoku period</a>).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:29" href="#fn:29"><sup>29</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:30" href="#fn:30"><sup>30</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:31" href="#fn:31"><sup>31</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Anatolian_beyliks/IPwH9JE0">Anatolian beyliks</a>, after the decline of <a href="/facts/Sultanate_of_Rum/FxM7T3tz">Sultanate of Rum</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Balkanization/9YRKwMEy">Balkanization</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Division_of_the_Mongol_Empire/wChk1Nv3">Division of the Mongol Empire</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Decentralization/5koMXAUs">Decentralization</a></li> <li>Division [de] of the <a href="/facts/Frankish_Empire/0fNvWt3n">Frankish Empire</a> under <a href="/facts/Charlemagne/o0PlxScC">Charlemagne</a>'s successors 843-880 (<a href="/facts/Treaty_of_Verdun/CdLoKatD">Treaties of Verdun</a>, <a href="/facts/Treaty_of_Pr%C3%BCm/GCEs13uF">Prüm</a>, <a href="/facts/Treaty_of_Meerssen/jWKo9LaQ">Meerssen</a> and <a href="/facts/Treaty_of_Ribemont/XQGUqbmS">Ribemont</a>)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Gavelkind/fvBLKJut">Gavelkind</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Petty_kingdom/zgHakUTm">Petty kingdom</a> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Sub-Roman_Britain/MjjEVIWY">Sub-Roman Britain</a> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Wales_in_the_Early_Middle_Ages/zceyl9S5">Wales in the Early Middle Ages</a></li> <li>the <a href="/facts/Heptarchy/4db4CTnT">Heptarchy</a>, a period of the <a href="/facts/History_of_England/4HFhfJzv">history of England</a> characterised by petty kingdoms until their unification into the <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_England/1VqdIuFc">Kingdom of England</a> in the tenth century</li></ul></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/facts/Rump_state/j965C8Kz">Rump state</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Taifa/TSJNh9MX">Taifa</a> periods, after the decline of the <a href="/facts/Caliphate_of_C%C3%B3rdoba/P92bAPPx">Caliphate of Córdoba</a> (1031) and the <a href="/facts/Almoravid_dynasty/vkyHTAak">Almoravid dynasty</a> (1140s)</li></ul> <h2 id="notes">Notes</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Marius_Jansen/sltJV1ds">Jansen, Marius B.</a> (1995). <i>The Emergence of Meiji Japan.</i> Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 9780521482387; <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 9780521484053; <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/60261738">OCLC 60261738</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Piotr Górecki (2007). A local society in transition: the Henryków book and related documents. PIMS. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-88844-155-3. <a href="978-0-88844-155-3" target="_blank">978-0-88844-155-3</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>(in Polish) Rozbicie dzielnicowe Archived 29 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine. WIEM Encyklopedia. <a href="http://portalwiedzy.onet.pl/94616,,,,rozbicie_dzielnicowe,haslo.html" target="_blank">http://portalwiedzy.onet.pl/94616,,,,rozbicie_dzielnicowe,haslo.html</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>(in Polish) rozbicie dzielnicowe. PWN Encyklopedia. <a href="http://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/index.php?module=haslo&id=3969193" target="_blank">http://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/index.php?module=haslo&id=3969193</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Samir Amin, The Ancient World-Systems Versus the Modern Capitalist World-System, in André Gunder Frank; Barry K. Gills (1996). The world system: five hundred years or five thousand?. Psychology Press. p. 252. ISBN 978-0-415-15089-7. <a href="978-0-415-15089-7" target="_blank">978-0-415-15089-7</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Grzymala-Busse, Anna (2024). "Tilly Goes to Church: The Religious and Medieval Roots of European State Fragmentation". American Political Science Review. 118 (1): 88–107. doi:10.1017/S0003055423000278. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0003055423000278" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0003055423000278</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>(in Polish) rozbicie dzielnicowe. PWN Encyklopedia. <a href="http://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/index.php?module=haslo&id=3969193" target="_blank">http://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/index.php?module=haslo&id=3969193</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Norman Davies (30 March 2005). God's Playground: The origins to 1795. Columbia University Press. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-231-12817-9. Retrieved 23 May 2011. <a href="978-0-231-12817-9" target="_blank">978-0-231-12817-9</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>(in Polish) Rozbicie dzielnicowe Archived 29 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine. WIEM Encyklopedia. <a href="http://portalwiedzy.onet.pl/94616,,,,rozbicie_dzielnicowe,haslo.html" target="_blank">http://portalwiedzy.onet.pl/94616,,,,rozbicie_dzielnicowe,haslo.html</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>(in Polish) rozbicie dzielnicowe. PWN Encyklopedia. <a href="http://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/index.php?module=haslo&id=3969193" target="_blank">http://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/index.php?module=haslo&id=3969193</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Norman Davies (20 January 1998). Europe: a history. HarperCollins. p. 429. ISBN 978-0-06-097468-8. Retrieved 23 May 2011. <a href="978-0-06-097468-8" target="_blank">978-0-06-097468-8</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>(in Polish) rozbicie dzielnicowe. PWN Encyklopedia. <a href="http://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/index.php?module=haslo&id=3969193" target="_blank">http://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/index.php?module=haslo&id=3969193</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>Maureen Perrie (2001). The cult of Ivan the Terrible in Stalin's Russia. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 100. ISBN 978-0-333-65684-6. Bakhrushin, in turn, defended the post-Pokrovskii depiction of Ivan IV as 'a great statesman who smashes the remains of feudal fragmentation and lays the basis for the further development of the absolutist state' <a href="978-0-333-65684-6" target="_blank">978-0-333-65684-6</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>George Ginsburgs; Roger Stenson Clark; Ferdinand Joseph Maria Feldbrugge; Stanisław Pomorski (2001). International and national law in Russia and Eastern Europe: essays in honor of George Ginsburgs. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 163. ISBN 978-90-411-1654-3. 2. The period of feudal fragmentation (feodal'naia nazdroblenost') or of the appanage principalities... with its nadir the fall of Kiev in 1240... 3. The formation of a centralized Russian state <a href="978-90-411-1654-3" target="_blank">978-90-411-1654-3</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>Auty, Robert; Obolensky, Dimitri (1976). Companion to Russian Studies: Volume 1: An Introduction to Russian History. Cambridge University Press. p. 102. ISBN 978-0-521-28038-9. <a href="978-0-521-28038-9" target="_blank">978-0-521-28038-9</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:15"><p>Evgeni Tanchev; Martin Belov; Cristian Ionescu; C. A. J. M. Kortmann; J. W. A. Fleuren; Wim Voermans (2008). Constitutional law of 2 EU member states: Bulgaria and Romania : the 2007 enlargement. Kluwer. p. 1. ISBN 978-90-13-05635-8. Retrieved 23 May 2011. <a href="978-90-13-05635-8" target="_blank">978-90-13-05635-8</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:16"><p>Selçuk Akşin Somel (2003). Historical dictionary of the Ottoman Empire. Scarecrow Press. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-8108-4332-5. <a href="978-0-8108-4332-5" target="_blank">978-0-8108-4332-5</a> <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:17"><p>(in Polish) rozbicie dzielnicowe. PWN Encyklopedia. <a href="http://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/index.php?module=haslo&id=3969193" target="_blank">http://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/index.php?module=haslo&id=3969193</a> <a href="#fnref:17" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:18"><p>Reinhard Bendix (1980). Kings or people: power and the mandate to rule. University of California Press. p. 141. ISBN 978-0-520-04090-8. <a href="978-0-520-04090-8" target="_blank">978-0-520-04090-8</a> <a href="#fnref:18" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:19"><p>Mikuláš Teich; Roy Porter (1993). The National question in Europe in historical context. Cambridge University Press. p. 153. ISBN 978-0-521-36713-4. <a href="978-0-521-36713-4" target="_blank">978-0-521-36713-4</a> <a href="#fnref:19" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:20"><p>Keith Jenkins; Sue Morgan; Alun Munslow (2007). Manifestos for history. Taylor & Francis. p. 188. ISBN 978-0-415-37776-8. <a href="978-0-415-37776-8" target="_blank">978-0-415-37776-8</a> <a href="#fnref:20" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:21"><p>R. C. van Caenegem (1991). Legal history: a European perspective. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 149. ISBN 978-1-85285-049-4. <a href="978-1-85285-049-4" target="_blank">978-1-85285-049-4</a> <a href="#fnref:21" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:22"><p>Peter J. Hugill (1995). World trade since 1431: geography, technology, and capitalism. JHU Press. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-8018-5126-1. Retrieved 23 May 2011. <a href="978-0-8018-5126-1" target="_blank">978-0-8018-5126-1</a> <a href="#fnref:22" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:23"><p>Stefan Rossbach (1999). Gnostic wars: the Cold War in the context of a history of Western spirituality. Edinburgh University Press. p. 81. ISBN 978-0-7486-1024-2. Retrieved 23 May 2011. <a href="978-0-7486-1024-2" target="_blank">978-0-7486-1024-2</a> <a href="#fnref:23" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:24"><p>Nicholas Lampert; Gábor Tamás Rittersporn (1992). Stalinism: its nature and aftermath : essays in honour of Moshe Lewin. M.E. Sharpe. p. 86. ISBN 978-0-87332-876-0. Retrieved 23 May 2011. <a href="978-0-87332-876-0" target="_blank">978-0-87332-876-0</a> <a href="#fnref:24" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:25"><p>Donald Kagan; Steven Ozment; Frank M. Turner; A. Daniel Frankforter (13 June 2001). The Western Heritage: To 1715 : Brief Edition. Prentice Hall. p. 143. ISBN 978-0-13-041576-9. Retrieved 24 May 2011. <a href="978-0-13-041576-9" target="_blank">978-0-13-041576-9</a> <a href="#fnref:25" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:26"><p>Samir Amin, The Ancient World-Systems Versus the Modern Capitalist World-System, in André Gunder Frank; Barry K. Gills (1996). The world system: five hundred years or five thousand?. Psychology Press. p. 252. ISBN 978-0-415-15089-7. <a href="978-0-415-15089-7" target="_blank">978-0-415-15089-7</a> <a href="#fnref:26" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:27"><p>Samir Amin (January 2011). Global History: A View from the South. Fahamu/Pambazuka. p. 18. ISBN 978-1-906387-96-9. <a href="978-1-906387-96-9" target="_blank">978-1-906387-96-9</a> <a href="#fnref:27" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:28"><p>Thomas M. Magstadt (2010). Nations and Government: Comparative Politics in Regional Perspective. Cengage Learning. p. 277. ISBN 978-0-495-91528-7. <a href="978-0-495-91528-7" target="_blank">978-0-495-91528-7</a> <a href="#fnref:28" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:29"><p>Jeffrey Kopstein (2000). Comparative politics: interests, identities, and institutions in a changing global order. Cambridge University Press. p. 182. ISBN 978-0-521-63356-7. <a href="978-0-521-63356-7" target="_blank">978-0-521-63356-7</a> <a href="#fnref:29" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:30"><p>Paul N. Siegel (2005). The Meek and the Militant: Religion and Power Across the World. Haymarket Books. p. 210. ISBN 978-1-931859-24-0. <a href="978-1-931859-24-0" target="_blank">978-1-931859-24-0</a> <a href="#fnref:30" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:31"><p>Jansen, Marius B. Jansen. (1995). The Emergence of Meiji Japan,p. 124, p. 124, at Google Books; retrieved 6 July 2011 <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=lwPxgoaNVWEC&pg=PA124" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=lwPxgoaNVWEC&pg=PA124</a> <a href="#fnref:31" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>