I don’t think I ever thanked you before for your erudite commentary on the Chapter-by-Chapter analysis. I am especially grateful for your introducing me to new concepts. I am curious about the Refeudalization of Poland especially, which you mentioned in Arya’s ACOK first chapter in Harrenhal. Can you tell me more about it or if there’s a book that mentions it?

Thanks very much!

Yeah, there’s a fair few books that examine refeudalization and/or “the second serfdom”:

J. K. Fedorowicz, et al, A Republic of Nobles
Fernand Braudel, Civilization and Capitalism: the 15th-18th Centuries
Piotr Stefan Wandycz, The Price of Freedom
Markus Cerman, Villagers and Lords in Eastern Europe
Jacek Kochanowicz, Backwardness and Modernization
Daniel Chirot ed., The Origins of Backwardness in Eastern Europe
Alessandro Stanziani, Bondage: Labor and Rights in Eurasia

RFTIT Tumblr Weekly Roundup!

Well, with the big Westerlands essay done, the next writing project is Jaime II of ASOS. That’s going to be a while coming, so in the mean-time, let’s see what we have on the Tumblrs: How did “forest laws” work? European reaction to the French Rev vs. the English Civil War. Some thoughts on Oliver Cromwell: Part I Part II Why is slavery illegal in Westeros? Thoughts on Sir John Churchill. What…

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Your analysis of the feudal structure in the 7K is fascinating, but I am curious as to the agricultural economy of Terros, particularly in Essos. To feed a city the size of Volantis (well, 3-5 cities including colonies) you would need either a very productive agricultural structure or vast wealth to buy that food from elsewhere. The same is true of Braavos, and you can’t just rely on fishing to provide that! So: either these cities also have far more advanced agricultural systems than (1/2)

(2/2) Westeros seems to, or someone somewhere is producing an outrageous quantity of food. Given the geography of the Free Cities, I can’t help but think that a) the Disputed Lands were unquestionably very fertile and productive; b) Pentos’ lands were extremely valuable; c) Braavos’ coastline was more important than previously implied; and d) the banks of the Rhoyne were highly lucrative. What at your opinions? Thanks!

Excellent question! Yeah, the agricultural economy is absolutely fundamental to the broader political economy of Terros.

Volantis’ vast Rhoynish hinterland – Volon Therys, Valysar, and Selhorys, etc. -seems eminently capable of feeding the metropole through organization into latifundia. It seems that cold beet soup, i.e borscht, is a staple of the Volantene diet, and as any number of central and eastern european peasantries can tell you, you can feed a lot of serfs on borscht.

I’m somewhat skeptical as to how much food the Braavosi coastline can produce, but I imagine they produce some because you can’t rely entirely on imports from Westeros given the vagarities of sea transportation.

I am also of the belief that the Disputed Lands are fertile.

What would happen if a male and female heir of two different houses married, then the lords of both houses died. Would they be forced to seperate?

No, I don’t think so. Rather, I think the two Houses would merge, and depending on how far apart their fiefdoms were, there might be a castellan ruling one holdfast while the family ruled the other or they might split their time between the two, etc.

Why are the Stormlands the least fleshed-out region in the 7K despite the Baratheons being the royal family? Even in the 7K section of the TWOIAF the Stormlands comes across to me as dull and uninspired.

Yeah, it’s not my fave either, but I’ll get to it when I get to it.

Given how you are Team Smallfolk 4 Life, how come you are Pro-Blackfyre in your essays. The blackfyres are representative of the Warrior Caste of Westeros and to a man are aristocratic snobs who opposed reform initiatives put forth by Daeron and resented the presence of philanthropic Dornishmen on the court?

It’s a fair cop, guv; I find the Blackfyres interesting in much the same reason that I find the Brackens interesting – they’re the unloved losers of historical conflicts and I’m curious as to what motivated them.

But I do want to push back on something: Daeron and Co. were not on Team Smallfolk.

Were there women in Daeron’s court? Yes, noblewomen. Were there Dornishmen? Yes, highborn Dornishmen. Did any of them care or understand about the smallfolk in the slightest regard? Ask Tansell Too-Tall.

To the extent that Daeron was a reformer, he was an elite reformer focused on questions of efficiency and honesty in administration, and the project of peacefully unifying Dorne under Targaryen rule. He was not Aegon V.

Why do you think GRRM lowered the number of Maegor’s wives from 8 or 9 down to 6? Also, why do you think he made it that only Aegon I and Maegor I had polygamous marriages?

Honestly? I think to make the family trees easier.

What penalties would Westerosi nobles suffer if they were to refuse a call to arms from their corresponding Warden? Could Jaime Lannister have done anything if, during his tenure as warden, he raised banners and the eastern lords ignored him?

See here.

Now, Jaime would have an unusually difficult time because there would be the argument raised against him that he wasn’t the rightful Warden of the East, that the lords of the Vale were of course ready and willing to answer the call from an Arryn, etc. etc.

melusineloriginale:

datura-riot:

Civil War of the Roses! Thank you to @tea_time_for_mad_girls for taking this photo! #captainamerica #wintersoldier #captainamericacosplay #wintersoldiercosplay #captainamericacivilwar #teamcaptainamerica #cosplay

I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS.

Well, this speaks to my overlapping interests so much that the Venn diagram is just a circle.

If there were regional sectarianism in the Faith, what would the specific traits of each sect of the Faith be?

Good question!

As I’ve discussed earlier, one of the major areas of disagreement I’d expect to see would be competing claims for regional pre-eminence, similar to how the Bishoprics of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, and Damascus fought to be recognized as the first among equals. So I’d definitely see whatever the Sept of the Vale is claiming that as the oldest Sept, they should outrank the Starry Sept, and so on.

However, I also imagine you’d see quite a bit of syncretism to local conditions, similar to what we saw with the Ironborn. So I would be very surprised if the Dornish church hasn’t figured out some way to square the circle between the Faith’s precepts and Dornish customs, I imagine you’d see some remnants of Rhoynish religious imagery – the Mother is going to look a LOT like the Mother of Rivers, and I imagine you’d see a lot of turtle icons in Dornish septs. Likewise, given the way in which things like chivalry were imported into the Reach’s legends of Garth Greenhand and his offspring, I would also imagine that the Father in the Reach bares a lot of visual similarity to the green man of the Reach.