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[German Version] I. Conceptual History – II. Feudalism in the Narrower Sense – III. Feudalism in the Broader Sense – IV. Open Questions I. Conceptual History The term feudalism derives from medieval Latin feudum, “fief.” It spread throughout Europe as the battle cry of the French Revolution of 1789. Féodalité was used to describe not just feudal law but the whole hated system. Liberal criticism targeted the structure of estates and privileges as well as the serfdom of the peasantry as consequences of the feudal system. K. Marx introduced t…