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3 Not European Feudalism, but Flemish Feudalism A New Reading of Galbert of Bruges’s Data on Feudalism in the Context of Early Twelfth-Century Flanders Dirk heirbaUT Galbert of Bruges’s journal is one of the best sources we have on feudalism in medieval Europe, but its popular success has overshadowed the fact that Galbert did not write about some abstract, textbook medieval feudalism , but about real relationships between lords and vassals in a specific area, Flanders, and at a specific moment in history, 1127–28. If one reads Galbert’s account of the murder of Count Charles the Good in its context , it becomes clear that Flemish feudalism in 1127–28, as described by Galbert, is indeed illustrative of Western European feudalism in general, but that it also had some peculiarities of its own, and that these have been disregarded up to now by historians who have used Galbert as a source. Although Galbert’s book was “an utter failure in the Middle Ages,”1 it has been very popular in recent years with both the general public and scholars, though sometimes for very different reasons. For the former Galbert simply offers a good story. Apart from the fact that it does not do justice to women (but that can also be said about the average Hollywood movie),2 the journal has everything to catch a modern reader’s interest: 56 I would like to thank Prof. em. Raoul Van Caenegem and his wife, Patricia Carson, Dr. Mike Raley, Dr. Rik Opsommer, Gerard Sinaeve, and Luk Burgelman for their remarks and comments on this essay. Needless to say, any remaining errors are entirely my own. 1. Rider, “Galbert of Bruges’ ‘Journal,’” 67. 2. Cf. the essay later in this volume by Martina Häcker, “The Language of Misogyny in Galbert of Bruges’ Account of the Murder of Charles the Good.” flemish feUDalism 57 war, murder, treason, and adultery, combined with great speeches, gossip, cynicism, and, at times, a bit of humor. Scholars, of course, (claim to) have been reading Galbert for other reasons than their students. As a journalist, he is among the best. As a notary in the central administration of Flanders in Bruges, he witnessed many events firsthand. Though he was not university trained, he was well-educated (and may have studied at the cathedral school of Laon).3 He was a legal and administrative professional at a time when such men were rare. Moreover, he must have been exceptional even among his fellow clerics in Bruges, for he had his own views, which he was ready to adapt if changed circumstances forced him to do so. In sum, Galbert is valuable because he saw a lot, understood it, and could go beyond it. Besides that, when he gives the words of oaths, he is very accurate in his translation into Latin of what was said in Dutch or French, and he tries to convey the general sense of longer speeches even if they may not be recorded verbatim.4 All of Galbert’s qualities are evident when he writes about feudalism, and, therefore, it is not surprising that his text has often been cited. According to Robert Fossier, the famous description of the homage to Count William Clito in Bruges in 1127 has been edited a hundred times.5 In the same vein, Theodore Evergates states: “Beyond the frequently reprinted descriptions of fealty by Fulcher of Chartres (ca. 1020) and of homage by Galbert of Bruges (1127) ..... few non-literary texts are available.”6 Though both Fossier and Evergates exaggerate, Galbert’s text has been a favorite source for feudalism because his qualities as a historian come to the fore when he writes about it. As François-Louis Ganshof wrote about Galbert’s description of homage: “Nous ne connaissons cependant pas de texte à la fois aussi explicite et aussi précis que le récit où Galbert de Bruges ..... rapporte comment en 1127 le nouveau comte de Flandre, Guillaume de Normandie accueillit les vassaux de son prédécesseur.”7 Ganshof’s enthusi3 . Van Caenegem, Galbert van Brugge en het Recht, 11–12; Bert Demyttenaere, “Mentaliteit in de twaalfde eeuw en de benauwenis van Galbert van Brugge,” in Middeleeuwse cultuur: Verscheidenheid , spanning en verandering, ed. Marco Mostert, R. E. Künzel, and A. Demyttenaere (Hilversum, 1994), 87–88; Rider, “Galbert of Bruges’ ‘Journal,’” 70–71. 4. Alan V. Murray, “Voices of Flanders: Orality and Constructed Orality in the Chronicle of Galbert of Bruges,” Handelingen...

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