The Serf, the knight, and the Historian Dominique Barthelemy The term 'feudal society' is a caricature. It was invented by nineteenth-century historians to capture a particular period in French history, that of the retreat of monarchy (and thus of state authority) and the supposed tyranny of fiefdoms. It had its uses. As caricatures go, it was no worse than many others. But it was both reductionist and unbalanced. Among other things, it reduced society to bonds of dependency that were ritualized and personalized, and it imagined a scenario of quasi-independent castles, each with its own knights, existing in a state of continuous warfare with one another. It largely ignored other links and networks, and it overlooked the fact that warfare between neighbors was intermittent and limited. Meanwhile, in the real world, apart from such conflict-though sometimes through it-social construction was going on. […] […] This is not essentially a book of historiographical criticism. Its intention is historical. Its themes include the instrumentality of serfdom and the symbolism of arms. Though it tackles some highly complex issues, it tries not to be complicated. It seeks to assist research by pointing out certain pitfalls. Part of the interest in understanding the France of the turn of the first millennium lies in the challenge it presents, the difficulty in getting there. Such history forces us to leave criticism behind and use our imagination boldly. [...]