Where Feudalism has been Placed in During the Euroatlantic Epoch of Lithuania?

Abstract

Abstract. The article is dedicated to the fundamental subject of the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) – feudalism. During the 30 years of Lithuanian independence the topic of Lithuanian feudalism was connected, first of all, with the name of Edvardas Gudavičius. Following his death, it became relevant to overview and evaluate Lithuanian historiography dealing with the topic.
The main conclusions of the article are the following:
1) After 2003 a theoretical discussion about feudalism began;
2) Gudavičius himself pointed out two criteria to define feudalism from the Marxist point of view: individual peasant households and large landownership; but his interpretation of socioeconomic structure of early GDL applied to only one of them.

The concept of the model of the early Central European state, ignored by Lithuanian medievalists so far, was proposed as alternative to the concept of early feudalism.