Was there Feudalism in Byzantine Egypt?

Abstract

A curious situation exists concerning feudalism in Byzantine Egypt. There seems to be little or no disagreement among Byzantinists concerning the nature of the Egyptian institutions, but a considerable amount of confusion concerning the relation of these institutions to Western feudalism. For example, H. I. Bell maintained that Byzantine Egypt was semifeudal, believing that the importance of the semi-autonomous landed magnates gave the age its character.1 E. R. Hardy was in substantial agreement with Bell and characterized Byzantine Egypt as quasi-feudal. He rejected the notion that Egypt was at this time, indicating that the existence of Roman municipalities and an admittedly creaky bureaucracy combined with a lack of evidence for a substantial personal tie between lord and serf or vassal and emperor kept Egypt from attaining fully feudal status.2 J. G. Milne, however, considered Byzantine Egypt to be feudal because the landed magnates enjoyed virtual autonomy by exercising as private possessions public powers usurped from the empire.3 In this context Ernst Stein remarked: Les deux principes fondamentalement hostiles a TEtat qui Temportaient en Egypte l'Eglise monophysite en tant qu' organisation des masses, en premier lieu les Coptes, et la grande propriete foncier , a tendance feodaliste se neutralisaient dans une certaine mesure ...4 A. A.