Nobility, Land and Service in Medieval Hungary

The absence in medieval Hungary of fief-holding and vassalage has often been cited by historians as evidence of Hungary's early 'deviation' from European norms. This new book argues that medieval Hungary was, nevertheless, familiar with many institutions characteristic of noble society in Europe. Contents include the origins of the Hungarian nobility and baronage, lordship and clientage, the role of the noble kindred, conditional landholding, the organization of the frontier, the administration of the counties, and the establishment of representative institutions.

MARTYN RADY is Senior Lecturer in Central European History at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London, and General Editor of the Slavonic and East European Review. His previous books include Medieval Buda (1985), Emperor Charles V (1988) and Romania in Turmoil: A Contemporary History (1992).