Note on Human Consciousness: Not Nations, but Christendome

To repeat: Nationalism has not come into being yet. The majority of the people living in the Medieval Era were serfs who were by law attached to a particular tract of land and where subject to a particular local ruler, be he or she a count, a duke or a king.

Remember that I said earlier that violence can produce a new good, years or centuries later? Well, here's one example. The pillaging and slave-taking the Roman empire had engaged in through out its career has now resulted in a Europe in which many people in Europe are no longer members of a tribe and therefore tribal consciousness has started to decline until it is no longer a factor in individual decision making. Rome eliminated tribalism among Europeans in pretty much the same way that slavery in the United States would eliminate tribalism in captive African Americans. But this is not to defend slavery or even call it a "necessary evil." Its a result of violence that happens to be a good thing.

But of course, you can argue about whether the elimination of tribalism is a good thing or not. From the perspective of creating a large, homogeneous meritocracy, the elimination of tribalism is a good thing. All others things being equal, without tribalism, the key slots in society go to the most capable regardless of their origin - which increases in the number of capable people occupying the key slots.

But what is going to be the "glue" that holds together all these de-tribalized Europeans? The new idea of Christendome. From here on out, Europeans will think of themselves, (if they think of themselves at all) as either being part of the church (Catholic or Eastern Orthodox) or as a subject of their local lord. When they go to war, they will not go to war as Englishmen, Germans, or Frenchmen, but as subjects of their lord who was going into battle, and as members of Christendom.

Since wars are paid for by individual lords, the expense of going to war will help limit the size of the armies and the length of the wars. (The Hundred Years War was punctuated by truces.)