c. 600 AD–c. 900 AD
Eurasian stirrup diffusion and the feudalism debate
War & military technology · Caballería · Equipo ecuestre · Transferencia tecnológica · Debates historiográficos
Metal stirrups circulated through Central Asia and reached parts of eastern and western Europe between the sixth and ninth centuries; adoption was uneven and combined with saddles, horse breeding, tactics, and local organizations. The familiar claim that the stirrup produced Carolingian feudalism remains contentious and relies on a contested category of “feudalism” itself: technological coincidence does not demonstrate that social causation.
Precision, calendar, and review
- Start
- year · approximate
- End
- year · approximate
- Calendar and convention
- Historical-era years; the source calendar is not identified. No conversion of days is assumed.
- Year zero
- The scale goes from 1 BCE to 1 CE without year zero. Changing era names changes labels only.
- Documentary review
- Date not recorded
Reading the date: duration of a process.
Sources
- compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com (opens in a new tab)
Source provenance and scope
- Publication date
- Pending verification: the source could not be accessed
- Bibliographic date checked
- 2026-09-23
The correspondence between this reference and individual claims has not yet been itemized.
This record is an editorial synthesis. Consult the sources to check claims and their limits. Chronological relationships alone do not establish causation.