The practice of feuding amongst noblemen and princes represented a substantial threat to law and order, yet it was widely accepted and deeply embedded in late medieval and early modern German society. Hillay Zmora offers a new interpretation of this violent social practice, which has long confounded historians and social scientists. His ground-breaking study explains feud violence in its social context, demonstrating that, paradoxically, nobles feuded mostly not against strangers but with neighbours, relatives and their feudal lords. Focusing on the ambivalent relationships and symbolic...