Paul Sweezy’s interpretation of the decline of feudalism occupies an important place in the Marxist debate on the transition from feudalism to capitalism. In his famous essay “The Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism,” Sweezy challenged explanations that treated the development of capitalism as a simple and inevitable outcome of changes within the feudal economy. He emphasized the importance of long-distance trade, the growth of towns, the expansion of markets, and the emergence of a money economy in weakening the traditional feudal order. His argument became central to the well-known “Dobb-Sweezy debate,” in which Maurice Dobb and Paul Sweezy offered different interpretations of the crisis and decline of European feudalism. According to Sweezy, medieval feudalism was primarily a system of production organized around relatively self-sufficient manorial units. The manor produced most of what was required for local consumption, while the obligations between lords and peasants were largely based on customary relationships. In such a system, production was not primarily directed toward the market. The dominant objective was the maintenance and reproduction of the feudal social order. Lords obtained their income through rents, labour services, and dues imposed upon peasants rather than through systematic commercial production. Sweezy argued that the expansion of trade introduced forces that were fundamentally different from those operating within the traditional feudal economy. From the eleventh and twelfth centuries onward, European commerce expanded considerably. The revival of Mediterranean trade, the development of commercial connections with the East, and the growth of fairs and trading centres contributed to the increasing circulation of commodities and money. Italian cities such as Venice, Genoa, and Florence became important centres of commerce, while northern European towns became connected through networks such as the Hanseatic League. These developments stimulated the growth of markets beyond the boundaries of the traditional manor. For Sweezy, the growth of trade encouraged the development of towns and a new social class of merchants. Medieval towns became centres of craft production, exchange, and monetary transactions. Merchants were not tied to the traditional obligations of the feudal manor. Their activities were based upon buying, selling, transportation, and profit. The expansion of this commercial sector gradually created an economic environment in which money and markets became increasingly important. This represented a significant departure from the predominantly subsistence-oriented character of the feudal economy. The rise of towns had important consequences for the feudal system. Towns provided