Gondor, Byzantium, and Feudalism

The often imitated but never duplicated Tom Simon (who fights crime under his secret identity as Superversive) holds forth on the issue all legal scholars, historians and political theorists who happen to be fans of JRR Tolkien have often pondered. What is feudalism and how is the political system in Byzantium different from it? What are the parallels between Byzantium and Gondor?

http://superversive.livejournal.com/85354.html

**********************************************
 To begin with, Tolki...