The scientific problem of whether the appropriate conditions were indeed formed for the creation of a feudal system from the end of the Middle Byzantine and during the Late Byzantine period (11th to 15th centuries) has evolved into a real "thorn" in the international literature.

This contribution aims to serve as a concise "guide" to presenting various opinions surrounding one of the most "painful" issues in Byzantine studies, which still today presents diverse, often divergent, opinions and interpretations, providing a detailed bibliography on the subject (especially that of recent decades).

Particular emphasis is placed here on the development of the most relevant and frequently encountered socio-economic institution in the sources (in relation to Byzantine Feudalism), that of the Provisionality. The latter is often, but not always correctly, compared to similar or analogous institutions that existed in medieval Western Europe, with which the concept of Feudalism is primarily identified, while, on the other hand, its role as a precursor of the institution of the timariots during the Ottoman conquest of Byzantium in the 15th century, as well as later, is emphasized as crucial.

At the same time, special sections of the book provide data and bibliographic indications both for the Western European Feudalism and for the "transferred" Feudalism (as a primary Western socio-economic institution) in the Latin-ruled areas of the Greek mainland and islands after 1204 by the crusader conquerors, as well as similarly in the Latin-ruled Cyprus after 1191/1192, which from then on gets "cut off" from the core of Byzantine/Greek history for many centuries.

Additionally, in a special chapter-excursus, Byzantine Feudalism is linked to Byzantine heraldic symbols as well as to the peculiar semi-autonomous state of Thessaly in the Late Byzantine period. Finally, a wide selection of views and definitions from prominent scholars is provided not only regarding the issue of Byzantine Feudalism but also concerning the broader topic of Feudalism in the Western European world, while particular attention is paid to the relations and influences/interactions of relevant institutions between Byzantium and the Muslim pre-Ottoman and Ottoman world.