Anderson On Hord's Theory

According to Poul Anderson, John K Hord thought that the breakdown of Western European society began when the 15th century Council of Basle failed to solve the problem of Church government, thus leading to the Reformation, religious wars, absolutism and attempts to rule Europe. I don't think so. Surely, however the Church was governed, urban merchants would have opposed feudal landlords, including bishops, thus leading to a split in ideas and some sort of Reformation?

Again according to Hord, as reported by Anderson, Cromwellian conversion tyranny separated England and its colonies, thus begetting new societies. Anderson's own idea, based on Hordian theory, is that American society broke down in 1913 when direct election of senators destroyed the federal republic, income tax undermined liberty and privacy and the Federal Reserve started wrecking the economy. Americans have until about 2040 to repair the damage...

Yet again, I would see the main problems as lying elsewhere but my purpose in this and the last few posts has been to track down what Anderson tells us about Hord and how the latter affected the world of van Rijn, Falkayn and Flandry. I am now much clearer on these issues and hope that some of my readers might be as well.