[cousin_it]

In the past of any European country you'll see peasants being largely peaceful and the aristocracy following honor culture at its worst. Honor culture doesn't arise in response to oppression, it arises when private violence is unchecked by law. The only counter is rule of law.

[jacobolus]

The peasants being peaceful? Where do you get that idea? Alcoholism, domestic violence, theft, fist fights, mob justice, banditry, etc. seem pretty common in peasant society that I have seen.

Or you just mean the peasants don't often pick fights with the soldiers, and their violence typically doesn't rise to the scale that would make history books?

[cousin_it]

Honor culture is not an umbrella term for evils like alcoholism, theft, or fist fights. It's a sharper, uglier thing. The central idea of honor culture is that a man must kill anyone who insults him, otherwise he's "not a man" and becomes fair game for everyone. It was much more prevalent with the aristocracy than with common folk, for the reason that I explained in the previous comment.

Even today you'll find that honor culture is much more popular with criminals than with law-abiding poorer folk that the criminals prey upon. It's not about how much power your group has, compared to other groups. It's about whether your conflicts within the group are constrained by law.