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The social structure of medieval society
political change in late medieval europe
political change in late medieval europe
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Recommended: The social structure of medieval society
Living in Middle Age Cities
Medieval cities kept old traditions, opinions, and ideas from their birth but times were changing, population was increasing and expansion of trade was taking place. Yet people of authority did not see the value of this change and were stubborn to fix the ways they went about things to fit this new era. Authorities defended their old traditions not so much for their own best interests but rather they did not want the way things were run to be changed in fear that society as a whole would be destructed. Nevertheless the old ideas and ways did not suit the middle class people. These unsuitable conditions soon became unavoidable and the middle class people stood up and voiced their opinions.
To start off there was an big difference of life style of the population either you were in the so called upper class of vassals (landowners) or of the middle class of surfs (merchants or artisans) whom served for the vassals. These landowners made their own laws, tolls and what not for the land that they owned. The surfs were owned by the vassals and stayed with the owner or went to another owner when the land was sold. The land owners depended upon their surfs for trading of goods and services where as the surfs depended upon protection from the vassals. However, surfs were merchants and artisans who needed to travel and trade their services to other surfs, the tolls and laws created by each vassal restricted the merchants and artisans greatly.
Now the middle class was not trying to overthrow their rulers, they accepted the way of these old cities. They did not aim to get rid of it entirely they and they accepted the privileges and authority of princes, clergy and nobility. All the middle class wanted was acknowledgement from the government strictly limited to their own needs, asking for a place compatible with the lives they led.
The old cities consisted of many small cities of merchants surrounding a central city. Merchants had to pay ground rents, tolls for protection by knights, and tolls on merchandise brought on the land. There were different courts with different rules that surfs had to follow one being church related and the other an overall court ruled by the king or the castle owner, not to mention rules set by each vassal.
“The manor was the economic side of feudalism” (Doc. 2). The manor was the basic farming community in Europe, and the farms laid the groundwork for the economy. Typically, each manor had Spring and Autumn planting fields and a little village (Doc. 2). These manors produced the crops that were sold and that is how they were included in the economy. Many of these crops were traded close distance at first but later on began trading with places such as Italy and other places that were a longer way away. This helped Europe to get better goods (OI).
In northern Europe after the Middle Ages, monarchies began to build the foundations of their countries that are still in affect today. During the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries these “New Monarchs” made many relevant changes in their nations. During the middle of the fifteenth century Europe was affected by war and rebellion, which weakened central governments. As the monarchies attempted to develop into centralized governments once again, feudalism’s influence was lessened. This “new” idea of centralization was reflected in the monarch’s actions. Rulers tried to implement peace and restore the idea that the monarchy represented law and order in the nation. These New Monarchs were able to build armies due to taxation, and they enlisted the support of the middle class. The middle class was tired of the noble’s constant conflicts and demanded a change from feudalism. Instead, the New Monarchs turned to Roman law. Nations that were run by the New Monarchs include England, France, Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire.
In the Middle Ages, three distinctive kinds of peasants existed: the serfs, slaves and the freemen. However, the majority of the peasant society consisted of the serfs (Gilberts para. 1). Serfs made up only half of the population for peasants in the 14th century, but during the mid-11th century, an astounding ninety percent of peasants, in distinct areas, were attributed to serfs. A serf was under the command of his lord and had to abide by his rules (Singman 8). He then contained absolutely no political rights (Gilberts para. 2). Alike the serfs, slaves were permitted to be sold and purchased, but, in fact, buyers of serfs did not have full ownership over them (Singman 8). If a serf happened to flee and stay hidden and unrestricted for a total of one year, he could then declare himself a freeman (Gilberts para. 2). Freemen were, indeed, permitted to roam around at liberty and own tiny pieces of land (Gilberts para. 1).
The government is Small communities were formed around the local lord and the manor. The lord owned the land and everything in it. He would keep the peasants safe in return for their service. The lord, in return, would provide the king with soldiers or taxes. Family life was governed by the place one held in society. The nobles had the highest status. They possessed the most wealth and land. The clergy could be rich or poor, depending on their title and how much influence they had over the people. And education also Monks taught boys from wealthy noble families how to read and write Latin. This was important because both the Bible and the church services used the language. Some boys from wealthy families were tutored privately. Students began learning with the seven liberal arts: Latin grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music. Girls were not taught to
This had a profound impact on the way society was arranged. Feudalism and the decentralization of power was occurring at this time politically. With the fall of the Roman Empire, various kingdoms were emerging. A king would divide his kingdom between a few nobles who would oversee a section and report directly to him. These nobles would in turn divide up their areas of control, assigning the smaller sub-sections to lesser aristocrats. The result was a patchwork of fiefdoms run by lords who all answered to the king, but had direct control over their various regions. The people they ruled over were called serfs, and their lives were completely devoted to serving the king. These lower class peasants would farm their land and give a portion of their crop to their lord as a tribute. This tribute was payment for the actual, or hypothetical protection that the serfs needed from the various invading armies roaming the countryside. In return for their regular tribute, the king would maintain an army to protect the serfs from invasion or attack.
The rise of the middle class in Medieval Europe was an enormous change in the way society at the time was structured. The middle class has remained a part of society since the Middle Ages, and it looks like the middle class will stay until a large civilization falls and takes the rest of the world with it. Hopefully, that won’t happen for a long time, but if civilization collapses soon, then we can predict what will happen in the future by looking at civilization’s fall in the past. Large changes in civilization, however, take time, and usually there are warning signs of catastrophe that leaders of countries often ignore.
In the middle ages lots of suffering and decentralization had occurred. There are many reasons as to why this had occurred and solutions to theses rising conflicts were feudalism and manorialism. But why were these ideologies used or caused? The reasons for the occurrence of medieval feudalism and manorialism is the political , social decentralization and economic problems that had occurred during and after the disappearance of the roman empire , invasions of the barbarians , rise of barbarian kingdoms , civil wars within the barbarian kingdoms and the need of stability and safety that made the people of that time desperate.
In the medieval times everything had an order to follow, a price that had to be paid, and a contract that had to be obeid. Each person had a rank, which decides on your lifestyle and future for you and your descendants to come. A serf was at the bottom of the pyramid, therefore they had to work at sunrise to sunset. The lords and the ladies lived conformably in their glorious castle, which was flooded with servants. Alot of things obviously had change, which is the more reason to learn more about our history.
During the Renaissance England’s population doubled, causing a surge in prices, and the formation of new industrial and agricultural markets. Consequently, social relations became increasingly fluid, as merchants and ambitious lower class gentlemen profited at the expense of the aristocrats and laborers. This made the position of the crown, which was politically dominant, yet financially insecure, more unstable. The instability in the crown compounded with the decay of social and political control of the church due to mid-century controversies over faith, taught people to think on their own and be less dependent on a higher power. Hence the population of the time was more venerable to dealing with the rampant
Europe’s social structure in the Middle Ages consisted of feudalism. A hierarchical society of Kings granting land to nobles, who would then give a fief to a knight in return for service. The knight would then have peasants or serfs working on their fief. However, as the plague spread, many peasants died and their labour could not be replaced. This loss of workforce had a significant impact upon the economy as grain was not being harvested and livestock roamed free. The agrarian economy had been severely damaged, the land became uncultivated and returned back to its natural state. This rural collapse eventually led to food shortages in towns and cities.
In Europe between 1000 and 1600 the role of peasantry cannot be overlooked. Peasants were essential in maintaining the agricultural and economical standards set by their lords. They were the backbone of society because they became the source from where the supply of food will come from, sustaining themselves and those of higher power. Due to the high demands of work made by authority figures towards the English and German peasants, peasants felt taken advantage of and revolted. The grievances and aspirations that cause these revolts were similar but yet distinct. Being a vital part of society, peasants felt as the royal government and the church to be corrupted, taking advantage of their power in order to make them meet their wants and needs.
The middle class was disliked by the nobles as well as the peasants. The nobles believed that it was a disgrace to them to have such a class. The nobles thought that the middle class would eventually gain more power than them. Also, they were scared that the middle class would teach others on how to increase their power so they could overthrow the nobles.
There were many different systems in Europe that rose and fell throughout its colorful history. The system that was very influential of change during the Middle Ages was a duel system called feudalism/manorialism. In a lecture Robert W. Brown defines feudalism as a political structure that is a relationship between the king and his vassals while manorialism is a socio-economic structure that defines the role of the vassal and his subjects (The Legacy of the Roman Empire and the Middle Ages in the West). Timothy C. Hall explains: “local nobles acquired large tr...
During the Middle Ages, feudalism served as the “governing political, social, and economic system of late medieval Europe.” Feudalism consisted of feudal liege lords giving land and protection to vassals, common men, in exchange for their allegiance and military service. Although this principle may at first sound like a fair trade, it in actuality restricted the entire society and took away every bit of their independence. In essence, this system could even be compared to a “mini-dictatorship” because the common people relied on ...
Feudalism was a set of political and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries (“Feudalism”). “The feudal system was not planned but, rather grew and developed in response to the social chaos that followed the fall of the Western Roman Empire. It provided order where there no longer was any, and it created new chains of command to replace those that were gone” ( James 58). Feudalism was introduced by King William I to England; this system organized power, land, and divided people into classes. The king, who owned all the land, gave some land to the church and to the barons in return for large blocks of land, the barons promised to fight for the king. Lent land to the knights and also common people (Susie 5). Feudalism test was also to defend against invaders (John 32). In the absence of centralized government authority, people look to personal relationships to bind society together. An individual with military power to offer gave his services to a feudal lord (Hay 170). Feudalism was created to put society, land, and power into order. In the economic system, landlords would force laborers to work on the lord’s manor to the lord’s profit (Medieval 65).