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Medieval Period
The rise of feudalism in european
The rise of feudalism in european
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In European history, the Middle Ages lasted from the fifth to the fifteenth century. The Middle Ages began with the collapse of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance. The barbarian invaders, formed new kingdoms in the Western Roman Empire. In the seventh century, North Africa and the Middle East were under the rule of an Islamic empire. During the Middle Ages, people had different religious beliefs (than the church); this was referred to as heresy. This caused people of the church and political officials to fight . The Dark Ages is an accurate characterization of the Middle Ages in some respects, however there were positive aspects of that time that contradict that perception. Government, culture, education, and the economy are factors that show how the Middle Ages changed over time in both positive and negative ways. The political system and government had a major impact on the characterization that the Middle Ages was a dark time. Certain kingdoms were “unable to suppress violence” (document A). Travel during this time was considered dangerous because there were so many highway robbers. The government had no homogeneity and had a weak system. Cities became more isolated and practically disappeared. The biggest cause of this decline was the lack of a centralized government that could keep order. Although the government system impacted the Middle Ages in a negative way, there was a system of government that had many benefits; feudalism. Feudalism is a contract in which the kings sign land to the nobles (or vassals) in return for military service. A vassal is a person who works for a lord, usually giving the lord military protection. In exchange for the vassals protection, the lord would give a p... ... middle of paper ... ...of the Middle Ages, this period in time is perceived to be the Dark Ages. Building new universities and other economic development was foreshadowed by an inadequate government system and poverty-stricken farming communities that literally isolated them from the rest of the world. Additionally, while trade routes may have been established, trade suffered because of its underdeveloped structure. During these Medieval times, education became a luxury that only the wealthy could enjoy. With the increasing costs of education today, we are headed in that same direction. Similarly, economic prosperity during the Dark Ages had ups and downs just like today’s economy. Most recently, universities and huge, powerful companies were virtually unfazed by the “great recession of 2008.” Each and every generation has both positive and negative factors that help define them.
The European middle ages lasted from the 5th century to the 15th century, which started the fall of the Western Roman Empire and moved to the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. The classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period were the divisions to the early, high, and late middle ages. The gothic awakening was in England during the 1750s, caused by the medieval forms. Medieval Europe was awakening from a feudal war and ignorance. The new way of learning was spread in the western society. In the gothic awakening age, towns and kingdoms flourished and built churches across Europe.
The Medieval Times for Europe, from the 400 AD till 1400 AD, are often labeled as “The Dark Ages”. This time period has begun after a turning point known as Fall of Rome. It caused Rome to divide into two well-known civilizations: Medieval Europe, Islam, and The Byzantine Empire. Also, Medieval Europe led to a well known utopian period of “rebirth” identified as the Renaissance. The time period between 400 CE and 1400 CE wasn’t a “Dark Age” for Europe because of progress in academic success, blossom in architecture, and religious unity along with government. It wasn’t a cultural decay or decline because of the legendary time period it led to.
In the year 476 A.D., Rome officially fell as the greatest and most thriving empire at the time. The time period following this downfall was called the Middle Ages, more infamously recalled as the Dark Ages; but were these years truly as dark as historians say? These medieval times lasted for approximately one thousand years, could such a long time period have been all that dreadful? The answer will soon become clear. The Middle Ages deserved to have the alias of the Dark Ages because there were several severe illnesses, the monarchs were cruel, and the crusades brought the death of many.
The Middle Ages, from 500 to 1400, was a mixing pot of events that were good, bad, and ugly, but there’s plenty of room for interpretation for what the middle ages were. For example, it could be called the Age of Faith because the church was extremely powerful. When the church called for people to go on the crusades, all of Europe obeyed and supported them, almost out of fear (Document 9). There’s four possible labels for the Middle Ages: the Age of Faith, the Dark Ages, the Age of Feudalism, or the Golden Age. The most accurate are the Age of Faith, the Dark Ages, and the Age of Feudalism.
The Middle Ages was a time of knights, the lords they supported, and the kings and queens they worked under. A time the Roman Catholic Church took over the European landmass like rapid fire, and when moral codes designated the manner in which people acted. Almost most influential of all was feudalism. At the time of the medieval period, the social, political, and economic lives of Europeans were defined by feudalism.
Bringing all of that back to Europe made trade skyrocket. The new trading immensely increased which was very good for the economy. A new economic class surfaced after the Crusades. Instead of just being poor or rich there was now an in between. The new class,middle class/ bourgeoisie, consisted of shopkeepers, artisans, merchants and traders.
To the extent that one takes the values of Renaissance and Enlightenment as positive developments in human history, the Middle Ages will be viewed as “dark.” From another perspective, in order to dismiss the negative image of the Middle Ages, one has to deconstruct the wholly positive image of the Enlightenment, thereby questioning the presuppositions behind these descriptions. According to the Encylopedia Britannica, the post-Medieval world can be considered to have “invented the Middle Ages in order to distinguish themselves from it.” (2014) The description of the Middle Ages as Dark Ages can therefore be understood according to the shift of values that occurred from the Middle Ages to the post-Medieval world.
The middle Ages was a time action and great emotion. Almost all the European inhabitants became Christian, because of this, the church had a lot of control over the people. The church used the beliefs of the people to control them, collecting land and taxes and making laws. The Bubonic Plague spread to Europe, the plague killed about 75 million people of world died from one single cause. Many superstitions were created cause of the Black Death, generate idea that were thought to prevent the plague but really did. Medicine was also not being studied carefully and correctly at the time. Not a lot of science was being use to conduct and create medical procedures and medicinal drugs. Medicine in the middle ages was primitive caused improper practice and beliefs.
Surrounded and faced threats of the barbarian tribes, the Roman Empire could no longer hold firm and just collapsed. The western part became the new Germanic world, where the growth of Latin Christendom, a distinctively Western institution founded. The eastern part was the worlds of Byzantine and the Islamic world. This is clear that this is the Middle Ages as there were absences of central government, ongoing invasions, constant threats of famine and diseases. “The term Middle Age refers to the period between the ancient and the modern civilizations.” (Levack et al, The West, 233) The Middle Ages were the period of a new philosophy of civilization after the “fall” of the Roman Empire.
Imagine having to bury your own children. How awful would that be? The Middle Ages were a brutal time that included the bubonic plague, many wars and other horrible things. This period is considered to be one of religion and the Catholic Church, but this was overshadowed by chaos and confusion. Although the Middle Ages is often known as the age of faith, a more appropriate title for the time period would be The Dark Ages because of the black death, wars and the collapse of government.
In conclusion, with the various events that occurred during the Middle Ages, they all show that they developed social, economic and political changes throughout Europe. Although it may have taken a series of fortunate and unfortunate events, the change brought the flourishing age of Renaissance. From the night in shiny armor, comes the flowering of literature, science, art, religion, politics, and most importantly, knowledge by learning.
People in the Dark Ages were engulfed in the shadow of greatness of their predecessors, which 18th-century English historian Edward Gibbon called “barbarism and religion,” (History). Life in Europe during the Dark Ages were quite simple, as there was no efforts in unifying Europe, and the Catholic church was the only real body of power in Europe at this time. European societies were governed by feudalism, in which the king gives land to the nobles, while peasants worked on the land to live there in return. Little is actually known about this era, in that nothing significant was recorded, announcing it a “dark’ era. There was little to nothing significant about this time period in Europe, other than strong Catholic authority. A shift begins during this time period
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.
The Dark Ages are commonly associated with a lack of innovation, a massive amount of tragedy, and a general consensus that it sucked. However, these descriptions are heavily contradictory to what the Dark Ages actually were. Upon further studies, it's seen that the Dark Ages actually had large quantities of good events that happened within its time period. The Dark Ages were actually a good thing. From the opening of world famous universities to improved education, the Dark Ages are not as bad as many people make it out to be.
...ranean and even sometimes further to the east. The economy seemed to have been doing greatly in the Dark Ages with the discovery of huge retail stores. Under Christianity’s wing, education was also being encouraged and the pursuit of the liberal arts grew more important. People like Cassiodorus and Boethius were critical in the preservation of ancient Latin and Greek texts, and they also developed their own interesting philosophies. At this time, Christianity truly began to emerge as a strong religion, and the Dark Ages carry great significance for harboring Catholicism. With the Early Middle Ages culminating in the Carolingian Renaissance that even further encouraged the pursuit of education and the arts, it cannot be said that this time was one of darkness. For these reasons, the Dark Ages were overall a crucially important and beneficial time in human history.