The Middle Ages helped to define Western Europe. The Middle Ages showed a large influence on politics, religion, and intellectual trends that helped to define the post-classical world. The most import of all Middle Age political contributions was feudalism. This form of government linked the landlords who were able to fight due to resources they possessed such as iron. They were aided by the help of vassals. These vassals were often paid by inheriting land when the government could not afford to pay each person individually. The feudal system was also used by leaders to gain power. For example, French leaders normally had a background as a landlord. Through marriage, they would gain more. Eventually, once they came into power, a leader would be able to specialize minutely in a trade learned from his officials. In other kingdoms such as England, the feudal government was introduced more forcefully. Under William the Conqueror, the landlords were bound in loyalty to him. He used sheriffs to enforce his rule throughout the empire. William unitized a combined feudal and central govern...
Feudalism was a political system in which the lesser served the greater in return for land. Also, the Church had a great deal with the political side of the Middle Ages. “In time of chaos The Roman Catholic Church was the single, largest unifying structure in medieval Europe” (Doc. 3). In other words, the Church influenced all there was. In 800 CE Pope Leo named King Charlemagne the “Emperor of the Romans” (OI). This is a great example of how the Church had political power.
Politically, in the 1400's parts of Europe had a feudalistic government and some, feudal monarchies but overtime Europe adapted to absolute monarchies, parliamentary monarchies, and nation-states. The dominant social system in Medieval Europe was feudalism, in which the nobility held land in exchange for military service, and vassals were tenants of the nobles, while the peasants were to live on their lord's land and give him labor, and a share of the produce, in exchange for military protection. However, the age of Enlightenment and the French Revolution affected Europe and brought new political changes. Before the Enlightenment, there were feudal systems, and most people lived in small villages and were ruled by feudal lords. Eventually there were new thinkers like John Locke and Isaac Newton. These individuals were about reason, logic, and the scientific method. John Locke, as one example, is an enlightenment age thinker and his ideas influenced the Founding Fathers, the ideas of democracy, liberty and free will. The French Revolution is also important, a period of political upheaval that affected France in which s...
Like the Pre-Columbian Civilizations, the Middle Age kingdoms of Europe had similar qualities such as the governmental structures. Spain, Portugal, England, and the rest of Europe used the Feudal System to sort out the social differences. The King and Queen were the head of state, followed by princesses, princes, bishops, and other church officials. Then came the merchants and artisans trailed by the lowly serfs and peasants who work the land for the system.
The feudal system was one that arose in England after the invasion and conquest of William I. It has been said that this was the perfect political system for this time period. Life was really hard back in the Middle Ages and safety and defense were really hard to come by after the empire fell. There were no laws to protect the poor, so they turned to their lords to keep them safe. The king was in complete control of the system and he owned all the land. One quarter was kept as private property and the rest was given to the church or leased
Medieval rulers restored order and centralized political powers by creating their own form of government. These leaders expanded their territory and spread their authority by creating many micro-managed systems. They developed large bureaucracies, armies, judicial systems and created taxes in order to cause the common-folk pay for all of it.
Feudalism came to as a government containing kings, vassals, knights, lords, lesser lords, and peasants. Feudalism is a loosely organized system of rule in which powerful local lords divided their lands among lesser lords in exchange for military services and pledged loyalty. It came to as a need for control over peasants and protection from the Muslims and the Magyars.
With the decline of the Western Roman empire Western Europe was a disjointed land that had no true unifying structure till the rise of Christianity. In Roman antiquity people used the State or empire of Rome to define themselves and give them a sense of unity despite having a diverse group of people within the empire. When Western Rome fell this belief based on a Roman cultural identity disappeared and no longer were people able to identify themselves with any particular group as they once have. The Christian religion was able to fill this vacuum by having the people associate themselves to a religion instead of a given state or cultural group. During Medieval Europe Christianity became the unifying force that would define what it meant to be European. Christianity gave political leaders legitimacy by showing that they have been favored by the gods. The clergyman that recorded the histories surrounding the kings of the Medieval Europe also provided a link to the Roman Empire to give the Kings a link to Roman empire of antiquity. Christianity became the center of the cultural life in western Europe and created a new social elite in Europe which would dominate literacy and knowledge within Europe for centuries. Christianity provided Europe with an escape from the disorder of the Medieval ages and give them a spiritual outlet for their fears and desires for a better life, whether in the physical life or in the spiritual world after death.
Powell wrote, “…the feudal age is most important for the development of Western Europe: this importance lies chiefly in the process of state-building which had its origins here” (Powell 1). The monarch of this feudal society was responsible for state-building, centralization, and maintaining unity. Therefore, the throne was heredity, so that a single family maintained political power throughou...
Medieval Europe and feudal Japan were two societies that paralleled each other in various political, social, and cultural aspects. Feudalism was utilized by both and played a major role in determining relationships between the social classes. Japan and European had warriors that shared a similar code of ethics and valued loyalty, although they had differing views of death. Their cultures and religious views varied also. Although feudalism was a common aspect in both societies, their cultural backgrounds set them far apart.
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.
The Medieval Era The Medieval era is so easily generalized into the three orders of those who fight, those who work, and those who pray, or even simply divided into the privileged and unprivileged. These distinctions are important, for the ability of the church and manor to influence a peasant's actions and to take a peasant's earnings was obviously a central component of a peasant's life. However, when peasants constituted such a sizable majority of the population (over 90 percent), it is also important to recognize the distinctions among them. Some peasants were free and some were serfs. Some peasants were well off and some were barely subsisting.
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...
Throughout time, history has taken some strange turns. A single ruler establishing some new form of government can transform entire civilizations, or a single event can lead to the creation of a great new people. Whatever the case, history can repeat itself in time. One possible exemption of this could be Britain’s time period of the Middle Ages. Bearing a distinct and unique culture relative to the time period, some of the values and the customs held during this time have yet to be repeated in history. It is perhaps the most unique period of all time for the British Isles.
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 ...
The feudal system was a political, military, and economic system based on the holding of land. The system was developed since the whole entire basis of rule from all the civilizations before the Middle Ages was lost. Early Europe was in desperate need of such a system since they were constantly being raided by the Vikings and other outsiders.