Social Classes In The Middle Ages Essay

The middle class was arising and was becoming larger. Which meant they were able to challenge the authority of the church due to them being the majority. Even though the middle classes were big in size, the higher classes included the nobles, commoners and the clergy (popes, monks, bishops and priests). Since most of the classes were getting more attention and more benefits, the peasants were not quite happy. They were not at all, they became resentful and revolted towards everyone else.

I learnt through a presentation performed by 2 people on Medieval day about the social structure of Medieval European society. The Medieval European feudal system that was used to classify every human in a social class that was used over a period of a 100 years. The amount of goods you provided and how loyal you were to someone of a higher rank allowed you to gain protection and more. What you were decided what class you were considered to fit.

People in our world, whether it’s in the past or present, are constantly influenced by their surroundings. They live their lives based on what’s around them and how they are brought up. The people in the Middle Ages were often exposed to a variety of different things that affected what they did. Their relationships with one another, and the way they were brought up to interact with each other greatly modified each individual’s lives. In addition to that, their daily jobs affected how they lived as well. All of these things were majorly influenced by feudalism, the form of government that the people in the Middle Ages lived by. They were exposed to this government every day, and it was the base of their values and as a whole. There were many

Poverty in Europe from 1450 to 1700 was a huge issue that stuck around for centuries. The wars that took place during this time always seemed to negatively affect the poor the most. The poor, consisting of the majority of the European population, was never taken into consideration during these wars which is ironic considering these wars were caused in the name of religion. This situation, combined with weak leadership and in many countries a heavy taxation system, such as those found in England under the leadership of James I and his son Charles I, or under the leadership of absolute monarchs like Louis XIV, prevented the poor from rising in social status. The way people regarded “the poor” in Europe from 1450-1700 differed significantly based

In the Middle Ages, which started at A.D 476 and ended in 1500, a lot of serfs and peasants faced adversities. Serfs were slaves who worked for the lords and ladies in the Middle Ages. On the other hand, peasants are lower class people who works in farmlands. Serfs and peasants were in the lowest class, so they had a life that was harsher than than the lords and ladies.

Peasants realized they could move from village to village, constantly switching to whichever proprietor offered them the best deal. This greatly changed the traditional feudal system, which served to confine peasants to a certain piece of land. In response to this, the government passed the Statute of Labourers in 1351 that forced peasants to remain in their homelands and did not allow lords to change their wages from what they were in 1346. This infuriated the peasants and led to the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381. Survivors of the Black Death felt that they were special, chosen specifically by God to be saved (Trueman), and after this the lower class began to demand more economic and social equality.

The societies of Tokugawa Japan (c.1603-1867C.E.) and medieval Europe (c.1000-1500C.E.) had two things in common; a feudal system. A feudal system is something that features hierarchies or social structures. The feudal system normally starts with a religion, which is at the very top of the social pyramid, then it’s the King or monarch for Europe and the shogun for Japan, then there are the nobles for Europe and the daimyos for Japan. As we go down the pyramid there are the warriors, like the knight in Europe and the samurai in Japan, then there are the peasants. The peasants were included in both eras and are at the lowest part of the pyramid.

Underneath the nobles and barons, there are knights that are trained from the age of 7. In return for service to the nobles and barons, they are given grants of land. The peasants and serfs are on the bottom of the social system, there are peasants who farm the land in return for shelter and protection (history.com). This compares with

Rome was very significant because it controlled most of Europe and it also had a lot of european culture. Rome fell after the rulers that came in the next century, didn’t know how to deal with Rome’s growing problems and it’s giant empire, therefore Rome began to fall. There were many contributions to the fall of Rome. For example, trade was disrupted, there was limited space and they began to lack new sources of gold and silver. Some people may argue that the Age Of Faith and The Dark Ages are the best labels to describe the era between 500 and 1500 in Europe. The best label to describe this time period is The Age Of Feudalism because the documents show what it was, how it began and how it helped.

How did the life of a Serf differ from that of a slave or a peasant? Intro: In c.1300 at least one half of England’s population was filled with serfs, and around one half of all the land was held on servile tenure. Serfdom had placed economic burdens upon most peasants, therefore becoming an extremely exploitative system.

In the Elizabethan Era, the low-class people, such as laborers and yeoman, had a struggle living than the high-class people, such as the nobles and monarchs. The Capulet family are high ranked: “They are nobles” (www.prezi.com). The Montague family are also Nobles. This explains why Romeo’s and Juliet’s mother and father have the title “Lord” or “Lady” in front of their last name. Lord Capulet held a big party for the nobles, so that means the family has a lot of money. The nobles during the Elizabethan Era were “wealthy and powerful class people.” (sites.google.com). But not all characters in Romeo and Juliet are nobles. One example is the nurse. She is “a lower class woman” (www.shmoop.com). The nurse represents the laborers. She gets

The income was declining in this time period, which led to inflation. Moreover, kings asked lords and peasants to pay taxes; peasants had to pay dues as well to their landlords. Labor shortages also led to inflation. While nobles started to bribe and cheat peasants, peasants began to attack monasteries (Document 4). Monasteries were probably attacked because they were fancy, and priests and monks had everything in there.

From 1450 to 1700 the economy of Europe began to majorly change. Mercantilism was on the uprise which meant Europe began to focus more on their trade and commerce. This lead to many individuals to having a hard time gaining wealth because the government was doing everthing on a large scale. Many Europeans were just barely getting by. Then the poor would have to go to the extremes and beg and steal to make money for themselves.

The class system that defined Europe during the Middle ages was very similar to the caste system implemented in India. These systems both had a single leader atop the order followed by wealthy landowners and intellectuals. In the Middle ages like India the lowest level of society was subjected to manual labor and harsh living conditions. Also, in both of these systems the gap between wealthy and peasant was extremely large. The people that gained from these conditions were the upper classes because they were able to make a lot of money off the back of these lower-class individuals. These divisions were in place to keep the wealthy at the top of the social order and dominant over society. I believe that these systems were created by people

he Middle Ages The Middle Age was after the fall of the Roman Empire in the west between 500 and 1400 in Europe. During the era, the society were being terrorized and the economy were in a bad state. There was no trade going on, meaning the economy was declining and the people were terrified. The Middle Age showed a devastating era that occurred after the fall of the Roman Empire.