The Early Middle Ages : The Fall Of The Dark Ages

The first type was the free peasants who rented land to farm and owed only their rent to the lord. They had the ability to own small businesses and small parts of land which greatly differed them from the serfs. The serfs were another type of peasant in feudal society. They were unfree peasants who farmed the lord’s fields and could not leave their lord’s manor. Serfs received their own small plot of land to farm in return for their labor. They were similar to slaves but could not be bought or sold and could not leave their lands without permission. Possible jobs that a serf could have on a manor were carpenters, farmers, or tax collectors. Serfs had the ability to buy back their freedom with money which was very rare because they were extremely poor causing their chances to be very rare. In conclusion, the peasants being the largest class in the feudal structure, helped protect and sustain their kingdoms by playing pivotal roles which were mainly working the fields and making food for

Manorialism was an economic structure during the high middle ages that consisted of a lord and his vassals who served him and his wife. The serfs had more rights than slaves but they were tied to the land of their lord even when their land was captured by another lord. Unlike slaves, serfs could keep some of their crops and maintain their own family. Cottagers ranked below serfs and were only given cottage and a small plot of land to work on. At the top of the working class were freeholders. These peasants owned their own land and were not subjects of a lord. Peasants would work the fields together as a family regardless of sex or age, although mostly men worked with the heavy plows and women wove clothes during the least demanding seasons. The lands

Manor became the principal form of agricultural organization in Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. In this system, the peasant who worked on manor was granted the protection of the lord of the land in exchange for labor. They were attached to their land by the institution of serfdom. The vast majority of serfs lived by cultivating the land that was owned by the lord. In this way, the poor, defenseless, and landless were ensured permanent access to plots of land which they could work in return for economic services to the lord. This system also encompassed the political relationship between the lord and the serf. For

The late Middle ages was definitely a troubled time for citizens around Europe. From the 14th Century to the 15th Century, humans were raveled by famines, disruption of socio economics, and lost of faith in the Catholic Church. To the eyes of many at the time, this era was looked at as a major decline of life. With the many deaths, poor condition for poor people, and the schism of the Church, it may seem easy to call this era a decline. Although upon closer looking, this era is more of a transitional period into the next period than a decline due to many reasons. Whether you look at religious, social movements, or economically, the late Middle Ages helped transition Europe into what it has become.

In manorial villages the lords of the land would have vassals and serfs. A vassal was a voluntary obligation to be taken care of by the lord. Although once one became a vassal this obligation would follow through from one generation to the next. Serfs on the other hand were people

Contrary to what World History textbooks might make someone believe, Europe was not always a thriving cultural hub. In fact, during the Middle Ages Europe was stuck in a constant cycle of development and decline that could be attributed to a wide range of factors. The only constant aspect of Middle Ages Europe became its religion, which acted to keep the region afloat even as feudalism, invasions, and plagues sought to destroy any progress that could have been made.

Thesis: The Middle Ages of Europe should not be known as the “Dark Ages” because it this period of time was the golden-age of education and wealth for the Anglo-Saxons, and there were clear laws as well as educated intellectuals throughout the continent.

The most desolate time period in history lasted roughly from A.D. 400 to A.D. 1000 and was plagued with no social progress, incessant warfare, lawlessness, recurring epidemics, and low intellect of the people. This was considered the Dark Age, or the medieval ages. The Dark Ages are thought of by historians to be extremely dim, no notable progress, and controlled heavily by the rise of the Christian Church. The medieval age followed the decline of the Roman empire which fell in the fifth century due to barbaric attacks, strength of the empire’s rulers, and religious changes of the period. The same problems of the Roman Empire continued into the medieval ages. William Manchester author of A World Lit Only by Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance, Portrait of an Age discusses the concept of the medieval mind and the history of the time period. According to Manchester the medieval world was not a civilization, “If by civilization one means a society which has reached a relatively high level of cultural ad technological development, the answer is no” (Manchester, 15). The medieval age had no accomplishments and actually led to a decline of society since the Roman Empire. The medieval ages are characterized by a specific mindset of the medieval people, a narrow world view, and the heavy influence of the Christian Church.

The time period lasting from approximately 800-1500 A.D. was known as the Middle Ages. The most important component of the Middle Ages was feudalism, a system of social hierarchy. In the European feudal pyramid, the uppermost ranking was the king, followed by nobles and church officials, knights, and peasants. One’s social ranking determined their place in society as well as their amount of power. The manor system was the economic system associated with feudalism. In the manorial system, a landowner, or lord, would grant a piece of their land to someone in exchange for their service and loyalty. The person who receives the land is known as a vassal. People who worked on the lord’s manor were serfs, people who were forbidden to leave their place of birth. The medieval church played a very important role in feudal society and in the Middle Ages. The Medieval Church unified people among different classes with a similar set of beliefs in the teachings of the church. A few hundred years after the rise of feudalism, it slowly began to decline. A series of events such as the Bubonic Plague, corruption in the Medieval Church and the Crusades took place, which weakened the feudal system. Eventually, the feudal system collapsed. The Middle Ages came to an end because the feudal system, which was the basic structure of medieval society, crumbled.

The time of the middle ages was a very time in history. The middle ages spanned from around the 1400s and the 1500s. It was a very dark time with many wars and diseases. The people were ruled by emperors, kings, queens and dukes. Many of these rulers led their people into wars as they wanted to expand their power to more people and land. The middle ages was the time between the 5th century and the 17th century and consist of many important people and wars that helped shape the life in the middle ages.

These serfs were not just slaves. They all believed that through religion, everybody would be okay. So, the lord would make them work for the manor or town, and in return he promises that the serfs will be safe. The church would also play into feudalism as they promised eternal life in heaven. Isn't that just great? You can now work for somebody else your whole life with little to no pay and in return get a great life up in heaven; of course only when you're dead (King, Armstrong). The serfs believed so strongly in eternal life through the church that it encouraged them Feudalism relied solely on the people, and without the people’s loyalty could not possibly be effective. In the feudal system, there is no dominant power or central leadership. The system was controlled by local leaders who controlled military and economic power. The feudal system was a military based system. Because there was no one person in power, the local leaders from different manors would compete to be the best. Unlike in other forms of government, there was no one set of rules. The relationships within the society really kept everything going. Without these relationships, it would be total chaos due to there being no

Between 1475 and 1850, an economic change took place in property relations, which resulted in feudal land being transformed into private property. As the seizure of property became increasingly common, serf labourers were unable to meet even the most basic of economic needs. Due to this, the labourers were placed at the hands of those who owned the new forces of production, which caused them to become the ‘detached classless’ who began searching for way to earn their livelihoods by selling their labour in the new industrial centres that were quickly emerging.

Life in the Middle Ages was hard, especially for serfs, and few people could read or write. During the years of the Roman Empire, the soldiers of the emperor protected the poor people. Then when the empire fell, there were no laws protecting them, so they turned to the lords to keep the peace and to act on their behalf. This willingness of the poor people to be ruled by the lords led to the beginning of Feudalism. Some peasants, poor people, were free, but most became serfs, slaves, to the lord. Serfs generally lived in communities that were ruled by the local nobles. They could not marry or even leave the manor without the lord’s permission. Serfs did all the work on the manor farm and all serfs worked: men, women, and children. They worked in the fields, cared for animals, built and cared for buildings, made clothing, and everything else that required manual labor. There were also servants who worked in the manor doing the cooking, cleaning, laundering, and other household jobs. Serfs

Life back in the middle ages wasn’t so easy. Their social system was that serfs at the bottom with only land that there lord has given them and they were not allowed to leave the land, next was knights they were specially trained soldiers who protected the lords and peasants, after that was lords ( nobles ) they were the upperclassmen landowners they went by duke and sir, lastly was the kings they only had land but very little power. If you were a serfs and most of the population was it was tough. Majority lived in the country by the agriculture. Most farming was on the open field system, where villagers farmed strips of land, some having more strips than others (the better off peasants tended to have a higher social status in the village),

A classic, written in 1924, this is cultural history at its best. Rather than being a history, or chronicle, this is Johan Huizinga’s bold attempt to understand the culture of France and Burgundy as it was at the height of the Middle Ages. It reconstructs that mentalités world in order to recreate its spiritual life, its theological assumptions, religious practices, its ethical ideals. Additionally, it reconstructs actual behavior, its aesthetic principles, to explain what was regarded as beautiful in both its literature and its visual art. What constituted its entire worldview? An attempt like this is very ambitious and never completely successful (to critics) but Huizinga, using his profound knowledge and understanding of that era, does succeed in bringing that world back to life.