In the Middle Ages, there was a definite structure in society. You were born into a class of people and generally stayed in that class for your entire life. Working hard did not change your status. Your clothing, food, marriage, homes, and more, were determined for you. After the rank of king, the hierarchy was the nobles. Nobles were very important in the society of the Middle Ages. One of his duties were to Protect the people. When the empire collapsed, there was a king, but there was no formal organization to keep the people safe. The nobles filled this role. The nobles were able to provide protection to all of the peasants and Tradesmen through the of knights. A single Noble was able to command a whole army of knights for what they should do and when they have to do it. Kings were also very important, they had to govern and make sure everything was right with their HUGE amount of land. However, there was no physical way for a king to govern all the land effectively because there was no quick communication system, (because they had only messengers back then) and it often took several days to travel from one part of the country to the other, even in a relatively small countries. The king needed a way to maintain control over his lands, even if indirectly. As a solution, he formed a sort of contract with his nobles, his direct underlings. The nobles were given a large portion of the king's land, known as fiefs or manors. In turn, they had to pay "homage and fealty" to the king. They did this by giving their support to the king at all times, governing the land that was given them, and being ready to provide troops and fight for the king when the need arose. The Nobles Lifestyle was very different from ours. A daily life as a Nob... ... middle of paper ... ...val clothing were covered with wooden and leather outdoor overshoes. Hats were also part of a nobles clothing which were similar to a cap and pointed at the front. The materials were made of velvets, silks, lace, cottons were dyed in bright colors. The nobles ate a variety of different foods. The Nobles in the middle ages were considered to be the upper class who were wealthy and there food and diet was extensive though they consumed little quantities of food. Their diet consisted of limited fresh vegetables and fruit, manchet bread, cheese, variety of meats such as venison, beef, pork, goat, lamb, rabbit, fish, crab, oysters, salmon, eel and many others. Their food was highly spiced with expensive spices which included pepper, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, saffron, coriander, cumin, garlic and mustard. The Nobles barely ate fruits and vegetables and mostly ate
Others were more like slaves. They owned nothing and were pledged to their local lord. They worked long days, 6 days a week, and often barely had enough food to survive”(“Middle Ages History”). Knights were above the peasants and they were given land granted by the barons in exchange for their military services if the king needed it. They were responsible for protecting the baron who granted them land as well as the baron’s family and the manor they lived at. The knights were able to keep any amount of land they were given, and they gave out the rest to the serfs. The lord, or baron, was above the knight in the social class divide. They were given land by the king and in return they showed loyalty to the monarch. They provided the king with fully equipped knights if the king needed some to serve. If the baron “did not have an army, sometimes they would pay the king a tax instead. This tax was called shield money”(“Middle Ages History”). The king was at the top of the feudal system and held the most power and wealth. The king could not maintain control over all the land in England so he divided the land up to the barons which eventually
Elizabethan based their people upon the divine order, known as the Great Chain of being, which accommodated everything in the whole universe.
The evolution of human society consists mainly of ineffective ruling regimes and oppressed peasants. Medieval Europe falls into this same pervasive cycle. Social and political hierarchies intertwine which creates a grossly inefficient system. Hereditary lineage determines nobility. Commoners possess no hope of social mobility.
“Feudalism was a political, economic, and social system in which nobles were granted the use of land that legally belonged to the king” (Doc. 1) "Social" life in the Middle Ages was the only kind of life people knew. Whether nobility, craftsperson or peasant your life was defined by your family, your community and those around you (OI). “The Church protected the Kings and Queens (OI).” “The King is above Nobles, Nobles above Knights, and the Knights are above serfs (Doc.1).” “ Nobles provides money and knights. Knights provide protection and military service (Doc. 1).” Social network, your village and your local nobility, was your family (OI).” “From the moment of its baptism a few days after birth, a child entered into a life of service to God and God’s Church (Doc.3).” “Every Person was required to live by the Church’s laws and to pay heavy taxes to support the Church (Doc.3).” “In return for this, they were shown the way to everlasting life and happiness after lives that were often short and hard (Doc. 3).” In conclusion, this is what it was like in the Middle Ages from a social
During the medieval times the social status and the rank of the citizens where very important in determining the obligations and restrictions of the people. When citizens jumped social class or stepped out of line, it was looked down upon by the other citizens. In the Knights tale some of the social class stereotypes are broken by characters such as Kate, William and Joselyn.
Social Classes Throughout History The gap between different classes has always been very prominent in
First, a person’s diet in the Medieval Times depended on the class of an individual. If one were part of a richer class, there was a wide range of foods available. According to Gerald Harvey, “Geese, turkey, fish, and chickens were usually available to the rich and his family.” Fish would eithe...
(Doc. 1) The knights would contribute the protection for the nobles as they gave the king money and knights. (Doc. 1). Another influence on the lives of the people was the Church. “The role of the Church was very large in Medieval
In Europe within the 1300’s, feudal system was quite common. The king would grant land to bishops and nobles who would then give an estate to a knight in return for service. The knight would generally have peasants or serfs working on their estate who would in turn give the knights something as well.
In the Middle Ages, there was something called Feudalism. Feudalism was a political and social system. Nobles were granted the use of land by a king and in return nobles had to give military services and loyalty to the king. The serfs and peasants worked on land and they would get food and protection (Doc. 1).The order of the chart was kings,nobles,knights then serfs. When serfs provide food and protection for the knights they would get land granted to them. Then, when knights provided protection and military services to nobles they would also get land. When nobles provided money and knights for a king they would get land in return (Doc 1). As you can tell, feudalism affected many people's lives on the daily basis.
In the Medieval Period, life was either very great or very bad, according to your class. Only 2 classes existed during this time: the nobles, such as kings and knights who lived inside the castle, or the peasants, such as working-class people who lived in often unspeakable conditions. The peasants treated the nobles with the utmost respect, for if they didn’t, then the nobles could have them beheaded. (Sanders, p 34). The nobles were almost always the ones who owned land, and the peasants worked on this land in exchange for a small portion of it, in a sense, rented out in exchange for the labor. Peasants often worked 16-hour days as long as they could see into the nighttime and got very bad nourishment. The noble was not interested in the health of the peasants working on his land, as there was a significant supply of others who were very willing to take his or her place.
Lambert, Tim. "Daily Life in England in The Middle Ages." (2014): n. pag. Web. 29 May
In the dark period of the medieval ages, people were hopeless, but, with feudalism and manorialism, people finally had a stable life, including a life of community instead of fighting alone. With feudalism, social classes were created, and with these social classes, feudalism took its shape, contributing to the economy and military with the gifts and wants of the different people. Each role had something to contribute to the manor, which made it an independent system that helped people survive. The role of the shepherd was very important to manorialism and feudalism because it contributed livestock to the people of the manoir, which helped give people food and wool, and this wool helped the different classes of feudalism by giving them a lot
William Shakespeare’s birth is presumed to be April 23, 1564. He was raised in Stratford, England, but his job was in London. He wrote plays and acted in them. He was educated at the grammar school of Stratford. He died on April 23, 1616.
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).