The Middle Ages

The Middle Ages

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.

Brief History

Before the period of the middle ages, the British Isles mostly lay dormant in local disputes and settlements of small tribes. Up until the late 900’s, the Anglos and the Saxons laid their claim to the land of Britain. However, this all soon changed. An ambitions individual with hero-like characteristics set foot and conquered the Anglo-Saxons and started Britain on its journey to modernism. Thus, the tide was set in motion for a new government and a civilized race. A monarchy was established, and the Middle ages began in roughly 975 AD (Vinogradoff, p 18).

Feudal Life

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.

Women had a very difficult position in society during the Middle Ages. The feudal age was known for its superstitions, and women were often convicted of witchcraft and burned at the stake. Some of the more lucky women held professions of there own, such as blacksmiths, carpenters, and apothecaries....

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...een defined. Juggling became a popular form of entertainment, as it was unpredictable and seemingly deadly objects could produce awe and inspiration to the audience. Drama also played a big role during this time period, and plays were acted out only by males and only for the noble class. (McCarthy, para. 3).

Perhaps the greatest and most unique time period of all time for the British Isles was the Middle Ages. The feudal system and the role of the monarchy led this seemingly boring piece of time on the path towards greatness in meaning and value. Social skills developed during this time to force humans to cooperate and work together to produce a lifestyle that was beneficial to everyone and not just a leader. Lessons have been learned from this time period, such that it is not perfect. Disputes inside a community cannot be solved easily because they often affect the whole community and there will only be one side. Perhaps there are more lessons to be learned from this time. One can only hope that the future of modern warfare could be secretly embedded in the time of the middle ages. History has a tendency to repeat itself; maybe the time has come for the middle ages.