In the middle ages, roles in society were based on gender and social class. Social classes were inherited and structured around the feudal system. The rank of the feudal system for men and women alike, from lowest to highest, was peasants, townspeople, and nobles. Additionally, men and women could also choose to be a bishop, priest, monk or nun. Men and women in lower ranks of society typically had different responsibilities and authority. However, in higher ranks of society, men and women had similar responsibilities and authority. Peasants had to work the most hours to make sure they could maintain a home and have food. Most peasants were farmers. They had to lease their land, in a town within the lord’s manor, while paying taxes to both their lord and king. While there were free peasants, most peasants were serfs. Serfs were seen as property. When the land they worked on was sold, they would belong to the same lord as the land. They could not marry or leave without permission of the lord. Serfs worked on their lord’s land and had to pay for using it. These payments were typically labor and giving produce to the lord. Labor was typically plowing and harvesting, especially during busy agricultural seasons. Peasants ate the crops they grew which included corn, beans, and wheat. Some peasants were wealthier than others and had little vegetable gardens as well as cows and goats. When the weather was either too wet or too dry, many peasants died because the land would not produce as many crops to eat. Peasant homes were typically made of thatched roofs, dirt floors, and had two rooms. Marriage was arranged by parents and most peasants married other peasants from the same community. Even within th... ... middle of paper ... ...d. They would be trained as knights, however if they were not good at this they were often sent to be monks at the monastery. Noble men were responsible for overseeing lord and vassal relationships as well as defending the king in war. They were away from their homes very frequently, for lengthy amounts of time. “Some abandoned their homes, others their estates” (El Cid, page 11). “Worthy vassals, they heartily obeyed, willingly carrying out any command of their lord”. (El Cid, page 14). Whether peasants, townspeople, or nobles, men and women all had daily responsibilities to fill in the middle ages. Gender and social class often dictated the different roles as well as the authority, if any. The Epic of the Cid highlights many of the relationships between lord and vassal as well as the gender roles of men and women in similar different social ranks.
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
Life during the middle ages (1066-1485) was dictated by how much money you had. Were you a noble? Or were you a peasant. Your quality of life was in direct proportion to your status. Lords of the Noble class ruled territories, also known as villages. These villages mainly consisted of one room houses, with maybe a church and a blacksmith shop. Peasants or serfs lived in these villages and worked under said Lord. Daily life was all about survival. The days were spent planting and growing food, harvesting the crop, sewing clothes, and making any supplies that were needed to survive. Trading between different villages was something that was only done as a last resort. People in each village worked together to make their own village successful. Life also depended on what kind of Lord you had. If he was a fair Lord, they were treated reasonably well, and didn’t suffer. As long as the crop was good, they would have plenty to eat, and work was shared equally. If he was an unjust Lord the villagers were subject to his whims. If he demanded money or product from them they must give it, whether it would hurt their own survival or not. Likewise, if he was a Lord that liked to pick fights with neighboring Lords, the villagers would be subject to pillage and plunder by the other Lords that were trying to get back at their particular Lord. Any revenge sought out against a Lord by another Lord would mean that the people of said Lord’s village paid the price. Crops would be destroyed, houses burned and sometimes the villagers were killed. This was known as the Feudal System. The Feudal System was based on the rights of the Nobles, not the serfs. Nobles had preferred seating in the churches, and special hunting privileges. They h...
Unless the peasants work on the feudal plantations, they will starve. The army ensures their reliance on the plantations by kicking them off of all arable land, leaving them with no food and no employment. Committing themselves to the only employers in the region, the peasants are forced into a feudal relationship. They are held in this relationship by the army, which goes to extreme measures to maintain control of the peasants.
In the Middle Ages, three distinctive kinds of peasants existed: the serfs, slaves and the freemen. However, the majority of the peasant society consisted of the serfs (Gilberts para. 1). Serfs made up only half of the population for peasants in the 14th century, but during the mid-11th century, an astounding ninety percent of peasants, in distinct areas, were attributed to serfs. A serf was under the command of his lord and had to abide by his rules (Singman 8). He then contained absolutely no political rights (Gilberts para. 2). Alike the serfs, slaves were permitted to be sold and purchased, but, in fact, buyers of serfs did not have full ownership over them (Singman 8). If a serf happened to flee and stay hidden and unrestricted for a total of one year, he could then declare himself a freeman (Gilberts para. 2). Freemen were, indeed, permitted to roam around at liberty and own tiny pieces of land (Gilberts para. 1).
Thesis Statement: Men and women were in different social classes, women were expected to be in charge of running the household, the hardships of motherhood. The roles that men and women were expected to live up to would be called oppressive and offensive by today’s standards, but it was a very different world than the one we have become accustomed to in our time. Men and women were seen to live in separate social class from the men where women were considered not only physically weaker, but morally superior to men. This meant that women were the best suited for the domestic role of keeping the house. Women were not allowed in the public circle and forbidden to be involved with politics and economic affairs as the men made all the
The bottom part of the society included the peasants which made up 85% of the population, the peasants was divided into sub-classes, and these sub-classes involved the farmers, craftsmen or artisans and merchants (Hackney, 2013). The highest ranking of the peasants were the farmers, farmers who owned their own lands were ranked higher than those who did not. After the farmers, there were the craftsmen or artisans. The craftsmen or artisans worked word and metal and some of them became well-k...
During the 1800s under Russia's feudal system, serfs were bound to the nobles land at which they worked. Serfs were known as an agricultural worker that were bound by the feudal system to work on their lord's estate.
Through the Middle Ages, society was divided into three social classes: the clergy, the nobles, and the peasants. However, as people entered into the Renaissance, these classes changed. The nobles during these times started to lose a lot of income, however, the members of the older nobility kept their lands and titles. On into the Renaissance, the nobles came back to dominate society and w...
Indentured servants. Becoming a servant was an easy way for people to get to the New
Being a peasant in the Middle Ages was hard. During the summers, peasants would start as early as 3 am. They would start their day off with breakfast. Then, peasants would work in the fields. They would reap, sow, plough, thresh, and hedge. They would finish at dusk. Working hours during the summer months were longer.
To start with, gender roles in the 16th century played a vital role in life experiences. The main responsibility of a husband “in the accepted role as head of the household was to give moral direction to his wife and children” (Best, “The wife’s status”,http://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/Library/SLT/society/family/status.html). Men plowed the land, raised and slaughtered livestock and provided shelter for their families. On the other hand, as a wife, woman was to “submit and subject herself to her husband in all such duties (Dodd and Cleaver “A Godly Form of Household Government,” 1). A wife’s household obligations were to prepare food, birth children, and have a “managerial role” over the household (Best, “The Housewife’s Economic Importance”, http://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/Library/SLT/society/huswifery/economicimportance.html). Men had the experience of outdoor labor and time outside the dwelling to provide for his family as the head of the household; and women experienced being subservient to her husband and administrating the home. Although women did work outside the home, her work was considered to be unskilled and was not recognized as vigorous physical labor.
Women in different societies around the world, during the Middle Ages, experienced different hardships and roles. These hardships and roles helped shape how they were viewed in their society. Some women are treated better and more equal than others. In Rome, Medieval England, and Viking society, women’s legal status, education, marriage and family roles were considered diverse, but also similar. In certain nation’s women have more or less power than women in other nations, but none equal to the power that women have in America today.
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....
About nine tenths of the people were peasants--farmers or village laborers. Hardly any of these were freemen--peasants who were not obligated to a lord and who rewarded only a fixed rent for their land. The very large plurality were slaves and farmers. In theory, the farmers had expansive legal rights than the slaves and fewer responsibilities to the lords. There was little real dissimilarity, nevertheless.