Economic and Social Changes in the Middle Ages

Change has always been a part of life. Certain periods of time have more changes than others, but change has always been a constant in history. Civilizations and leaders rise and fall, and when large civilizations, like Rome, fall, they usually take a large part of the world with it. After Rome fell, the western world as it was back then collapsed and entered into what is known now as the Middle Ages.

After Rome fell, there was a power vacuum that needed to be filled. Germanic tribes which had invaded and conquered parts of the Roman Empire soon gained power in the regions they occupied. As time went on, Vikings, Muslims, and Magyars started to invade Europe.

Eventually, the Germanic kings could not effectively maintain law and defend from invaders. Thus, Feudalism developed. Feudalism is a system of government in which lords gave parts of their land, or fiefs, and gave it to their lesser lords, or vassals. The vassals pledged loyalty and service to the lord in return for his fief. This exchange of fiefs and loyalty was known as the feudal contract. Vassals were in charge of running their estates, or manor, and they used serfs, which were low-wealth peasants, to provide the manor and the higher lord with food. Serfs were not slaves, but they had very limited freedom. (Ellis & Esler 2012)

A major part in serf life was the Church. The local church was not only a place of worship, but a social center where serfs could congregate and celebrate certain holidays and local events. Everyday life revolved around the church calendar, and so when Christmas and Easter came, serfs usually had a short break from their hard work. Special events like births and baptisms were large events in small towns. (Ellis & Esler 2012)

The status of serfs w...

... middle of paper ...

...arn their craft; journeymen, who were paid workers; and masters, who had their own shops and were teachers to their apprentices. The reemergence of guilds and the increase of trade in Europe was a major marker that a middle class was rising again.

The rise of the middle class in Medieval Europe was an enormous change in the way society at the time was structured. The middle class has remained a part of society since the Middle Ages, and it looks like the middle class will stay until a large civilization falls and takes the rest of the world with it. Hopefully, that won’t happen for a long time, but if civilization collapses soon, then we can predict what will happen in the future by looking at civilization’s fall in the past. Large changes in civilization, however, take time, and usually there are warning signs of catastrophe that leaders of countries often ignore.