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The medieval period
The medieval period
Chapter 11 the later middle ages
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1. A hierarchy was a very important system in the late medieval ages. It was used to define the characteristics of the peoples and their rankings. For example, the king would give some of his lands to the nobles in return for loyalty and military, the nobles would give some of their land and protection to the knights in return for loyalty and service, and the knights would give protection to serfs and freemen in return for labour. If there was no hierarchy system, the whole kingdom would have collapsed and would have resulted in the everything going out of control. 2. The life of a peasant was awful because they had to serve all day and could not shower or brush their teeth because that impression was only for the nobles, knights and freemen.
Like the Pre-Columbian Civilizations, the Middle Age kingdoms of Europe had similar qualities such as the governmental structures. Spain, Portugal, England, and the rest of Europe used the Feudal System to sort out the social differences. The King and Queen were the head of state, followed by princesses, princes, bishops, and other church officials. Then came the merchants and artisans trailed by the lowly serfs and peasants who work the land for the system.
The person's class status in the feudal system affected their social status in the Middle Ages. The serfs provide services and food when the knights needed it.
Social ranking and the hierarchy certainly proved to have a large presence among the people of that time. The frailty of the lower class, the greed of Sir Philip, the importance of her majesty the Queen, all these points do a great job in supporting the strength and affect the hierarchy had on its the people. Although the hierarchy and social ranking did have some negative influence on the people, it did a good job in keeping people in line. Despite the fact there were some major flaws with the hierarchy system back then, like great differences in power between rankings and corruption, it surely did its job of protecting the people from even bigger problems that could have occurred.
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.
The upper echelons belonged to the aristocracy whose positions were granted them by birth and within this group there was a hierarchical system. The king was at the top of the hierarchy and the gentry at the bottom. Wood describes the gentlemen of the gentry as a help to the commoners. These men lent money to those of lower social standing and also purchased goods from them as well as acted as their representatives to the higher social structures. In turn the commoners paid allegiance to the gentlemen through conscription and political support.
The Age of Feudalism describes the Middle Ages because people needed some organization in their society. The fall of the Roman Empire had left the government in an unstable position, and people needed protection from their lords. The start of feudalism would make it easier for the king because he would not have to rule over a large territory because the area would be under the control of several nobles. This was a political system in which each class on a manor would have to provide something for the society in order to receive assistance in return. A manor consisted of several villages where the lord had overlooked each area. For example the vassal had to provide loyalty and military service, and received protection and land from their lord (Doc. 3). Feudalism not only worked between lords and vassals, but between each class (except merchants). Take for instance, John of Toul is sending his knights to the count and countess of Champagne in order to protect them, and he had received land from them (Doc 2). Another example was the Salisbury oath, wh...
Medieval rulers restored order and centralized political powers by creating their own form of government. These leaders expanded their territory and spread their authority by creating many micro-managed systems. They developed large bureaucracies, armies, judicial systems and created taxes in order to cause the common-folk pay for all of it.
The development of social classes in medieval England affected life for the people in many positive ways. It served as a means of organization to base their daily lives off of, and also gave the peasants and trade classes protection from the rulers and the clergy class in return for their labor and allegiance (“Quizlet”). Life in the Middle Ages was based on the framework of social classes so they could flourish socially and economically.
Feudalism is a system of land ownership and duties that were used in the Middle Ages. Under feudalism, all the land in a kingdom was the king's. However, the king would give some of his land to the lords or nobles who fought for him. Rulers in all society wanted to create law and order and ensure that people make good use of the society’s resources. That is why feudalism was created. Monarchs had to accept limits on their own personal power. They also needed to respond to expectations that other groups in society have a say in decision-making. People began to use medieval courts for problems that had previously been solved by trial by combat.
The feudal system was one that arose in England after the invasion and conquest of William I. It has been said that this was the perfect political system for this time period. Life was really hard back in the Middle Ages and safety and defense were really hard to come by after the empire fell. There were no laws to protect the poor, so they turned to their lords to keep them safe. The king was in complete control of the system and he owned all the land. One quarter was kept as private property and the rest was given to the church or leased
However, the general consensus is that the medieval society is described as a feudal based one. A major aspect that is focused on is the hieratical style of the system, there was a clear ‘pyramid of power’, where the monarch, King, was at the top followed by the lords, knights, then peasants or serfs. This power hierarchy was transmitted through the different works or art and everyday objects that could be a reflection of society or play a more political role in that and because as some form of
First of all, specialization demonstrates that different kinds of people has various skills and experience, so we should arrange and organized individual right depending on the each person is able to work. For instance, Olympics game has many categories games, but a running player may not be good at basketball. Secondly, technical competence is a selection of official position, which should depend on merit and qualification. For this character, the career system should be complete and every election is not decided by personal relation and connection such as president election. Thirdly, hierarchy structure is balance system and it is not like traditional system that low ranks have to obey upper ranks. In hierarchy system, different rank can have diverse right to make decisions because only one rank is not able to control and organize the whole system. For example, workers in Apple Inc, they have their own duty and work. Some of them may design model and others may produce model. Hierarchy structure really makes organizations more high efficiency. Fourthly, rule and regulations can help system more standard. Generally, upper ranks have some right to propose and decide the rule such as laws and lower ranks must follow laws. If a good law was created, all citizens can
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.
The feudal system was a political, military, and economic system based on the holding of land. The system was developed since the whole entire basis of rule from all the civilizations before the Middle Ages was lost. Early Europe was in desperate need of such a system since they were constantly being raided by the Vikings and other outsiders.
In society, we are unconsciously arranged and grouped based on factors in ones lives that decide were we lay on a social scale. These factors include your socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, sex, age, religion and anything that may pertain to a privilege you hold. Social hierarchy is just this; a ranking of individuals based on their personal factors that divide them and creates a hierarchy. Social hierarchies are part of our everyday lives because positions we hold come assigned with different tasks. Those tasks are infused with power, privilege and prestige. Those factors lead to people having power, privilege and prestige over others, therefore causing a hierarchy. In my explanation of social hierarchy, I will be touching on two concepts: