The Middle Ages: Introduction
- Cecilie 🇩🇰
- 16. aug. 2016
- 6 min læsning
Feudal Society
After the Roman Empire had fallen there was only a primitive farming culture left.
The manors and their villages became isolated and almost self-sufficient.
The Roman and Germanic elements were mixed into a new type of society: Feudalism.
The central authority was weak and had a hard time defending the peasants’ rights.
To gain more personal security → weak people attached themselves to a stronger man – each with their respective duties.
→ People felt more attached to another human than the state.
Society was constructed like a pyramid:
The king
The most distinguished landowners (dukes and counts) = lords
They had a personal allegiance with the king who was their feudal overlord.
They could also be feudal overlords – in this case they had landowners as vassals
Vassals
Could have their own vassals etc.
Loyal to a feudal overlord.
Peasants
Can be illustrated like this:
When a vassal swore loyalty to a feudal overlord these two parties were bound by mutual moral responsibilities to support each other etc.
The vassal had to contribute with a certain number of soldiers during a given period of time each year if the feudal overlord demanded them.
The vassal had to pay a charge to the feudal overlord at given occasions such as when the feudal overlord’s son was knighted, wed or to pay the feudal overlord’s ransom.
The vassal had the responsibility to accommodate and treat the feudal overlord a given number of days a year.
In return the feudal overlord entrusted the vassal with a fief
→ the vassal got the revenue from the soils and took over the power of government of the peasants – without intervention from the feudal overlord.
These personal bindings only applied to the few percent of the population that made up the landowner upper class, i.e. the nobility.
More than 90 % of the population were peasants.
These had given up ownership of the soil that they cultivated in return of the feudal overlord’s promise of protection.
These peasants were called tenant farmers
Their rent was a part of the production of natural produce and they worked in the fields of the manor. They were often bound to use the mill, the wine press, the baking over etc. of the manor.
Characteristics of the Feudal Society
They differentiated between those who pray, those who fight and those who work.
Also known as
The clergy
The nobility
War was a life style
Fighting and winning glory in the battle field was the purpose of life → there were never-ending feuds which harmed the other stations
Peasants
The Vikings, the Moorish pirates and the Magyars set out on raids during the 9th and 10th centuries.
There was no public authority that could step in → one had to attach oneself to a stronger man in order to achieve protection.
Furthermore, another characteristic is the primitive agrarian economy.
With the cities the the trade had almost disappeared →
money economy → agronomics.
→ The king’s feudal overlords were paid with the right to farm in certain areas and not with money.
→ Instead of taxes in the form of money the king traveled around the country and ate the taxes.
It was hard keeping one big state together and it was therefore only the strong rulers that were able to keep the vassals together
Destroying powers were usually strong.
→
Peasants went to the landowners for protection and not to the king.
On a day to day basis it was the landowners that had the full power of government.
If the king wanted to do something to a vassal who would not be obey his rules it could be hard since the vassals lived behind thick walls and moats which made the primitive Medieval weapons (such as bows and arrows) useless.
It was only towards the end of the Middle Ages that gunpowder and cannonballs were invented.
The royal power of Western Europe
Formation of states became more stable.
Starting from the areas surrounding Paris Frankia was formed.
On the other side of the Rhine the Germanic tribes gathered under a German king: The Holy Roman Emperor. His empire stretched all the way down to Italy.
In 1066 England was conquered by knights from Normandy → The English royal house developed (but had less power than its colleagues) → England was the third largest actor in the Western European political cooperation.
The size of Frankia, the Holy Roman Empire and England meant that the wars were not small
The most epoch-making war was the Hundred Year’s War between England and France (1337 - 1453)
Battle between two dynasties
The English came from Normandy which made him a French nobleman with the right to big territories in France.
Because the dynasties were related the English King demanded, in 1336, that a relative was to take over the throne → the French king responded by confiscating all of the English king’s possessions in France → the war started.
The English gave up their demand for the French throne in 1453 → Europa was one step closer to the modern nations.
Essential aspect: The battle over Flandern and The Netherlands
These northern provinces had already in the 13th century begun profitable productions of cloth which they exported to the entire Europa – they got the wool from England where the nobility demolished whole villages, drove away the peasants and made sheep-keepings for the production of wool.
The Netherlands became France’s wealthiest province – they also made money from shipping and fishing but the wool came, as you know, from the enemy.
More that once the English stopped the supply of wool → a lot of Flemish weavers moved to England.
When the war was over the provinces had almost obtained independence – formally they were subjected to France but in reality they had their own foreign and trade policy which benefited England.
The economic progress of the High Middle Ages: 1000-1300
The national economy was static but there were a few increases and decreases
This period of time was a time of prosperity = The High Middle Ages.
There was an increase in productivity (we don’t know why – maybe because of technological progress such as the invention of the wheel plough, the transition into the three-course system, water mills etc.) →
Europe’s population doubled from around 35 to 75 million people.
New villages arose and new soil was ploughed.
There was, moreover, more peaceful conditions.
The technology of the Middle Ages
Europe’s central point moved from North to West.
From the countries by the the Mediterranean → to the North-West European agricultural countries → Northern and Mid-France became the center.
A new plough was invented that could turn the heavy and moist soil in Northern Europe
The wheel plough made it possible to cultivate the soil in areas that had not previously been cultivable.
The plough was big and needed many animals → the peasants of the villages joined a united cultivation community → the soil of the village was cultivated in unity → this lasted all the way up to the 18th century where a new plough was invented.
New harnesses for the horses were invented
The horses’ haulage capacity increased → the production increased
An increase in the production of grain which was used to make bread demanded the grinding of these grains →
Invention of water and wind mills
They could take advantage of nature’s resources as opposed to the previous treadmills that required horsepower.
→ the population in Europe increased.
The Cistercian Order did a lot to improve public health and they supported this development
They traveled from monastery to monastery and brought knowledge and descriptions of new technologies.
Moreover, fish and meat were important.
The Netherlands and Scandinavia became large-scale suppliers.
Many people started extracting salt in Northern Germany in the 900s → preserving agent → one was able to transport the food over long distances.
The ships were also developed fast
The Vikings developed a new type of ship in the 800s. It was both a warship and a tradeship.
Lightweight
Was able to sail on both rivers and oceans
Was able to come close to the shore
Fast because of its big sail
This ships was outcompeted by the cog ship which could load more → the vikings lost their monopoly → no more Viking Age → the power center was moved to Southern England, Northern France, The Netherlands and Northern Germany.
To be continued....