CHAPTER FOUR -
THE CENTRAL MIDDLE AGES: A RECIPROCAL SOCIETY
The Middle
Ages were dominated by the military elite and their families. However, the men
and women of the noble classes were only a fraction
of the total population. So how did the majority of the population fit into
this feudal world? Recognize first of all, most Europeans were completely
dependent on the lords and vassals for protection and leadership. As a result
of this dependency, other groups had to give in to the demands of the
lords and vassals. In essence, these resulting relations between the
elite and lower classes were also reciprocal, however, they were unequal and
exploitative compared to the relationship between military elites.
MANORIALISM
The "feudal"
relationship was the reciprocal relationship between the lord and vassal. The
second key relationship that gave structure to feudal society was that between
the land owner (whether a lord or vassal) and those who lived on and
worked the land - the peasants and serfs. This relationship is referred to
as the "manorial" relationship since the estate was often termed a
manor. While reciprocal, it was based on severe exploitation of the
peasant class.
Critical to understanding
this relationship is recognizing how violent the times were. The vast majority
of
In return for the
protection of the lord and his army, peasants gave up all chance of
economic betterment and virtually all freedom. Those who were free workers or
small farm owners would commit their labor and their wealth to a feudal
lord/vassal in return for protection. Peasants who owned their own land would
have their farms absorbed into the lord's manor - they retained their ownership
of the land, but they would give over virtually all control and freedoms to that
feudal lord.
Over time, some peasants
even were forced to give up their freedom of movement in return for the
right to live in a protected area or the right to run into the castle walls of the feudal
lord. These people, who did not even have the right to leave the manor, came to
be called serfs. A serf was a person who was tied to the land.
The serf had to stay and work on the manor; if she or he left, the land owner
could punish them, sometimes with death. The status of serf was inherited by
the children, thus serfdom took root and continued in parts of
Both free peasants and
serfs owed an extraordinary number of obligations to the land owners in
exchange for protection. First and foremost they owed their labor.
Without the backbreaking labor of the agricultural workers, land would not have
value. For the vassals who gained fiefs, it was critical that land carry with
it workers to make it productive. Thus peasants/serfs were responsible for
working portions of the manor. If they were fortunate enough to have their own
land that they farmed for themselves, they also owed a portion of that production
from their land to the lord or vassal. In addition, peasants/serfs had to do
any odd jobs that were needed (called boon work); this included things
like taking care of animals, cutting wood and fixing fences.
Finally, peasants/serfs had
to pay taxes to the feudal lord/vassal with whatever goods/food/resources they were
able to accumulate or save. For instance, to get married, to have a son inherit
the family farm, to gather firewood or graze animals in the lord's lands - for
all of these activities, the agricultural worker had to pay a tax in the
form of goods or food. Recognize peasants and serfs also owed taxes, usually
10% of their production, to the Catholic Church (this was called a tithe.)
Bottom line, this
agricultural class found it impossible to accumulate any wealth and for
centuries remained in a situation of extreme poverty and almost complete lack
of freedom. What the peasants and serfs did receive in return was
the protection of the lord's army and if needed, the right to run behind the
protection of the castle
walls of the lord. Castles are in fact very visible symbols of the need for
protection in the Middle Ages; to be able to cower inside these walls and
survive war, or attacks by bandits and Vikings, peasants and serfs gave up
their wealth, their freedom and any possibility of betterment. It is
important to understand why people would enter into this kind of unequal
relationship. The answer is simple - only by giving into the demands of the
military elite, only by agreeing to this exploitative reciprocal agreement,
could a defenseless peasant hope to survive the violence of this age. To
survive, to achieve some kind of stability, millions of people suffered
repression, impoverishment and exploitation. It took centuries
for those in the agricultural laborer classes to break free of the social and
economic stratification created during the Middle Ages, and remnants of this
class difference certainly still exist in
THE ROLE OF THE
We discussed two out of the
three principle groups that made up Middle Ages Europe: the military elite
("those who fought") and the peasant/serf class ("those who
worked".) The third group were those in the Catholic Church ("those
who prayed".) These were the officials of the church, from the pope and
bishops to the village priest. Service in the Catholic Church was the third
primary role people could fulfill in what was a very basic and simple social/economic
system.
The situation of the Church
in the Middle Ages was both powerful and vulnerable. The Church was a
powerful institution in terms of land ownership, and more importantly, in terms
of moral and religious authority. The vast majority of Europeans throughout the
Middle Ages were Christians, and in
In addition, the Catholic
Church sustained scholarship and literacy during the Central Middle Ages,
producing stunning illustrated manuscripts such as the Book of Kells. Although
the emphasis was narrowly focused on theological studies and religious issues,
the continuance of Western literacy and intellectual pursuit during this period
was almost entirely left to the Catholic Church.
However, in terms of the
basic elements of military power and protection, the Church was weak. The
Church needed protection for Church lands and Church officials, especially the
many monasteries and abbeys dotted
throughout
The Church also gave up
power. In some parts of
The obvious point is that
during the Central Middle Ages feudal lords, because they had the military
power and the ability to protect, ruled their manors and were able to make
extensive demands on anyone living in that region, from the most vulnerable
peasant to the officials of the Catholic Church.
LEGACIES OF FEUDALISM
Europe ultimately emerged
out of the feudal age with the rise of central states in parts of
* One obvious long-
term consequence was the growth of regional differences. After the collapse of
the
* Another area
of long term impact was in social relations - the strong, deeply stratified
class system in European societies. During the Middle Ages, the military elite
and the Catholic Church established a strong presence in European civilization.
The military elite became the aristocracy or nobility in European
societies. This feudal based elite became the noble class of Lords, Counts,
Dukes (and many other titles) who have clung to their social dominance until
this century; such aristocratic titles and distinctions still survive in many
parts of Europe.
On the other side of the
scale, the exploited and vulnerable peasants and serfs also remained at the
absolute bottom of the society for centuries. In fact, in parts of
* The Middle
Ages also laid the foundation for the dominant role of Christianity in Western
culture. During the Middle Ages, Christianity, more specifically the Catholic
Church, provided the common basis of morals, religious practices and spiritual
understanding. The Church supported the oaths that tied the society together.
In law, art, and scholarship during the Middle Ages, Christianity was
permanently woven into the emerging culture and structures of
* The feudal
age also impacted developing European civilization for centuries in terms of
military culture. Today in Western based cultures, concepts of loyalty, honor,
chivalry, and nobility are all deeply rooted in the (often romanticized) age of
knights and lords. Images of knights, castles and swords have a strong
resonance in Western cultural memory. The values of the feudal era are built
into the very language and vocabulary of European civilization. The importance
of King Arthur and the Round Table is not whether he was a "real"
king or not, but the powerful pull and inspiring effect that this era, these
images, had and still have for many in modern Western societies.
* Finally, in the
area of law and politics, the Middle Ages built up the significant and critical
concepts of contractual or mutual obligations. What held feudal society
together were feudal based ideas of oaths,
duties and expectations - these became the bases of common law (law based on the
traditions and experience of the common people.) For example, the duties
of political leaders under feudal law (in other words "you as the
leader must do this for me") contributed to the idea of political
obligations and limits on kings in counties like
This political tradition is
major legacy. The political power and precedent of Caesar was
abolished, instead later European monarchs had to deal with a powerful
nobility, and a feudal tradition in which a leader *owed* something to subjects
and had concrete limits and obligations - these proved to be powerful
ideas! Unless one understands the hundreds of years that Europeans
built up a traditional foundation of duties, responsibilities and reciprocally-based
feudal laws during the feudal era, one cannot understand the later political
and legal developments of modern Europe and the common law underlying modern
Western legal traditions - in particular the later evolution of constitutional
government.
In the final chapter, we
discuss the High Middle Ages - the period when feudalism began to erode, and
Interesting Related Web Sites
Anglo-Saxon
Chronicles
Castles/Abbeys/Medieval
Buildings
Knighthood,
Chivalry and Tournaments
Lancelot Or, The Knight of
the Cart (By Chretien DeTroyes)
Medieval
Art
Song of Roland (Famous
Medieval Ballad)
GO TO CHAPTER FIVE
BACK TO CHAPTER THREE
