The Middle Ages served as a necessary bridge to bring the world from the ancient times in history to what we now consider modern history. It is considered to be more of a period of growth than decline. Without the Middle Ages the world would not have developed and made the grand leap into the Renaissance and the future. After the fall of Rome, in 476 AD, the world was thrown into a period of chaos and disunity that came to be known as the Dark Ages. Politically, economically, and socially, everything of the old system that had been tediously developed in the Roman Empire gave way. A new world arose based on religion, feudalism, and manorialism.
In Medieval times the Roman Catholic Church embedded itself into the very core of everyday life in Europe. Setting before men a definite way of life, the Church served as means of education, spiritual redemption, and was both an important factor in their social and political life. In such a time of ‘chaos’ the people turned to the Church to tell them what to do. There was only one church during this time, all Christians belonged to it and in all parts its teachings were the same. In mass the Church interpreted the passages in the Bible for the people, in this way they were able to command the thoughts and beliefs of the lower classes. They also had the power to administer the seven sacraments, which a person needed to be able to enter heaven. With its infinite hold over the people, the Church claimed the right to direct and rule society, slowly becoming more than a spiritual institution.
The Church fulfilled many of the functions of the modern state. It tried civil and criminal cases, and had binding decisions with such matters as marriage. The kings and rulers of the time would usually enforce the choices the Church made on these topics. The Church not only controlled scholarship and book production, but it also it alone cared for the poor, sick, and aged. The Church was originally under the leadership of a council of five Bishops. Eventually the Bishop of Rome took over, and the head of the Church became known as the Pope. The Pope was supposed to be of lineage from Peter and, thus, was thought to have dominion over mortal souls. The Church encouraged people to endure the harshness of everyday life and suffering with promise of eternal life in heaven. The medieval Church was also one of the great political powers of the time. It owned such a great deal of property that the Pope was able to draw revenue from them, administer justice in them, and have a papal army to defend them. As a result of the land being given to great bishops and abbots, the Church was drawn into the feudal system. The lands were held as fiefs to feudal lords and kings. As the owners of the fiefs were often chosen for their political influence, the power of the Church increased. Also as it had been the Church that had fostered and encouraged learning all throughout the Middle Ages, it had also been the Church who had preserved the traditions of law and order. It was in the Church that the best educated men and the best administrators were found. The Church had also established its own court of laws, the highest being the papal court in Rome. People took controversies from all over Europe to the papal court causing the papal authority to be constantly strengthened and that of the kings or feudal princes to be lowered.
Though the Church had a firm hand in politics, feudalism was the main political system or order of the time. Feudalism consisted mainly of the granting of fiefs by lords, chiefly in the form of land and labor, in return for political and military services by their vassals. These arrangements were sealed by oaths of homage and fealty. Under this system, men gave up personal freedom in exchange for protection and security. The King owned all the land except that owned by the church. He leased the land to nobles, who repaid him in homage, taxes, and military service. They, in turn, leased land to lesser nobles, each of which owed homage to the next above him on the social scale. This system rested ultimately on the serf. Feudalism spread from France to Spain, Italy, and later Germany and Eastern Europe. In England the Frankish form of feudalism was imposed by William I after 1066 AD, although most of the elements of feudalism were already present. It extended eastward into Slavic lands to the frontier provinces, which were continually battered by new invasions, and it was adopted partially in Scandinavian countries. The important features of feudalism were similar throughout, but there existed definite national differences. Feudalism continued in all parts of Europe until the end of the 14th century.
Peasants were not commonly educated at the time, for the importance of it was neglected. Charlemagne, at Aix-la-Chapelle, had established a palace school for the young sons of his nobles, as well as Alfred the Great in England. They both wished to encourage the knowledge of reading and writing. With the help of literary men like Einhard and Alcuin, Charles the Great also established a court library containing the works of the Church Fathers and those of ancient authors, and founded a court academy for the education of young Frankish knights. Aside from that in viewing any form of intellectual institutions or other education at this time, we find that nearly all schools were connected in some way or other with the Church. However, it was not until the eleventh century that schools became common. Originally schools and universities were founded for those who intended to enter the Church in some capacity or other. These schools were connected with cathedrals and monasteries, they had hard discipline; the hours were long and they had short holidays. In the Middle Ages, Latin was the universal language of learning in Europe, for it was the language of the Church. Also most of the teaching was given orally for there were very few textbooks in use and not many copies of them. Universities had a very important place in the sparse intellectual life of the Middle Ages. There the students were able to study what was available in arts, theology, law and medicine. The earliest Universities grew out of the Cathedral schools and were groups of masters and scholars associated under the authority of the Chancellor for the pursuit of knowledge. The earliest universities known started around the thirteenth century and were located at Salerno and Bologna, at Montpelliar and Paris, and at Oxford and Cambridge. Discipline and ideals were introduced at schools, and furthered at Universities.
In the Middle Ages books had to be made by hand. In the early Middle Ages the chief makers of books were monks and in every large monastery there was a room where the work was done. Later scribes took over this job, especially in Universities and towns, and they had to copy carefully and accurately the text they were given to replicate. Monks made nearly all illuminated manuscripts but some work was done outside the monastery. Most medieval libraries were also in monasteries or in universities. In these libraries there was always a Bible, the service books of the Church, and the writing of the Fathers. The number of books varied from the size or wealth of the monastery, cathedral, or university. Books were extremely expensive and it was almost impossible for individuals to posses any, and as peasants were given little or no education, the few who collected books were Kings and Princes in the later Middle Ages.
The economic and social system of early medieval Europe was mainly located in the manorial system. In this system a peasants’ land tenure and production were regulated, and local justice and taxation were administered. The fundamental basis of the manorial system was purely economic. After the fall of Rome trade declined and people had to revert back to agriculture and means of self-sufficiency. The manorial system prevailed in France, England, Germany, Spain, and Italy and far into Eastern Europe. In its simple form it consisted of the division of the land into self-sufficient estates, each presided over by the lord of the manor and tilled by residents of the local village that usually accompanied each manorial estate. The lord owed military protection to the peasants, the land remained in the lord’s holding and was loaned to the person who cultivated it in return for services and dues. The three-field system of agriculture generally prevailed, with one field devoted to winter crops, another to summer crops, and a third lying fallow each year. There were manorial courts, and the lord or his agent presided over the administration of justice. The manor was also the unit for the raising of taxes and for public improvements. Thus the tenants were obliged to repair roads and bridges, maintain the castles, and take care of the military contributions. The manor was almost always under the charge of the lord’s agent, who might be assisted by provosts or bailiffs. The manor was looked upon as a permanent organization, and even when the lord transferred part of it to others, it remained a single manor. Thus one manor might have several direct lords. It did not necessarily coincide with a single estate; it might be larger or it might be only part of an estate.
Being largely influenced by feudalism, manorialism, and Catholicism, the people of the Middle Ages readily accepted their places in life. European societies were hierarchical. If you were a monarch or a noble, you held most of the power and were at the top of the hierarchy. At the bottom were the peasants, who made up the large majority of the people. In the medieval age social order came mainly from a system of loyalties and responsibilities. You were born into your social position and you remained there for the rest of your life. Females at this time were oppressed. The only education they received was meant to either prepare them for life as a wife or as a nun, nobody expected them to be able to do more. The only way a lady could achieve high rank on the social ladder was to marry a wealthy man or to become an abbess of a great medieval convent. As an abbess you were educated and were just as much part of the feudal system as was an abbot. An abbess was the overlord of feudal vassals, and she was also considered the equal of princes and barons. Until the rise of towns and merchants began in the late Middle Ages, very few people ever moved out of their stations in life, both men and women usually stayed in the class they had been born into. In feudalism and manorialism the social classes were very structured and extremely well defined. Every person knew their duty and they did it. You made allegiances with those who could help you, and you served those above you.
The medieval world, religious, political, and social, was based on the principle of unity. The Church did not encourage too much independence and the spread of learning was difficult because of its great expense. Yet, during the late Middle Ages events took place that altered the routine of medieval life. The failure of the crusades, the horror of the Bubonic Plague, the stirrings of reform movements, and the corruption of the papacy eventually helped to make the transition from medieval thinking to what was considered the spirit of the renaissance. The Church was so deeply integrated at this time in the medieval world, that when it started its slow but unstoppable decline, the medieval way of life was also forced to change.
The Crusades had been thought to be Holy Wars sanctified by God. When beaten soldiers returned home, having failed to rescue the Holy Land from the Muslim infidels, a shift in loyalties occurred. Those who had returned alive lost some of their faith in the spiritual command of the Pope, as it had been him who had assured them of their victory. The monarchs, having had struggles with the Church, were now able to gain the upper hand. Pope Boniface and Philip the Fair are an example of a struggle between the ruler of an emerging nation state and the Papacy in relation to temporal authority. King Philip IV of France sought to establish a centralized government and authority over all his subjects, both clerical and lay. Pope Boniface VIII sought to reassert papal claims to authority over monarchs and the protection of Church privileges. After years of conflicts like this one, now monarchs, with fewer nobles to contend with, where finally able to begin to form a stronger centralized government. The austere system of feudalism at length began to fade until it completely disappeared. At the same time, nationalism began to form in sections of people who shared the same culture. The Empire of the Middle Ages was beginning to crumble and give way to lands and peoples who had found unity within themselves and their newly forming countries. England, France, and Spain emerged from this; soon becoming three of the greatest Renaissance powers.
The Bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death, killed about one-third of the people in Europe at the time. Nobles and peasants were afflicted alike, but it hit stronger in areas where there were concentrations of people. The result was that in the manor there were not enough peasants left to do the work. The rule that a serf was tied to the land and may not move from one manor to another was disregarded as lords tried to get anyone on any condition to work for them. Serfs began to go to where ever there was plenty of work and began to demand pay for work. Manorialism and Feudalism continued on the decline, especially as serfs began to get what they wanted. Revolts flared in Europe as peasants began to demand a better life. Statues like the Ordinance of Labourers in 1349 and the Statutes of Labourers in 1351were passed in attempt to quell the revolts. However, the problem remained unresolved and revolts like The French Jacquerie of 1358, the English Peasant’s Rebellion in 1381, the Catalonian Rebellion in 1395, erupted throughout Europe. Though many revolts failed the cause was not lost. Slowly they gained more independence, wages improved and by the end of the fifteenth century, nearly all labor had become free. Not only this, but because deliverance from the plague did not appear as soon as the people had hoped, faith in God and the Church declined more. People did not understand why they had not been given their miracle, and seeds of doubt continued to grow, as well as their own sense of independence and importance. Merchants also came to the scene, causing the rise of the middle class. When guilds became too restrictive and finally broke down freer conditions of work were created. At the start of the Age of Exploration, the discoveries of trade routes to India expanded the world of commerce. Even though after the Black Death the economy had declined, places like Flanders were able to rebuild their wool economy, and continue to be important cities of commerce. The economy changed into a money economy as trade was resurrected, due to the new contacts resulting from the Crusades, and new luxuries from different places were introduced into Europe.
During the Middle Ages the Roman Catholic Church had been the structural core, it was the strong foundation in which life had revolved. People had questioned the beliefs and organization of the Church from time to time in the past; however, the Church had remained firm and nothing disastrous had taken place. Now people were beginning to think for themselves and began to openly question the Church and the corruption they heard about. With unfortunate events like the Babylonian Captivity and Reforms the Church declined greatly in power. The Great Schism befell the Catholic Religion after there were three Popes at one time, the conflict starting when both Rome and Avignon had elected their own Popes. When the Council of Pisa and the Council of Constance occurred to solve this dilemma, the power of the office of Pope was further reduced. Not only this, but radicals like Wycliffe and Huss, who wanted to change the Church, people continued to question the Catholic Church. Wycliffe organized a number of poor priests to spread his ideas about cleansing false teaching and morals from the Church. He felt that everyone should be able to judge whether he or the Church was right, he was also the first to translate the Bible into English. Huss had taught the Czech congregations that only God can forgive sin, no pope or cardinal can establish a doctrine that is contrary to scripture, and no manmade clergy should be obeyed when their orders were wrong. This helped to lead into the Protestant Reformation, where the Church later split into two religions. People would now eventually have the ability to interpret the Bible for themselves and choose what they wished to believe.
Education also became easier to access as the classics were reintroduced. With the rebirth of classical knowledge and beliefs the interest in the importance of the individual developed. Both interests in the ancient texts and scholasticism issued forth. Basic to all scholastic thought was the conjunction of faith and reason, this meant to use reason to deepen the understanding of what is believed on faith and ultimately to give a rational content to faith. Though some already established schools did not change, but simply expand in the knowledge they taught, new schools were also created that considered the value of the classics, and of the attitude towards life that is formed by understanding these classical ideas. Eventually as school evolved, into what is now the present day, people were able to pick from more topics to learn about and more ideas to study. Even though school was not mandated as it is today, it became a very important factor to acquire knowledge and apply to their daily lives.
With the new ‘Spirit of the Renaissance’ came new ideals and beliefs. Just as the ancient Greeks had once placed importance on the individual so did the newly changing world. No longer was life on earth unimportant and meant to be endured, but life on earth was to be used to its utmost and people now wanted wealth, glory, and fame. Social classes continued to exist, but now a person could have pride in who they were and feel true value for themselves. With the new opportunities in commerce people were no longer obligated to serve one person or stay in the same social class they were born into. The possibility to change from one class to another was now dependent on wealth, and was not impossible to do. From the strict rules and expectations of the Middle Ages life had finally evolved into a world that was no longer bleak and unchangeable.
Without the Middle Ages the world would not have advanced. The Middle Ages were required for people to realize how important the world around them truly was. The Middle Ages may not have seemed like a time of growth but without it those important challenging ideas and reforms would not have taken place and in turn would not have created the Renaissance. Medieval times served more as a transition period between the ancient world and the modern one. Customs and ideas were developed then, like those of the Church, that are still in place today. Without the help of the Middle Ages and those who tried to change it, the world would not have developed in the same manner. We may still have had one dominating religion and no freedom to choose. The world that we live in today, filled with personal freedoms and a multitude of knowledge, would have been impossible to attain had the Middle Ages not occurred. In a way it was necessary for the people of Europe to live through this ‘Dark Age’ to be able to unfold into something better and more promising. It is the thought of modern historians, and writers such as Morris Bishop, “…that with the withering of the pagan classic civilization came the first budding of a new culture that was to develop into our modern civilization.”