Tuesday, September 11, 2012

English IV Middle Ages

Summarize your research on the Middle Ages by addressing the following in a 150 word response: * What were the main features of feudalism, and how did feudalism change the social structure of Anglo Saxon England? * How did the influence of the Church grow in England and how was religion seen by Kings and the masses? * How did the Black Death or bubonic plague cause the end of feudalism?

28 comments:

  1. Feudalism was a structure put in place to have direct rule over a kingdom and its people with no interference. Church influence grew to merge the people together and im assuming that religion was another way to control a mass of people without an uprising. Because you weren't to question the kings authority because he was "chosen by god", and if you went against the king we were against god himself. The plague ended feudalism because to many were dieing giving other a chance to advance but also killing to many to hold the system in place. 54 million were killed by the plague which spread like wildfire in the crowded cities.

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  2. The duration of existence within the period which the Middle Ages arose was monopolized through a single feudal system. This feudalism was revolved around a hierarchy inclination; idiosyncrasy featured a.) Land based owner-ships b.) Higher classes providing ‘protection’ to lower classes in return of a quota via their crop or services c.) Actions concerning production pertained largely individual in nature. Crucially, the feudal emphasized the ladder dictating the King’s placement at the top, following Lords, Knights, and finally Serfs/Slaves. During the later years of Saxon England, it had become customary to concentrate power in the veins of select families. Medieval occupants, from birth to death, were repressed by the church’s reign; subconsciously linking each hierarchal class together. Religious sanctions had become momentous, affluent, and omnipotent. The dominance possessed by the Catholic Church included imposed taxes and indulgences/ tickets into heaven. It was also figured the King was a deputy of God, the chosen one. Upsetting him got a tag on one’s toe. As the Black Death/ Bubonic plague dealt its hand, the feudal system crumbled under pressure. With millions dying cross continent awakened opportunity. Social structures broke once crisis spurred, realities changed – immensely for peasants hence a plague free servant was a highly desirable commodity – bargaining power came to light, thus feudalism waned.
    - Uneek L. Jordan

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  3. Their were political and the social systems found in Europe in the first two centuries of the last millennium whe the king was the one who was choosen by god and he owned all the land. The king allowed to have exchanges for the military support. They paid the king for the land they were living in and for protection all the serfs.The kings at top of the hierarchy collected from the barons because it was gods deputy on earth "divine right of kings" so you couldnt question the kings authority. So land was almost the only form of wealth, rank, and power were determined by the amount of land you owned. The England system was very simple like beging from the King, manor,lord,layd,knight,vassal,serf that were slaves that lived on the outskirts of the castle. This system did not last that long so it broke down in the most western part then the townspeople rose up against teh feudalism system . But when teh plague also known as black deat hit england it hardly killed off the workers in the 14 th centurey which made teh survivors unwilling to return to the west.

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  4. Feudalism was the based on landownership. The people in the hierarchy (lords, the military, vassals, and peasants) would give some of their land to the poorer people in trade of crops or services. Feudalism changed the social structure of the Anglo-Saxon by giving land to the military, which left the peasants with barley anything. The influence of the church grew in England because it was first introduced by the Romans. The arrival of the Anglo-Saxons introduced the Anglo-Saxon of polytheism to England. The church was just about the only way for education. Monastaries produced many well-educated men, prepared to serve as administrators for uneducated Kings. The Black Death took out about 54 million people. 1/3 of the population was wiped out. The disease was spread by fleas which lived upon rats. Lack of cleanliness added to their vulnerability.

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  5. Feudalism was exchange of land that was used for the military service it was also know as Feudal Levy. Everyone was expected to pay for the land that they used during feudalism by completing any chores, providing the soldiers with equipment. Feudalism changed the Anglo Saxon structure because William kept with some part of the land and the church owned some of the part as well and whatever was left of the land it was given the nobles. The pope urban ii called for a “holy war” against the Muslims and he would say “if you fight you can go into heaven”. Religion was being sold for money they would say “you can pay you entre for salvation”! and they would also say to you if you don’t agree with what I’m saying then you don’t agree with god and we all know that we aren’t suppose to question god so at times they would get killed. Feudalism was ended by the black plague! The plague wiped out 1/3 of the population.

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  6. Feudalism was a system of power. The Kings were on top and gave land to the lords. The lords gave land to the knights and so on and so forth. It was chain where the peasants were on the very bottom and were treated very poorly. When the Anglo-Saxons were first created they didn’t have the same hierarchy. Everything in Feudalism was related to the church in some way. The kings felt that they were chosen directly by God. They were God’s “messengers” on Earth and were said to have the divine right. Others used religion to persuade people and to gain power. The Black Death, or bubonic plague, helped bring the end of feudalism because the peasants’ life improved after people got sick. If thousands of peasants are dying every day it’s very hard for the higher ranks to find people to do work for them. So with fewer peasants they had to offer them more in order for them to work.

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  7. Feudalism was the only power system that the king had in order for him to keep charge on the land and his peasants. Once the Anglo- Saxon come into role of the kings they decided that it wont be the same hierarchy, from that point Feudalism was related to the church some how. Kings had felt more superior than others, the kings even added that the great all mighty God had chosen him. But once they have the control the king might get King madness, is not a disease, but when a king has full power over everyone he becomes looney and loses his control until his people trow a riot on the king himself. The Black Death ended help brought feudalism down to the grown, do too people getting sick or dying of this horrible plague and also if the higher rank couldn't find any lower rank people to work for them then who well? So the fewer the peasants the higher the higher rank will pay in order for them to work in the fields again.

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  8. Feudalism was the essential power system at the time, socially and economic wise. This was based off the political system they had at the time as well. The Angle-Saxon of england was changed forever. Church's had a big influence as time they believed in unity and they wanted essential happiness for all. The churches of this time indeed played a key role. Now religion didn't seem to mix to well with the king he believed he was "god" in a way, or at least this guy who you must bow down to. Getting to the Black death or plagues or for that matter anything of this type of epidemic that was happening at this time. The reason it played such a big role and put an end to feudalism was it wiped out so much of the world there was no one left to promote this or even follow there rule, it was essentially a new start for all a second chance.

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  9. The main idea I learned from Feudalism was how unjust it was. There was absolutely no room for advancement, and the lowest people of the time were treated as no more than slaves. Feudalism introduced a hierarchy to the social structure of England. The Middle Ages brought many people to the churches; as a result Bishops (from the Catholic church) became a part of the hierarchy above thanes and knights. Because of the illiteracy of the majority of people, very few could even read anything, let alone a bible. However, the Catholic Church grew in masses. The failed crusades brought religious dedications and heroism to the region.
    The black plague is a well-known disease that circulated the region during this time. Because of the massive death totals, advancement on the hierarchy ladder was made less impossible. Due to the ineptness of the lower people on the hierarchy ladder, Feudalism died a plagued death.

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  10. Feudalism was a government system, that gave the King control over England. The King was the most powerful, followed by the Barons who are assigned land, then the Knights(Lords) who got a small piece of land from the Baron, and lastly the Peasants(serfs) who lived off the land owned by the Knight.The church grew because people seek refuge, and the Catholic church was there. People believed that the church has the power to either give you a pass to heaven or a ticket to hell.The church was the only place a person would get an education. Feudalism and the Catholic Church intertwines because the King considers himself "God" anything he says or does is law, and if he is questioned, it is the same as questioning God himself. Feudalism is considered to be a hierarchy chosen by God, wherever you are, that is where God placed you, and you will stay in that class. The Black Death soon swept Europe, it killed 1/3 of the population. People in the Feudalist system died, including Barons, Knights, and Peasants. With only a few Barons and Lords, peasants ran away and did whatever they wanted, because they have no more Lord to work for, but they still have the land to live out of.


    - Ralph Cola

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  12. Feudalism was a hierarchy ruling system that was brought to England by the Normans from France. William the conquer brought the feudalism system when he had conquered England to gain control of the thrown. Feudalism made every man on the land a vassal to the next higher level; this was much different before when Anglo Saxon’s were in power. The church also grew very much in England during the time of feudalism, this is because the kings would convert to Christianity so that they would gain favor with other countries that shared the same religion. Church back then was the only way of education and the members of the church were respected very highly during this time. Feudalism came to an abrupt end largely due to the black plague. The black plague gave the serfs (poor people) a new chance to gain new skilled jobs due to the fact there was such high demand for workers because everyone was dying. The black plague also created new classes of people that depended on their wealth.

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  13. Feudalism was having an ownership that was only for the higher upper class people like the kings, nobles, knights, etc. For them it was a rather normal thing. It changed society many different ways of having power over other people and distinguish them with class levels, which left the poor owned by the king in other words his slaves. Church grew a lot throughout England; it played one of the most important roles. Masses in church were done in Latin so nobody in church knew what was really going on. The way I look at it the churches really took advantage of the people around them, knowing that they couldn’t really say anything about it. The Black Death ended everything because many people died and it killed most of the population. So therefore a new world as I call it emerged from the ashes of the black death of something completely different.

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  14. Lindsay Price-Friend

    The main feature of Feudalism was when almost every man was a servant to another man. Nobles owned large tracts of land even to them by kings and tended to by peasants. There was generally no movement in hierarchy, however as the middle ages progressed there was a slight change in the way the hierarchy was structured. The hierarchy of Anglo-Saxon England was is a great example of this change. The influence of the church grew in England during the Age of Faith which also helped re-organize the Roman Catholic church. The change was noticed by the kings as they began to have more power then they had before. The Black Death, or Bubonic Plague, caused the end of feudalism by wiping so many people out. There weren't enough people left to continue feudalism, at that point they were more concerned about staying alive. Also, very few people during this era were educated; the only way to become educated was through the church. That came to an end with the death of Feudalism and the beginning of the Renaissance. During the Middle Ages many things happened from the Fall of Rome to the plague so all in all, the Middle Ages was a big time of change.

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  15. Feudalism was based on the exchange of land for military service. It was the hierarchical system in which every man is another man’s vassal. King William the Conqueror used feudalism to reward the Norman supporters to help in the conquest of England. The social structure was based on wealth. First were the kings, the barons, bishops… and at the end the peasants. The kings were considered as if they were God. The Catholic Church was a strong institution, which provided education to those who were wealthy. They used calligraphy which was a type of fancy script. Their masses were in Latin and only those who knew the language understood. To my understanding the church was a big part in the middle ages, and was very controlling too. Then the black plague came and killed millions of people. The disease kept spreading and there wasn’t anyone to labor the land. There weren’t any doctors to heal the sick and people just died. Feudalism ended because there wasn’t anyone to continue feudalism. And peasants began to uprise.

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  16. Feudalism was a system for structuring society around the land in exchange for service. There are different types of classes. It's basically goes by the ranks. The top classes were the Kings, Nobles, and Knights. It was the basis by which the upper nobility class maintained control over the lower classes. Most people lived on a manor, which consisted of the castle, the church, the village, and the surrounding farm land. The good thing about Middle Ages Feudalism was that it was possible for everyone to move higher up the ranks of the pyramid of power. Feudalism had a huge effect on England and Europe during the Middle Ages. Church leaders such as bishops and archbishops sat on the king's council and played leading roles in government. The church had a great influence over many of the common folk. The peasants believed that the harder they worked, the more of their money they gave to the church, and the more they served the church, the better the after-life would be for them. The Black Death reduced the population of England by one third. A lot of people got killed.

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  17. Feudalism is a custom in Europe in the medieval times where one would serve another person. The structure of the system would be like the king would be holding land having them live there and exchange the peasants would work for him and pay him. William Conqueror was the one who introduced feudalism into England. What it meant was the exchange from land to military service. The reason feudalism was build for was for security it would go like this: serfs/servants, then its vassal, then it’s the Knights, then it’s the nobles and then it’s the King. The Black Death ended feudalism because so many people were dying all over the country.

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  18. Feudalism was a political, social and economical system resembling the Middle Ages; based on a fief, which is a fee to grant land to various relations. Politically, the Church entirely dominated, and had the most power. The popes were capable of excommunicating, excluding people from the Roman Catholic Church as penalty for refusing to obey church laws; popes were proficient of leaving lords and his peasants with utterly nothing. Economically, the images explained that peasants farmed for the lords which made money off them. Socially, Sundays was the only day off. Peasants would go to Church, as well as everyone else. Sunday was the day where everyone met up and enjoyed themselves. The structure of the feudal system was like a pyramid, where the king was at the peak and the common people were at the base. In between the two were different kinds of lords whose position was defined by their social class. There were the powerful tycoons at the top and the tenants nearer the bottom. They pledged loyalty to the person above them in return for the right to live on the land. Protestantism the most popular religion practiced in the United Kingdom today. Protestantism influenced many of England's monarchs in the 1500s and 1600s; some monarchs practiced Protestantism while others persecuted those who did not agree with their Catholic beliefs. Reformers and early church leaders were victimized but they held true to their beliefs. Many medieval people lives were dedicated to the Catholic Church and religion. The Black Death killed so many villagers across Europe that the village lords faced harsh labor shortages.

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  19. Feudalism changed the social structure in the Anglo Saxon England in many ways. It brought a feudal system which made the king at top and the villages in the bottom. The King owned the land and is under the Church. If you don’t follow the king orders you are not following orders of church which represents god. In the middle were barons who received land from the king and in return he gave his loyalty. Under the Barons are the Tenant-in-Chief who got land from the king but not as much as the Barons. Then there are knights who give military power to the king in exchange of land. Then there are Villagers who are Peasants and Serfs who are the majority of the population and lowest in the social structure. The church had a big influence in England and the feudal system. The king was under the pop and church and had to follow the church to be under the protection from other countries.

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  20. Feudalism was based on a hierarchy of needs,where serfs and peasants were at the bottom, and the pope and highest leaders were at the top.The higher classes in return for a amount of their crops or services and also involved loyalty.After te plague hit,people started to die.The lords, bishops, and important people of Medieval society began to fall.The peasants began to demand payment for free crops, the peasants could simply move to someone who pay double their last offer this helped lead to the end of the feudalism system.The church influence grew to bring people together which led to religion being a way to control mass of people.

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  21. Feaudalism was wealth system in which the people with the most land was the wealthiest. The higher classes gave land to the lower classes for a their goods. Also, everything was based on power. As kings, lords, and those involved with religion were on top of the social pyramid. It was said the ones with the most land, were to be the wealthiest.
    As religion came and was introduced, those who went to church were the most educated. The only way of education was the church. Therefore, only the wealthy knew how to read and write. Some used religion to manipulate people in believing they were something other than human. They insisted on being treated than other, by persuading them to believe in people being sent down from God. If they were disrespected, it was like disrespecting God himself. This way, these people made themselves get higher on the social pyramid.

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  22. Feudalism was based on a hierarchy, which was an arrangement of rank that was similar to a pyramid. At the top of the pyramid were the King in the middle were the Barons and the Knights and at the bottom of the pyramid were the peasants. The reason why feudalism changed the social structure of the Anglo Saxon was because William kept part of the land, the church owned the other part, and whatever was left over was given to the nobles. During the Age of Faith the influence of the Roman Catholic Church grew and was re-organized. The kings believed that they were “the chosen ones”; “gods messengers” on earth and that everyone must bow down to them. The “Black Death” or the Bubonic plague made it hard to maintain a feudal system. It causes thousands of deaths everyday across the continent, which includes soldiers and nobles. A serf or servant that didn’t have Bubonic plague was an extremely popular commodity. They began to be offered more for their work and labor. If their masters didn’t provide it then there were other lords who were willing to pay for their services. But that was a good thing because it began to improve the serf and servant’s life a whole lot!

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  23. Feudalism is a hierarchical system in which every man is another’s vassal. This system was brought over to England by the French and Normans. In 1066 CE, a man named William Conquer invaded and dominated England. He brought this idea of Feudalism to England and soon it became the norm for the English. Nobles were granted land and ordered to rule over a certain area by the King. The majority of England’s people were slaved. The hierarchy didn’t change until the Anglo- Saxon influence on the church grew. The king began to have more power than ever which helped reorganize the Roman Catholic Church. The black plague was the cause of the end of the Feudalistic system because it wiped out most of the population so there wasn’t many to rule over. The fall of the feudalistic system was the rise of the legendary Renaissance. The middle ages was a time period where people were trying to figure out what was the right way to do things, therefore constant change.

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  24. The feudal system is a hierarchical system in which every man is another’s man servant. To the men that were owned by other men were actually living dead people. All they worked for went to the King, they owned nothing. The best thing that could of happen to the servants was death, because there they wouldn’t have to worry about being bossed around. Even though the churched believed that everybody was equal; they were part of the higher class. The church was the only way to get educated. The masses of the Roman Catholics were in Latin, but at that time no one knew how to speak Latin. Since no one couldn’t really understand the language not a lot of people got educated. Also back in the Middle Ages no one took showers, so there were always bacteria around them. Unfortunately for them that was the cause of the black plague and the reason why they almost got wiped out.

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  25. This Feudalistic system consisted of a society like pyramid that had "citizens", if it even makes sense to call them that, that ruled other men. This system was not built for political purposes but religious ones that only a king would take advantage of. And of course using the dumbfounded excuse of "God chose me to be king". Some features included Lords, Vassals, fiefs, serfs, peasants and more fancy words defining the rich, the poor, and the middle class. Kind of like the upperclassmen bullying the newcomers in a school that doesn't have an educational establishment and rules.
    Feudalism changed the social structure of Anglo Saxon England by setting different religious beliefs that angered some and helped others. The idea of praising one God was liked by William the Conqueror, the first Norman who became king of England. The influence of churches became bigger. Kings at first did not like it but then assumed using the power, granted by God in Christianity, would give them even more than they already had. And the mass of the people, they don't really have a word. The "Black Death" spread killing thousands everyday across England causing soldiers and nobles to die. Servants and serfs too, of course, but there were more of them left. Lords and Masters began to pay them more money for labor improving their lives and ending feudalism.

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  26. During the Middle Ages, the feudal government system, which was set according to a hierarchy, placed the king at the very top of the pyramid and the manors, lords, knights and vassals came after. Land was used as a source of payment for military service; this in turn caused the upper class to be the most wealthy while the peasants were still poor. During the Middle Ages, the Catholic priests were the only literate and educated people; the only education that others recieved were teaching about God and what they were expected to do. To some extent, the Catholic church was actually more powerful than the monarch considering they had a tax system or created tickets to heaven. The king was actually seen as having the divine right to rule which meant that he was specifically chosen by God to rule his people. The Black Death caused the end of feudalism because it literally killed of about 1/3 of the entire population - there was no more hierarchy system considering most everyone died. When most of the knights and nobles passed, and the servants and serfs were the only eligible workers left, they were naturally of high demand. This caused landlords to pay more for the new workers which made it difficult to really see a definite feudal structure of government.

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  27. Feudalism has no exact definition; someone can only describe what they believe this organized method of control was. The political, military, and social system in the Middle Ages, based on the holding of lands in a fee and on the resulting affairs between the lord and vassal could be a possible definition for this system. This so called method did alter the people’s reality. They now had to be under one power and believe in one religion who had one god instead of multiple gods, something the some of the king’s subjects weren’t use to. In most Anglo Saxon groups, everyone seemed to be equal and have a voice while in feudalism the only that seems to matter is the people who are in power. The only other thing that had the same amount of power as the king was the Catholic church. The church was the one thing everyone was dedicated to matter where in the social structure you stood. The population drop resulted in a higher value being placed on labor causing the peasants to rebel around 1381. People became exasperated with the church and its power sso its influence began to decline along with the king’s.

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  28. During the middle ages, Feudalism played a major role within the people in England. It was structured in an unfair way which included the king, which is the top of the pyramid next followed by the lord then on by the knight and last the serf, also known as the slaves which were 99% of the population. Everything was done by the serfs and everything went to the above people. Their religious belief was Roman Catholic by this time and they took much care into their love of their culture. They believed the kinds were sent by God to rule the people therefore, if you questioned the king you questioned God. And you would be put to death if you ever were to. Because of poor conditions and more than half of the population were slaves, it made it very easy for diseases to travel around amongst them. One of those diseases was called the Bubonic Plague also known as the Black Death. Many people were killed causing more than half of the population to wipe out.

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