A Serf's Life: The Social Orders of the European Middle Ages

In the middle Ages social orders were an important part of life. There were three separate classes. Each class has its own worth and value. You are born into your class and it can never change. During this time the main source of income was agriculture and the church made more power than anyone else (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peasants). The social structure of the middle ages was highly flawed and unfair to the lower class.

The Medieval concept of power and equality was radical different from our contemporary concept. There were three main classes in Europe. They were monks and priests, knights and nobility, and peasants. The peasant was at the bottom of the social structure. He was owned by his lord and could be bought and sold. He had to do what his lord wanted him to do. They were not at all equal to the nobility. They had very little possessions of their own and were treated as property. They were paid for using the land and only could sell the extra crops that they grew. The peasants were usually farmers or craftsmen. If they were craftsmen then they made their goods and paid the lord a tax on what little they made. The only possessions they were allowed to own were tools, utensils, and pots. They kept there valuable things in wooden chests for protection. The peasants usually slept on straw mattresses located on the floor or their small huts (http://library.thinkquest.org/10949/fief/medpeasant.html).

Most peasant farmers had enough surplus crops to survive. They could use the extra money to buy more tools and other objects. A peasant’s life was hard and plagued with hard work and difficulty. The crops were sometimes destroyed by natural disaster like floods and droughts. The livestock sometimes were killed by disease. This caused famine for the farmers. The peasant didn’t fork everyday because they were given many religious holidays (http://library.thinkquest.org/10949/fief/medpeasant.html). According to primary sources from the Middle Ages, the peasants were fined heavily for marriage. The source says "the payment of merchet was exacted from serfs at marriage. When the serf married a woman from another estate the indemnity was called formariage, but if he neglected to pay, he suffered confiscation of his goods. Serfs under the jurisdiction of unscrupulous bailiffs suffered heavily by these fees" (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/600Merchet.html). In modern times were believe that all people are equal and should be treated the same. In the middle ages this was not the case.

The nobility lived mush better lives compared to the peasants that worked for them. The Lord had complete power and control over the land that he owned and all the people he let live there. At a young age the sons of nobility began their training to become a knight. The girls were not allowed to go to school and were taught by their mother how to do house work. Women had fewer rights than the men did even in the nobility. The castles that the nobility lived in were more comfortable than the small living arrangements that the peasants had. For all classes the church had control over daily life. It was the dominant force in Europe at the time and was more powerful than even the richest Lord (http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/nobility.html).

I believe that people do have the innate instinct to be free. In the Middle Ages even though there was no social mobility, the peasant wanted to be free. They were forced to work for the upper classes. The peasants were always trying to become free in the middle ages. If they didn't succeed then they were punished by their masters. The nobility were much more powerful and wealthy than the peasants. A person can never be truly free because of all the laws created now and back then. In the United States we have more rights and freedom than most but we still can’t do what even we want.

Sources:

The Peasant Life. Web. 14 Apr. 2010. http://library.thinkquest.org/10949/fief/medpeasant.html.

Pope Gregory the Great: Payment of Merchet, C. 600. Web. 14 Apr. 2010. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/600Merchet.html.

Life of the Nobility. Web. 22 Apr. 2010. http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/nobility.html.

Peasants' Revolt. Web. 20 Apr. 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peasants.

Picture Source:


Yuriev Day.jpg. Web. 22 Apr. 2010. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yuriev_day.jpg.