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The Middle Ages:
Myth and Reality
The Middle Ages: The Myth

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We think of knights in
shining armor, lavish
banquets, wandering
minstrels, kings, queens,
bishops, monks, pilgrims,
and glorious pageantry.
In film and in literature,
medieval life seems
heroic, entertaining, and
romantic.
The Middle Ages: The Reality

In reality, life in the
Middle Ages, a period
that extended from
approximately the 5th
century to the 15th
century in Western
Europe, could also be
harsh, uncertain, and
dangerous.
The Lord of the Manor

For safety and
defense, people in the
Middle Ages formed
small communities
around a central lord
or master.
The Manor

Most people lived
on a manor, which
consisted of the
castle (or manor
house), the church,
the village, and the
surrounding farm
land.
Self-Sufficiency
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Each manor was largely selfsufficient, growing or producing
all of the basic items needed for
food, clothing, and shelter.
To meet these needs, the manor
had buildings devoted to special
purposes, such as:
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The mill for grinding grain
The bake house for making bread
The blacksmith shop for creating
metal goods.
The Feudal System
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Under the feudal
system, the king
awarded land grants or
fiefs to his most
important nobles,
barons, and bishops, in
return for their
contribution of soldiers
for the king's armies.
Nobles and Vassals

Nobles divided their
land among the lesser
nobility, who became
their vassals. Many of
these vassals became
so powerful that the
kings had difficulty
controlling them.
The Magna Carta

In 1215, the English
barons formed an
alliance that forced
King John to sign the
Magna Carta. It limited
the king's powers of
taxation and required
trials by jury. It was the
first time that an
English monarch was
subject to the law.
The Peasants
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At the lowest level of
society were the
peasants, also called
serfs or villeins.
The lord offered his
peasants protection in
exchange for living and
working on his land.
Hard Work & High Taxes
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Peasants worked hard to
cultivate the land and
produce the goods that
the lord and his manor
needed.
They were heavily taxed
and were required to
relinquish much of what
they harvested.
MEDIEVAL LIFE
Cooperation and Mutual
Obligations
KING
MANORIALISM:
ECONOMIC SYSTEM
FEUDALISM:
POLITICAL SYSTEM
Fief and Peasants
 Decentralized, local
government
 Dependent upon the
relationship between
members of the nobility
 Lord and his vassals
administered justice
and were the highest
authority in their land
 Agriculture the basis for
wealth
 Lands divided up into
self-sufficient manors
 Peasants (serfs) worked
the land and paid rent In
exchange for protection
 Barter the usual form of
exchange
Military Aid
Loyalty
LORDS (VASSALS TO KING)
Food
Protection
Shelter
Military Service
Homage
KNIGHTS (VASSALS TO LORDS)
Food
Protection
Farm the
Land
PEASANTS (SERFS)
Shelter
Pay
Rent
The Catholic Church
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
The Catholic Church was
the only church in Europe
during the Middle Ages,
and it had its own laws and
large income.
Church leaders such as
bishops and archbishops
sat on the king's council
and played leading roles in
government.
Bishops
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Bishops, who were often
wealthy and came from
noble families, ruled
over groups of parishes
called dioceses.
Many times, they were
part of the feudal system
and in exchange for a
fief and peasants had to
provide homage and
military aid to a leige
lord.
Parish Priests
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Parish priests, on the other
hand, came from humbler
backgrounds and often had
little education.
The village priest tended to
the sick and indigent and,
if he was able, taught Latin
and the Bible to the youth
of the village
Monasteries

Monasteries in the Middle
Ages were based on the
rules set down by St.
Benedict in the sixth
century. The monks
became known as
Benedictines and took
vows of poverty, chastity,
and obedience to their
leaders.
Monks
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Monks were required to
perform manual labor
and were forbidden to
own property, leave the
monastery, or become
entangled in the concerns
of society.
Daily tasks were often
carried out in silence.
Nuns

Monks and their female
counterparts, nuns, who
lived in convents,
provided for the lessfortunate members of
the community.
Monasteries and
nunneries were safe
havens for pilgrims and
other travelers.
Monastic Life

Monks and nuns went
to the monastery
church eight times a
day in a routine of
worship that involved
singing, chanting, and
reciting prayers from
the divine offices and
from the service for
Mass.
Education
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Between prayers, the
monks read or copied
religious texts and
music. Monks were
often well educated
and devoted their
lives to writing and
learning.
Pilgrimages

Pilgrimages were an
important part of religious
life in the Middle Ages.
Many people took
journeys to visit holy
shrines such the
Canterbury Cathedral in
England and sites in
Jerusalem and Rome.
The Canterbury Tales

Chaucer's Canterbury
Tales is a series of
stories told by 30
pilgrims as they
traveled to
Canterbury.
Medieval Village
Health & Hygiene

As the populations of
medieval towns and
cities increased,
hygienic conditions
worsened, leading to a
vast array of health
problems.
Medicine

Medical knowledge was
limited and, despite the efforts
of medical practitioners and
public and religious
institutions to institute
regulations, medieval Europe
did not have an adequate
health care system. Antibiotics
weren't invented until the
1800s and it was almost
impossible to cure diseases
without them.
Myths and Superstitions

There were many myths and
superstitions about health and
hygiene as there still are today.
People believed, for example,
that disease was spread by bad
odors. It was also assumed that
diseases of the body resulted
from sins of the soul. Many
people sought relief from their
ills through meditation, prayer,
pilgrimages, and other
nonmedical methods.
Four Humors
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The body was viewed as a part of
the universe, a concept derived from
the Greeks and Romans. Four
humors, or body fliuds, were
directly related to the four elements.
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Fire: yellow bile or choler
Water: phlegm
Earth: black bile
Air: blood.
These four humors had to be
balanced. Too much of one was
thought to cause a change in
personality--for example, too much
black bile could create melancholy.
Bloodletting

Medicine was often a risky
business. Bloodletting was
a popular method of
restoring a patient's health
and "humors." Early
surgery, often done by
barbers without anesthesia,
must have been
excruciating.
Medical Treatment

Medical treatment was
available mainly to the
wealthy, and those
living in villages rarely
had the help of doctors,
who practiced mostly in
the cities and courts.
Remedies were often
herbal in nature, but
also included ground
earthworms, urine, and
animal excrement.
Remedies
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Many medieval medical
manuscripts contained
recipes for remedies
that called for hundreds
of therapeutic
substances--the notion
that every substance in
nature held some sort of
power accounts for the
enormous variety of
substances.
Arts & Entertainment
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Art and music were critical
aspects of medieval
religious life and, towards
the end of the Middle Ages,
secular life as well. Singing
without instrumental
accompaniment was an
essential part of church
services. Monks and priests
chanted the divine offices
and the mass daily.
Musical Instruments

Some churches had
instruments such as organs
and bells. The organistrum
or symphony (later known
as a hurdy gurdy) was also
found in churches. Two
people were required to play
this stringed instrument-one to turn the crank and the
other to play the keys.
Drama
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Medieval drama grew out
of the liturgy, beginning
in about the eleventh
century. Some of the
topics were from the Old
Testament (Noah and the
flood, Jonah and the
whale, Daniel in the lion's
den) and others were
stories about the birth and
death of Christ.
Town Life
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After 1000, peace and
order grew. As a result,
peasants began to
expand their farms and
villages further into the
countryside. The earliest
merchants were peddlers
who went from village
to village selling their
goods.
Peddlers
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As the demand for goods
increased--particularly for the
gems, silks, and other
luxuries from Genoa and
Venice, the ports of Italy that
traded with the East--the
peddlers became more
familiar with complex issues
of trade, commerce,
accounting, and contracts.
Businessmen
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They became savvy businessmen
and learned to deal with Italian
moneylenders and bankers. The
English, Belgians, Germans, and
Dutch took their coal, timber,
wood, iron, copper, and lead to the
south and came back with luxury
items such as wine and olive oil.
Tradesmen

With the advent of
trade and
commerce, feudal
life declined. As
the tradesmen
became wealthier,
they resented
having to give their
profits to their
lords.
Boroughs

Arrangements were made
for the townspeople to pay
a fixed annual sum to the
lord or king and gain
independence for their
town as a "borough" with
the power to govern itself.
The marketplace became
the focus of many towns.
Town Governments

As the townspeople
became "free" citizens,
powerful families,
particularly in Italy,
struggled to gain control
of the communes or
boroughs. Town councils
were formed.
Guilds

Guilds were established to
gain higher wages for
their members and protect
them from competitors.
As the guilds grew rich
and powerful, they built
guildhalls and began
taking an active role in
civic affairs, setting up
courts to settle disputes
and punish wrongdoers.
The Merchant Class

The new merchant class
included artisans,
masons, armorers,
bakers, shoemakers,
ropemakers, dyers, and
other skilled workers.
Masons

Of all the craftsmen,
the masons were the
highest paid and most
respected. They were,
after all, responsible
for building the
cathedrals, hospitals,
universities, castles,
and guildhalls.
Apprentices
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Masons learned their
craft as apprentices
to a master mason,
living at lodges for
up to seven years.
The master mason
was essentially an
architect, a general
contractor, and a
teacher.
The First Companies
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The population of cities
swelled for the first time
since before the Dark
Ages. With the new
merchant activity,
companies were formed.
Merchants hired
bookkeepers, scribes,
and clerks, creating new
jobs.
The Birth of the Renaissance
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The inventions of
Leonardo da Vinci and
the voyages of
discovery in the
fifteenth century
contributed to the birth
of the Renaissance.
Urban Life
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Few serfs were left in Europe by
the end of the Middle Ages, and
the growing burgher class became
very powerful. Hard work and
enterprise led to economic
prosperity and a new social order.
Urban life brought with it a new
freedom for individuals.
References
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Adapted from the Annenberg Media/Learner.org website “The Middle
Ages”
http://www.learner.org/exhibits/middleages/