Middle Aged Research Project

Essay

Dylan Mendez

Encounters 6

Ms. Damante

March 24, 2022

The Medieval Times 

Introduction

The Middle ages was a dark time that killed millions of people, and ruined countless people’s lives. There were many events that happened during the Middle Ages like, Feudalism which was the type of government that they had and what controlled that they did. The black death which was a horrible disease that killed many people, and ruined many people’s lives. And King Arthur, a legendary hero that once owned a whole kingdom and went to long lasting battles to fight for his people.

Feudalism

Feudalism was the type of government that they had, it started in 500 AD and went on until 1500 AD. Feudalism was a type of government that separated the people into three ranks, the highest which were the kings and lords who controlled everything, the second highest which were the knights and nobles; they were the ones that worked for the king. And the lowest rank are the serfs and peasants. This would also determine how much power they had over each other, and how much land everyone owned.

 The Feudal system was organized by three different categories or ranks.  The highest of the ranks are the kings and lords, they are the one who own all the land and control what the peasants and knights do, and they are the ones who give the knights and peasants food and a place to live. The middle rank are the knights, they are the ones that protect the kingdom and village and fought in wars to fight for them. The lowest rank are the serfs and peasants. They were the people that had no power and had to work to take care of their family. The peasants would have to work for 6 days a week to pay for their needs like food and shelter. In return the king would provide them protection from other people for the peasants' hard work. (Middle…) “Peasants worked hard and died young, so most were dead before they reached 30 years old.”

 Even if the king was the one who owned all the land he still needed help controlling the land so he divided the land up and the barons would be the ones controlling that part of the land. The part of the property they controlled were large areas of it called fiefs in return the barons pledged their loyalty and soldiers to the king.

The Black Death

The Black Death reached the shores of Italy and started in around 1348. It it was one of the worst pandemics recorded in history. It got its horrific name because of how deadly it was, how much it affected everyone and how many people it killed. (History…) The term black also referred to glum or dreadful due to the devastating effect this disease had on society. The disease killed approximately 78 million people and affected many people's lives. The way it started was when people found 12 ships that came from the black sea. They were full of people, most of them were dead and some were still alive but the ones that were alive were ill and had black boils that ooze with blood and pus. And that is how the Black death began. 

It started spreading all over Europe, most historical people believe that it wiped out over one third of the European population. The disease started to spread along the far east towards western europe into the middle east.(History…)”The air was full of the horrific smell of sick, dead and rotting bodies”.

The Black death had three forms, the first one was called bubonic plague whenever people got it they would start swelling lymph nodes along the neck, armpits, and groin. They would also get symptoms like fevers, chills, joint, headaches, malaise, and nausea. The second one is called pneumonic plague, this one would cause airborne infections. The symptoms from this are blood-tinged sputum. And the last form was known as the septicaemic plague, when people got this they would start getting deep, purple discolorations of the skin and extremely high fevers. This form of the disease is the third one it is one of the rarest ones to get.

King Arthur

(King…)King Arthur was a real warrior who led British armies against Saxon invaders in the 6th century. His parents were King Uther Pendragon and Igraine Pendragon.The story of how he became king is when he walked up to the sword in the stone in the village and pulled the sword out effortlessly when nobody else could. And that is how Arthur was crowned king. He was the most respected person of his time and was the one who was the king of the land. King Arthur was the one who also fought off the people that tried to attack and get in the kingdom, when the people needed him the most he would arrive. (King…)King Arthur is a legendary British king who appears in a series of stories and medieval romances as the leader of a knightly fellowship called the Round Table.

There are many stories on how King Arthur was granted the sword excalibur, one story was that he pulled the sword out of a stone and that nobody else could. Another story is that a mysterious lady that lived in a lake gave him Excalibur known as The lady of the lake. 

(How…)During his travels, Arthur meets and marries a beautiful young woman named Guinevere. After Arthur and his knights defeat all outsiders and calm reigns over Britain, there is a period of peace and happiness at a utopian Camelot. But then Lancelot Arthur's most trusted knight fell in love with queen Guinevere. In some stories it is said that that is what leads to King Arthur’s downfall. In some stories he dies on the battlefield where he killed a person who tried to take his throne with the help of Arthur's half sister but was still heavily wounded. And in other Arthur recovers from the battle and waits till the time is right to reunite britain

Conclusion 

Many Events happened in the Middle Ages like the Black Death and very good people like King Arthur protected the people. But this is only a few things that happened during that time and many things we never found out about.

Works Cited 

“Middle Ages Feudal System.” Ducksters. www.ducksters.com/history/middle_ages_feudal _system.php  

Accessed 22 February 2023. 

Ross, David. “Feudalism and Medieval Life.” Britain Express. www.britainexpress.com 

/History/Feudalism_and_Medieval_life.htm Accessed 7 February 2023.

”History of Black Death.” All About History. allabouthistory.org/history-of-black-death.htm. Accessed 30 

January 2023.

”Eyewitness to History.com” The Black Death, 1348 www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/plague.htm. 

Accessed 30 January 2023.

”King Arthur.” Britannica. www.britannica.com/topic/King-Arthur. Accessed 31 January 2023

”How King Arthur Worked.” howstuffworks. history.howstuffworks.com/historical-figures/king- 

arthur.htm. Accessed 31 January 2023