Middle Ages Research Project
Emily Urioso
Encounters 6
Ms. Damante
April 19, 2024
The Middle Ages
Introduction
During The Middle Ages, people would suffer due to the Feudal system. This system would provide the opposite of what they promised their people. Some towns would even be taken down due to The Black Death. Even prisoners wouldn’t be provided with food and would depend on friends and family to take care of them due to crime and punishment. All of this would happen to the people in The Middle Ages.
Feudalism
How It Began
Feudalism began in medieval Europe. The purpose of Feudalism was to give more power to the king and distribute it. The feudal system made it for each area to have an assigned lord or king and the king or lord would own everything that belonged to that area. The feudal system revolved around a chart and any given person could have been awarded with a land or an area based on their power and rank. This meant that any knight would be awarded more than a serf or a peasant because they were worth more to a king or a civilian. The feudal system didn’t always work the way it was supposed to. For example, Feudalism provided some unity and security in local areas, but it often didn’t have the strength to unite larger regions or countries. It also didn’t work because of the fact that feudalism granted land to people that were higher ranks. This means that very little land was given to the serfs, and the rich had much more land that they didn’t know what to do with, so the serfs and peasants didn’t have a place to plant their food, so this often led to food shortages. In the text it states “Most of the people living in the Middle ages were peasants. They had a hard, rough life. Some peasants were considered free and could own their own businesses like carpenters, bakers, and blacksmiths. They worked long days, 6 days a week, and often barely had enough food to survive”(Ross)
How Did It Affect People
Feudalism affected many regular civilians instead of supplying land, jobs, and opportunities for people like promised. It led to more taxes, people losing their jobs, and having to pay more so in general feudalism did the opposite of what it was supposed to. Feudalism was supposed to help its people by redistributing the land from the rich and wealthy who had no use for it. Besides making more money they gave more money to the kings, lords and the rich instead of the poor who could actually need the money for food and much more things. The problem with giving the land to the rich and not the poor was that the rich had no use of it. If the feudal system half redistributed land to the peasants and not to the rich it might have worked out because if you give land to the poor who need money and are barely surviving when they see a new opportunity like this one.
How It Ended
Even though Feudalism was a big part of medieval history and did work out in some cases in the 1400s Feudalism came to an end for many different reasons. One of the reasons was because of the fact that it wasn't fair to many people. While the serfs and peasants were out working and were forced to give some of their money to their king, the rich and the wealthy are having the time of their life and becoming richer, due to the hard work of the peasants. Another problem was that feudalism didn’t work out how they wanted it to because it was meant to give land to the people who needed it the most but instead the feudal system did the opposite, they gave the lands to the rich and the wealthy that didn't have a use for it when the poor could have used those lands to plant their foods and crops.
The Black Death
How It Began
The black death started in eastern europe and lasted from 1348 to 1350. The black death was created by fleas riding on top of animals and when a flea would look at someone they would affect them with a disease. Due to the black death it led to over 75 million deaths. Even though the spread of the disease was caused by fleas, a study done in 2014 says otherwise. The study made in 2014 says that the disease was never spread by fleas but it was really spread by the disease being airborne and the disease was spreading in the air. The text states “Evidence produced by forensic scientists and archaeologists in 2014 from human remains in the north of the City of London suggests that fleas could not actually have been responsible for an infection that spread so fast – it had to be airborne. Once the disease reached the lungs of the malnourished, it was then spread to the wider population through sneezes and coughs''(History…) Even though with all the studies the cause of the disease is still unknown.
How Did It Affect People
The black death has affected many different and negative ways. Many people got sick and died due to it having no cure. Many of the side effects of the black death was swelling on the neck, armpit, and also fevers, chills, and headaches. The black death traveled fast and some towns were even taken down, when anyone would get the disease everyone else would be scared for their life. Only a very small percent of people survived the black death.
How It Ended
The black death ended in 1350 due to its disappearance. Many people believe that the black death was started as a punishment of god and only ended because god wanted it to. The punishment was only meant for the pharaoh and the egyptians because the egyptians didn't want to free god's people. So the black death was a punishment for them until it ended.
Crime and punishment
How It Began
Crime and punishment in the middle ages were very hard and different depending on their social status. The lords were in charge of the small crimes and they dealt with them in their local manor. An example from the text is “Those who were accused of minor crimes simply had to pay fines.”(Nash) The serious crimes were handled by the lawyers. The person who was guilty of robbery, stealing, or murder, was to be killed. The executions were hosted in public infront of large crowds for people to watch. One example of an execution was the quartering. It was called the quartering because it was 4 horses tied to the criminal's legs and arms and would run in different directions until the criminal would eventually die. Quartering was a very exotic way to torture someone, because it would take hours for the criminal to die because the horses wouldnt run in opposite directions.
How Did It Affect People
Crime and punishment affected people in many different and horrible ways. For example, the conditions in the prisons during these times were horrible and crowded. This led to many criminals catching many different diseases. The criminals in prison in those times would not be provided any food. This led to the prisoners to depend on their friends and family for money to buy food, or for them to bring them food if not they would probably die of starvation for so long. The prisons were often built in castles and were built very small. This led to prisoners not being able to sit or lay down. Often the prisoners would scream in pain, because of this the royals living in the castles would place the prisoners far from the castles for them not to hear the horrible screams of the prisoners. Another horrible way that they would punish the prisoners was that the worse of a crime the harder of a punishment that they would give them.
How It Ended
Crime and punishment ended in a hard but easy way. The way it ended was by Fyodor Dostoyevsky making an offer of a happy ending. However, not the type of ending where there is an event like a marriage at the end of a fairy tail. The happy ending he offered was moral development through spiritual reassessment or moral reconciliation.
Conclusion
In conclusion, The Middle Ages went through some hard times and there are still a lot to name. The Feudal system was a very hard system for some people. The Black death was also hard for people who lost their friends and family. Crime and Punishment was very hard for the people who had to go through it. Things are still to be known from The Middle Ages.
Works Cited
”Crime and Punishment in the Middle Ages.” Camelot International. www.camelotintl.com/village/cri
me.html. Accessed 23 February 2024.
”History of Black Death.” All about History. allabouthistory.org/history-of-black-death.htm. Accessed 23
February 2024.
“Middle Ages Feudal System.” Ducksters. www.ducksters.com/history/middle_ages_feudal _system.php
Accessed 22 February 2023.
Nash, Tim .”Crime and Punishment in the Middle Ages.” The Finest Times. 23 November 2008. www.t
hefinertimes.com/crime-and-punishment-in-the-middle-ages. Accessed 23 February 2024.
Ross, David. “Feudalism and Medieval Life.” Britain Express. www.britainexpress.com
/History/Feudalism_and_Medieval_life.htm Accessed 7 February 2023.
“The Black Death of 1348 to 1350.” History Learn Site. 5 March 2015. www.historylearningsite
.co.uk/medieval-england/black-death-1348-1350/. Accessed 23 February 2024.
