Middle Ages Research Project

Evelyn Abonza 

Encounters 6

Ms. Damante

March 31, 2026

The Middle Ages: a Harsh Period of Time 

Introduction

Could you imagine being born in the Middle Ages as king? You would be at the top of the social system at the time with great wealth and even your own land to rule. Of course not everyone was born into the throne. This was the highest ranking in the social government system, feudalism. Higher titles gave better living states and authority over anyone underneath you. Life was calm and organized until a terrible disease called the Black Plague killed off a large amount of Europe’s population during Asian trade. Castles were not as fascinating from how they are told in stories as they were not very pleasing . This is just part of a harsh period of our time going into more detail as you read.

Feudalism

Feudalism was a social status based government system in Europe during the Middle Ages. This gave rankings to the people living on the land owned by the king also known as the lord. Feudalism started in act to protect the people from Viking invasions during the 9th-15th century and began a ranking system to increase well needed authority.

The king believed he had the right to rule by god which was called the “divine right,”(Middle Ages Feudal…). He ruled the local manors with his knights and could be sent to  battle by the baron's order. Under the lord, Barons owned the manors along with bishops and with Nobles they served their fiefs (parts of the land) making them known and powerful figures of the system. They worked to maintain the divided armies across their land but sometimes were not to have their own army and paid shield money to the king instead. Peasants and serfs were less fortunate; they resided at the bottom of the feudal system being born into misfortune and unstable living conditions. They made up about 90% of the land's population. Peasants were free enough to make their own businesses. Stated from Ducksters ,“Most of the people living in the Middle Ages were peasants. They had a hard and rough life. Some peasants were considered free and could own their own businesses like carpenters, bakers, and blacksmiths. Others were more like slaves. They owned nothing and were pledged to their local lord. They worked long days, 6 days a week, and often barely had enough food to survive”(Middle Ages Feudal…). Serfs were bound to the lord for life working in his field since they could not own land but only work on them. Entitled to the king's protection, the serfs were not to fight. The down side was that they could not leave the land they were bound to unless they ran away without the lord's permission. 

The manor was owned by the top church leader, a bishop, they were the social units of life. The manor was divided into 3, ⅓ of the land was for the lord of the manor giving less of the field coverage to the church, peasants and serfs. Each person had their fair share of necessities.

The Middle Ages Feudal System states,“The basic government and society in Europe during the middle ages was based around the feudal system. Small communities were formed around the local lord and the manor. The lord owned the land and everything in it. He would keep the peasants safe in return for their service. The lord, in return, would provide the king with soldiers or taxes” (Middle Ages Feudal…).

 The feudal system met its end during the Black Death’s course when labour shortages were caused by the small number of workers left. This led to the Peasants Revolt which had the peasants demand higher compensation for the amounts of work they had to put up with

The Black Death

In the 14th century, 1348-1350, the Black Plague arrived during feudalism in Europe coming from Asia. It was thought to have spread from the fleas on rats to the traders back from Asia onto the European merchants bringing back the disease to their home town. Over the course of the plague, a third of the population had been affected by the quick spread of coughing and sneezing.

 Almost 800 people passed each day with symptoms of lumps and black spots around the body. People died within a 3 day span, few survived 4 days. Those who survived longer had believed god had seen something in them, and they took the opportunity to improve their living conditions now that they were “special.” An article on the Black Death says, “Lack of medical knowledge meant that people tried anything to help them escape the disease. One of the more extreme was the flagellants. These people wanted to show their love of God by whipping themselves, hoping that God would forgive them their sins and that they would be spared the Black Death.Those who survived the Black Death believed that there was something special about them – almost as if God had protected them. Therefore, they took the opportunity offered by the disease to improve their lifestyle.”(The Black Death of…)

 Most of the folks who had died were fieldworkers meaning the remaining had to work harder to maintain the fields as if no one was missing. ”By the time the disease ran its course, it had killed at least one third of the people in Europe and probably more. This made larger cities and towns, which were very dirty during the Middle Ages, especially dangerous as there were lots of rats there. Sometimes entire towns or villages were wiped out by the plague,”(the Black…)

The lack of medical knowledge at the time meant that desperate attempts were made to cure the disease. Houses and entire villages were burnt down in hopes to stop the spread. 

Most of Europe had been destroyed after the plague soon ended; it took about 150 years to rebuild.

Life in a Castle

Castles were the cement for a new social system during feudalism. The castles were built in England and Wales after 1066.  Re-designs were constantly made for the castles to adapt in attempts to protect the main castle from new tactics threats made. Moats and other medieval traps like spikes were within the six different defenses leading to the castle inside. They gave the lord power over his vassal. 

Inside the castle, lords, princesses, the king's vassals, and other characters with authority were housed as they were the most important residents in the village needed to be protected. They ruled the land as said in Middle Ages Castles,” During the Middle Ages much of Europe was divided up between lords and princes. They would rule the local land and all the people who lived there. In order to defend themselves, they built their homes as large castles in the center of the land they ruled.”(Middle Ages…)  The castle was run by the lord and lady, but the lord would have been out of the premises most of the time since he needed to attend to his duties in business, politics, and the military. The castle was maintained by gardeners, grooms and other important house keepers who would look after the finances of the estate.

 At the time, due to the circumstances that technology was not very high, there were rats also living with the people of the castle. The people in the castle had little privacy and were most likely cold to our modern standards.  But nowadays castles are not built or used for living because the weapons used now can easily break the walls since they were made out of easily shattering stone. High-tech fortresses now replace castles as they are stronger and more practical for new events.

Conclusion 

There wasn't a time where things weren't hard to endure. This is just a small fraction of the Middle Ages history. Tons of history is still to be uncovered of these and following topics. Castles today are still present as historical markers on how lords and high class used to live. Feudalism is used now to shape new structure into modern economics but may not be used fully today since legal laws and manor farms are replaced with industrialization and capitalism. The Black plague was a very important time in history as it was the start of the spread to a new part of the world and a terrible time in history to repeat. Nowadays, we found an easy cure to the disease. The Middle Ages are important to further read and study about as we learn from past events and know how to handle the present to not repeat flaws.

Works Cited

“Life in a Medieval Castle: Smells, Sounds and Structure of Medieval Castle Life.” Exploring 

Castles. www.exploring-castles.com/castle_life/. Accessed 22 January 2026.

“Middle Ages Castles.” Ducksters. www.ducksters.com/history/middle_ages_castles.php. 

Accessed 28 January 2026.

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

Accessed 22 February 2023. 

“Middle Ages the Black Death Plague.” Ducksters. www.ducksters.com/history/middle_ag 

Es_black_death.php. Accessed 22 January 2026.

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 Learning Site. www.historylearningsite.co.uk/ 

medieval-england/black-death-1348-1350/#goog_rewarded. Accessed 22 January 2026.