Middle Ages Research Project

Jesus Garcia  

Encounters 6

Ms. Damante

March 24, 2022

The Harsher Times 

Introduction

Did you know the Middle Ages also known as The Medieval Times lasted around 1000 

years?! 1000 years is equivalent to 10 centuries! Feudalism was another word for the Governmental structure during the Middle ages. Crime and punishment, punishments were really different to today's punishments. Crime was almost the same but it had to disturb the king's peace for it to be a crime. The black death was a disease during the middle ages  which killed many people.The Middle Ages was a hard time  where many  atrocities  and events happened.

Feudalism

 Feudalism was the Governmental structure in Europe throughout the Middle Ages.

Feudalism actually meant that many lords controlled their own states with help of the barons instead of the King holding the whole country.The Feudal System was organized by the king being the top leader giving his land to the baron to the soldiers passing it down to the peasants so they could grow crops in the land.In the Feudal System, the king and the barons hold a relationship in which the king gives land to the barons so the barons assure their loyalty and soldiers to the king.Although Feudalism was a Government System followed by all, most people did not benefit like the peasants. The Feudal System  didn’t help the peasants  at all because they had to work on the lord's and the baron's land, in exchange for their work, the lords and barons gave the peasants food and a place to live. Another person who didn’t benefit in the Middle Ages was the serf because he couldn’t get married without the lord's permission and he couldn’t leave the land either although the serf did have rights, He didn’t have to fight like a knight  and he had the lord's protection. The king, the lords , and the barons really benefited from Feudalism because they were at the top and had the most power over the poor and the peasants. The lords and the barons could administer their taxes and tolls. They even manufactured their own money. The king was the one who benefited the most because he had control  the land but he gave a portion of his land to the lords and barons so the barons gave him taxes and soldiers. ”The lord, in return, would provide the king with soldiers and taxes.”(Ducksters)The vassals didn’t benefit much but didn’t suffer like the peasants. The vassals were like the lord's assistants. The vassals had many jobs like attending the lord's court and sometimes contributing money if it was necessary. The black death was a reason why feudalism ended. The black death was a reason feudalism ended because it created an economic change that wasn’t stable for the government.

Crime and Punishment 

Crime in the Middle Ages was when someone interfered with the king's peace. Punishment in the Middle Ages was really harsh because the punishments were really severe.  Many people were afraid they would be the next victim because the punishments were really harsh.The lords dealt with minor crimes at their court . When people went to jail they starved because they didn’t give them food.The people who were in jail depended on their family members so they brought them food or gave them money to buy food. Robbers sometimes waited for passing visitors so the kings demanded the lords to cut down the trees so they could catch them more easily and that they could have a  place to steal from  the passing visitors. In the middle ages highway robbery, stealing livestock or treason were considered as serious crimes and the punishment was for the lords to execute them. In the Roman and Greek  laws, the lords could only torture the slaves  but when the laws changed they could could torture free people and imprison them for committing crimes. People’s arms were commonly cut for stealing and other punishments were that they were beaten, stretched on a rack and women were commonly drowned. The crime that made me surprised was that people were boiled in oil and their eyes were burned out with pinchers and there fingers were torn off.When someone didn’t show up to court their property was taken by the lords and it became the king's property.Another common  punishment was for people to be hung up in a cage so people could see their slow death’s the crime they did were rape and manslaughter.The crimes were so harsh that even the town people could beat up the victim. Sometimes the slaves were put down before they died and they were quartered so  their death was more painful. “On some occasions, they were taken down just before their death and quartered (cut into four pieces) so that the pain would kill them, the cruelest way to die.”(Nash)

The Black Death 

The name Black Death comes from the physical manifestations it gave and
the effects in society it left . The black death killed around 75 million people .“ The total number of deaths attributable to this devastating pandemic was 75 million people.”(History) The black death is considered a twin of the bubonic plague.Some characteristics that the black death gave was that you got painful swelling  in  the lymph nodes known as buboes. Some organisms that caused The Black Death were, yersinia Pestis which was in black rats and fleas.People who got the disease were covered  with dark  blotches because of the damage to the underlying skin. In history records the black death supposedly started in the fourteenth century in eastern Russia close to the Crimea.From Russia the black death spread into  Far eastern routes and  towards Western Europe  into the Middle East.War and famine only meant more problems because the Black death spread more quickly.The Black Death had 3 Manifestations-Bubonic Plague,Pneumonic Plague , and Septicaemic Plague. The manifestation of the Black Death that had the most mortality rate was the  bubonic plague with a rate of 30 to 75 percent of mortality rate. The black death ended  during the 14th century.

Conclusion 

During the Middle Ages many disasters happened. The Middle Ages was an important time because feudalism developed which led to a new governmental system which is the one we have today.

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.

Tim, Nash. “Crime And Punishment In The Middle Ages.” The Finer Times. 23 November 2008,  

www.thefinertimes.com/crime-and-punishment-in-the-middle-ages. Accessed 9 February 2023.

“Crime And Punishment In The Middle Ages.”Camelot International. www.camelotintl. 

com/village/crime.ht. Accessed  30 January 2023.

“History of Black Death” All About History. allabouthistory.org/history-of-black-death.htm. Accessed 12 

February 2023