Middle Ages Research Project

Mia Ann Bissitt

Encounters 6

Ms. Damante

March 31, 2026

Middle Ages: Hard, Cruel, & Unfair

Introduction

Imagine it, being in the Middle Ages in one of the single worst times. The plague has taken over, people are dying on the streets. The air stinks of death and rotting flesh. The feudal system collapsing and the 100 years of war is around the corner. It can't get worse than this right? That is, until you see the enemy army approaching. This is the Middle Ages. It was hard, and people had to dodge death everyday. In this medieval time, there were three key factors.  Feudalism, the black plague, and the 100 years of war. The feudal system was only benefiting some. The plague broke down the Fudal system. The 100 years of war seems non-stop.

Feudalism

Firstly, feudalism was the practice of ranks among people. The person/ role that benefited from this was the king. The person who suffered was the serf.In feudalism you had a pyramid of ranks. This included a king at the top, bishop, barons and nobles, lords and knights, and at the bottom was peasants and or serfs. Starting at the bottom, peasants and serfs had it rough. They often had to work hard for little money, this made it nearly impossible for them to survive. Some peasants, if free, were able to own businesses like a carpenter or  blacksmith. 

Making our way higher, we have lords and knights. Lords owned the building or otherwise known as manors. They also owned their land including everything in it. This means presents, serfs, and crops. The lord gave the king the taxes and knights to keep their land. According to Ducksters, “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…). This shows how the lord of the land would provide the king with things to keep their land safe.

  Making our way even higher, we have barons and nobles. The barons and nobles were very powerful. They owned big chunks of land called fiefs. They would give the lords land. Since they still needed protection, they would either pay the king money to keep them safe called shield money, or they would maintain an army. According to Ducksters, “If they did not have an army, sometimes they would pay the king a tax instead. This tax was called shield money.” (Middle…). This shows how the Nobles and Barons still needed protection and would pay or maintain an army for it.

  And second to top was the bishop. The bishop was very powerful. They were the head of the Catholic church, and in the middle ages there were many Catholic churches. According to Ducksters, “The Catholic Church was very powerful in most parts of Medieval Europe and this made the Bishop powerful as well.” (Middle…). This shows how the bishop would have been very powerful. Last but not least, we have the king.The king was at the top of this pyramid. He was the most powerful and rich. Since the king couldn’t control all the land, he divided it up between the barons. According to Ducksters, “The king could not control all of the land by himself, so he divided it up among the Barons.” (Middle…). This shows how the king gave land to the baron because he couldn’t control it all. The end of feudalism was caused by plagues.

Plague

Secondly, the plague was a disease that was spread by black rats and fleas. The plague was devastating from its many deaths it caused. It took about 75 million lives. The nickname of it was the black death. It was called this because black symbolized being glum and dreadfulness.

The bubonic plague was caused by a bacteria. This Bactria was called Yersinia pestis. According to All About History, “It was caused by the organism,Yersinia pestis which was carried about from the bodies of black rats by fleas.” (History…). This shows how even something as small as a flea or rat can cause any deaths.

It was quite easy to tell who was infected by this disease from their symptoms. These symptoms included spitting up blood, lymph nodes or also known as buboes, and often people looked like they had black blotches on them from damage under the skin. A buboes is the swelling of a lymph gland known to hurt. According to Merriam-Webster, “An inflammatory swelling of a lymph gland especially in the groin.” (Bubo). This shows how it would be easy for people to know if they were infected by looking at them.

Since the Catholic church forbade cutting open bodies, it made it extremely hard to figure out how to kill the disease. On top of this, the Catholic church was angry that they were wrong about it. This caused people to be in distress/ panic and lose faith. 

In all this death and sorrow there is an upside to this mass outbreak. First it made the book genre Sci-fi/ Science fiction. Then it made the first hazmat suit. Finally, at the end of it all, it made people understand diseases better and improved our medical understanding.In the end with all the panic, the plague jump started the hundred year of war.

100 Years of War

Lastly, the 100 years of war was a very long conflict that had France and England on the battlefield. This war was very long but had breaks in between. In truth, this war lasted 116 years. According to Kiddle, “The Hundred Years' War was a long conflict between France and England. It happened during the late Middle Ages, lasting 116 years from 1337 to 1453.” (Hundred…). This shows how long this war was.

This war all started because the king of France, Charles IV died and had no heir to takehis place as king. The king of England, Edward III, though he should rule over France. According to Kiddle, “Edward III of England believed he should be the new king of France.” (Hundred…). This shows how the King of England thought he should be the king of France.This did not make the people of France too happy, for they did not want a king that was from France. In so, Phillip VI became the new king of France. He protested that women could not pass the rule to their sons by a certain law. With this statement France and England began a war.

At the start, France was better than England. They had better people, more money for armor and weapons, and their knights were known for their great fighting across Europe. But France had a problem. France wasn't as put together as England was. Unlike France, England had a feudal monarchy. This means power was spread between people and not given to one person. According to Kiddle, “However, France was not as unified as England. It was a feudal monarchy, meaning power was spread out among many lords.” (Hundred…). This shows that in the end England had slightly more leverage in the war. In the end, England won against France. All and more, took place in over 100 years of a conflict people thought would never end.

Conclusion 

The Middle Ages were stressful and many never got to see the end of it. The feudal system was unfair and not easy, the plague was a disease unlike any the doctors of that time ever knew, and the 100 years felt never-ending and you were bound to die. But through this all, we learn about the Middle Ages to understand what the people of that time went through and how we now benefit off the disease that killed millions of people. We also learn how the 100 years of war, if the outcome was different, could have been.

Works Cited 

“Bubo” Merriam-Webster. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bubo

Accessed 28 January 2026.

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

Accessed 22 January 2026.

“Hundred Years’ War facts for kids.” Kiddle. /kids.kiddle.co/Hundred_Years%27_War. Accessed 

28 January 2026.

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

Accessed 22 February 2023. 

“Middle Ages Hundred Years War.” Ducksters. www.ducksters.com/history/middle_ages/hun 

dred_years_war.php. Accessed 28 January 2026.

“Middle Ages The Black Death Plague.” Ducksters. www.ducksters.com/history/midd 

le_ages_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.