Research Collage with Research Paper

Uncovering the Past of The Middle Ages

Introduction

Many people have not given importance to the past. The time before was extremely different. Their ways and their materials certainly differ from what we have today. The Middle Ages have a ton of topics to talk about. Our history was filled with unique ideas. Uncovering the past will most likely expand our minds just a bit more.

Feudalism

Feudalism is "the social structure of the Middle Ages." The definition of feudalism in practice would be that the entire country would not be controlled by their king but by the lords who manage their own property, to distribute their own fairness, etc. The lords would most likely provide stronger, more considerable armies than the king himself (Ross).

The king would have the job of having the highest position in the land. Although he is the king, he wouldn't be in charge of the entire land. He would separate the land out of the Barons. As a way of giving back, the Barons would continue to stay loyal towards the king. As for when a king perishes, his very first son would take the place of being the ruler. The kings also had a belief that they were specifically given the “right to rule” by their God. That would be said as the “divine right” (Nelson).

The lords would be basically owned by the king since they are the king's knights. Though the lords were in charge and owned everything that took place on their land which would be the peasants, village, and the crops, they could still be ordered to go fight at any time by their Baron. As for the hard work the peasants showed to the lord, he himself would protect them in return. Both Lords and Barons swore faithfulness regarding their kings. In the lord's perspective though, he would require to secure the vassal, provide aid, and to defend his children for life. The lord would provide a marriage if the daughter were to marry. The Lord would have complete power over the land including the crops. He would even have a voice in deciding which punishments would be given to those who have committed a crime (Nelson).

Out of all the people that had a job or were working, 90 percent of those people would be peasants. Although they were peasants and worked at their hardest, they would normally die at an extremely low or young age. Many were gone before they have even gotten to the age of thirty. Peasants had a difficult life due to the way they were being treated. Some were said to be free while others were considered slaves. They wouldn’t have anything under their name. They would work 6 days out of the week, and they didn't have much food to help them survive (Nelson).

Feudalism was indeed a hard time to live in especially since it was the Medieval Times. Feudalism is absolutely different from the generation we live in today.

The Black Death

As 75 million people already died due to the horrifying medical problem known as acral necrosis, it created a great impact on the world. A description of what The Black Death can do to you is dreadful. It causes you to feel aching swelling in your body. As a sufferer, they were basically enclosed with deeply dark spots that were created on their body (History of Black Death).

The word black in 'The Black Death' would be defined as frightful or even horrific. The origin of the Black Death started from the southern part in Russian and from there it spread and followed through a specific path. The Black Death even took fault due to the deaths of crews on trading ships. The number of people that were there decreased since the Black Death was slowly taking over (History of Black Death).

The Government even offered and provided the injured ones with "price controls and prohibition of certain food items" (History of Black Death). Although all this was set up, it sadly didn't create an effect on the ill ones.

In total, the Black Death has three indications that would lead us to the bubonic plague, the pneumonic plague, and the septicemic plague. The bubonic plague would cause you to receive fevers, headaches and many more awful things. The pneumonic plague, on the other hand, is one of the most common forms that you would receive. The last indication would be the septicemic plague. The results of this horrible plague would be major high fevers that you will be encountering. This plague especially is pretty rare out of the ones listed (History of Black Death).

The Black Death was terrible for society. All of this began as a minor disease but it then spread to the point where the whole world would be involved. It caused many people’s family members to perish from their hearts.

Holidays and Celebrations

Medieval celebrations were put to date due to what their ancestors may have celebrated in the past. In fact, the celebrations even place a mark when specific crops would have to be planted (Holidays and Celebrations).

When Spring comes around the corner, the crops from that season would be planted from nearly the end of Christmas throughout the entire Easter. As for November, it received its own name as the “blood month”. It would be called this particular name since meat was then being smoked and was being held for the extensive winter that awaited them (Holidays and Celebrations).

The celebrations that were observed back in the middle ages would include holidays such as, May Day, Christmas, etc, but one of the holidays that includes the whole community would be Easter. When that day came, people knew that it was a day of offering and receiving presents. The chief, on the other hand, would be given eggs from his fellow people. The eggs were an original, religious symbol dedicating the tomb that is empty by Jesus. What he does to even out the fact that his people were showing courtesy towards him by giving him eggs would be to supply them with a pleasant dinner (Holidays and Celebrations).

There are still various celebrations that differ from one another such as Candlemas, St. John’s Day, Hocktide, the Rogation Day, and so many more, but they all come directly from Medieval Times. Some of those special holidays were brought all the way to this present generation like Christmas and Easter (Holidays and Celebrations).

To sum it all up, they celebrated those distinct holidays as those reflect on their way of traditionally handling that situation of celebrating. There are many even and odds between this present generation and back in the Medieval Times if we were to compare the two. Although there are differences, there can still be similarities within the festivity activities.

Conclusion

Our generation today and the generation back then have a couple of things in common. Though there are still differences, there are many things to admire by how they deal with various situations.

Works Cited

“History of Black Death.” All About History, allabouthistory.org/

history-of-black-death.htm.

“Holidays and Celebrations.” Medieval Life dot net, 2000, medieval-life.net/

festivals.htm.

Nelson, Ken. “Middle Ages: Feudal System and Feudalism.” Ducksters,

Technological Solutions, Inc. (TSI), www.ducksters.com/history/

middle_ages_feudal_system.php.

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

www.britainexpress.com/History/Feudalism-and-Medieval-life.htm.