Europe During The Middle Ages

Social classes and hierarchies, especially patriarchy, is another common pattern in ancient civilizations. Social classes first began in Mesopotamia and Egypt when farmers who had surpluses got wealthier and more powerful then other people. As cities developed into a more urban society, social hierarchies began to appear. Mesopotamia and Egypt both had similar hierarchies. The ruling class was at the top, this consisted of royal families and wealthy landowners. Below the ruling class were merchants and craftsmen, and below them were slaves and day laborers. Patriarchy is another common pattern in these two civilizations. As societies became more urban, men became more dominant over women in all areas of society. The patriarchy in Mesopotamia and Egypt was mild at first compared to other societies, but still drastically affected a woman’s life. In Mesopotamia, females held high positions in the ruling class as priestesses, queen consorts, and even queens. A woman could only become queen though through family extensions. In Egypt, women in the ruling class also held high positions in society and were considered equal to their male counterparts. This patriarchal society is best seen in the Code of Hammurabi, law 142 states “If a women hates her husband so much that she says “You may not

In the 1300's an Italian scholar named Petrarch came up with the name "Dark Age" to describe the time Europe was going through during the Middle Ages in 500AD-1500AD. Throughout the Middle Ages Europe was going through some rough times, but there were also moments of growth. For example the Black Death was a time of darkness but there were positive times like when universities were built. Although the dark ages were looked at as a negative occurrence, more events show a sign of growth.

Ancient Rome was made up of 3 different classes of people. The plebeians, patricians, and the slaves. I will be talking about each one of these groups of people, how the government worked, the different positions in the government, how much power each class had, and how they got power. Also, The 2 types of government I will be talking about are the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Patricians: The patricians were very wealthy.

During the time in which Rome existed in the Middle Ages it accumulated an abundant amount of land and wealth. The way that Rome accomplished this was by defeating the peoples that ruled the land they wanted and incorporating them into their ever expanding empire. The reason the Romans were so successful at doing this is because of their technological advances, logistical capabilities, and ability to implement strategy efficiently and safely. These when put together allow an army during the Middle ages to deploy consistently with high moral and low mortality.

The Early Modern period in European history was a time of great upheaval, one that lead to shifting and changing views and policies in many fields; among these many historically important changes was the very beginning of the women’s rights movement. Although full-scale change in equality for women was (and some might say still is) quite distant from this time period, the embryo that will eventually grow into feminism and gender equality can be seen during this time period through the primary source documents left to us by those who wrote and worked during this “Early Modern” time. In this sense, I disagree with the position of Randolph Starn, as I believe this time period does deserve its own title, as it truly is a transitional period for European history, one in which the changes to come in the near future can be seen by those with a keen eye. The petitions of women to royal courts, the wills and bequests created by women, and the rise of Elizabeth as a capable English Queen, absent of a King altogether, shows how the gender divide is beginning to be re-examined by Europeans.

The Christian religions rise to supremacy in the middle ages was the result of several factors. Christians had long been persecuted by the Roman Empire because the Romans felt that Christianity challenged and offended the Greco-Roman Gods and the Christians were prone to revolt against Roman rule. Christianity survived because it had many teachings that appealed to the downtrodden in Roman society, these teachings being that even though they were suffering they would gain equality and possibly superiority in the next life, Christianity gave them hope.

The Middle Ages have been notoriously described as the Dark Ages, where war was unceasing, disease ravaged populations, societal structures collapsed, and growth seemed nowhere to be found. However, this bleak outlook has discounted many of the advancements of this time period, which laid very important foundations to modern education and reason. The Middle Ages was a time of growth for society where universities were born, agricultural and population boomed, and foundations of reason and religion coexisted.

During the days of the early Roman Republic (509 – 264 B.C.), two social classes existed in Rome, the Patricians and the Plebeians (Breaugh, 2013, p.76; Encyclopedia Britannica, 2015). Composed of the aristocratic families of Rome, the Patricians wielded the political power in Rome secondary to their dominance of the political system (during the early days of the Roman Republic only members of the Patrician class could hold public office) and their vast wealth. (Breaugh, 2013, p.76; Lewis, 2011, p.57; Morey, 1901).

The society of the ancient Romans has often been considered the bases for our modern society. When one thinks of the Roman society, pictures of grand villa 's and of senators wearing Toga 's come to mind. Also, Roman society is often associated with great feasts and extravagance among the rich. There is more to Rome, however, then these symbols and the Classical Roman society is one with a complicated history that covers the history of the ancient city and involves the family, the home, education and much more. The social structure of ancient Rome was based on heredity, property, wealth, citizenship and freedom. It was also based around men: women were defined by the social status of their fathers or husbands. Women were expected to

After the decline of Rome, Europe was divided into many small kingdoms, and these kingdoms marked the beginning of the Middle Ages, or the medieval period, that lasted from about 500 to about 1500. In addition to that, northern Europe became Christian with the help of missionaries and monks, which were religious men who lived apart from society in isolated communities. Missionaries helped introduce Christianity to new lands, and monks helped spread Christian teachings to new areas. Later on, invaders threatened and attacked Europe. Muslim armies invaded southern France and northern Italy. The Magyars swept into eastern Europe. However, the worst has yet to come. The Vikings raided Britain, Ireland, and other parts of western Europe. The Vikings’ attacks were swift and savage, therefore, the Europeans lived in terror of Vikings raids.

Contrary to what World History textbooks might make someone believe, Europe was not always a thriving cultural hub. In fact, during the Middle Ages Europe was stuck in a constant cycle of development and decline that could be attributed to a wide range of factors. The only constant aspect of Middle Ages Europe became its religion, which acted to keep the region afloat even as feudalism, invasions, and plagues sought to destroy any progress that could have been made.

Early in Roman society classes were divided by strict customs. However, in order to maintain their power Rome began to change the rules of society. This change allowed the people to move classes therefore gaining more capable men to lead. Throughout the reign of the Roman Empire there were several classes, most notably were the Patricians, Senators, Plebeians, Freemen, and Slaves. (McKay, et al., 2014). Society was based on heredity, property, wealth, citizenship, and freedom.

Thesis: The Middle Ages of Europe should not be known as the “Dark Ages” because it this period of time was the golden-age of education and wealth for the Anglo-Saxons, and there were clear laws as well as educated intellectuals throughout the continent.

During the 16th century western Europe experienced a rise in even stronger nation-states with intense religious beliefs and an increased desire to politically control populaces across the continent. This was especially evident in the Low countries where people were separated between Catholics and Protestants. Resentment between these two groups escalated with the Dutch Revolt and in 1579 the seven northern, mainly protestant, provinces declared their independence from King Phillip the second of Spain and became the Dutch Republic. Conflict between Catholics and Protestants did not only occur in the Low countries, France also fought numerous wars in their country over religion mainly between the aristocratic House of Bourbon and House of Guise.

Social groups, economics, and political life each have different meanings. These three terms will show how life was life in Europe in the Middle Ages. A Social Group is a group of 2 or more people and they talk about the unity and common identity. Economics has to deal with money. Money is a big part in the Middle Ages because people needed it to buy things, such as food, water, etc. Finally, political life has to deal with the government, the state, or politics. Basically, if you break a law or a rule in your city/state, you can suffer major consequences. All of these meanings can change many lives in the future, and can change society.