World Civilization

You may have heard of the Middle Ages and Feudalism, but you might not know a lot about it. Some people think that the Middle Ages is just a random period of time, but actually, it is the period of time after the fall of the Roman empire. Feudalism during the Middle Ages had its advantages and disadvantages. It caused unfairness to the lowest rank, it provided military service and protection, and it also provided economic stability.

The first civilizations, the foundations for future empires, were all founded and created between 3500 B.C.E. and 500 B.C.E. by groups of nomadic peoples who decided to settle in an area for certain group specific reasons. Some of the main states of the first civilization were Mesopotamia, Norte Chico, Egypt, Indus Valley, China, and Olmec. The second wave civilizations, built between 500 B.C.E. and 500 C.E., included the Persians, the Greeks, Romans, Chinese (Qin and Han), and India (Mauryan and Gupta). The first wave civilizations were sparked by the agricultural movement that led to the settlement of large groups of people in areas that became the cities and states that formed these first civilizations. The rise of civilization led to

During the medieval times Kings had absolute power and the Catholic Church made sure God help the King retain this power. During this time feudalism was the structure that shaped society. In the feudalism structure the people that work the land the poor got cero power and live at the mercy of the barons. Barons where the owners of the land that people where let to work and make really low amounts of money while the baron sells and exchange the goods produced by the land and makes a fortune. At the end of the day the land belongs to the king and the king taxes the barons and collects money from all the land making him very, very wealthy and powerful.

During the middle ages the lack of protection and a stable government after the Fall of Rome created the need for a new political system. Feudalism was the political system that emerged and shaped the lives of people socially and politically. Manors were small communities that were made up of a castle, church, village, and land for farming. The structured society provided a place and responsibility for everyone. The feudal obligations showed that in exchange for one thing they would be provided with something else. Serfs and peasants would work and produce goods for the rest of the manor and in return had their land and promised protection. The vassals would need to obtain land from the Lord and in return would provide the Lord with military service, loyalty, and ransom if asked for (Doc. 4). To make clear the vassal’s specific allegiance to their lord whom they owed in for exchange for their fief they would take the Homage Oath (Doc. 2). This interdependent system required everyone to do their part and it created social classes that they were born into. Their daily lives were centered on the manor and that was how it stayed until towns began to

Feudalism was a political, economic and social system that exchanged land and loyalty in return for protection. It was a commerce of protection and goods, as seen in the feudal system diagram, there are different types of social classes that have arrows describing what they are trading and to whom they are trading (Document 4). In the late ninth century, peasants gave food and service to the knights in exchange for protection. The knights gave military service in exchange for shelter and defense. The lords gave military aid while the king gives them fief and peasants etc.

The change in the feudal system was one of the political consequences of the Bubonic plague. When the population decreased the feudal system began to fail due to the lack of serfs and the working class. So the system was changed and made more fair for everyone. Serfs were allowed more land and better working conditions. It also had religious aspects.

Through out the history of Western Civilization we have seen many important moments occur. From the Neolithic revolution, to humans conquering and spreading across the globe, there are many moments that have shaped its history and the present day. In this essay I will mention 5 of the most important moments/changes in Western Civilization and the reasons for why they are so important to societies in the western world and beyond.

Feudalism was the system used in Europe during the late middle ages. The economic part of feudalism was centered on the lord's estate or manor. A lord's manor consisted of a peasant village, a church, farm land, a mill and the lord's castle. Feudalism was split in society levels. Kings would be on top with the most power, then upper lords followed by lesser lords, underneath the lesser lords were the knights, and then the serfs being the lowest social class.

Why did the feudal order of Medieval society fall apart? The feudal order of the Middle Ages was a system of local rule, where powerful lords gave land and protection in exchange for loyalty and military service from lesser lords. Tradition dictated that this exchange would be held in place by the feudal contract, consisting of multiple pledges. This resulted in small communities consisting of one powerful lord, peasants, and serfs who worked for the lord. These people gave their loyalty locally, and had no sense of nationalism. This type of society was predominant in the Early Middle Ages, but soon started to fall apart during the Late Middle Ages. One major event that contributed to the fall of the feudal society was the Hundred Years’ War. This war was fought between England and France, lasting for a total of 116 years. During the war, peasant uprisings became frequent, as the inordinate cost of military campaigns resulted in heavier taxes. Events such as these were caused by the Hundred Years’ War and further contributed to the decline of feudalistic society. The Hundred Years’ War was the most important cause of the fall of the feudal order, acting as a turning point in Medieval society by marking the transition from feudal knights to the masses of common foot soldiers, changing the balance of power within Medieval social hierarchies, and strengthening nationalism while creating a more modern militaristic society.

Arnold Pacey published Technology in World Civilization: A Thousand Year History in the year 1991. Arnold Pacey was an associate lecturer at The Open University in Britain as well as an author to three additional books: Meaning in Technology, The Maze of Ingenuity, The Culture of Technology. He published all four of his books within a ten-year span. Arnold Pacey was trained as an engineer but is well known as a historian of technology because of the conclusions he drew of society and technology and their relationship. Society is defined as the aggregate of people living together in a more or less ordered community. Technology is defined as the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry. Technology influences every aspect of our lives today, but we often forget that it profoundly affected the lives of past generations dating back to the beginning of civilization. Perhaps not to today’s extent, but the impact was still dramatic. New inventions or innovations produced more food, created new processes and tools, made life easier and made war more devastating. This course traces the evolution of technology and its impact on civilization from the creation of elementary tools up to today’s latest devices and even looks into future technologies.

Feudalism was one of the reasons why Rome fell. It was because this type of implementation was not handled properly. Workers were handed over to the lands of their owners. Some landowners even became slaves because slaves didn't have to pay taxes.

The rise of Feudalism was a direct result of insecurity that caused by several significant historical factors. At first, the collapse of Roman Empire that led to prolonged unrest and power struggles was essentially a reason for why Europe was divided into many small states. The frequent fights among those states made people suffered from violence and insecurity. Even though Charlemagne united those states and Europe lasted for a period time of peace, Holy Roman Empire

Why did the feudal order of Medieval society fall apart? The feudal order of the Middle Ages was a system of local rule, where powerful lords gave land and protection in exchange for loyalty and military service from lesser lords. Tradition dictated that this exchange would be held in place by the feudal contract, consisting of multiple pledges. This resulted in small communities consisting of one powerful lord, peasants, and serfs who worked for the lord. These people gave their loyalty locally, and had no sense of nationalism at all. This type of society was predominant in the Early Middle Ages, but soon started to fall apart during the Late Middle Ages. One major event that contributed to the fall of the feudal society was the Hundred Years’ War. This war was fought between England and France, lasting for a total of 116 years. During the war, peasant uprisings became frequent, as the inordinate cost of military campaigns resulted in heavier taxes. Events such as these were caused by the Hundred Years’ War and further contributed to the decline of feudalistic society. The Hundred Years’ War was a turning point in Medieval feudal society, by marking the transition from feudal armies to the masses of mercenary soldiers, changing the balance of power within Medieval social hierarchies, and strengthening nationalism while creating a more modern militaristic society. The greatest cause of the fall of feudalism in the late Middle Ages

Western Civilization from 1589 to 1914 had many specific changes that contributed to the structure of the western world before World War I. In the absolutism state sovereignty is embodied in the person of the ruler. Kings were absolute kings and were resposible to no none except god. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries absolute rulers had to respect the fundamental laws of their land. They had to control competing jurisdictions, institutions or groups that were interested in their territory. They regulated religious sects. France of Louis was the classic model of absolutism. Louis XIV, " the sun king," was a devoted Catholic who believed that god had estalblished kings as rulers on the earth. The French language and culture became

After Rome fell, there was no strong, centralized government or state. What Roman citizens had once looked to, like the Roman government for protection and justice, for example, were now the responsibility of the local lord. Therefore, the peasants who live on a lord's lands owed him rent, labor, or some combination of the two. For the peasants, the lord of the manor had nearly absolute power over them. The lord owed his allegiance to the king in whose realm in which he resided, but this shifted most power to nobles.