So I recently made a mind map on the society
during the middle ages, and I decided to post it and write a few words about
it.
So
first you can see the basic layer of the three estates, those who work, those
who pray and those who fight. A common mistake is to call these layers
peasants, aristocracy and clergy. This doesn’t really work because there can be
aristocratic clergymen and also merchants, and being aristocratic is more about
a title than what you actually are supposed to do in society.
Also usually - especially in schoolbooks when
examining medieval society - we are often shown pyramids, implying a power
structure from the top down. Although this is very typical for medieval
society, it does not help to describe the makeup of the society as a whole.
Each of the three estates has a pyramid power structure from the top down. For
those who fight it would be - roughly – foot soldiers, then men-at-arms,
knights and squires, lords, barons, and finally earls. For those who pray it at
the bottom would be novice monks and nuns and travelling preachers. Then
priest, monks and nuns, abbots and abbesses, bishops, and at the top
archbishops. You could build the same kind of hierarchy for those who work,
too. At the bottom you have unfree serfs, then free farmers and labourers, then
more skilled craftsmen and artisans, and at the top goldsmiths, jewellers and
rich merchants.
Of
course there are people outside of society. Some examples are prostitutes,
mercenaries – they fight but only for money and are known to change sides to
the highest bidder -, money lenders, and peddlers, all those who focus on
making money and not serving society – peddlers are in here because as
travelling merchants they left a place once they sold their wares and therefore
couldn’t been held responsible if their wares weren’t worth the price paid.
One
major different to most other descriptions I made is that I don’t put the king
as part of those who fight. I mean, yes, he does fight and lead armies but he
does more than that. He is also part of the other two estates. When a king is
crowned he is anointed by a bishop or archbishop making him one of them and he
also swears to defend and protect the rights of the people. The king is really
a representative of all three estates and one of his main jobs is to make sure
that none of the three estates gains power over the others.
Medieval
society really was centred around the king and his household. The king didn’t
do much of ruling and administrative work. The three estates essentially ruled
themselves and kept each other in check. The king and his household was really
more of a power outside the estates
which could tell the estates on what big projects to focus on. Perhaps to go on
crusade or mount an invasion in to another country would stop the warriors from
fighting among themselves and stimulate the economy. Perhaps use the workers to
build a cathedral or monastery to make those who pray more powerful. Etc.
I’m
going to write another blogpost about how societies form around kings soon.
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