Cultural Changes In Medieval Europe

Register to read the introduction… Populations of cities plummeted. With no strict ruler, a new political system emerged out of the discord, feudalism. Feudalism is a political system where outlying peasants will work for a central lord in return for their safety and for land. Manorialism was a part of feudalism where there would be one central ‘manor’ where the lord would reside and the outlying lands, his fiefs, would be held by his people. With this political change, many new cultural changes occurred as a result. The fall of the Romans caused the quality of life dropped immensely. People scraped by simply to survive. Farmers had just enough food to feed themselves and their own families. Famine was widespread. Because of this, education dropped immensely. Farmers switched to subsistence farming, where they would grow just enough for themselves and their families to survive and education got pushed aside because it was not necessary for survival. Nearly everyone in Medieval Europe at this time was illiterate, even the nobles if there were any. Education and literacy was only taught in religious institution where it was deemed necessary to continue the teachings and recordings of God. While this was all going, …show more content…
Social classes and statuses for people for the most part remained the same. Nobles, if present, were placed at the top of the social classes. Religious leaders- priests, bishops, and clergymen- were slightly below that. Then came the lords of the lands owned by feudalistic systems. Then, at the bottom of the totem pole came the laborers and slaves at the very bottom. The social status of women did not change. They were still considered lowly because of the standards that were set down from history. The previous Romans, and the societies even before them, have had the same mindset and it still has not changed yet. Also still the same, is the cultural importance of following a set religion. In Medieval Europe, the main religion is Christianity. This is probably derived from the former Western Roman Empire where Christianity was formerly. Christians formed ‘alliances’ and agreements with major political leaders and as a byproduct, Christianity became a part of the culture of people in this area. It was extremely important to follow Christian beliefs and to respect the Church. Non-Christians, such as the nomadic Saxons who were also in this area, were converted by the sword and it was a law, set down by Charlemagne, that you must be Christian and respect its teachings. The primary source, The Capitulary On Saxony, (while not written in this area) shows how strict Charlemagne is on having his subjects adhere to Christian beliefs. He sets down strict and explicit situations and how to deal out punishments accordingly. Another thing that remained the same culturally in this area was technology. While minor advancements were made in farming, no major technological advancements were made during this time period. People just did not have the resources or the will to want to innovate new technology. They were too poor and