Middle Ages

Life in the middle ages was short and hard for the working people. The Church ruled large parts of their lives, and had total control over the justice system. The feudal system kept the poor poor and the rich sitting in their manors or castles. Wars between kings, lords and religions interrupted daily living, and Sickness and disease could strike at any moment. These dark ages were a testament to human ability to make something good out of all the tragedies happening. The improvements, progress, and new ideas made after all these difficulties, are what helped shape the world today.

The Church had huge amounts of power, land, and wealth in medieval europe. The pope was more powerful than even the King. The majority of the english population …show more content…
Taxes were raised to finance the king's wars, villages came under invasion. Land was fought over and peasants were killed. The crusades were a series of many wars where europeans, peasants, knights, and all others went to fight against muslims over the holy land in the middle east. Very few of these campaigns actually succeeded in gaining any land and only the first one succeeded in gaining the holy city (Jerusalem). Many people went on these crusades unprepared and were slaughtered. old women were sometimes kidnapped by knights and used as servants by knights. The people's crusade, formed of ill equipped peasants failed horribly most of them being killed. The children's crusade, an army made of young children, didn't even get to the middle east, many getting kidnapped and sold into slavery before they reached it. Even the knights sent to fight had to deal with starvation and lack of supplies on the fronts, sometimes resorting to eating the flesh of the people killed. As more and more lords were killed during battle, the land they ruled returned to the king, causing a growth in the king's power. The crusades led to deaths of both muslims and christians, and even though the holy land remained muslim territory, The christians still got great benefits from the crusades. Plenty of crusaders liked the middle east so much that they decided to stay. Other peasants that returned to England were rewarded with higher status. Those that returned …show more content…
Killing whole families, decimating villages. With no Medical knowledge on how to cure the disease, those who got the plague were highly likely to die. Spread by rats, fleas, and people, the plague reached the far corners of medieval society. Whole families would be locked in their homes and doomed to die, if one member caught the plague. Children who lost parents would roam the streets looking for food. Many turned to god in these times of hardship, confessing sins, praying for forgiveness, or even whipping themselves as penance for their sins. This had little effect on a person's chances for survival. Members of the church were deeply affected, priests visited the dying for last rites, exposing them to the disease. Monasteries were vulnerable as many lived in close quarters. Monks caught and spread the plague, leaving the church crippled. Trade was shut down as nobody welcomed strangers into their villages. Jewish people suffered greatly in this time, as they were used as a scapegoat and blamed for the plague. Jewish people were accused of poisoning christen wells and carrying the disease. Throughout germany and france people murdered and burned jews, even though the jewish communities were affected by the plague just as much as christian communities. Some people knew death was coming, and decided to enjoy their last days on earth, starting bonfires, partying, and getting drunk before they were killed