Social Theory

Daily Life and Social History in the Middle Ages
Details about how people lived at various times and places in the Middle Ages can vary greatly and are not always available for a given society and time frame. These directories will help you find available resources.

Various Aspects of Medieval Life
These sites look at a variety of topics concerning Daily Life in the Middle Ages, including horses, jesters, life in a castle, the manor, exemplia, and more.

Chains
Slavery in the Middle Ages.
Antique Pieces
Three photographs of medieval artifacts display dozens of buckles, a knife and fork, and spurs. Provided by Wade Allen.
Do Exempla Illustrate Everyday Life?
Dense treatise by Mark D. Johnston explores the question, examining the literary genre and possible external influences in taking passages from exempla as evidence.
Jacques de Vitry: Life of the Students at Paris
A contemporary opinion on the evil behavior of raucous students at University, at Paul Halsall's Medieval Sourcebook.
The Jester Pages
Useful info about the history of the Jester, including some myth-busting, famous fools, and "foolish fashion," presented by Lisa Nelsen-Woods.
The Legacy of the Horse
Nicely illustrated examination of the place of horses in human history, at the International Museum of the Horse.
Life in a Medieval Castle
Useful information on the accomodations found in the castle, taken largely from Life in a Medieval Castle by Joseph and Frances Gies, at Jeffrey Thomas' Castles of Wales site.
Manorial Language
Useful glossary of terms relating to medieval manorial life, provided by T. J. Ray.
The Medieval Manor
A brief overview of the workings of a manorial estate and the importance of agriculture in feudal society by Professor Gerhard Rempel, Western New England College.
Paston letters and papers of the fifteenth century
Collection of documents from the Paston family, online at the Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library.
So What is a Tsuba?
Very interesting article by Kim Allen on the sword guard for the Japanese katana and tachi, the creation of which evolved into an art form of its own.
Tales of the Middle Ages: Daily Life
Three concise essays on hygiene and cosmetic care in medieval times, by James L. Matterer.
Chains




Slavery in the Middle Ages

When the Roman Empire fell in the fifth century, slavery, which had been such an integral part of the empire's economy, began to evolve into serfdom (an integral part of a feudal economy). Much attention is focused on the serf; his plight was not much better than the slave's had been, the primary difference being that he was bound to the land instead of to an individual owner, and could not be sold to another estate.

But slavery didn't go away.

In the earliest part of the middle ages, slaves could be found in many societies, among them the Cymry in Wales and the Anglo-Saxons in England. The Slavs of central Europe were often captured and sold into slavery, usually by rival Slavonic tribes. Moors were known to keep slaves and believed that to set a slave free was an act of great piety. Christians also owned, bought and sold slaves, as evidenced by the following:


When the Bishop of Le Mans transferred a large estate to the Abbey of St. Vincent in 572, ten slaves went with it.1


In the seventh century, the wealthy Saint Eloi bought British and Saxon slaves in batches of 50 and 100 so that he could set them free.1


A transaction between Ermedruda of Milan and a gentleman by the name of Totone recorded in 725 the price of 12 new gold solidi for a slave boy (referred to as "it" in the record). 12 solidi was much less than the cost of a horse.1


In the early ninth century, the Abbey of St. Germain des Prés listed 25 of their 278 householders as slaves.1


Pope Gregory XI excommunicated the Florentines in the fourteenth century, and ordered them enslaved wherever taken.2


In 1488, King Ferdinand sent 100 Moorish slaves to Pope Innocent VIII, who presented them as gifts to his cardinals and other court notables.2


Women slaves taken after the fall of Capua in 1501 were put up for sale in Rome.2
The ethics of the Catholic Church concerning slavery throughout the middle ages seems difficult to comprehend today. While the Church succeeded in protecting the rights and well-being of slaves, no attempt was made to outlaw the institution. Why?

One reason is economic. Slavery had been the basis of a sound economy for centuries in Rome, and it declined as serfdom slowly rose. However, it rose again when the Black Death swept Europe, dramatically reducing the population of serfs and creating a need for more forced labor.

Another reason is that slavery had been a fact of life for centuries, as well. Abolishing something so deeply entrenched in society -- all society -- would be about as likely as abolishing the use of horses for transportation.

Then there is the Christian philosophy itself. Christianity had spread like wildfire partly because it offered life after death in paradise with a Heavenly Father. Yes, life was terrible, injustice was everywhere, disease killed indiscriminately and the good died young while the evil thrived. Life on earth simply wasn't fair. But life after death was ultimately fair: the good were rewarded in Heaven and the evil were punished in Hell. This philosophy could sometimes lead to a laissez-faire attitude toward social injustice, although, as in the case of good Saint Eloi, certainly not always. And Christianity did indeed have an ameliorating effect on slavery.

Perhaps the world-view of the medieval mind can explain a great deal. Freedom and liberty are fundamental rights in twentieth-century western civilization. Upward mobility is a possibility for everyone in America today.

What could such concepts mean to any member of such a highly-structured society as Europe in the middle ages? Each individual was born into a particular class, and that class -- whether it was the powerful nobility or the largely impotent peasantry -- offered limited options and strongly-ingrained duties. Men could become knights like their fathers (or farmers like their fathers, or craftsmen like their fathers) or join the Church as monks or priests. Women could marry and become the property of their husbands instead of the property of their fathers, or they could become nuns. Occasionally, an accident of birth or an extraordinary will would help someone deviate from the course medieval society had set, but these were notable exceptions.

One way or another, medieval society had a way of keeping its people in chains.



Sources & Suggested Reading
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