Charlemagne
After the Roman Empire fell in 476, Western Europe was in shambles
with many different tribes of peoples trying to dominate it. None
of these tribes were successfully able to re-conquer much of the former
Western Roman Empire until Charlemagne came along in the late
700s. Charlemagne was the king of the Franks and was able to
defeat many of the competing tribes in Western Europe and thus unify
much of the region, partly through the spread of Christianity.
However when Charlemagne died in 814, Western Europe was again left in
chaos with no strong leaders or tribes able to provide the peace and
stability necessary for civilization to advance. As a result there
was no central government, no stable form of protection for people's
life or property and so the people of Western Europe decided to turn to feudalism
for that protection. |
Feudalism
Feudalism is a political, economic and social system based on the
ownership of land. Peasants often chose to give up much of their
freedom and become a serf, instead of facing the chaos of Western Europe
with little-to-no protection. The serfs, even though they received
protection from a lord, experienced gross violation of their human
rights. They essentially were semi-slaves who could be sold to
another lord along with the land. In addition, a serf's future
children were often promised to serve the lord of the manor as
well. Serfs had no access to education, no choice in their
occupation and the conditions under which they lived were very poor.
The feudal system was not unique to Western Europe. During this
same time period the system also existed in Japan. The social
structure of feudalism was very rigid and looked much like this:
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Magna Carta
Under the feudal system, relationships between people were very
important. For instance nobles who were vassals of the king owed
the king certain obligations like money and an army. The vassals
gave these things to the king in exchange for a grant of land, a
fief. Disputes eventually arose concerning exactly how much money
vassals had to pay yearly to the king and exactly what obligations they
owed him. Near the beginning of the 13th century vassals to the king of
England, King John, became
resentful of the high amount of taxes that he was taking from
them. As a result the nobles forced King John to sign a document
promising, among other things, that he would would not take property
from the nobles without just compensation. This document that John
signed is known as the Magna Carta, or "Great Charter".
In addition, the document stated that nobles would be given due process,
would be free from unreasonable punishment and would be guaranteed a
trial by a jury of their peers. This document essentially stated
that the king was not above the law. It started England on its way
towards establishing a limited, constitutional monarchy, where the
king's powers were limited by a written document. These rights
that the nobles secured from the king were later also granted to all
free peoples. |
The Catholic Church
With the collapse of any form of central government in Western
Europe, the Catholic Church (along with the feudal system) took on many
of the responsibilities the government. For instance the Church
provided care for orphans and widows and also collected taxes. The
pope was at the head of the church hierarchy and had considerable
power. He often came into conflict with the kings of Europe over
such issues like lay investiture. Monks were usually the most
highly educated people in a town, for they spent much time learning and
copying and preserving ancient Roman and Greek texts. The Church laid
the moral guidelines for people living on the feudal manors. For
the most part, the Church's teachings stressed that the only purpose of
life on earth was to prepare for the most important life - the
afterlife. This mode of thinking would soon be challenged by the
Humanists at the beginning of the Renaissance. |
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