In western Europe peasants were a large social class that fulfilled many roles the elite people were not required to do. There were three different classes of peasants, a slave, a serf, and a free tenant. Most peasants worked in the field, and worked farm related tasks. A daily life as a peasant consisted of a very low diet and hours of labor. Some tasks they were expected to do were building roads, and clearing forests, all under the “Lords” commands. In western Europe categories of people were split into two different classes, the noble, who received everything they wanted and asked for and the peasants, who worked extreme labor just to put food on their families plates. And above all classes were the “kings”. The nobles and kings were dressed in bright colors and would be served food that was caught and made by the peasants.
Being a noble in the middle ages of Western Europe it wasn’t something they had to work for. People inherited it from relatives, they were essentially handed down money that would allow them to be richer and more powerful than others. At the noble level you received the best education and were offered to learn the best fighting skills. Which created epistemic violence to occur. The power of knowledge being used as violence. Nobles knew more than peasants they were being taught information that the peasants would never have access to in their life.
Female peasants were treated with lesser amounts of respect than male peasants and were considered “lower rank”. In both peasant households and noble households, women were expected to make sure everything was in check at home. Women were legally dependent on their husbands. They were essentially always looked down upon by men discussing with other men, no matter what social class they may have been a part of.
References:
Abramson PR. Social Class and Political Change in Western Europe: A Cross-National Longitudinal Analysis. Comparative Political Studies. 1971;4(2):131-155. doi:10.1177/001041407100400201
McLean, A. (n.d.). Western civilization. Retrieved February 06, 2021, from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory/chapter/daily-medieval-life/
Medieval women. (2015, March 05). Retrieved February 06, 2021, from https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/medieval-england/medieval-women/
Social class. (n.d.). Retrieved February 06, 2021, from
http://ctales.leadr.msu.edu/social-class/
I can’t help but think about how this is “almost” still relevant and similar to today’s world. You have families that are wealthy (similar to the nobles) that sometimes are only wealthier due to inheritance. Also, not to step on any feet, but it seems like the rich have everything they want at their fingertips, while as the peasants (lower class) of today spend most of their time working to earn their keep and contribute to society.
This is immediately what I thought of as well, before I had even finished the first sentence. It is quite easy to compare our world today to that of previous times because tow.8 is correct. We do have many similarities and most of these things are passed down from generation to generation. Many people make the argument that what you are born with is what you are likely to end with, meaning that if I was born in a middle-class family, I will most likely stay in the middle-class my entire life. Speaking from my background, it seems to me as though it takes special talent and dedication to further yourself in our world today. As seen in the past, especially for women, there are so many restraints that keep us from progressing. It is important to note that there may be a light at the end of the tunnel for change one day as we are starting to see more women in the workforce and more lower class being given opportunities to excel. Some examples of this would be scholarships and grants directed toward certain people so that they have the opportunities they may not have had before. Although I still do believe that there is a definitive class system, as described in the presentation, I do believe we are making progress in the move away from restrictions and stereotypes to a free and equal society. Does anyone have an opinion about this? Do you think we will ever get to a point where there is at least no lower class? If we lose the lower class, what becomes of the middle or upper class?
I 100% agree with tow.8 statement, you couldn’t have written it better. I believe a lot of the times in our society people are blind to what goes on and think that classes don’t exist still, while we don’t have a system like before, they are still very much apart of our society. We still have wealthier classes that existence and believe everything should be given to them because they are either celebrities or very rich, and you have the lower class living pay check to pay check trying to feed their families.
Hello!
I was very intrigued by your presentation. I’m always heartbroken and frustrated when I learn about these aspects of history (i.e. the peasant, or lower class in general, vs. the nobles, or upper class in general) not only because of the evident inequities, but also because of the arrogance that came with these trends. You mention that more often than not, the nobles were referred to as ‘nobles’ and possessed the riches and power because of inherited wealth. The word inherited is pivotal here as it claims that their wealth was simply a result of them being born into a specific family. This implies, and was usually the case, that they did not have to work as diligently or as hard as the peasants to earn money. This money is a privilege and was granted to them in great amounts. Despite the fact that the peasants arguably worked harder and were positioned in ways out of their control, the nobles had the audacity to claim authority and a higher title. This here is the arrogance that makes me fascinated, yet upset, by this topic. How could the nobles dare view themselves as more valuable and worthy when their wealth was literally handed to them? I feel as though the nobles embraced this notion. Deep down, they know they did not work for what they had so easily at their fingertips but nonetheless began viewing themselves as more important and competent because they possessed this power. And I feel that unfortunately, a similar trend happens with the peasants as well. The peasants and other members of the lower social ladder were positioned as less worthy (even though this is an inaccurate claim) by those who possessed authority, and I feel as though these peasants started to believe this claim about themselves. They started to really feel as though they are indeed less valuable and deserving simply because members of the upper class made this argument. A perfect example of this is in Toni Morrison’s short story for the week, “Recitatif.” I discuss this connection in my discussion post for the week if anyone would be interested in reading about it.
Hi! I agree with what you said 100%. It is truly so heartbreaking to know at a time in our history the social classes were so distinct and so degrading. It is even more heartbreaking to know that these social classes maybe not the same exact way still exist in some capacities. People are stuck in these classes with little to no ways to get out of them. The people of higher classes continue to treat them poorly regardless of who they are and how hard they work. It is a very sad reality and the peasants could not get out of it. The rich had everything with the snap of their fingers and the peasants worked so hard and still never had even close to the same resources.
Hi that was really well written and I totally agree! It’s such a vicious cycle that still kind of happens to this day. Like you said, the nobility had no right to think themselves as better or more superior beings than the peasants who worked to sustain their “noble” lifestyle. They were simply born into money and had the luxury to do something other than trying to survive. I think that reflects in the history books, where a lot of the historical figures were from wealthy or middle class backgrounds. They had the time to think, innovate, and act, whereas people from the lower classes were just trying to get by in life. The system was unfairly biased towards the wealthy. Another point that saddened me was the fact that women were treated even less than the men, even when they were the ones running the households and making sure everything worked. This sexism persists until today same as the class struggles, and both are things we continue to fight.
Hi, it is interesting to learn how people were separated into different social classes in Western Europe during medieval times. I was surprised to find out that the peasants can again be divided into three classes. This class system last for a long period and I can still see its effect on our world today. Now people still differ in their social status and the group who are in low social status are less likely to be well educated. I couldn’t be more agree that we should seek equality in our society but when I try to think from the nobles’ point of view, I find their action of inheriting status from relatives, liming peasants from being well educated are effective ways of stabilizing their status.
I think the article written by the author is very profound. The author does have a lot of research on the distribution of wealth in the world. In other words, the aristocracy is the rich class. Their children inherit the huge wealth of their parents, enjoy advanced learning resources and do not have to work hard. Farmers, the poor, are exploited by the rich and need a lot of physical labor every day.