Middle Ages Social Changes

After the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 CE, western Europe broke into small warring kingdoms. Since it was the official church of the Roman Empire, most people in Western Europe were Christians, and it owned a great deal of wealth and land, the Catholic Church became the most important unifying and stabilizing force in western Europe during the Middle Ages. The power vacuum left by the Roman Empire was filled by the Catholic Church. Over the course of the early Middle Ages, the Catholic Church became more influential and powerful, to the point where the Church and the beliefs of its clergy [people who had high positions in the Church like priests and bishops] controlled secular [non-religious] life and secular government.

" The middle ages were a time of war and chaos, so people think. Even though the Black Death and the Crusades took place during the time period between 500 and 1500, the middle ages were mostly a time of prosperity. The building of universities, the signing of the Magna Carta

From 1450 to 1700 the economy of Europe began to majorly change. Mercantilism was on the uprise which meant Europe began to focus more on their trade and commerce. This lead to many individuals to having a hard time gaining wealth because the government was doing everthing on a large scale. Many Europeans were just barely getting by. Then the poor would have to go to the extremes and beg and steal to make money for themselves.

Response Paper 5: Religious Reform Since the fall of the Roman empire, the Catholic church had a reputation for being stable. This gave people a sense of security and made them believe that whatever the Catholic church did, was what God wanted done. Then, in 1378 the Catholic church had three popes, because its rulers were so despite for power, that neither one of them refused to give up the papacy. This greed slowly trickled down to every level of the Catholic church.

The fall of the social structure in medieval period marked the downfall of the Middle Ages. The social structure of the Middle Ages was based on a system called Feudalism. A disease known as the Bubonic Plague and peasant revolt eventually led to the fall of the Feudalism. Bubonic Plague was also called the Black Death. It first began in Asia then spread to Europe.

Through the Dark Ages, then through the Middle Ages, art, science, and religion had changed from Classical culture; art existed mainly for function, science was ultimately nonexistent, and religion had taken over the lives of the people. When the Middle Ages were ending, the church was losing power due to the Crusades, art began to be reborn, and science became relevant once more. These changes were brought about by three movements; the Protestant Reformation changed religion, the Renaissance changed art, and the Scientific Revolution changed science. The Protestant Reformation was a movement in Europe that caused the formation of new churches as well as the reformation of the Catholic church.

The early modern period was seen as a time of intense social and economic change as there was a shift of the economic centre of Europe from Italy to north-western Europe. A major part of this involved the migration of people from one region to another. The process of migration involved the movement of people from one location to another in order to settle in a new place of residence. Even before the industrial period, it was typical behaviour for Europeans to move from their home and take on the role of a farm servant, annually rotating between areas. This was particularly true within the framework of young, rural communities.

This was a result of the constant invasions from the Vikings, Muslims, and Magyars; kings couldn't defend their lands and people no longer looked to a central ruler for security (Doc 7). The Northmen, Vikings, plundered, then burned, towns; most of Europe was an easy target after Rome fell. Also, Charlemagne's three feuding grandsons broke apart Europe and defense became weak (Doc 8). The following reasons support the Dark Ages as being the best label to describe the medieval

Today, however western society has shaped this role of the church with the everyday person. The church has changed along with our modern society and it will continue to modify. Not only did the impact of the church on the people change over time, but the church itself also evolved. The early church was a communal, worshipping, and evangelical

But I am only going to focus on a few factors in detail, as i believe they are the most important. The Roman Catholic church and its influences slowly lessened and decreased in power over the course of many years. Laws began to be changed and church courts were abolished. This resulted in the church losing its power over time because, slowly but

Corruption in the Catholic Church has been prevalent through out history. Throughout the ages, the church has been able to survive scandals, wars, and corruption and has been able to maintain popularity. But during the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church started to decline in popularity. Catholics started to regard the church with skepticism and suspicion. Although the church was created for the purpose of religious guidance, the corrupt leaders and followers of the Catholic Church changed the morals and ideals the church was founded upon.

Top 10 Things About the Middle Ages     The Middle Ages were one of the most influential time periods in world history.  These times were first examples of the numerous events and actions occurring today, as well as a period of enlightenment and succession of society in general. Some examples of enlightenment include the creation of Oxford University and the Magna Carta    Many great ideas came from this era, albeit dark times with no doubt at all were present, including the Great Famine and the Black Plague.     The period of depression in the Middle Ages, more commonly referred to as the Dark Ages, was a direct result of the deterioration of the Western Roman Empire.

Medieval Europe changed significantly during the tenth and eleventh centuries. The economy underwent a transformation through specialized jobs, job responsibilities, technology, and the development of towns and cities. People lived in small villages until the growth of towns and cities redefined the class structure. New agricultural practices increased the food supply as well as technological changes expanding agriculture. These changes created a more intelligent social class of people.

Changing economics, social conditions, wars and the growing power of monarchs began to build the framework for the modern nation-state during the high and late middle ages. The Crusades brought change to Europe's economic conditions. The Black death caused great change in social conditions. The impact of the one hundred years war and the rise of the power of monarchs greatly affected the ride of the modern nation-state. The Crusades brought change to Europe and helped bring about the modern nation-state.

During the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church had a great amount of power because it was the only one at the time. As expressed in The Canterbury Tales, it even oversaw the court, so one could propose that the Church had exponential power. They seemed to rule the economy and hold a lot of land. Kings and queens were even preceded by the Church. Supposedly, in those times, the Catholic Church was a source of great hypocrisy or a good number of its people were.