Whats So Wrong With Social Orders?

What’s So Wrong with Social Orders?

Social orders are the division between people of different cultural, economical, and political classes. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/social+classes?fromAsk=true&o=100074). There have been social classes from the time of the first civilizations and there continue to be in modern times. It is natural for humans to distance themselves from others that do not have the same power or wealth as them. During the Middle Ages there were four distinct social classes; the knights and nobles, the merchants, the clergy, and then the peasants and serfs. Each of these had a distinct job in medieval economy but they were completely shut off from one another. These social orders separated the people of medieval times indefinitely and went against basic human rights that we now believe and follow in.

During the middle ages peasant’s main job was to farm. They used methods that were years old and usually had to share equipment between them. No matter where they planted or what they planted, the nobleman of the manor they lived on took a percentage of their crops and money. Many times the peasants were not able to feed their families throughout the winter because of the taxes that the noblemen took and the possibility of bad harvests. The peasants that did persevere, however, were able to develop methods of to produce more crops. The peasants that persevered were able to find ways grow bigger and better crops but many times it wasn’t enough to satisfy their own needs and that of the noble men. (http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/history/middleages/farm.html)

Peasant’s social standing was at the bottom of the hierarchical system and they were not allowed to move up or down. This “social immobility” meant that the peasants were not able to increase their wealth or power even if they had the means to. Peasants were doomed from birth until death to a poor life filled with hard work, whose rewards they could not even enjoy. These peasants many times were serfs that could not leave the land at anytime, and were treated like property. Even though the treatment of the peasants was bad their rights were still protected under law and when the Middle Ages were over and ideas changed about humans and their rights, the best peasants were able to move up into higher social orders. (http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/history/middleages/prole.html)

On the other end of the spectrum, nobles in the middle ages had the best life to live. The majority of the men were once knights and after serving their “lords” they were given land and sometimes even a wife. These nobles had land, serfs, servants, crops, and animals and were at the top of the economic system. They wore the best clothes and ate the best food. They were allowed to hunt in forest that others weren’t. The nobles of the Middle Ages commanded respect, protected and generally ran the kingdoms in which they lived. (http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/history/middleages/nlife.html)

The knights and nobles job in medieval society was to protect and rule their kingdoms. They fought not only enemy armies but they fought for their honor, their lord’s honor, and their kingdom’s honor in duels and jousting. There were rules that governed these fights as Sir John Astley explains “The first article is that we shall fight on horseback, each of us armed as it best pleases them, with weapons as we are accustomed to carrying in battle that is with spears, swords, daggers and with such advantages as either of us like without any false intention.” (http://www.chronique.com/Library/Tourneys/PhilipBoyleChallenge.htm) These rules show a glimpse of the rules that nobles had to follow. They may have lived a life that was better than that of the peasants but they were expected to abide by laws that almost trapped them as much as the servants. They too had social immobility and were forced to act as others thought they should.

Social orders divide people with different amounts of wealth and power and many times trap those people in their current situation. The difference between serfs and nobles in the middle ages and the social immobility separated these people from each other for years because of their economic and social differences. Although the social orders separated the men and women of the middle ages the view on people of different social classes have changed and the separation of these people has now, in modern times, began to dissolve.

Works Cited

"Social Classes | Define Social Classes at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. Web. 26 Apr. 2010. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/social+classes?fromAsk=true&o=100074

"Farming." Web. 26 Apr. 2010. http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/history/middleages/farm.html

"Roles and Rights of A Peasant." Web. 26 Apr. 2010. http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/history/middleages/prole.html

"Noble Life." Web. 04 May 2010. http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/history/middleages/nlife.html

"Sir John Astley Answers a Challenge, 1442." Knighthood, Chivalry & Tournaments Resource Library. Web. 04 May 2010. http://www.chronique.com/Library/Tourneys/PhilipBoyleChallenge.htm