Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Week 2 Discussion Question- The Middle Ages
The majority of the people who lived in the Middle Ages were peasants—poor, uneducated laborers who farmed the lord's land and had to give him much of the food. Under the system of feudalism, they belonged to the lord and were not free to leave the land. They were allowed to keep some of the food they grew, and they were protected against attackers by the lord's knights. List the good and the bad aspects of this system and discuss how this system could have been changed to be fairer to the peasants.
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Feudalism(Positive vs. Negative)
ReplyDeleteFeudalism was a political system which was dominant during the middle Ages.The feudal society was constructed for one reason: security. The nobles wanted the security of maintaining control over their far-reaching kingdoms, so they were forced to delegate power to local control. Yes, the peasants had a place to live, and yes they we’re able to grow and keep a small portion of their food, but they still had to go through not being able to be free to do what they would like. It makes you wonder, was it worth it?
In the Comparison below I included the good and bad aspects of having to be a peasant living through Feudalism:
Good Aspects of Feudalism:
*Protection from marauders (A band of outlaws who raids and pillages), Barbarians (A fierce, brutal, or cruel person), and invading armies.
*Given a plot of land to farm and grow crops on.
*Grazing field rights around their village
*A few local political rights
Bad Aspects of Feudalism:
*The lord had the right to grant marriages
*The lord could tax the peasants at any time, on anything
*The peasants are demanded to work the land, they have no choice
*If the land a peasant was given was sold, then the peasant was sold along with it.
There are several ways that the system could have been more beneficial to the peasants. The lord could have given the peasants more freedom. For instance, the peasants were not able to leave the land at any time for any reason unless he was being sold. I believe he could have passed a law that after a certain time, the peasants could have went and did as they pleased but within certain boundaries. I also believe the situation about the peasants having to work the land, no matter what is obscene. The lord could have given the peasants a choice. In my opinion one of the most unfair parts of feudalism is the fact that the lord was able to tax the peasants at any time, on anything. It is simply outrageous. The lord could have made a reasonable, set tax amount and left it at that. The peasants were already living off of practically nothing, and to take away from someone with very little is cruel and heartless. If the changes I mentioned could have been arranged or at least partially done, then I believe the system of feudalism could have been fairer and less excruciating to the peasants.
The system of feudalism back in the Middle Ages, were not very much in the peasants favor. Already being owned to the lord, they also had to give up 80% of the food that was made while working on their land. So basically you worked your whole life on a piece of land, while giving up most of the food that you deserve, to your lord. On the other hand, there are some good aspects of this type of system. By being a peasant in the feudalism system during the middle ages, you would have gotten protection from the kings vassal, and also somewhat of the food left after giving the rest to the Lord. The Lord would have given the fief (the piece of land in which the peasants worked on) to a vassal (a person who would have served the land, by protecting it from intruders, or other nonmilitary services).
ReplyDeleteBy changing the amount of food the peasants got to more, and creating a system to be where peasants could be free, would have made the system a lot fairer.
Bad Aspects-Good Aspects
•Being Owned by the king *Having Land to Farm on
•Little Food *Protection from Invaders
•Over Taxation
http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US#/watch?v=7LtbFQEXRBU
ReplyDeleteThe peasants could have been treated fairer by having a little more rights, being able to marry without asking permission from the lord, being able to leave the land, not being worked so hard, and should be able to move up in social classes.
Good and bad aspects are in the video.
ReplyDeleteMy opinion to alandria's is it has everything I can think of in feudalism is in her summary.
It would have been better if the peasants had more rights, and didnt have to have permission, and had more free will to do what they wanted. And also if they didnt have to be stuck in the same social class for their entire life. It was good because it got stuff done, and it helped build the empires and all, but at the same time it was bad because of the fact that they were treated pretty bad and had no opportunity to better themselves no matter what they do.
ReplyDeleteMy opinion to Aarons is it has everything required, and gives a pretty good summary of what feudalism was all about
ReplyDeleteAlandria, u wrong for writing all that
ReplyDeleteThe good aspects of this system was that they were protected from any danger from the outside world and also another good aspect was that they could keep a little bit of the food that they worked for some bad aspects of this system were that they couldn't leave and look for more opportunities to live their life, another bad aspect was that they couldn't keep a lot of their food. The system could have been changed to help the peasants by letting them do as they please
Good job so far guys! Remember to make your posts original and do your research. Responses to posted comments need to be done by Monday.
ReplyDeleteFeudalism was a very unfair system. The peasants were forced to work the fief that their lord gave them. They practically had no rights, their marriages were arranged and they were connected to their land if it sold they sold. The Lords did provide a form of protection if the peasants were attacked but the peasants were practically slaves to the Lords in return.
ReplyDeleteGood Aspects
1) The peasants were given protection from attackers.
2) The peasants were given help in times of economic trouble.
3) The peasants were given a fief to farm and live on.
4) The lords never had to worry about a lack of food.
Bad Aspects
1) The peasants were sold with their land.
2) The lords could tax the peasants at anytime on anything however much they wanted.
3) The peasants couldn’t keep the majority of their crops.
4) The peasants couldn’t leave their land they were forced to farm it.
If I was going to fix Feudalism I would allow the peasants to marry who they wanted. I’d also give them a larger fief to live and farm on and I’d allow them to keep a larger portion of their crops. Also I wouldn’t sell them with their land I’d just transfer them to another plot of land I owned. I’d allow the peasant to leave the fief and do what they want with their life. There are many ways to fix Feudalism but these are some of the main ones that should have been addressed in my opinion.
I agree with Alandria’s post. She points out many aspects of the Feudalism System that could be fixed and the good and bad aspects of it. I think her point of view on fixing it is similar to mine and I agree with it.
In response to Aaron's post:
ReplyDeleteI am in total agreement with you on your view of how feudalism could have been made better for the peasants. When you stated,"should be able to move up in social classes" I believe you were absolutely correct. For a peasant to have to stay a peasant their entire life, just because of the family they were born into is ridiculous. People cannot help nor can they chose the family they are born into. Its as if the peasants were being punished their entire lives for being born poor. When I responded to the discussion I had not thought about the peasants being required to remain peasants. Therefore that part of your post was quite insightful.
In response to Micheal's post:
ReplyDeleteThank you, I likewise agree that we had a lot of similarity in thought. I think your response was very well written. Good job.
Positive because they get protected and get to keep some of their food
ReplyDeleteBad are that they were owned by the lord, lost most of their food, could be taxed at anytime by the lord, and, werent free to leave the country.
It couldve been better if the lord gave the peasents more rights and didnt tax or take so much food.
Good aspects of being a peasant under the system of feudalism
ReplyDelete· You would not have to worry about having to work to make money.
· You would not have to worry about buying a house because it is already provided for you.
· You would not have to worry about where your food came from or how to get it because you are the one gardening it.
· You are protected by the lord’s knights
Bad aspects of being a peasant under the system of feudalism
· You don’t have any freedom
· You have to work a lot for a little food and shelter
· You don’t get paid
This system could have been fairer to the peasants by letting them have more freedom, by letting them have more food, and letting them go after a certain amount of time if they wanted to.
I totally agree with you Michael, the peasants should be able to marry who they want. They should also have freedom to leave the fief as you said. The life of a peasant is totally unfair.
ReplyDeleteIn Response to Donald's Post:
ReplyDeleteI very much agree with you Donald. If the lord would have lessened the tax on food, and given the peasants some type of freedom. Then the system of feudalism would have been much fairer.
Still Missing Raven,JR,Ivonne,Teresa,and Katie!
ReplyDeleteTeresa Garcia
ReplyDeleteFeudalism in my opinion a HORRIBLE system for peasants to live under in medieval Europe, The Peasants were practically treated as slaves with hardly any rights and very little freedom. The peasants were ruled by Lords which owned practically everything they ever had, food, land, etc. The good thing about this whole system of Feudalism was they were protected and give a few rights. So as in every system there is always some good and bad aspects too it.
Let’s think Positive Aspects of Feudalism to the Peasants
• They were given protection from attackers by the Lords knights
• They were given a fief to grow their crops on & also to shelter on
• They were also always given help in time of economic crisis.
The Bad Aspects Of Being a Peasant
• It was mandatory for them to give up 80% of their crops to the Lord
• Some peasants in some cases were unable to marry the person they loved
• They could be sold just like slaves with their land
• The Lord controlled their lives
I belive Feudalism could have been a much better system to the peasants if the Lords would have been less selfish and more thoughtful! I belive if the peasants were here now they would have asked the Lords for a bigger share of the crops they grew. I also believe the system would have been so much better if they could own their land and marry who they wanted not who the Lord wanted or anything in that aspect. After reaserching Feudalism I realized it wasn't a horrible system as I had mentioned before it just needed some more rights to the peasants.
What was Feudalism in the Middle Ages?
ReplyDeleteThe feudal system was a political structure that developed in Europe. It was used because of a lack in central government. In this system kings and powerful nobles gave land to other nobles in return for military aid, and other conveniences.
The feudal system caused both positive as well as negative outcomes. They are as follows:
Positive Outcomes…
*There had never been a strong central based government
* They had guaranteed security from external invaders
* Peasants received a part of land to farm and grow their crops in although they barely even got to eat what they had been growing.
Negative Outcomes…
* They paid a tax on all grain ground in the lord’s mill
* Weddings could take place only with the lord’s approval
* They could never move up in the social class because they had to return the favor of the land by working or being a part of the military
*They also had to pay the upper classmen to work the land.
The system of feudalism could have been better if the upper classes would’ve considered how harsh a peasant’s life was. Peasants had it very hard. Because of no authority, the lord ended up keeping one third of his land. Peasants were forced to pay to use the other two thirds. They were to help farm and do other services when needed. This was a positive for the upper classes but a certain negative for the lower class. They needed to be fairer towards them.
Feudalism was a system used in The Middle Ages were knights would do services and get paid with land. The Lords controlled this land but got military service and protection from the knights while the knights got peasants who gave them food and free labor.
ReplyDeleteHere is a video where it's all broke down class by class..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SVHuTfiDTs
>From a knight or Lord's point of view feudalism was alright. Everyone got protection and technically everyone got food. But according to the peasants it wasn't good or fair at all.
The peasants did get land and were able to farm, but most of their food went to the upper classes. They had no control over how much they kept or even if they could leave their land. They had many rules and restrictions. They did get protection from attackers, but also had to work for knights. Peasants had to work very hard to receive very little. Everyone else had better results from feudalism.
Below is a chart to show the classes and structure from feudalism
http://www.google.com/imgres?q=feudalism&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&rlz=1R2ADBF_en&biw=1280&bih=572&tbm=isch&tbnid=RmXPqmvz6pQJqM:&imgrefurl=http://flennoy10.wikis.birmingham.k12.mi.us/Grace%2BWork%2BChina%2BWiki%2BTerms&docid=bLmJduzmph6uNM&w=500&h=390&ei=ZA6STvX8GpCltweSutGfDA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=711&vpy=119&dur=526&hovh=198&hovw=254&tx=173&ty=104&page=1&tbnh=94&tbnw=121&start=0&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:0
You can see how peasants are the majority of the population and do the most work, yet they are the ones who receive the least.
Feudalism provided protection, food, and organization but just wasn't fair to the people who did the most work. A better way they could have done things was give serfs less restrictions. They should have been able to do more of what they wanted and they should have had to give up less of the hard work they did.
Because my computer is being a jerk I am forced to use the Anonymous thingy. But this is Raven Wooten and I have been trying to post this blog since 8:00 p.m. last night ._.
ReplyDeleteThere are plenty of reasons how things could have been changed to make peasant life less harsh . The main one in my opinion has already been stated numerous of times. Allowing the people to keep more of the food that they have spent their excessive labor and time harvesting. The king or lord giving up a little more food would not have been that bad for him considering they had numerous farmers. Also they could have been given a little more freedom then they were. Not able to leave the farm, belonging to the king, giving up means to live when they usually had children mouths to feed , and over taxation when most of the people could barley even pay them.
Honestly in my opinion there were only two good things about the peasant life. And that was protection from raider and barbarians, and the king giving them a plot of land to live on. Which is even that great considering they weren’t really even given the land. They paid for it with most of the food they grew and harvested themselves, pain, labor, and time. They barley had enough food to live on so when drought and cold winters came they were left to rumbling stomachs while the king was well fed.
Their living conditions weren’t even that great. Forced to sleep on mattresses made of straw, little clothing, and a piece of land they actually didn’t even own and that could be sold off at any moment. I’m not saying they disserved nice fluffy beds, full wardrobes of fine silk, or big houses. But they disserved a WAY more than what they got, and a little more freedom to at least do what they wished and have a little bit of a better life if they wanted to. But sadly they lived in a time where if you had nothing you were nothing. If you were born into a family that did a certain job 9 times out of 10 that’s the job you were trained to do and did . There was no going from a peasant to a king. There was no Cinderella story with a happy ending. Peasant life was harsh with few luxuries.
Comments: I agree with Michaels and Alandria’s posts. You should be able to marry and do what you wish. And the lords and kings should not have been able to tax how much and when ever they wanted.
I'm in total agreement with michael... They should've been free to live and do as they wish and not have been locked up. Their property most definitely should have been larger and they should have been able to keep more of what they worked for
ReplyDeleteThis is Donald:
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alandria because she is right about the peasants not deserving that treatment.
I agree with you Katie as you stated that peasants should have given up less of the harsh work they did because it wasn’t fair at all. Only the upper classes benefitted from this, but not once considered a peasant’s hard work. Also, I personally liked how you organized your information into a simpler way by using videos. Having already posted part of your response, the videos were a great way to support your answer!
ReplyDelete-J.R.-
ReplyDeleteI think that this system was good because there was something for everyone which allowed for better work adaptations ... its very similar to society today. I think that it couldve been better in the amount of rewards came to the peasants. If I could change it I would want to allow the peasants to have more food and rewards given back to them because that would allow for better work among the lower class