The Black Death of Medieval Feudalism
The Black Death of Medieval Feudalism
Solve the following riddle: What was the foreign import that wiped out almost all of Europe in medieval times? The bubonic plague of course! Nearly killing half of Europes population, the Black Death brought truly dark times upon the people of medieval England. Losing family members, employers, employees, kings, priests, debtors, etc. became a normal and expected occurrence for citizens of England. Being highly contagious, people would die within a matter of just three days of coming in contact with a diseased person. Causing England to lose over one-third of its population, the bubonic plague and its effects of the medieval era caused the decline of English feudalism, breaking the set divisions of people and allowing many peasants to break free of their poverty.
Before the plaque struck, the English followed a feudalistic social system. Originating from William the Conqueror and the Normans, English feudalism served as a system in which all of the medieval people to pledge their allegiance to king and all the people who ruled above them in the “Feudalism Pyramid”, a chart that has been created by todays historians to help one understand the division of the class in the medieval era. As cleverly stated by the Middle Ages Organization of Europe, “The pyramid of power which was the Feudal system ran to a strict pecking order – during the Medieval period of the Middle Ages everyone knew their place” (“Feudalism”). In the pyramid, the king and his monarch rest at the top with all power. Below the king, lay the nobles and barons, the kings most trusted men who held a high level of esteem. Underneath the barons and nobles, the knights and vassals, known to protect and fight for the land, partook in a very prestigious job, similar to that of the soldiers that fight to protect the United States today. Similar to days working class, merchants, farmers, and craftsmen were held below the knights and vassals. They did not receive much respect. Peasants and serfs remained at the very bottom of the pyramid, like the tiny clownfish at the bottom of the ocean food chain. Treated as slaves, most peasants and vassals had miserable lives compared to their social elders. This social orientation helped the king distribute his land for high profits. The king would keep most of the land and divide up the remaining land between his barons and nobles. The nobles and barons would then keep some of their land and distribute the rest among their knights. The knights would then hire serfs to work on the land. Directly related, land and social status went hand in hand. As one acquired the land, his properties yielded more profit, and the owners climbed the social pyramid.
While feudalism ruled in England, the Black Death came and hit all of Europe by storm. From 1350-1400, the bubonic plaque hit Medieval Europe