Mr.Fitchpatrick's Social Studies Blog: Middle Ages

The Middle Ages

In this unit, students will examine the similarities and differences between the feudal societies that developed in Europe and Japan. Specifically, students will focus their attention on the social hierarchy of these civilizations and how these interactions impact government, culture, economics, and achievements and inventions. Moreover, connections will be made to life today, with specific ties to how developments during this time period had lasting impacts on modern societies.

Essential Questions Raised in this Unit

v Why should you study the social sciences, and how are they applicable to your daily life?

v How do social scientists construct and evaluate the stories of the past?

v How does the environment shape human activity, and how does human activity shape the environment?

v How do humans fulfill their needs for goods and services?

v What causes people to invent and express themselves creatively, and what impact do new inventions, technologies and forms of artistic expression and communication have on a society’s economy and overall culture?

v How and why are people or groups in a society treated differently based on race, gender, religion, etc.?

v How and why do civilizations change over time?

v How does religion affect the lives of people and societies?

v To what extent can an individual and/or group’s actions determine the course of a society?

v Can there be a just war? Why or why not?

Enduring Understandings

Because of the chaos caused by the collapse of the Roman Empire, a new political, economic and social system (feudalism) developed in Western Europe. In a feudal hierarchy, the king gave a fief to nobles in exchange for their protection while the nobles, assisted by knights, protected the peasants and serfs in exchange for their labor. Individuals such as Charlemagne became powerful local lords who provided peace and protection in the face of anarchy and chaos. With a relatively weak king, the lords were able to secure greater rights through the Magna Carta.

A feudal manor was a self-sufficient entity that consisted of a castle and its surrounding lands. The castle served as both a home for the lord of a fief and a place of safety for all who lived around the castle. Life in a medieval manor and the societal roles of lords, ladies, knights, peasants, and servants centered around farming and maintaining security in a time of constant war. Over time, feudal life changed as agricultural and military technology became more advanced.

Gradually, as trade and movement became more possible, towns appeared, some towns became cities, and the role of the country manor and castle was diminished. In these larger towns and cities, guilds were formed by artisans, craftspeople and merchants in order to establish standards and provide economic security for themselves. Guilds of students and teachers eventually became universities which replaced the monks and monasteries as the most powerful centers of learning in Europe.

Eventually, the feudal system came to the end due to the wide spread effects of the Bubonic Plague (Black Death) which killed about 1/3 of Europe.

Japan was geographically isolated which led to the rise of feudalism.

Early Japan was ruled by competing clans. As certain clans became more powerful, they attempted to centralize the Japanese government, putting all land and clans under the power of the emperor. The central government was initially able to rule effectively, but could not maintain power over all of Japan. Warrior clans fought for power and eventually created a warrior government led by a shogun. The shogun was supported by nobles called daimyo who relied on warriors called samurai to protect their land. The power of the shogunates depended on a strictly enforced social system based on loyalty and honor.

Early and medieval Japan’s wealth was based on extremely efficient land use, along with fishing and rice cultivation. Medieval Japan was based on a feudal system in which the emperor and the nobles of his court were able to become wealthy and powerful by taking over the country’s traditional private land owning system. Rural nobles had less economic power, but were able to gain more as the emperor became more isolated and less able to control his kingdom. Merchants and artisans had a good deal of economic freedom. Small landowners had even less power and often worked for the nobles as tenant farmers. At the bottom of the feudal economic pyramid were peasants. As the shogunates became more powerful over time, they came to have more power than all but the imperial nobles and the emperor.

There was a sharp division in Japanese society between the aristocrats and the common people. At the very bottom of Japanese society were the eta, a class of hereditary slaves who were only allowed to work in the most degrading jobs. In early Japan, women had a certain level of equality with men; as Japanese society developed, women lost some of their social and legal rights. However, throughout early and medieval Japan, women did play an active but limited role in both aristocratic and peasant life.

From earliest times, Japanese art reflected nature, simplicity, and ideals of beauty. Beginning in the mid 700’s, Japanese cultural expressions such as poetry, diaries, stories, and elaborate clothes, hairstyles, and makeup flourished. After 1100, artistic expression was greatly influenced by Zen Buddhism as demonstrated in the traditional Japanese tea ceremony, origami, painting, gardening, and drama and dance.
By the 1600’s, popular entertainment emerged, and forms such as kabuki and haiku became central parts of Japanese culture. Eventually, Japan’s isolation was broken by the west with the ultimate arrival of Admiral Matthew Perry. With this new contact came the introduction of new technologies such as gunpowder that ultimately brought down the entire feudal system.

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Middle Ages

The Middle Ages

Module 19 Presentation: The Middle Ages

Middle Ages Resources

Chapter 17: Review

Chapter 18: Review

Chapter 19: Review

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