THE MIDDLE AGES

The European Worldview during

The Middle Ages in Europe spanned from the year 450 – 1350

or the 5th – 14th centuries.

Something to think about…In your notebook, copy the following chart. Then, within your assigned group, compare how life during this era would be different from life today in each of the 5 listed domains:

Lifestyle domain

Europe duringThe Middle Ages

Your quality of life2012

Economic:How people earn a living and satisfy thier primary needs such as food, water, shelter, clothing, etc.

PhysicalPertains to the environment, overall health, wellbeing, fitness/exercise, quality of food, accessibility to medicine

SocialDaily interactions amongst groups within the community, amongst family, friendsSpiritualPertains to what people believe in/ value and how this influences their behavior

PoliticalReference to an individuals rights and freedoms granted by their governering body

Economic ComparasonToday Middle Age Europe

To meet our primary needs we go to school for years to learn this and that to gain knowledge and skills to help us find meaningful employment that pays a good salary so we have enough money to buy Shelter (house, electricity for

heat) Food (grocery store,

restaurants) Drinking water Clothing

Shelter: Cut wood for lumber, haul it back to

your property, modify it by hand to construct your own house.

For heat, cut your wood, use some method to build a fire.

Food Hunt and gather, farm the land,

raise livestock,Water Dig a well or go to the river to

retrieve water for drinking / cleaningClothing Keep the skin/ fur from the animals

you hunted or raised and use sinu and a bone/ woodent/ stone needle to make your own clothing.

Physical ComparasonToday

The environment Pollution is a major concern with

such a large a population, our dependence on the use of technologies relying on fossil fuels is increasing emissions of harmful gasses. Our quick fix society depends on pre packaged food and the amount of household garbage is quickly gathering and cause major environmental issues.

Transportation To get to where we need to be we

have to travel great distances relying on automobiles to get us from place to place

Access to food Prepackaged convenience meals are

purchased and loaded with chemical additives and preservatives. Fast food and junk food are popular choices leading to high rates of obesity.

Exercise / Fitness Exercise and fitness is something that we

have to schedule into our day, it is another chore. We participate in organised sports or pay to become members of a fitness facility or gym

Health / Hygene / Access to medicine / healthcare We shower everyday, there are many

sanitation products to eliminate germs. If we do become sick or injured we have excellent facilities where we can go to recieve medical attention and medicine or treatment to help us get better

Physical comparasonDring the Middle Ages

The environment Pollution was not a concern as

there was a very small population and there were very few cities. The land was used to harvest goods and there was little wastage. The only polltant would be the small amount of human waste as there were no sewage systems.

Transportation To get to where they needed to

be they traveled on land by foot or by horse and carriage or by sea in boats. There were very few roads, no cars, no trains, no planes.

Access to food Although it could be hard to come by, the

food that was available from farming, trading or hunting was natural and of a good quality.

However, there often were times when the people faced famine and starvation dring times when crops would not grow or animals were scarce

Exercise / Fitness Physical activity was not something they had

to plan as it was a part of their everyday routine. The work reqired to upkeep the home was physically demanding, keeping them strong and fit

Health / Hygene / Access to medicine / healthcare There were no running water, bathing wasn’t

something they did regularly. There was no sewage system, human waste was thrown into the streets or waterways. Disease ran rampant, doctors were only available to the wealthy. home remedies were all they had to treat illness, thus death from something as simple as a cold was common.

Social ComparasonToday Dring the Middle

Ages A typical day consists of going to

school or work for 5 or 6 hours where most of our interaction takes place with people that are not our family

After school/work we return home to complete chores; homework, shopping, meal preparation, cleaning, ect.

Dring spare time we hang out with friends/family, get involved with sports or other activities in the community, listen to music, watch tv, surf the net, play video games, go to the movies or to the mall.

A typical day consists of chores to meet the primary needs of the family; cutting wood for heat, fetching water from the well/river, minding the garden and livestock, hunting and gathering, making clothing, preparing food.

A formal edcation during this time was not necessary. The skills and knowledge needed consisted of learning the ways of the land. Knowing how to hunt, grow crops and such were more important to the survival of the people than spending all day in classroom learning to read and write.

The family worked together to accomplish their goals. Each member played a very important role to ensure that all needs were met.

From dawn until dusk there was work to do, which was physically draining, leaving very little time fand energy or playtime.

During the Middle Ages, the majority of the population lived in extreme poverty

While a very small minority lived in luxury… they had all the money and power… leaving a significant division between

The Rich and

Poor

THE LIFE OF A POOR PEASANTWas difficult and miserable!

Clean drinking water

They had no power or political influence

Food

They had no rightsThey didnt have access to essential human needs to live in health and security such as…

They had no freedom

Shelter

MedicineHealth CareClothing

Keep this question in mind?

Why wouldn’t an impoverished peasant commit suicide if life was so miserable, invaleable and difficult ?

Spiritual Comparason

Today In most institutions in our communities today, the presence of any religion is limited.

We do have Catholic schools where we can learn about the word of God and some people attend Mass regularly on a weekly basis.

There are many different ways people demonstrate their spirituality including Yoga, Reiki, Meditation, etc.

Before we do a comparason with the Middle Ages, let me ask you this….

Who do you idolize?If you could meet anyone in the world? Living or Dead? Factual or Fictual… who would it be?

Wait a minute… I know who you all idolize…

If I were to ask the same question to a bunch of teenagers living during the Middle Ages… who do you think they would identify?

The life of the poor continued

The harshness of life was an everyday reality for the poor and religion / spirituality played a part in making the poor accept and cherish the intolerable cruelties of such a life style.

The poor believed that God himself chose for each person to live the life they had been given, thus, one must accept the path they were given without question.

 

DURING THE MIDDLE AGES, GOD AND RELIGION WERE AT THE CENTRE OF HUMAN EXISTENCE. THERE WAS NOTHING MORE

IMPORTANT!!!

The pope and High Clergy were percieved by the people as being direct

representatives chosen directly by God, living on earth to carry out his will. Thus, no one could question their commands for fear that if they refused to cooperate, they would burn in hell for all eternity after their death.

THIS BELIEF / VALUE HELD BY THE PEOPLE OF MEDEVAL EUROPE HAD A

HUGE IMPACT ON THEIR ACTIONS AND IS KNOW AS ...

THE CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW

If you don’t attend Mass

everyday

Hell !!!

If you do not contribute your

time and money to help the Church

If you do not follow the 10

Commandments

I’ll take your

SOUL… Muahahahahahahahah

a!!!!

Tell me now…

Why did the poor tolerate such difficulty… why wouldn’t they simply commit suicide if life was so miserable and difficult ???

The reason the poor accepted such a a poor quality of life is because they believed that if they accepted it now, they would be rewarded in the afterlife with eternal happiness along side of God in heaven after death.

Daddy… I’m

hungry…

This is the life that

was chosen for us by God my

son!

Everything will be so

great once we die and

go to heaven!

I want to die!

God will call us to join him when it

is out time!

Be patient!

Accoriing to their worldview, the Christian WorldView, life was merely a path to eternal paradise at the side of God in Heaven after death.

They hoped to live a short life on earth… There was no value for life … it was simply a means to and end!

Political Comparason

Today We live in a democratic

society Each individual citizen is

protected by the Canadian Charter of rights and freedoms

We can vote, express our opinions freely, live where we want, work where we want and do what we want to do

Everyone has equal access to the basic human needs; medical care, education, food, shelter, clothing, etc.

We are protected by laws and institutions that the government have put in place to ensure we feel safe and secure.

During the Middle Ages The people were governed

by the Feudal System The Feudal System is a

hierarchy of power where the few people in control have the most power and the many people on the bottom have the least.

Think of a hierarchy as a ladder

Most Power

Least Power.

The King

and QueenThe high

Clergy

The Nobles

The lower ClergyThe lesser nobles/

KnightsSerfs and Peasants

In Europe during the Middle Ages this is what the Feudal System Consisted of…

The Feudal Hierarchy governed most of Europe.In this form of government, people were placed in social classes decided upon by birth… they were

hereditary and impossible to get out of...

Was there anyone who had more power than the King & Queen?

The Pope had more power… because he was God’s right hand man!!

Dring the Middle Ages The Church and the State had a very special relationship…

The Church had a lot of influence on decisions made by the King and the Nobles when it came to ruling the daily life of the people. Many clergyment used their power and influence to do good and help the people

However, there were others who abused thier power for their own personal benefit…

« Oh my! This is a serious matter… there is, however, a solution to your problem!

« Forgive me Father for I have

sinned I have commited a serious

sin. »

« Hello my Child… How can I help you?»

I killed one of my serfs!

« Give the Church a generous donation.. In this case a rather large one… seing as how this is a serious offense… If you do this, we can pardon your sins!»

You’re telling me that all I have to do to save

my souls from perishing for all an

eternity is pay a sum of money?Done!!

… Do you accept mastercard?

I want MONEY!!

I want Power!

I have power…

I have money!

And there you have it… a special bond between the Church and State…

Lets play a little game !!!

You are going to be reborn. I have placed all of the different roles from the Feudal Hierarchy into a hat and you will choose one of the role, and we will re-enact how life during the Middle Ages worked!!!

Don’t look at your role until I tell you to.

We’re gonna relive the Middle Ages to experience first hand how it really worked!!!

This is the way the Feudal System worked

Because the Pope was high commander of the Church, he was viewed by everyone as being the closest to God, thus, he was at the top of the Hierarchy… The word of God was far more powerful than the word of the King!Whatever he says GOES!!!

The King and Queen Orders everyone in their kingdom around! Follows orders only from the Pope Can make no decision unless they have

been advised by their Clergyman. Must delegate some of their land to the

Nobles to manage for them. Must collect crops and goods from the

nobles who manage their lands Must give donations to the Church on

demand

The King gives the Nobles land and serfs / slaves

Here you are my noble Cousin … !

For me!!! Gee

Thanks!!!

Ohhh… just what I have

always wanted…

some land and a slave

Slaves are attached to the land of their Noble Master. They are treated as inferiors, viewed as possessions, and can be exchanged like cattle. They are regarded and treated as animals. Ther must do whatever their masters command of them.

They have no choice but obey the orders of thir Noble Masters…

Peasants on the other hand, made arrangements with the nobles to build homes on the nobles land.

In exchange for being allowed to live there, they had to cultivate and work the land, give the Noble owners a quantity of their crops and fight for them in times of war.

Because of the fact that their position was heriditary, the children of peasants were also peasants, the grand children and great grandchildren too …

Mes enfants seraient

des serfs aussi!

My children will also

be slaves