...War & Society in Europe Midterm There were a number of conditions that would lead to the emergence of “feudal warfare” in the early Middle Ages and there would be an equal number that would lead to its decline in the later middle ages as well yet to find the meaning of “feudal warfare” one has to look first at where this notion came from, and that was Feudalism. Feudalism was a contrasting system dealing with political and military relationships existing among members of the higher social class, Kings, Lords and other owners of large lands in Western Europe during the Middle Ages. The Feudal system started by the granting of fiefs, chiefly in the form of land and labor, in return the lord would receive political and military services that was usual sealed by oaths of fidelity, instead of a written out contract. The Lord and vassal would be interlocked in a bunch of mutual rights and obligations, to the advantage of both. Where the lord owed his vassal protection and the vassal owed his lord a specified number of days annually in military service and supplies of goods, and the lord were expected to provide a military for his king. With that “feudal warfare” would arise as Kings would try to obtain more land then each other and expand their territory. As mentioned in class the Carolingian Empire was the first great European dynasty, it would unite all the small Frankish kingdoms that had established themselves in Gaul and this is where the early form of feudalism...
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...Ages, but the most crucial ones were the decline of the feudal system, and the declination of the Church's power over the nation-states. In feudal society, everyone had a definite place and a definite role, with the power resting in the hands of the local lords (instead of a central government). The lords, or nobles, lost power after the Crusades, when the Europeans came into contact with the more advanced civilizations of the Byzantine Empire and the Muslims. That spurred the growth of trade, which in turn gave rise to a money system. The money system in turn caused the birth of a middle class, which didn't fit anywhere into the feudal system. It was made up of the serfs and peasants that left the feudal system in search of making money in trade. For the middle class, the king granted Charters, made a uniform law, started banking, offered protection, and expanded territory. In return, the middle class payed taxes to the king. While t his money economy grew, the feudal lords were put into an economic squeeze. As one may see, that didn't leave much of a place for the nobles, who were rapidly losing power. Another thing that contributed to their loss of power was the enforcement of Common Law, which applied throughout the kingdom. The effects of the Hundred Years' War hastened the decline of the feudal system. The use of the longbow and firearms made the feudal methods of fighting obsolete. Monarchs replaced feudal soldiers with national armies made up of ...
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...widespread use of slaves. (b) lack of orderly succession to the throne. (d) military strength of the Germanics. The Frankish leader who defeated the Moors at the Battle of Tours was ___. (a) Clovis. (c) Charlemagne. (b) Pepin. (d) Charles Martel. Areas that Charlemagne united within his empire are now part of _____. (a) France and Germany. (c) England and Spain (b) Spain and Portugal. (d) Austria and Russia. An important result of Clovis’ conquests was the _____. (a) spread of Christianity in Europe (b) union of the Western and Eastern Roman empires (c) expulsion of the Moslems from western Europe (d) decline of feudalism in central Europe. The "Dark Ages" in western Europe refers to the period _____. (a) after the creation of the Feudal system (b) soon after the assassination of Julius Caesar (c) followed the collapse of the Roman Empire (d.) strengthening the central authority of Rome within the Empire. Which was not a result of the Germanic invasions of the Roman Empire? (a) Raising the level of civilization (c) Curtailing trade (b) Overthrowing the Roman government (d) Destroying many fine buildings The tithe was _____. (a.) an asylum for the poor. (c.) a monastic order. (b.) a tax levied by the Church. (d.) a special vestment for nuns. The Holy Inquisition was established to _____. (a.) combat heresy. (c.) stamp out Church corruption...
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...Word Count: 2018 Why do we sometimes refer to the events of 1868 in Japan as a 'restoration', but to those of the years following 1911 in China as 'revolutions'? Introduction The Meiji Restoration of 1868 in Japan and the Chinese Revolution of 1911 were responsible for producing an enormous amount of upheaval in both countries. Both nations were immersed in social, political and economic backwardness. In this context, both political episodes should be construed as an attempt to reverse decline and set the course for modernization. The main thesis of this essay is based on the notion that whilst there are some similarities between both political events, the main difference resides in the fact that the Meiji Restoration began the centralization of the mechanisms of governance and induced the social and economic modernization of the country. At the same time, the Chinese Revolution of 1911 did not succeed in engendering a sound system of government capable of reversing the country’s decline. The first part of the essay will deal with the main characteristics of the Meiji restoration of 1868. The second section of the essay will outline the main features pertaining to the Chinese Revolution of 1911. The third part of the essay will examine the similarities and differences between these two events, with the ultimate purpose of determining the qualitative differentiation to be made between the concepts of “restoration” and “revolutions”. The main characteristics of the Meiji restoration...
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...Primitive Society, Slave Society, Feudal Society, Semi-feudal and Semi-colonial Society, and Socialist Society. There were more than 5 dynasties during the ancient era. After that, China went into the Imperial Era which included the Sui, Tang and Song Dynasties. The Sui Dynasty lasted for only 38 years and had only three emperors. The Equal-field system was initiated to reduce the rich-poor social gap and resulted in enhanced agricultural productivity; governmental power was centralized and the Three Departments and Six Ministries system officially instituted; coinage was standardized and re-unified; defense was improved, and The Great Wall was expanded. Buddhism was also spread and encouraged throughout the empire, uniting the varied people and cultures of China. Buddhism was popular during the Six Dynasties period that preceded the Sui dynasty. Buddhism gained prominence during the period, when central political control was limited, and also created a unifying cultural force that uplifted the people out of war and into the Sui Dynasty. The decline of the Sui Dynasty started from the second monarch, Emperor Yang, who was a typical tyrant. The expensive Military campaigns aroused widespread unrest. After returning from a failed campaign against Korea, the emperor was murdered in his palace. One of his generals declared the foundation of a new dynasty, known as the Tang Dynasty. Tang Dynasty was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
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...Tanya Spinella 2-18-11 History 102 Essay # 1 The feudal system of Europe was created in response to a need by the king of the Franks, Charles Martel, to pay his warriors. Martel began to give fiefs owned by the church, in return for a well-trained vessel to protect his kingdom from the Moors, who were threatening their attack. This system, feudalism, is a hierarchical structure used to govern and oppress the peasants. The Catholic church played a major role in the upholding of the feudal system by threatening excommunication to the lowly servants of God. The end of feudalism was a gradual happening caused by the Black Death, the commercial revolution, and humanism in European Society resulting in the enlightened, free thinking peoples of the Renaissance. The Black Death was one of the leading causes for the disintegration of the feudal system. Also known as the Bubonic Plague, the Black Death originated in China in the early 1000’s A.D.[1] The epidemic spread to Europe around 1347 A.D. killing two-thirds of the population. Denser populated areas of Europe, like London, were affected the most however; because of it’s crowded towns, and poorer families housing at least twelve people, the black plague swept through these places easily. [2] Because of the drastic drop off in population, new opportunities began to present themselves to the once hapless citizens who survived the bubonic plague. An increase in available land was one of these many benefits resulting in more crop...
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...Black Death Coming out of the East, the Black Death reached the shores of Italy in the spring of 1348 unleashing a rampage of death across Europe unprecedented in recorded history. By the time the epidemic played itself out three years later, anywhere between twenty-five percent and fifty percent of Europe's population had fallen victim to the pestilence. The Black Death will forever go down in history as a great turning point for civilization. Some thought that moderate living and the avoidance of all luxury would preserve them from the epidemic. They formed small communities, living entirely separate from everybody else. They shut themselves up in houses where there were no sick, eating the finest food and drinking the best wine very temperately, avoiding all excess, allowing no news or discussion of death and sickness, and passing the time in music and other pleasures. Others thought just the opposite. They thought the sure cure for the plague was to drink and be merry, to go about singing and amusing themselves, satisfying every appetite they could, laughing and jesting at what happened. They put their words into practice, spent day and night going from tavern to tavern, drinking immoderately, or went into other people's houses, doing only those things which pleased them. This they could easily do because everyone felt doomed and had abandoned their property, so that most houses became common property and any stranger who went in made use of them as if he had owned...
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...Relationship Between the Individual and Society From the late Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China, China was in the social transformation era. More accurately, people was in the alternating period of the feudal traditional conservative ideology and emerging modern thoughts. Hence, the authors always wrote the stories about how individuals reacted to such social changes. Like three stories, Lu Xun’s “A Madman’s Diary,” Yu Dafu’s “Sinking,” Mao Dun’s “Spring Silkworm” which depict how the individuals’ respond when they face two totally different ideologies or moral codes. These three stories show three different conditions, three different choices, and lead to three different results. One common thing is that all protagonists are suffering in that old society. First, Lu Xun’s “A Madman’s Diary” describes a madman who is the first rebel in modern literary history. The madman was born in the feudal scholar-bureaucrat family, everyone lived around him was bound by the feudalism. However, he was not one of them, he had modern thoughts and yearn for a just society. Unfortunately, he could not find a person with a like-minded goal, and everyone else saw him as a madman. He thought that society was an “eat people” world. For example, he read history intently half the night until he saw the whole book was filled with the two words “eat people”. He thought the history were all wrote about how the powerful people oppress the poor. And he felt sorrow that such merciless history...
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...human services. American human services practice was greatly influenced by the English social welfare system; thus, it is important to understand the history of English social welfare to understand American human services (Martin, 2011). The history of English social welfare systems begin with the feudal system of the Middle Ages. Under the feudal system, landowners would allow serfs to live on and farm the land (Martin, 2011). The landowners were expected to care for the needs of their serfs. During this era, the church emphasized charity, and individuals felt that poverty was necessary to be charitable as demanded by God (Martin, 2011). After the decline of the feudal system, England introduced the poor laws. The poor laws stated that poverty would be dealt with in the community and changed the perspective of poverty (Martin, 2011). Only those who were determined to be worthy poor were allowed to beg or receive other benefits, and the unworthy were punishable by law. The Elizabethan Poor Laws of 1601 organized the previous poor laws and served as a model for American human service laws (Martin,2011). These laws had three basic principles, greatest responsibility of providing for one’s needs is one’s family, poverty issues are a local matter, and those who cannot support themselves must remain in their hometown (Martin, 2011). The ideals and laws of England’s social welfare system served as a model for American human services. As American human services began to evolve, the ideals...
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...Characteristics of LDCs Exports of Primary Goods: The primary and agricultural products are the main exports of these countries. The international trade. For example the main exports products of Pakistan are rice, cotton yarn, fish and garments etc. Capital Deficiency: The deficiency of capital in an important feature of developing countries. Therefore they are often called capital poor economies. The shortage of capital is reflected in the very low capital labour ratio in these countries. Over Dependence on Agriculture: 68% population in Pakistan is living in 46,894 villages, back-ward agriculture is the major occupation of the population. Agriculture sector is back ward due to old and traditional methods of cultivation. In-efficient farmers, tack of credit facilities, unorganized agriculture market etc. 66.7% population is directly or indirectly depending on agriculture sector in Pakistan. Natural Resources: Mostly there is shortage of natural resources in developing nations and this is also a cause of their economic backwardness. In various poor countries natural resources are available but they remain un- utilized under-utilized and miss- utilized due to capital shortage, less efficiency of labour, lack of skill and knowledge and limited home market. Out Flow of Best Brain: The brilliant and brightest students of developing countries go to developed countries for higher education. After completing their education, they do not want to come back in their own country due to...
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...organized society during a violent and lawless time after the fall of the Roman Empire” (pg. 10), often known as the Medieval, or Dark, Ages. Feudalism “… developed an economic, military, and government system that has never been duplicated in any other time or place in the world” (pg. 9). Even though those three systems had been created, there were still many problems with the structure as a whole, such as taxing the poorest class. Within the Feudal system there was an order of power that started with the Pope, followed by the King, Nobles, Vassals (Knights), Freemen, Yeomen, servants, and, at the very bottom, peasants/serfs. “… [The King of] England, for example, divided [his] entire [kingdom] into fifty of sixty fiefs…” (pg.9), or parcels of land, and granted them to Nobles and Vassals, who would have then provided military services back to him in times of up rise. Not only did serfs work the land given to the Nobles and Vassals, but they also had large taxes placed on them by the King. These unreasonable taxes, along with the lack of a set body of laws led to a slow decline in Feudalism. Overall, Feudalism was a one-time system that “… helped European civilization lift itself out of the Dark Ages” (pg.10). It lasted just long enough for the economy to level out, and for a new system of military services to be...
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...bear raider – Isaac le Maire, who in 1607 forced prices down by dumping stock and then buying it back at a discount.[2] Over the course of the past five hundred years, capital has been accumulated by a variety of different methods, in a variety of scales, and associated with a great deal of variation in the concentration of economic power and wealth.[3] Much of the history of the past five hundred years is concerned with the development of capitalism in its various forms, its condemnation and rejection, particularly by socialists, and its defense, mainly by conservatives and libertarians. PRE-HISTORY OF CAPITALISM The Crisis of the 14th century and the "pre-history of capitalism" According to some historians, the modern capitalist system has its origin in the "crisis of the fourteenth century," a conflict between the land-owning aristocracy and the agricultural producers, the serfs. Manorial arrangements inhibited the development of capitalism in a number of ways. Because serfs were forced to produce for lords, they had no interest in technological innovation; because serfs produced to sustain their own families, they had no interest in co-operating with one another. Because lords owned the land, they...
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...Chapter 8,9,& 10 1. Are Taoism and Confucianism truly religions argue both sides. Taoism and Confucianism are two very different religious traditions of ancient China. Both Taoism and Confucianism cannot clearly be explained as a religion with certain doctrines and rituals as other well –known religions. As religious and social forces, they have coexisted for centuries in China and have spread to other Asian regions. The name Taoism is taken from the title of the book called “Tao Te Ching, which translates to “the way of nature. Taoism is based on the ancient Chinese understanding of the universe. Historically, the origin of Taoist philosophy is unclear, but it is said that the founder of Taoism is Lao-tzu, who lived in the sixth century B.C.E. Taoism can be described in terms of its history and its effects on Chinese people, nut it cannot be clearly delineated as a religion with a certain body of doctrine and rituals of Chinese antiquity. Philosophically, for Taoism, the ideal life is one that is lived in harmony with the way of this shifting nature. By the early centuries of the Common Era, Taoism had been converted into a religion complete with gods, priests, temples and sacrifices. In the modern days, Taoism is mainly associated with charms, exorcisms and magical attempts to prolong life, in which there is a self-generating force called chi (rather than there being a Creator Deity). This force manifests two interplaying aspects: yin and yang. Yin is the dark...
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...The Black Death’s effects were devastating but many good things came out of it. One of the most notable things was the end of feudalism. Many labourers at the bottom of the pyramid died, leaving a shortage of workers. This led to a breakdown of feudalism as there was a disproportionate number of peasants to upper class lords. After the Black Death life was better for the lower classes. Feudalism was a way of organising society. People are ranked in order of importance, with the king at the top, down to the lowest peasants or serfs. Everyone had responsibilities to the people below and above them. For example, the knights granted land to the serfs while they provided military service the nobles. The Black Death swept through Europe, killing...
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...History Chapter Seven: Sikhism Page 172: Answer the Following Questions 1. Discuss Sikhism as a syncretism between Hinduism and Islam. Which features has it taken from each religion? Scholars account the development from context of a conversation amongst Hinduism and Islamic mysticism. The worldview is taken from Hinduism and the oneness of god impacted the Sikhs and their literature. 2. What factors worked to turn the pacific movement of Nanak into the warrior caste of later Sikhism? The torture and death of Arjan and execution of Singh. 3. List the three major sects of Sikhism. What are the major characteristics of each? Udasis- order of holy men who follow the rules and principles that govern Hindu, Janism, and Buddhism. Sahajdharis- conservative and slowgoing, reject militant characteristics. Singhs- theology of reincarnation, non use of stimulants long hair on heads and faces. Chapter Eight: Chinese Religions Page 203: Answer the Following Questions 1. Are Taoism and Confucianism truly religions? Argue both sides. They are truly religions because they embody the concept of religion. Taoism cannot be classified as a religion with certain doctrines and practices but it has been converted to one with prescence of gods, temples, priests, and sacrifices. Confucianism is more of a philosophy of the Chinese people and has no sacred writings priesthood etc. but it has affected Chinese character and created cultic development. 2. Describe the Chinese...
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