Socioeconomic Classes 600 CE to 1450 - AP World History

The samurai were originally cavalry archers.

Although many samurai were proficient with spears and pikes, they were originally cavalry archers.

Although there may have been some individual exceptions, the samurai were not known to ever use nets and tridents.

Eventually the samurai became proficient with firearms like muskets, but only just before their extinction as a distinct social group.

Japan did have a maritime tradition, but the samurai were never a large part of that tradition.

Jousting afforded young knights excellent experience, if they survived.

A tiny proportion of the European population was involved in jousting, the male, aristocratic, warrior youths.

Poor people could not afford the expensive armor needed to joust, let alone the horse and years of training.

Heavy cavalry was well proven during the High Middle Ages. Only in the late Middle Ages did heavy cavalry lose their preponderance on the battlefield, as firearms technology enabled faster, unarmored, pistol bearing cavalry to shoot the slower, heavy horses out from under their riders.

Jousting was done with a lance, never a bow.

In an effort to cope with the economic instability caused by the plague, the English and French governments passed a series of restrictive laws and tax increases directed at the peasantry. In particular, France raised “tailles” or taxes specifically upon peasants, while England instituted the Statute of Laborers to prevent any wage increases and to make it as difficult as possible for any peasant to be legally permitted to leave their master’s lands. The two nations hoped that these new policies would bring increased revenue into governmental coffers and would also help preserve the crumbling social system, built upon peasant labor and exploitation, which the Black Death had badly eroded. Instead, as might be expected, these measures had quite the contrary effect – across England and France, outraged peasants, furious at what they saw as government insensitivity and worsening of their suffering, staged mass revolts.

Although the Hundred Years’ War inflicted pain upon the entirety of both the French and English populations, in both countries, the peasantry was the most devastated of all social groups. This is largely due to the fact that prior to the war’s outbreak, the peasants were already the most vulnerable and troubled social class – their lowly status, coupled with their confinement to their masters’ lands, a lack of education, and chronic malnutrition, meant that any sufferings brought on by the war would already weaken them even further. Furthermore, the French and English governments compounded the peasants’ suffering by recruiting (either willingly or unwillingly) nearly every male of fighting age into the army – and the category of fighting age was set rather low. The national governments also raised taxes on the peasants and forced them to provide more services (such as food and raw materials) for either a reduced price or entirely for free, with the excuse of the necessity of the war effort as justification.

During the Middle Ages, education in Europe was only available to the wealthiest members of society. Universities first emerged in the twelfth century, but public schools and universal public education did not emerge until the nineteenth century. During the Middle Ages most education was carried out through the church - monastic communities arose to provide for the education of young scholars.

The Japanese feudal code Bushido closely resembles the European concept of chivalry. Bushido means “way of the warrior” and it refers to a set of codes which define the values of Japanese samurai - stressing honor and loyalty above all other values. Both bushido and chivalry were necessary concepts to provide legitimacy to the feudal system.

Trade was vital to the power and growth of the Byzantine Empire - situated as it was at the center of the known world, between North Africa, Europe, and Asia. As a result merchants in the Byzantine Empire were held in very high esteem and many contributed to the governing of society.

While Feudalism did impact the economy and cultural landscape of medieval Europe, it was first and foremost a social order that strictly dictate the roles of the upper and lower classes.

During the early medieval period, the upper classes of societies had generally already been established. The elites in society were the landowning classes. During this period, however, the growth of trade meant that some merchants grew immensely wealthy. The elites, in the vast majority of societies, viewed merchants disdainfully and were very reluctant to welcome merchants into the upper class.

Primogeniture was the strict code of inheritance that passed all wealth land and titles down from father to eldest son. This practice severely limited the independence of women in society, and kept wealth from being distributed among lower classes.

The status of merchants rose in European society during the medieval era more quickly than the status of merchants elsewhere. In European society, merchants were only behind the aristocracy and knights in the social hierarchy, whereas elsewhere they might be behind civil servants, scholars, priests, artisans, or even peasants.

Furusiyya is a Mamluk code of behavior that emerged when the Mamluks served as slave-warriors for the Abbasid Caliphate and was strengthened after they gained their independence and formed the Mamluk Sultanate. Furusiyya was a code of behavior for knights and warriors and was comparable to the European concept of chivalry.

The feudal system was organized with Monarchs as the primary rulers, whose rule was supported by Nobles. These nobles then had retinues of knights who served as professional soldiers. Below knights were free peasants who were not tied to the land, unlike the lowest rank of society -indentured peasants or serfs.

The samurai were originally cavalry archers.

Although many samurai were proficient with spears and pikes, they were originally cavalry archers.

Although there may have been some individual exceptions, the samurai were not known to ever use nets and tridents.

Eventually the samurai became proficient with firearms like muskets, but only just before their extinction as a distinct social group.

Japan did have a maritime tradition, but the samurai were never a large part of that tradition.

Jousting afforded young knights excellent experience, if they survived.

A tiny proportion of the European population was involved in jousting, the male, aristocratic, warrior youths.

Poor people could not afford the expensive armor needed to joust, let alone the horse and years of training.

Heavy cavalry was well proven during the High Middle Ages. Only in the late Middle Ages did heavy cavalry lose their preponderance on the battlefield, as firearms technology enabled faster, unarmored, pistol bearing cavalry to shoot the slower, heavy horses out from under their riders.

Jousting was done with a lance, never a bow.

In an effort to cope with the economic instability caused by the plague, the English and French governments passed a series of restrictive laws and tax increases directed at the peasantry. In particular, France raised “tailles” or taxes specifically upon peasants, while England instituted the Statute of Laborers to prevent any wage increases and to make it as difficult as possible for any peasant to be legally permitted to leave their master’s lands. The two nations hoped that these new policies would bring increased revenue into governmental coffers and would also help preserve the crumbling social system, built upon peasant labor and exploitation, which the Black Death had badly eroded. Instead, as might be expected, these measures had quite the contrary effect – across England and France, outraged peasants, furious at what they saw as government insensitivity and worsening of their suffering, staged mass revolts.

Although the Hundred Years’ War inflicted pain upon the entirety of both the French and English populations, in both countries, the peasantry was the most devastated of all social groups. This is largely due to the fact that prior to the war’s outbreak, the peasants were already the most vulnerable and troubled social class – their lowly status, coupled with their confinement to their masters’ lands, a lack of education, and chronic malnutrition, meant that any sufferings brought on by the war would already weaken them even further. Furthermore, the French and English governments compounded the peasants’ suffering by recruiting (either willingly or unwillingly) nearly every male of fighting age into the army – and the category of fighting age was set rather low. The national governments also raised taxes on the peasants and forced them to provide more services (such as food and raw materials) for either a reduced price or entirely for free, with the excuse of the necessity of the war effort as justification.

During the Middle Ages, education in Europe was only available to the wealthiest members of society. Universities first emerged in the twelfth century, but public schools and universal public education did not emerge until the nineteenth century. During the Middle Ages most education was carried out through the church - monastic communities arose to provide for the education of young scholars.

The Japanese feudal code Bushido closely resembles the European concept of chivalry. Bushido means “way of the warrior” and it refers to a set of codes which define the values of Japanese samurai - stressing honor and loyalty above all other values. Both bushido and chivalry were necessary concepts to provide legitimacy to the feudal system.