Section+14-2+Changes+in+Medieval+Society

Section 14-2: Changes in Medieval Society

three-field system- a rule that farmers could now grow on two thirds of their land each year instead of half.
 * Bold: **

guild- an organization of individuals in the same business or occupation working to improve the economic and social conditions of its members.

Commercial Revolution- an expansion of trade and business.

burgher- merchant-class dwellers.

vernacular- The everyday language of writers home land.

Thomas Aquinas- Wrote the Summa Theologicae and argued that most basic religious truths could be proved by logical argument.

scholastics- schoolmen who met with Aquinas at a great University.

- More changes were happening not including the Crusades and such, trade agriculture and finance grew stronger. Towns and cities grew. Learning was growing and a university was built.
 * Setting the Stage:**

- More people needed more food. (duh) A warmer climate brought better farming. They created new methods to take advantage of the more land.
 * A Growing Food Supply:**

- They use to use oxen that were easy to care for and horses needed better food and a team of horses could do about three times more work than a team of oxen. - Horses needed a better harness. A harness was made and it allowed horses to plow and they replaced oxen for plowing and pulling wagons. They cut down forests for new land.
 * Switch to Horsepower:**

- Farmers started to organize their fields into three fields not two.
 * The Three-Field System:**

- Merchants banded together to control the number goods being sold and to keep prices up. They also added security in trading and reduced losses. - wheel-wrights glass makers winemakers tailors and druggists began craft guilds. Husbands and wives both worked in family trade. the guilds also created plan to supervise training. - crafts guilds were making local and long distance goods. More and better products were available. These became very powerful forces in the medieval economy.
 * The Guilds:**

- Trade increased and so did business this was the Commercial Revolution.
 * Commercial Revolution:**

- Most trade in town. Peasants brought things to trade. Fairs were held several times a year. - Cloth was most item traded. Other items, bacon, salt, honey, cheese, wine, leather, dyes, knives, and ropes. Not everything was produced on manors. - More goods from foreign lands available. Trade routes spread. - Fairs made merchants feel more confident in buying items and selling them for profit.
 * Fairs and Trade:**

- Fair to fair merchants need more money. Bills were made to determine exchange rates for different coinage. Letters of credit made it easier to carry large amounts of money. - Merchants looked for new markets to make profit. When the went to far away markets they had to barrow money but the Church didn't let Christians lend money with intrest so European Jews got into the banking business. Eventually Christians could get into the banking business.
 * Business and Banking:**

- The Changes brought by the revolution were slow but effect European lives a lot. Changed society. People earned a living and where they lived were two big aspects. This attracted workers that made cities and town grow.
 * Society Changes:**

- Scholars estimated that the population grew from 30 million to 42 million. Towns grew and flourished. The small communities became a powerful force for change.
 * Urban** **Life Flourishes:**

- Roads were covered with fecal matter. Ports and roads were built towns got more and more people because of the trade. Many people moved to towns for the economic and social opportunities. - Many serfs ran away from the manor. many of the serfs became who were free made better lives for themselves.
 * Trade and Town Grow Together:**

- The craftspeople of the medieval times did not fight into the peasants, nobles or clergy of the social classes. Merchants organized themselves and demanded privileges.
 * Merchant Class Shifts the Social Order:**

- European contact with Muslims and Byzantines greatly expanded. This made the value for learning increase.
 * The Revival of Learning:**

- Old writings that were in Arabic writing was translated into Latin. This spread knowledge. This included science, philosophy law mathematics and other fields. The Crusaders also brought back technology in ships, navigation nf weapons.
 * The Muslim Connection:**

- university was a group of scholars who met whenever they could. Universities arose. most students were sons of Burghers. Most students' goals were in the Church or economy. Five-7 years in school. - Dante Alighieri wrote The Divine Comedy in Italian. Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales in English. Christine de Pisan wrote The Book of The City of Ladies in French.
 * Scholars and the University:**

- The scholastics used their knowledge of Aristotle to debate man issues of their time. teachings helped european thinking about law and government.
 * Aquinas and Medieval Philosophy:**