Peasants And Aristocrats Essay

The roles played by both the peasants and aristocrats were that of codependents. The High Middle Ages took the idea of the feudal system established for years to come; aristocrats held land and power but still needed serfs to work the land. Simply put, those in the peasant class did not have the wealth needed to own land nor the means of protecting it; while, the aristocrats have the affluence to pay for protection and the land needed for agriculture. The peasant class fueled the this machine through manpower on the farms, and swords on the battlefield when needed. For the beginning parts of the High Middle Ages this was civilization, farming, caring for livestock, paying taxes to the king, and defending the land. Yet, as prosperity grew and
As stated in the book, on page 247, “The revival of commercial activity, considerable expansion and circulation of money...were made possible by the new agricultural practices.” The lesson this week discusses this in better detail, the fact that peasants now had to worry about simply working the land for their lords allowed for more food and better fertility rates, this all due to the emergence of three field systems, and the new abundance of food. The farming system and indeed the change in civilization in the HIgh Middle Ages all started with simple farming techniques, but were only able to be successful due to the amount of land acquired by the aristocracy and the manpower available via the peasant class. So, the roles played by both were always codependent. Aristocrats providing the money for land, protection and trade, while the peasant classes provide their services to acquire food and begin construction of the merchant class via their manpower and addition of food from the new farming techniques they were able to carry