Describe and explain the social formation of the British society during medieval period

Medieval refers to the period between the classical and Renaissance, chronologically it started soon after the demise or fall of Roman Empire around the 5th Century to the beginning of the early modern period around the 15 Century. During this period the Church was the most dominant especially the Roman Catholic Church, the historical knowledge was controlled by the church. Due to that the history of that time was History of the Church. History during this time was based on the record and explanation of the things that were done by the church and the people who were recording the events were Clergies. Also during this period there was two history namely, Vitae, this was the history of the important people in the Church including, Pope, Saints, Queen as well as King and Ritae dealt with crucial events of the church such as baptism .

Social formation refers to the society (social structure at any levels such as Nation, business, city, as well as family) with all its complexities as it is historically contradicting. This include the way class express political and ideology the concept for production and each class has the resistance to own. Therefore the social formation is the totality of the relations of the classes at all levels, the relation of the product as well as circulation in society. 

The social formation in British society during medieval period was formed through different aspects such as political, social, as well as economic activities as follows; 

During the medieval period the society in Britain was divided in the concepts that was based on order and degree where by at the top there was the King, followed by Feudal Magnates or members of the Nobility families, next there was Land Lord of the Manor, Merchants, Clergy, as well as peasants. The interrelationship among these group was ratified with feudal concepts of the Homage and stealthy by the Manorial custom of the Villain age as well as the church which preached the importance of member of the society performing .Always the highest group comprised few people who exploited the other group especially the peasants who produced much in agriculture however earned little since, their produce were taken by the land lords 

The medieval period experienced Roman Catholic becoming the influential or force of the Britain society .The religion had religious leadership, secular, as well as preserving learning. The head of the church was Pope whom the followers believed to the spiritual representatives of the Jesus on the Earth, followed by Cardinal, Archbishop, Bishop and Priest. The main function of the religion was to serve the sprit needs of the society, church taught all men and women were sinners but the Christians could achieve salvation or external life in the heaven through, Faith in Jesus, God, work hard and participate in sacrament. On the other hand Pope believed that they have authority over the King, some time he excluded the King from the Church for stance Pope Innocent 111, ex communicated King John of England in the 1200s due to the disputes among the two, since everyone wanted to control the State and monopolize the wealth as well. 

During the medieval period most of the land was owned by the Land lords in which the serfs were working on their farms, the peasants were required to pay tributes to the head of the land who were Land lords for stance 1/3 of their produces was to be taken out and given to the feudal lords. More over the basic unity of the land was Manor which comprises small village in prop rectors lived in the large house located at the advantageous position distant from the house of the Titters at the large estate in which Serf worked on .

During the medieval period, the political pattern of the British society was based on the feudal elements or concepts of Kings, Chiefs and More generally of the feudal Magnates set aside as an upper class. With the rise of Parliament system the notion of parliamentary peerage, additionally the ranks of the Nobility were recognized by the end of the middle age. Tittle of the nobility was that of Duke, few Dukes from the royal families came the order of the Marquees, Viscount and Baron. The noble men were very rich and owned the vast land with One thousand tenants . 

The medieval era the British society witnessed the presence of Merchants class, these were traders who involved in trading activities like buying and selling different things such as land, luxury, amassed and considerable wealth. These lived in small town by that time whereby they controlled the town government as the merchant needed stability to their trading activities so they allied  and collaborated with the Kings hence the establishment of the central government against the individuals. Town charter became to be the source of the royal revenues, the merchants’ guilds controlled the trade in town as it regulates price, quality, and weights, measure and bossiness production. Each guilds had patrons, Saints and celebrated religious festival together, so due to the growth of town and guilds led to the fall of Manor centered feudal system. 

During the middle age there was the class of the agricultural workers, these included both free and unfree peasants. The unfree peasants were workers who worked on the land of then land lords with the exchange of housing and minimal land, they had no access to education, and they were not allowed to move to town. They were also hardly free to buy or sell land and other properties, therefore they had no legal right in the loyal system of the common law. The free peasants were free to move, to buy or sell the land and were the most producers in the society . 

The medieval period experienced the presence of Women whom were source of domestic economy due to the dowry brought up on their marriage, also they involved in small scale production like selling vegetables and eggs .On the other hand women played a great role in Britain society economy since they made and sold ale, textile production, however in ruling system women were much hardly included as all the positions were held by men.

During the medieval period in the British society the peasants were mostly denied education opportunities as were considered to remain labor supply to the Feudal Lords and the Noblemen. This made them to remain illiterates in British society compare to the other classes like the Noblemen, church men, house holders. The Noblemen and churchmen were highly preferred in education opportunities were educated up to the University level which gave them the chance of becoming rulers. The house holders were also given few chances in education system. This education system used by the upper class as the means of exploiting the lower class who were illiterate too and make them depend on their labor as source of their survival .

The human category was divided into the Three Orders, or Estates. As medieval society viewed it, the First Estate was “those who pray” (the clergy), the Second Estate “those who fight” (the nobility), and the Third Estate “those who work” (the peasants). As town life developed in the twelfth century and thereafter, these simple categories began to break down with the addition of merchants, guildsmen, scholars, and so forth . The first estate was a powerful class who owned the major means of production as well as providing orders to other estates and those who went against were severely punished. 

In subsistence agricultural production the workers who formed the bulk of English society during medieval period were legally separated into two groups, the free and the unfree. Those who were unfree were not slaves, but as villains or serfs they were bound to remain on the manors where they had been born, performing compulsory labor services in exchange for modest housing and minimal amounts of land. They needed their lord’s permission to marry and to educate their children. Those serfs in return they gave their rent to the land lords in terms of either labour service, rent in kind or money. 

It was during the Middle Ages that the use of family names became common in England, Many surnames were derived from occupations. Examples, which tell us a good deal about the major medieval crafts and trades, are Miller, Baker, Brewer, Butcher, Shepherd, Carpenter, Thatcher, Smith, Taylor, Weaver, Wheeler, Franklin (a freeman), and Fuller (one who fulls cloth, to improve its texture following weaving).  These names indicated those people who owned the major means of production and those who worked they were not famous because they owned nothing and received low wages

Medieval society was dominated by men and women were seldom involved in government, warfare, land management, or the professions. The lives of ordinary women primarily revolved around their families, the two primary duties of women being to provide the management for daily affairs in the household, and to bear and rear the children. Women were an essential part of the domestic economy, beginning with the dowry a woman brought with her upon her marriage, to the labor she provided in running the household, and often extending to small-scale production in the form of selling vegetables or eggs, making and selling ale, or doing some aspect of textile production 

The medieval England society was associated with religion where by the Clergies made a close relationship with the English state throughout the middle Age. The bishop under major monastic leaders played an important part in national government, having a key role on kings’ council. Bishops often oversaw town and cities, managing local taxation and government. Hence this maintained the easy collection and distribution of wealth especially for the development of the state. In England Bishop was a full power to control the society by collecting taxes and owned the land

Generally the social formation during the medieval period was mostly based on classes in which the upper one was exploiting the lower class for instance the feudal Lords and the Noblemen as the peasants or tenants were supposed to work on their farms without any kind of wage, also these peasants or tenants were required to pay taxes to the feudal Lords. Therefore it was due to this situation that led to the frequent conflict between the land owners and the peasants, as they tired of being much exploited, hence the demise of feudal system in Britain and the rise of capitalism.

REFERENCES

Edward Miller and Hatcher John (1978). Medieval England: Rural Society and Economic Change, 1086– 1348. The Cromwell Press: London

Bennett, H. S, (1962). Men and Women. Clarendon Press. New York

Jackson S. J (2005) World History: Modern Times. The Graw Hill Companies. New York

Salam A. M. (2014). Social and Cultural History of Britain. Calicut University. India