Socio-economic changes in the middle age

Posted: October 17th, 2013

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Socio-economic changes in the middle age

Middle age was between 1000 AD up to the fifteenth century, during the fall of Constantinople. The socio-economic changes include those that are related to both social and economic. The period before the middle age was called the dark ages. It was during the fifth century up to year 1000. The Dark Age was characterized by wars, lack of civilization, oppression and ignorance. The world was undeveloped because people did not care. There was no education, which was another reason for lack of advancements. After this period was over, the people started changing both their economic and social status. They worked towards making positive changes because they wanted better lives.

Among the first activities was to allocate themselves land for agriculture. Those that managed to get land were considered wealthy, and high on the social class ladder. Other groups of classes were clergy people, knights and peasants. Clergy were also landowners and the knights were mostly noble men. They learnt how to fight, be kind to women, and ride horses among other activities. The peasants were those who were the poorest. They lived on land owned by the other rich men and paid tax for it. The rich and poor c-existed in the same society and lived and worked together peacefully.

Other developments include introduction of governance and administration. Initially in the Dark Age, people’s lack of civilization did not allow them to have common administration. There were governors who ensured that people lived peacefully, and this is how administration came to be accepted even in today’s society. Even in religious practices, there was administration by the Bishops. They presided over religious matters and led others in worshipping God. Apart from maintaining order, the administration collected taxes from people. This was used to enhance public facilities and pay those in public administration. Acceptance of governance by the people shows that civilization had been accepted. Despite the various classes of social status, the people were willing to be ruled by the same administration.

Industrialization began during the Middle Age. Among the first ones was the cloth industry. Agriculture was not a sufficient economic activity hence, introduction of industrialization. At the beginning of the cloth industry, its purpose was to serve only the rural and domestic population. These clothes were manufactured by day laborers, farmers and other business people. They worked in this industry partly when they were free. One challenge experienced in this industry was little wages for the workers yet the merchants who were the manufacturers, collected huge profits. Industrialization revolutionized from being domestic to international. More people engaged in this activity and introduced machinery, which made work easier. People from different backgrounds come together to work. This was a crucial step in promoting socio-economic activities. They enhance human interaction as well as improve the economy.

Since agricultural output was not sufficient, improvements were made to increase production. The people decided to introduce new crops and keep livestock. The livestock produce was used to supplement crop production because the population increased as the years went by. Methods of farming were also improved to facilitate increased production. Farming was being done in large scale, therefore, there was a need to improve the farming tools, through the help of the scientific revolution, better tools and farm machinery. The scientific revolution also took place in the years of Middle Age. This revolution brought a significant improvement in the economy. The scientific inventions made machinery, and other working tools improve performance. Industries increased their production because the machinery made work easier for the workers. The socio-economic changes in the Middle Age brought improved people’s lives. They were able to co-exist and by working together unlike the previous period, which was characterized by war and lack of civilization.