The Order of Society in the Middle Ages

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The Order of Society in the Middle Ages Society in much of medieval Europe was organized into a feudal system, which was based on the allocation of land in return for services to the king. The king gave grants of land or fiefs, to his most important noblemen -barons and bishops- and in return each noble promised to supply the king with soldiers in time of war. A noble pledged himself to be the king's servant or vassal, at a special ceremony - kneeling before the king he swore an oath of loyalty with the words, "Sire I have become your man." The great nobles often divided their lands among lower lords, or knights, who in turn became their vassals. In this way feudalism stretched from the very top of the society to the very bottom. At the lowest rung of the society ladder were the peasants who worked the land itself. They had few rights, little property and no Society in much of medieval Europe . Feudal society was traditionally divided into three "estates" equivalent to social classes). The "First Estate" was the Church -clergy-, those who prayed. The "Second Estate" was the Nobility, those who fought, knights. It was common for aristocrats to enter the Church and shift from the second to the first estate. The "Third Estate" was the Peasantry, everyone else, at least under feudalism: those who produced the food which supported those who prayed and those who fought, the members of the First and Second Estates. The categories defined by these traditional "estates" are gender specific: they are defined by what a man does for a living as much as by the social class into which he was born. Women were classified differently. Like men, medieval women were born into the second or third estate, and might eventually become members of the first by entering the Church, willingly or not. But women were also categorized according to three
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