The Europe’s Medieval, Elite Man and the Late 18th Century Man: A Comparison
It has been argued that world and all its inclusions are dynamic. Indeed, some of these arguments may not be disputed. The evolution of the world has been accompanied by significant changes. For instance, the social, economic and political lifestyle of 21st century differs significantly from that of the preceding centuries. Currently, it cannot be overemphasized that computers have revolutionized the society, as depicted by the state-of-art information and communication technologies. Socially, globalization has drawn all regions of the world together, increasing interactions among the global people, as if they were in the same village. Politically, societies are now organized into central governments, with emphasis increasingly laid on democracy. These features set apart the current society from societies in the preceding centuries. Changes in Europe have been one of the areas of interest for historians. Based on the rationale that everything is dynamic, it is of particular interest to validate and ascertain the extent to which the European society was shaped by tests of time by focusing on the differences between the medieval elite man and the late 18th century man. It may not be disputed that various changes took place, as defined by age of enlightenment, change in education and change for the position of women. Undoubtedly, these worked to change the perspective of the elite man about social relations, the economy and even the governments.
First, the age of enlightenment is one of the marks that differentiate the 18th Century man and the medieval man. The age of enlightenment can be perceived as the cultural movement advance by the intellectuals of the time, and which was particularly pronounced in the European, as well as the American colonies. The target of the age of enlightenment was to induce reforms on the society based on reasons, as opposed to revelations, faith and superstitions. It was also aimed at fostering knowledge advancement through science. As such, the age of enlightenment was characterized by efforts to promote science and intellectual interchange while shunning superstitions and intolerance that had long prevailed since the medieval period1.
Originating between 1650 and 1700, the culture was advanced by a number of popular philosophers such as the Baruch Spinoza, Pierre Bayle, Isaac Newton and John Locke, among others2. The rulers and princes of the time would often endorse and even attempt applying the enlightenment ideas, in what was labeled as the Despotism of enlightenment. In some parts of Europe, such as France, enlightenment age bore the encyclopedia, a literary philosophical and political material accredited to Denis Diderot and other intellectuals and philosophers such as Rousseau, Voltaire and Montesquieu. A number of copies of the material were sold, with as many as a half being sold in areas outside France. The material was considered as a pivotal agent in the spread of the intellectual forces across Europe’s urban centers, especially Scotland, England, Italy, Spain, Russia, Netherlands and, eventually, the European colonies across the Atlantic. It is argued that the material was particularly influential to the elites, including the rulers. In particular, it is argued to have influenced Benjamin Franklin and even Thomas Jefferson. The literary material also played a crucial role in spearheading the American Revolution, as well as in influencing Bill of Rights and even the Declarations of Independence. The enlightenment age would give way to the Romanticism, a culture that emphasized on the prevalence of emotions while attracting counter-enlightenment forces. It is widely cited that its effect were also substantial in delineating between the elite man of the time and the medieval man. The elite man of the 18th century perceived himself as liberal and enlightened while labeling the medieval man as a conservative, mass man.
Indeed, medieval Europe, especially England, was characterized by superstitions pertaining to demons, ghosts and witches. For instance, the medieval era was the time that Nicholas Copernicus made discoveries that the earth that revolved around the sun, instead otherwise. The society as hesitant about accepting the facts fearing that attempts to believe the Copernicus findings would be accompanied by far-reaching consequences. It is argued that people were superstitious to the extent that people would not work or travel on certain days because they were perceived to be evil days. It was believed that those who travelled or worked during the days would die or become ill.
It has also been argued that as many as 200, 000 people were killed throughout Europe for being associated with witchcraft, in the medieval era. Most people perceived as witches were burned alive or hanged to death. The entire medieval population believed that the witch had certain evil powers such as flying using broomstick, as well as changing their forms to animals. Most superstitions of the period were founded on the beliefs in supernatural powers and magic. This justifies the medieval man as a conservative man.
Education also depicts the differences between the men in each setting. Indeed, in the early periods of the medieval era, the kids belonging to the nobles would receive education below the age of fourteen. Schools were relatively small but numerous, teaching Greek and Latin. Most learning institutions were organized and funded by the church. As such, most teaching during the time was geared towards the religion. Religious institutions continued to dominate for several centuries and the rest of the millennium. In the middle age period, a large part of the population remained uneducated3. More often than not, this would be reflected in terms of poor political, social and economic decisions, increased conflicts and limited central governments.
Charles Martel is considered as one of the earliest rulers to introduce education to the medieval European population. He made an appointment of various priests to administer education to the male children of the noble groups. Later on, he made various changes in education by incorporating subjects, such as Latin and mathematics, which were not necessarily related to religious studies. At this point, education had realized various changes. However, the number of people who could read, as well as write, remained relatively low.
Latin was the most popular language of the time, comparable to the popularity of contemporary English language. The medieval education was administered in Latin. This was despite the fact that society comprised of several languages. A significant number of nobles learned to read and write in Latin, a language that was common in the abbeys and monasteries. Those who took their lessons in the monasteries would later become monks, who also spent a better part of their time preserving the roman and Greek texts and writing books.
A lot of classical works were translated into Latin. Professions for the educated individuals were limited. In the medieval era, those who trained in fighting earned more prospects than those who ventured in education. Similarly, individuals ascended to leadership by virtue of their inheritance and warfare, as opposed to the education achievements4. The administration of education excluded certain groups. For instance, peasant and women were never allowed to take lessons because they could not afford. Furthermore, the attempt to keep education out of reach from lower classes was considered as an outright move to exercise continued dominion over them. In order to safeguard their interests, the price of books was raised to ensure that education was only earned via the teacher.
On the course of High Middle Ages, a significant number of European nations started gaining stability. This was accompanied by reduced incidences of Viking raids, improved law and order, which were a precondition for the peaceful periods. Institutions of higher learning, such as Universities, were also established during this period. Although education continued to be dominated by the upper class groups, the era created an allowance for the changes for the sake of inclusive education. Nevertheless, the participation of women in education continued to be limited. Women were expected to be submissive to men by sticking to their traditional roles5.
Moreover, as far as the position of women in the society is concerned, drastic changes were also realized in the 18th century, and which sets apart the elite people in the 18th century from the men in the medieval era. Whereas women participation in politics was conditioned by gender, and whereas only exceptional women became popular during the period, social, political and economic developments offered a lot of opportunities for women, compared to the preceding medieval periods. It has been argued that it was the age of enlightenment bore a reason to pave the way for women to feature in politics. Women who brought up in families that were politically active nurtured into politicians. Their involvement extended from political socialization to the management and control of elections. As a matter of fact, the political participation of such women was widely accepted based upon the traditions of the families, individual abilities and the political demands expediency. It is argued that their participation was relatively less problematic than that of men, especially for cases where the political roles were supportive or subordinate to the men’s positions. It was only in the cases that women confronted and questioned men that they became targets of sexual criticisms and vilifications.
The elite men in the 18th century were pushed to worry that women were a threat to the politics of men. However, what was argued to be as a serious threat was the fact that women proved not be politically incompetent, a demonstration that gender was never the reason for the exclusion of women from politics6. In the medieval era, the roles of women and participation in politics were particularly limited. Women had faced various forms of discrimination and segregation. Such women were the main victims of domestic violence and violated maternal rights. They were denied employment by being barred from working in the industries. Women were also denied political rights because they were not allowed to participate in voting or vying for political positions. However, the 18th century well served as the punctuation era to shun the conservative views about the position of women.
Thus, in conclusion, it is agreeable that the medieval elite men were different from the 18th century men. First, the 19th century elite man is set apart from the medieval man by virtue of the enlightenment age. The age of enlightenment can be perceived as the cultural movement advance by the intellectuals of the time, whose target was to induce reforms on the society based on reasons, as opposed to revelations, faith and superstitions that had dominated during the medieval era. Secondly, although education started as early medieval era, it was limited by lack of inclusivity for all classes. Additionally, education was considered as less prestigious and limited during the medieval era than the 18th century era. This is reflected in the poor economic political and economic decisions that prevailed. Thirdly, the position of women in the society during the medieval era was limited and guided by conservative perspectives that only further segregated them from the mainstream society. However, the changes in the 18th century created the allowance for the female to begin dominating, as evidenced for the case of political developments. The 18th century man considers himself different from the medieval man in the sense that he was relatively enlightened, liberal, civilized. Thus, age of enlightenment, change in education and change in the position of women worked to change the perspective of the elite man about social relations, the economy and even the governments.
References
Anderson, Mils. Historians and the 18th Century Europe. Oxford University Press, 1979.
Cohn, Samuel. Popular Protest in the Medieval Europe: France, Italy and Flanders, Manchester University Press, 2004.
McCluskey, Steph, Astronomy and Culture in the Medieval Europe, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1998.
Wickham, Chris. The Inheritance of Romans: Illuminating the Dark Age. New York: Penguin Books, 2009.
