Understanding an Era
The only way to truly grasp the mindset of an era is to analyze primary sources that have survived the test of time. The High Middle Ages stand out as an era defined by primary sources seeing as those are the only way to look into these people’s lives. Up until the discovery of these documents this era was believed to be dull with very little contribution to the development of mankind thus being dubbed the “Dark” Ages. The founding of these primary sources, however, has proved the contrary. The people of this period lived vastly interesting lives within a complex feudal living system. The standard life of a serf can be examined through the documents they used to record court rulings and transactions within their villages. Edwin DeWindt’s Slice of Life, is a collection of these documents including standard work services, court rolls, accounting information, and a list of fines and payments from 1294 to 1309 in the manor of Warboys cum Caldecote. These court rulings and transactions are the only look into the daily operations within these villages and provide insight toward how they handled conflict and operated business. Another set of primary sources worth examining are those found in Clifford Backman’s A Medieval Omnibus. Backman’s collection holds a much more broad array of sources but nevertheless includes pieces of documents that pertain to the same analysis of the standard of living within the feudal system. With loose control from the lords who ruled over these villages these documents offer analysis into daily life and essentially local governments used to keep things running smoothly within these townships. These two sources both provide individual insight into the period, but provide a much better idea when they are paired together. It is also important to keep in mind while evaluating these sources is whom they were written for.
Slice of Life’s account roll from 1306-1307 holds financial records for the village during this time. This was likely written by the prominent accountant within the township. These payments cover purchases and sales of land and livestock, and also include rent payments to the Lord of the abbey. All of these records are brief and give an exact description of the transaction including names of the buyer, the date of the deal, and a summary of the good or service that is being sold. The main issue some may have with this source is that it is fairly broad and context is missing in certain cases. A simple example of this would be “He renders account of 4 s. for two rings of corn sold to the stackers and winnowers and 4 s. 4 d. for two rings also sold to them”. This is a simple transaction of corn to people who helped manage the crop, however it does not give names, reason for the transaction, or whether or not this is compensation for labor (as stackers and winnowers stack and winnow grains). These few things could be considered essential in understanding these transactions and how these interactions affected the daily happenings within Warboys. However, it is imperative to understand the audience that these documents were written for. These account rolls are used for the people of these villages, not for people to analyze hundreds of years in the future. It is important to take these documents for what they are. These should not be used to analyze the style of life on a broad scale but rather to evaluate these Abbeys as functioning towns with thriving markets and interpersonal relationships. Taking these for what they are worth and not looking for more than they have to offer can give you a very in depth look into these Abbeys. Looking at the account rolls it is interesting to see the transfers of land rights and livestock. These sort of transactions such as, “He renders account of 12 s. received from the men of Broughton for license to mow in the marsh of Warboys” (Slice 80). This is an example of a transfer of land which would very clearly require discussion and negotiation seeing as land was incredibly valuable during the Medieval period. Transactions of this scale prove that the people of this era were competent traders if even on a small scale within their towns, which through development over time leads to thriving economies as the town’s population begins to grow. Ultimately this document sheds the most light on small scale commerce of the Medieval era along with how serfs managed their funds amongst each other.
In Backman’s, A Medieval Omnibus, selection 15.1 is titled “Daily Life in London” written by William Fitz Stephen a cleric at Saint Thomas Becket. This paper provides a scholar’s in depth look at the ins and outs of the city and its customs. He describes London as a city rich with faithful people and a thriving market. In addition he provides an idea of the layout of the city, listing castles, bridges, beautiful architecture, and boasting about “thirteen large conventional churches and one hundred and twenty-six parish churches”. He was very clear in mentioning the size of their religious stronghold within the city as it was incredibly important in measuring a city during the era. He furthers this point by explaining that each of the three main churches in London have thriving school attached to them and that the students of each of these schools compete with each other for scholastic supremacy. He continues on to talk about the successful agriculture in various locations in the city with large, healthy livestock. He examines how the people of London live their lives in a model fashion, with their only fault being that they have too much fun. Stephen’s piece is comparable to a travel brochure in that it does not name one true negative point about the city of London. Although that does leave modern readers without a true target audience it can be assumed that this was for other scholars to see and grasp a positive idea on how the city of London operates.
All of his points lead the reader to his main point of exemplifying how London is a paramount city in comparisons of others. Although written 200 years prior to the documents in Slice of Life this essay shows some of the results of a progressed economic system as seen in Warboys. Comparing these documents is beneficial to see the differences and similarities of large and small scale life within the High Middle Ages. These changes are very clear in this article as Stephen describes London as a very upscale city, but Warboys is depicted as very small scale town some 200 years later. “London lifts its proud head; it rejoices in its healthy hair, its Christian observance, its strong fortifications, the beauty of its location, the prestige of its men, and the modesty of its women”. Using this as a reference it is clear the people of London took a deep pride in being from the city. This example differs from the prior as it presents a more broad yet deeper look into the literal actions of the people within the city. “London abounds in miracle-plays and mystery-plays, which tell of the miraculous things done by by the Holy confessors or the sufferings of the great martyrs. On the day they call “Carnival”… After the mid-day meal all the youths rush to the field to play a popular game of ball”. This sample not only gives a look at what the people of the city did for fun but it also exemplifies the point that culture did progress during the medieval era. They used their deep reliance on faith to develop their own sense of culture, contrary to the popular belief that religion hindered cultural progression within the period. Although it may not seem as if it lives up to the prowess of culture from ancient Rome or Greece the people of the Medieval period were not robots and did find themselves creating their own form of expression. However some could say when evaluating the cultural advances of the era that just producing plays is not enough to be considered valuable culture that is truly a misunderstanding. A period can produce fine pieces of drama without necessarily progressing from where the last period left off. Despite any analysis from people of today it is important to take into consideration the audience that this paper was written for. Stephen’s essay was written to prove London’s superiority over all comparable cities and that is clear as it is written boastfully. Stephen’s shines a bright light on urban life during the High Middle Ages and he does so with an almost condescending tone, describing London as an unparalleled urban center for trade and quality of life.
From comparing simple account rolls to delving into the customs of high end living in London it is clear to see the difference between rural and urban life of the era.As previously stated it is detrimental when evaluating primary sources to keep in mind their target audience. This point is exemplified when looking at these two sources in both Stephen’s essay and the account rolls in Slice of Life. When looking at these two sources individually they both give very different perspectives on life in the Medieval era. However when they are evaluated as a whole with their target audiences in mind they fill the gaps in each others stories. The most prominent example of this is that within the account rolls there is no mention of faith. All those who have studied the Medieval age and specifically the High Middle Ages know that religion was one of , of not the, most important aspects of day to day life. The account rolls were not written with to show that as they were merely used to keep track of the Abbey’s financial records. Therefore if one was to look at this source and disregard the audience it was written for they could evaluate the period as a faithless era. This misguided assessment of the period is caused by the lack of understanding of the document. Furthermore the same sort of issue could arise in Stephen’s essay on London. Although Stephen’s piece does emphasise the importance of the church it does not bring up any point on life outside of the city. Also it was written as an expression of how great of a city London is, attempting to set a bar for other cities to live up to. Using that information it makes it quite simple to evaluate that this source is not enough to develop an accurate understanding of the period. However the two sources do have one piece of their stories in common: agriculture. As previously cited there is a transaction in Slice of Life for a license to mow on a patch of land, and in A Medieval Omnibus section 15.1 there is mention of livestock and farming in and around the city. Moreover, “In a settled area just outside one of the gates there lies ‘Smithfield’”. Smithfield was an area outside of the city that was used for fairs where people bought and sold agricultural tools. This one brief mentioning within Stephen’s essay shines light on the agricultural portion of city life in the High Middle Ages. Lastly another staple of the Medieval era is the architecture. Although many people disregard the era’s achievements in the arts one aspect that does receive its fair recognition is that of the gothic architecture seen in many european cities. This architectural style is brought up in Stephen’s essay as he discusses the fortitude of the castles within London’s walls. This further proves the inefficiency of looking at these documents individually as there is no mention of this in the account rolls in Warboys. Therefore, when using both pieces and keeping their respective target audiences in mind it provides a much clearer image of the High Middle Ages. The period flaunted cities as developed as London along with feudal life in the countryside, with all people regardless of where they live holding similar values.
Conclusively, the High Middle Ages are given a poor reputation due to widespread misconception of cultural gridlock during the period. However as anyone individual with access to primary sources from the era would be able to determine this is simply not true. Primary sources throughout history give insight that secondary and tertiary sources blatantly cannot provide. The High Middle Ages stand out as a period truly defined by these primary sources. They all contain similar requirements in accurate analysis, the two most important being target audience and purpose. When looking at sources like Slice of Life and A Medieval Omnibus these two analytical elements are vital in understanding these documents and their significance in helping developing a sound idea of life in the High Middle Ages.
Works Cited
- “Account Roll 1306-07” in A Slice of Life: Selected Documents of Medieval English Peasant Experience, ed. Edwin DeWindt (Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, 1996), 48.
- “Daily Life in London” in A Medieval Omnibus: Sources in Medieval European History, ed. Clifford R. Backman (New York: Oxford University Press 2015), 194.