The Middle Ages

The Middle Ages were known by many historians as a time of ignorance, where little to none advancements took place. The church was the center of attention and beliefs were strictly based off of superstitions. It was a period of faith, disease, terror, feudalism, and advancements in art and architecture. For the most part, the Middle Ages were composed of and relied on three main systems; feudalism, manorialism, and the Roman Catholic Church. All three of the systems were pretty reliable until a time period between 1000 CE and 1600 CE. During this short but crucial time period, disaster struck Western Europe. All three of these systems were altered dramatically and they were basically wiped off the map. The causes of the decline of the Middle
The Crusades was a continuous stream of marching Western armies (Crusaders) into the Muslim world, ending in the creation and eventually the fall of the Islamic Kingdoms. The Crusades was supposed to be a Holy War of Roman Christianity against Islam, but it also had to do with Western Europeans wanting more land and power. Lots of knights and lords went on this trip because the Pope said they would have the opportunity to kill people or die and go to heaven. When the crusaded ended and almost all the knights and lords died, the serfs were the only ones left on the manors. This lead to the decline of manorialism because serfs were the only ones who could look after it, so the manors were not in good condition. Also, the serfs controlled more land and had more power on the manors. The Crusades aided in the decline of the Roman Catholic Church because the Christians lost the church to the Muslim Crusaders. Also because there were less knights and lords, the king became more powerful than the Pope and the king did not have to listen to his commands. Finally, the crusades affected the feudal system because with all the lords and knights gone, the serfs had to pay more taxes to the king and had to fulfill a lot of the responsibilities that the lords and knights usually fulfilled. The Crusades was a long and dangerous journey that not only
When all the knights left for the Crusades, the serfs were the only ones left on the manors. The manors quickly became poorly conditioned and the serfs wanted something new. Also with the increased amount of trade during the Commercial Revolution, the new towns needed more workers for their increased amount of business. The serfs decided to flee the manors and head for the new towns. At the new towns all the serfs cooperated to make the businesses in the towns successful. They set up guilds which was when the workers cooperated to make all the prices the same in each store. This way everyone could basically make a fortune. When the serfs left for the new and growing towns, manorialism was destroyed and deserted. Although the serfs made more money, they were also taxed more. The king made a lot of money of this and the feudal system declined because of the amount of power the king had. Not only did feudalism and manorialism decline but so did The Roman Catholic Church because the king gained more power than the Pope and the king did not have to do everything the Pope said. The growth of towns set off a huge line of events that ended up significantly impacting the Middle