Roman Empire: The Social Structure Of The Dark Ages

The Dark Ages There has been an ongoing debate between scholars and historians on if the term Dark Ages truly describes the period after the Roman Empire demise. Due to a lack of record keeping, literature and culture tracking there has been a misconception that the time period called the Dark Ages due to being dark times and because there was some sort of regressive thinking process. But we now have the ability to trace things back to the period that suggest otherwise. Feudalism was the system of political rule at the time and by its nature it did not allow for opportunities to be given to the poor which in turn affected their living conditions. Many ended in slavery type relationships with lords or land lords etc. To add salt to injury the
It was a social class system composed of rules and laws that clearly divided nobility and peasants. The peasants made up about 90% of the population. The clergy did not have their separate class and where a very crucial part of keeping the social order. Popes, bishops, priests, monks and other clergy related men where the only ones who were allowed by law to stay literate in order to be able to read and write teachings of the faith. The rest of society was normally divided into royalty or nobility classes. Royalty was the upper class of the Dark Ages. It included kings, queens, princes and princesses. They were expected to maintain complete control of the land they reigned over. This included making all political and economic decisions for everyone in that land. The king’s role was to incorporate law and see that his citizens were properly cared for. His job was to also try and to reduce poverty of his residents as the wealthier the land was as a whole the wealthier he would be. In times of the king not being able to make decisions the queen would be assume the roles of the leader, but otherwise her role was that of a planner for social events. The nobles where further divided into two types, the hereditary and non-hereditary. The hereditary type would gain their nobility due to blood line relations. Normally Dukes, Baron fell into the hereditary type and their duties were to rule provinces, be judges in a court or be military men. They can be referred to as the King’s land keepers making sure that the land was being cultivated properly and to its maximum output being produced (Moelker). Everyone else fell under the non-hereditary noble classes. This included knights, peasants, freemen, serfs and even the slaves. Knights were considered vassals as they were entered into a mutual obligation to a lord. They were to help maintain protection of the lords, their armies and courts. Peasants were the lower social