What do you 'think'? How did people of different classes 'think' differently? Revised

Q: What do you 'think'? How did people of different classes 'think' differently?
A: Thinking is a very broad topic for a human to try and write about. It is also hard to think about thinking and the way you think. A person has an innate sense to think and how to think. Though they do not always realize, they think about things logically and use common sense. Think is defined as, “to have a conscious mind, to some extent of reasoning, remembering experiences, making rational decisions, etc,” (www.dictionary.com). This definition basically means that humans reason through things, remember things that they experienced, and make decisions based on their reasoning and experiences. It is also defined as, “to employ one's mind rationally and objectively in evaluating or dealing with a given situation,"(www.dictionary.com). This definition is saying that humans think rationally to deal with a situation. Both of these definitions are saying that humans think with common sense and knowledge of past experiences to deal with obstacles they may face now.

People of different classes sometimes think very differently and sometimes think the same way. Humans from the Middle Ages were set into strict social classes. There were knights, merchants, clergy, and peasants. The knights and other higher classes may have thought that farming was a sign of poor, oppressed people, while THE farmers had no shame in it. The peasants may have thought that the knights and other higher classes were conceited, arrogant, and thought little of THE peasants. Some of these accusations were true, while some were false. The government had a large role in the social classes along with money and family. The noble men owned their own land, while the peasants lived on the lord’s land. This visibly set them apart. The noble men looked down upon the peasants, and the peasants were taught to look up to the noble men. Each lord had a small army made up of vassals who owed him military service for their fiefs. A vassal is the weaker man and the lord is the stronger man. A fief is “usually a piece of land, although sometimes it was a right, such as the right to fish in a stream or the right to collect a toll on a certain road; a vassal could become a lord himself if he granted a piece of his fief to another man,” (http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/history/middleages/feudal.html). When lords made laws they used their army to enforce it. The lord was also the judge and if his vassals had trouble with one another, than the vassals could go to the lord and have the lord settle the trouble. Some peasants were freemen, but most peasants were serfs. Freemen were peasants who could “move from place to place if they did not like their master,” (http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/history/middlea ges/feudal.html). Serfs “belonged to the land and could not move off of it. They also could not be removed from it by their lord,” (http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/history/middlea ges/feudal.html). Children who were born to noble men enjoyed all of the luxuries of the time. They could also become earls, barons, and knights. Children born to peasants were likely to live at the same place their whole lives and do the same job that their parents did.

Every person in the Middle Ages was a Roman Catholic, except for the few Jews. The kings all the way to the serfs were affected by religion. The Church collected taxes and gifts such as land, crops, and even serfs. This would ensure a spot in heaven and made the Church very powerful. The Church could then influence the kings and noble men. This would make the Church even more powerful. Children were baptized only a few days after birth and from then on led a life of service to God and the Church. As the child grew they would be taught prayers and go to church every week, even if they were sick. Every person would have to follow Church laws, which included paying very large taxes to uphold the Church. The Church, in return, showed people the way to everlasting life and happiness. The Pope was, and still is, the head of the Church. He was God’s representative on Earth and had power that could influence the kings and their advisors. The Pope also had the power to excommunicate people who did not agree with the Church’s teachings. Under the Pope were Bishops. Bishops ruled over the priests like the earl ruled over his vassals. Religion was so important in the Middle Ages that some people devoted their whole lives to the Church. Parents often promised their children to the Church in return for God answering their certain prayers. Monks and nuns lived apart from the rest of society in monasteries and nunneries. They devoted their lives to prayer and vowed to stay single all of their lives.

People from the Middle Ages were set into strict social classes and thought very differently in general and about each other. They were on separate ends of the social scale and did not make any effort to change.

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