The Middle Ages

The Middle Ages, also referred to as The Dark Ages, was a period where there was no social mobility, no commerce, no education system, and only nobles and some clergy knew how to read and had an education. At this time, most people were poor, hence the feudal pyramid. The Feudal pyramid was a social class system, where the king was at the top, then the nobles, the knights, at the bottom were the serfs, which most people were. The Middle Ages was also a religious period of time with crusaders (people who fought for the cross) who fought the Muslims to reclaim the Middle East. Urban II went to Clermont and gave a speech telling Christians to go to the East and retrieve Jerusalem. Numerous amounts of crusaders (about 600,000) left Europe and went to Jerusalem to “liberate” the people in the Holy Land, notwithstanding the perils and hardships that would arise. Why would these crusaders leave their family and home to encounter dangers and death? Was their motive truly their beliefs of religion, or was it more of their want? It is clear that the reason for the struggle of land over the Crusades is economical/political.