Medieval Society

Conclusions

In this essay we have looked at medieval society from three different viewpoints. There are others; most notably, an economic viewpoint and specifically the Marxist viewpoint, but these three are enough to illustrate my central thesis: that no one point of view is sufficient. Be aware that any work that uses only one approach will necessarily be limited in its conclusions.

Good historians are, of course, aware of this, and will say so. The accounts you want to be wary of are the ones that use only one approach and are either unaware of this (marking them as amateur or aiming at a popular audience), or that present their arguments as if only one approach is the true interpretation (marking them as biased). Such historians can still be useful to the researcher, but only when read in the context of other viewpoints and other approaches.

I hope I have3 also managed to make my secondary point as well: that viewing medieval society solely (see above) iun terms of wealth, to speak in terms of classes, leads us to misunderstand the Middle Ages in fundamental ways. Mediveval society was far more complex and interesting. So, for that matter, is modern society.

History of Western Civilization

E.L. Skip Knox
Boise State University

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