From the crumbling walls of the ancient authority of Rome, two new powers, the Church and western leaders, established their hold on the medieval world. Ushering in an age of population boom, business, and an interest in antiquity, the Church and fledgling powers of the west struggled to find their footing in society. Some cities, such as Rome, survived the change by adapting, and others faded into nothing more than a memory. Cities, empires, and the Church all played a pivotal roles in the fabric of power controlling medieval culture. As the power of Rome began to recede, the control they held over cities they had established to the west eventually disappeared. In correlation, many cities reduced in size and power, while others flickered
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Cities in the central middle ages metastasized into a new technology of fairs, guilds, and charters. First, as cities grew, aristocrats grew greedy for the money that they lost when people moved to a city instead of farming. To award themselves compensation, citizens paid a specific amount, as agreed in a charter. The aristocrats grew fat off of the money, and the serfs were happy to pay for their freedom. With all of the new inhabitants of cities, guilds became a necessity. Guilds, specific to a trade, protected the rights of the craftsmen and also set strict quality standards. Finally, fairs became a way for craftsmen to sell their wares, aristocrats to make more money, and a crude loan system took shape. One of the most popular fair was located in the Champagne region of France. These fairs drove the economy, but not everyone was pleased. Enter Aquinas, a Dominican friar and philosopher, who wrote commentaries on how the Church should handle all of this newfangled wealth. Specifically, he had a beef to pick with businessmen who strictly worked for profit. Aquinas writes, “Since it is as such is devoted to satisfying the desire for profit, and such desire knows no bounds and always strives for more. And so business, absolutely speaking is wicked.” (Aquinas pg. 147). Aquinas voices solutions for what many clergy struggled with as the economy gradually became
Cities in the central middle ages metastasized into a new technology of fairs, guilds, and charters. First, as cities grew, aristocrats grew greedy for the money that they lost when people moved to a city instead of farming. To award themselves compensation, citizens paid a specific amount, as agreed in a charter. The aristocrats grew fat off of the money, and the serfs were happy to pay for their freedom. With all of the new inhabitants of cities, guilds became a necessity. Guilds, specific to a trade, protected the rights of the craftsmen and also set strict quality standards. Finally, fairs became a way for craftsmen to sell their wares, aristocrats to make more money, and a crude loan system took shape. One of the most popular fair was located in the Champagne region of France. These fairs drove the economy, but not everyone was pleased. Enter Aquinas, a Dominican friar and philosopher, who wrote commentaries on how the Church should handle all of this newfangled wealth. Specifically, he had a beef to pick with businessmen who strictly worked for profit. Aquinas writes, “Since it is as such is devoted to satisfying the desire for profit, and such desire knows no bounds and always strives for more. And so business, absolutely speaking is wicked.” (Aquinas pg. 147). Aquinas voices solutions for what many clergy struggled with as the economy gradually became