Wylie. P5. T5. Medieval

Isabel Kim, Lorena Huang Liu, Diana Huang, Rachel Yeo

Period 5, Team 5

During the Medieval Period, a new class of tradesmen burgeoned as a result of the economic forces: the growth of trade and urbanized towns. The devastating Black Death between 1348-1350 especially triggered this economic and social transition. Merchants needed stability, amidst this turmoil, so they supported the king and a strong central government, against the rule of the aristocracy, and the king in return endorsed this new growth by providing many charters. Since towns heavily relied on trade, merchant guilds dominated local governments, often in discordance with craft guilds (masters and apprentices). Politics and humanities clashed due to conflicting views: politics restricted freedom, whereas the humanities embraced it. The corruption of the church and its influence as a form of government also increased tensions as artists, like Geoffrey Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales, who were mistrustful of officials expressed that through their works. Medieval Art illustrated this change as well with the budding of the Renaissance and fueled by wealthy merchants who became profuse patrons of the arts, particularly secular arts. For example, in donor portraits, which used to primarily represent popes, kings, and abbots shifted into representing many businessmen. The emerging class of common people who achieved success through crafts or commerce, alongside the Renaissance movement, eventually dissolved traditional hierarchy of the warrior aristocracy, the peasantry, and the clergy. Instead, it came to denote a period of diversification and innovation in culture and subsequent conflicts between politics, religion, and humanities.