Why was there a middle class in the middle ages?

Answer 1

The middle class was a group of people who were not of noble families, were not land owners, but also were not clergy and not farmers or laborers. Among them were shop owners, artisans, craftsmen, carpenters, jewelers, physicians, and so on.

There was always a middle class in the Middle Ages, but in the beginning it was small and rather insignificant. Very early on, it was a chore for most people just to stay alive with armies roving Europe making a mess of things, and general anarchy. So a middle class really did not have much opportunity to rise. But in about the year 700 or 750, things began to change.

• The situation developed out of anarchy and into stability.
• New agricultural inventions made it possible for fewer people to produce more crops.
• This made it possible for towns to grow.
• Schools began opening, even as early as the 6th century.
• Both governments and the Church wanted to have roads safe for pilgrims and merchants.
• Medieval republics began to form, in which government was aimed at enriching the merchants and craftsmen rather than the nobility.
• The crusades broadened people's understanding of the world and their desires for imported goods.
• Monastic groups formed that protected and sheltered pilgrims.
• More inventions made it possible to manufacture new goods.
• Universities opened.
• Guilds arose, setting both prices and standards, leading to higher consumer confidence and greater wealth for merchants and craftsmen.
• The Knights Templar set up to do international money transactions.
• More republican governments formed. Medieval communes began to be important, both within monarchies and independently.
• The silk road opened.
• Business schools called abacus schools opened, leading to more widespread literacy and learning.
• The Knights Templar were suppressed leaving an economic power vacuum which was filled by merchant families. These developed into international banking families.
• Medieval republics and communes formed international trading leagues, such as the Hanseatic League, which made their own treaties, had their own military, and operated to increase trade and profit.
• Because of the increased wealth of commoners, parliaments began to represent them.
• The printing press made it possible for relatively poor people to have access to books. Just as important, it became possible for relatively poor people to publish their own ideas and opinions.

Answer 2

The growth of the middle class started early, but slowly, and gained speed.

For the entire time of the Middle Ages, there was a class that was made up of merchants, traders, craftsmen, physicians, lawyers, and so on, who were members of neither the nobility, nor the peasants, nor the clergy. These were the middle class. Their rise came early, as we can see from the fact that some of the guilds, including stonemasons and glass makers, may have survived from ancient Roman times. The were the force behind the early republics, including Venice, which was founded in the late 7th century. The only thing preventing their growth in the beginning of the Middle Ages was the general anarchy of the Age of Migrations, but once that was over they were able to start a slow, steady progress. They benefited from a number of events of the later Early Middle Ages and the High Middle Ages, including the increases of trade associated with the pilgrimages and increased security for travellers they brought about, the crusades, the opening of medieval universities, the opening of the Silk Road, international money trade started by the Knights Templar, the founding of medieval communes, guilds, and leagues of cities like the Hanseatic League.

Answer 3

First AnswerThere wasn't a "middle class" and that is a modern idea. In the middle ages you were one of three types of people. The church, noble, or serf/peasant. A middle class won't develop until the industrial revolution. Second AnswerDuring the Middle Ages, there was a class with a status between the nobility and the serfs that might be called the middle class. These people included merchants, lawyers, physicians, master craftsmen of all sorts, Accountants, stewards, and so on. They also included itinerant musicians, other entertainers, and some general riffraff.

In some areas, notably Scotland and England, serfdom disappeared well before the Middle Ages ended, so the general population was made up of freemen. Freemen and middle class people were not the same class. Freemen generally worked in agriculture or doing labor and were mostly tenant farmers.

The clergy were separate, and were formally supposed to be classless, though they were influenced by class to a large degree.