Olive Bernstein•Amy Sarah Thomas•Thea Dery

Rise of the Middle Class

•In the year 1000, a new class formed. It was made up of merchants, traders, bankers, and artisans.

•This new class was disliked by Nobles and the Clergy.

Beginning of the Middle Class

• After 1000, farms were expanded farther into theCountryside.

•The towns tended to formaround meeting places such asrivers or crossroads.

Towns & Cities in the Middle Ages

•Townspeople disposed oftheir sewage by dumping itin rivers or tossing it out the window into the street.

•Towns were owned by lords.

•Towns had curfews thatwere decided and enforced bythe police

Towns & Cities Continued

Houses in the Middle Ages• The majority of people in the middle ages lived in tall skinny houses on narrow roads.

• These houses typically had two floors. The first was a workroom where the owner had their shop, and the second was were they lived.

•When someone needed to add another room to their house, they would build another floor.

•Townspeople would normally have wooden shutters to cover their windows but wealthy merchants sometimes had pieces of glass instead.

Houses Continued

•In the middle ages, guilds were an association of merchants or artisans who cooperated to uphold the standards of their trade and to protect their economic interests.

•The first guilds were merchant guilds.

Guilds

•Guild membership was limited.

•Guilds provided social services and had rules.

•At age seven or eight, boys could become trainees to guild masters.

Guilds Continued

• Women could work in craft guilds, or the guild of their father or husband.

• Merchant guilds passed laws and levied taxes.

Guilds Continued

•Different types of guilds included merchant guilds, weavers, bakers, and goldsmithguilds.

•Nobles felt that towns were a bad influence.

Guilds Continued

• "Medieval Towns." History Learning Site. Web. 19 Feb. 2010. <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/medieval_towns.htm>.

• "Medieval Towns." Minnesota State University, Mankato. Web. 19 Feb. 2010.

• "Guilds in the." Middle Ages. Web. 19 Feb. 2010. <http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/guilds-in-the-middle-ages.htm>.

• World History. Boston: Pearson, 2009. Print.

• "Middle Ages Europe - The Guilds." Middle Ages Europe for Kids - Index of Topics. Web. 19 Feb. 2010. <http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/guilds.html>.

Bibliography