Alright folks, buckle up. Today I wanted to break down this medieval French social class thing, right? Sounded straightforward when I first thought about it. Watched this documentary last Tuesday night – knights, castles, the whole shebang – and boom, it hit me. People kept mentioning nobles, clergy, peasants like it was obvious. But how obvious was it really back then? Decided I needed to nail this down properly for myself, and hey, if it helps you guys, even better.
The “Simple” Idea
My initial plan? Piece of cake. Figure out those three main groups, what they actually did, and why it mattered. How hard could explaining nobles, church people, and farmers be? Grabbed a coffee Wednesday morning, feeling confident, fired up the laptop ready to become an expert.
Hitting the Research Wall
Started digging. Big mistake. Found some super old books online, scanned copies. Felt like I needed a decoder ring just to read the handwriting, swear to god. Every scholar seemed to argue about tiny details. Was this lord really a noble or just rich? Did this monastery count as “clergy”? My brain started melting before lunch. Slammed the laptop shut and went for a walk. This “simple” explanation was rapidly turning into a muddy swamp.
The Big Mistake
Later that night, pumped out a first draft. Felt pretty clever, used fancy words like “feudal obligations” and “ecclesiastical hierarchy”. Read it back Thursday morning… and cringed. Hard. It sounded like exactly the boring textbook stuff I hated in school. Missed the entire point of making it “easily explained”. My explanation was clear… to maybe a professor. Definitely not easy. Felt like I’d fallen right into the trap. Deleted half of it in frustration.
Finding the Angle
Thursday afternoon, sulking, scrolling through comments on my last post about Roman roads. Someone wrote, “just tell it like it was, man, forget the fluff.” Lightbulb moment. What mattered most? Not every little rule, but the lived reality. The crushing weight on the peasants. The absolute power of the nobles. The massive influence of the Church in everything.
Started over, asking simple questions:
- Who had ALL the land and power? (Nobles. Obviously. Kings, Dukes, lords with their castles).
- Who owned people’s souls and a ton of land too? (Clergy. Popes down to local priests).
- Who did literally all the work just to survive? (Peasants. Tied to the land, ground down by taxes to BOTH groups above).
Stripped out the jargon. Used analogies like “peasants were like the foundation bricks – essential, but constantly stepped on.” Nobles weren’t just landowners; they were like mega-corporations owning people and enforcing laws with swords. The Church? Think giant corporation plus the government school system plus the courts… all rolled into one.
Testing the Waters (and Getting Burned)
Friday morning, felt brave enough to share a rough paragraph in a friendly Discord server about history. Got instant feedback: “Nope.” “Still too wordy.” “Who gives a crap about minor nobility tiers?” Felt my face get hot. Point blank asked, “Alright, smartass, explain it fast.” One guy shot back: “Imagine pennies (peasants) paying all the taxes to dimes (Church) and dollars (nobles). Dollars fight each other with armies of dimes and pennies. Pennies starve. Simple.” Harsh? Maybe. But eye-opening? Absolutely.
Finally Getting It Out
Took that brutal honesty to heart. Spent Saturday rewriting. Focused ruthlessly:
- Nobles: Fight, rule, own everything. Born into it. Period.
- Clergy: Pray, collect taxes (tithes), run schools/hospitals. Huge power – crossed nobles and peasants.
- Peasants: Work land. Pay everyone. No rights. Hungry. Sad.
Highlighted the sheer unfairness: peasants were 90% of people, got 10% of the scraps. Nobles and clergy, maybe 10% of folks, owned 90% and made all the rules. Used short sentences. Blunt language. No fluff. Kicked out any attempt to sound “smart”.
The Finished Thing (Sort Of)
Hit publish Sunday evening. Did it cover everything academics know? Hell no. Did it perfectly explain the complex feudal hierarchies evolving over centuries? Nope. But did it get the core injustice and the basic power structure across without putting people to sleep? I think so. It finally felt like it achieved the “easy” part, even if it was a bumpy ride getting there. You learn by doing, and let me tell ya, trying to make complicated history simple really shows you where you didn’t understand it well enough. Ends up being more about what you leave out than what you cram in.
Honestly? Probably still did a mediocre job. But hey, at least it’s out there now. Feels good to wrestle an idea to the ground, even if you get bruised doing it. Makes you realize how much modern society still echoes that pennies-for-dimes-and-dollars setup, doesn’t it?
