The Middle Ages

Essay by jwirthHigh School, 10th gradeA+, February 2004

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The Middle Ages

Everything form yesterday has advanced today little by little. Looking back hundreds of years these changes stand out. We learn from our mistakes and improve on them while inventing machines to help us along the way. Our country was established by Europeans so it's no wonder the Middle Ages lay the ground work for our society today. Three aspects of the Middle Ages that has advanced in our society today are taxes, trade, and the judicial system. Just looking back at these three aspects we can really see how our society today has advanced.

Government in the middle ages differed from modern times because in the middle ages their was a single ruler, the king, who was in charge of running everything within his territory. The king made the decisions about taxes, the army, rules and regulations for the town, coinage, and more. The king set the rules and the people had to follow.

Taxes came into play because their was not enough money to support the society. "Taxation meant war financing" (Reader, 98). Officials and armies had to be paid, so the king came up with a system to do so. In 1100 Henry I of England came up with a system called "Exchequer." Henry received money from taxes paid by peasants living within the kings estate, money from the church, money paid for settling disputes, and by fines paid by people found guilty of crimes. Taxes also came from people entering towns where they did not reside. A tax was collected to pay for town improvements, construction, officials, and to keep outsiders from coming in to sell their goods for less. Otherwise it would putt the town workers out of business. Taxes in the Middle Ages set the basis for the taxes...