Medieval History
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Chains
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Slavery
in the Middle Ages
When the Roman
Empire fell in the fifth century, slavery, which had been such an
integral part of the empire's economy, began to evolve into serfdom
(an integral part of a feudal
economy). Much attention is focused on the serf; his plight was not
much better than the slave's had been, the primary difference being
that he was bound to the land instead of to an individual owner, and
could not be sold to another estate.
But slavery didn't
go away.
In the earliest
part of the middle ages, slaves could be found in many societies,
among them the Cymry
in Wales and the Anglo-Saxons in England. The Slavs
of central Europe were often captured and sold into slavery, usually
by rival Slavonic tribes. Moors were known to keep slaves and
believed that to set a slave free was an act of great piety.
Christians also owned, bought and sold slaves, as evidenced by the
following:
- When the
Bishop of Le Mans transferred a large estate to the Abbey of St.
Vincent in 572, ten slaves went with it.1
- In the seventh
century, the wealthy Saint Eloi bought British and Saxon slaves in
batches of 50 and 100 so that he could set them
free.1
- A transaction
between Ermedruda of Milan and a gentleman by the name of Totone
recorded in 725 the price of 12 new gold solidi for a slave boy
(referred to as "it" in the record). 12 solidi was much less than
the cost of a horse.1
- In the early
ninth century, the Abbey of St. Germain des Prés listed 25
of their 278 householders as slaves.1
- Pope
Gregory XI
excommunicated the Florentines in the fourteenth century, and
ordered them enslaved wherever taken.2
- In 1488, King
Ferdinand sent 100 Moorish slaves to Pope
Innocent VIII,
who presented them as gifts to his cardinals and other court
notables.2
- Women slaves
taken after the fall of Capua in 1501 were put up for sale in
Rome.2
The
ethics
of the Catholic Church concerning slavery throughout the middle ages
seems difficult to comprehend today. While the Church succeeded in
protecting the rights and well-being of slaves, no attempt was made
to outlaw the institution. Why?
One reason is
economic. Slavery had been the basis of a sound economy for centuries
in Rome, and it declined as serfdom slowly rose. However, it rose
again when the Black
Death
swept Europe, dramatically reducing the population of serfs and
creating a need for more forced labor.
Another reason is
that slavery had been a fact of life for centuries, as well.
Abolishing something so deeply entrenched in society -- all
society -- would be about as likely as abolishing the use of horses
for transportation.
Then there is the
Christian philosophy itself. Christianity had spread like wildfire
partly because it offered life after death in paradise with a
Heavenly Father. Yes, life was terrible, injustice was everywhere,
disease killed indiscriminately and the good died young while the
evil thrived. Life on earth simply wasn't fair. But life after death
was ultimately fair: the good were rewarded in Heaven and the
evil were punished in Hell. This philosophy could sometimes lead to a
laissez-faire attitude toward social injustice, although, as
in the case of good Saint Eloi, certainly not always. And
Christianity did indeed have an ameliorating
effect on
slavery.
Perhaps the
world-view of the medieval mind can explain a great deal.
Freedom and liberty are fundamental rights in
twentieth-century western civilization. Upward mobility is a
possibility for everyone in America today.
What could such
concepts mean to any member of such a highly-structured society as
Europe in the middle ages? Each individual was born into a particular
class, and that class -- whether it was the powerful nobility or the
largely impotent peasantry -- offered limited options and
strongly-ingrained duties. Men could become knights like their
fathers (or farmers like their fathers, or craftsmen like their
fathers) or join the Church as monks or priests. Women could marry
and become the property of their husbands instead of the property of
their fathers, or they could become nuns. Occasionally, an accident
of birth or an extraordinary will would help someone deviate from the
course medieval society had set, but these were notable
exceptions.
One way or
another, medieval society had a way of keeping its people in
chains.
Sources
& Suggested Reading
The links below
will take you to mySimon, where you can compare prices at booksellers
across the web. More in-depth info about the book may be found by
clicking on to the book's page at one of the online
merchants.
1Life
in Medieval Times
by Marjorie Rowling. (back)
2The
Encyclopedia Americana. (back)
See also
The
Civilization of the Middle Ages
by Norman F. Cantor.
Chains is
copyright © 1998-2003 Melissa Snell. Permission is granted to
reproduce this article for personal or classroom use only, provided
that the URL below is included. For reprint permission, please
contact Melissa
Snell.
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