The social classes of the middle ages consisted of the upper, middle, and lower classes. Within the upper class were kings/monarchs, nobles, knights, and clergy. In the middle were merchants, doctors, and lower clergy. The lower class consisted of peasants/serfs.
Middle-class merchants were better off than the peas- ants but usually not as well-off as the nobles. A few merchants and traders grew rich, however, and rivaled the traditional aristocrats in wealth and influence.
Merchants made a lot of money and they didn't hide the fact that they were trying to get rich, so they were often criticized for being greedy. Usury, or charging too much interest, was a common accusation. The church in particular often criticized the merchant class for being too interested in worldly wealth.
Merchants were those who bought and sold goods, while landowners who sold their own produce were not classed as merchants. Being a landowner was a "respectable" occupation.
Political Power of the Merchant Class📜 Renaissance (Part 2)
What is a merchants personality?
Merchants build relationships and are highly intuitive visionaries. They see the big picture and possibilities for the future that others can't and are good at motivating people toward opportunities. They excel at selling and nurturing long term client relationships.
Merchants are people who are traders, so it is an occupation. Peasant was a social class, the lowest one, and was made up of people who did not have land or possessions. A peasant could be a merchant, in a small way, but a merchant was not necessarily a peasant, in fact some merchants were well off.
Not all enterprising artisans were so successful that they could rise to the level of the elite. However, many artisans and small merchants, who owned small factories and stores, did manage to achieve and maintain respectability in an emerging middle class.
By Boccaccio's era, however, the merchant class was very rich, often intermarrying with impoverished members of the nobility, and they held positions of power in civic government. But they never completely overcame the general contempt for the way in which they acquired their wealth.
However, successful merchants could also amass significant wealth through trade, banking, and other commercial ventures. In some cases, the richest merchants could rival or even surpass the wealth of noble families.
The widespread and common dislike of merchants stemmed from their practice of buying goods when prices were low and selling them when prices were high. Nowhere was this more evident than during famines when merchants sold food at rates that demand could bear.
A wealthy wine merchant might have their own, stand-alone stone or brick house with the comforts of multiple rooms with fireplaces and windows, while a less well-to-do merchant might live above or in his/her shop made out of timber with little room or privacy.
The term upper class is a socioeconomic term used to describe those who reside on the highest levels of the social ladder above the middle and working or lower classes. They generally have the highest status in society and hold a great deal of wealth.
At what age did girls usually get married in the middle ages?
In the middle ages, girls were typically in their teens when they married, and boys were in their early twenties. The arrangement of the marriage was based on monetary worth. The family of the girl who was to be married would give a dowry, or donation, to the boy she was to marry.
What is the difference between merchants and nobility?
Ideologically, the ideals of the nobility and of the merchant class were entirely opposite: noblemen were supposed to be open-handed (especially since their power originated from them acting as “ring-givers” to armed men), ostentatiously luxurious (so as to display their glory and magnificence that set them apart from ...
A merchant is a person or a company that sells goods or services. The merchant will sell products for a profit and facilitate the customer's buying journey. They can be an online retailer or a wholesaler and sell to any source, as long as they are selling for profit.
Who were the lowest class of people who lived on a manor called?
Serf: A member of the lowest feudal class, attached to the land owned by a lord and required to perform labor in return for certain legal or customary rights.
What is the difference between a merchant and a businessman?
"Businessman" is a general word for a man who works in any kind of business-- basically any kind of white-collar job. "Merchant" refers more specifically to someone who sells something, often one specific item or category of items, and often in a setting like a marketplace.
The notion of class in Elizabethan/Jacobean England was considerably different from our contemporary ideas, but, roughly speaking, Shakespeare was “upper middle class,” using our terminology. He was the son of a leading figure in his town, and had accumulated substantial wealth on his own.
The upper class consisted of the royal family, rich landowners, government officials, important priests and army officers, and doctors. The middle class was made up chiefly of merchants, manufacturers, and artisans. The lower class, the largest class by far, consisted of unskilled labourers.
Historically, the medieval French word bourgeois denoted the inhabitants of the bourgs (walled market-towns), the craftsmen, artisans, merchants, and others, who constituted "the bourgeoisie".
Yes, indeed, there were some quite wealthy peasants in the Middle Ages, though they were an exception. A quantitative study done on the estates of Ramsey Abbey in England during the thirteenth century showed that were were clearly distinct classes within the peasantry. The wealthiest were not necessarily free peasants.
Merchants in the middle ages were business people who participated in retail and trade. The medieval merchant was seen as both a trader and trafficker of wares across countries. The middle ages merchant sourced for his products during his travels and would then sell them in markets and shops or at fairs.
Merchants might be able to afford silken clothing, which was lighter and easier on the skin, as well as jewelry to mark their financial prowess. Styles ranged from place to place, although medieval clothing for men usually included hose or trousers, an undershirt and tunic, and wooden or leather shoes.
