Alen Kaminsky

4/15/15

The Life of a Serf in the Medieval Age

Henry was a man of few words, and a man with a great deal of responsibility in his life. Being a serf in Medieval Europe was definitely not the easiest of tasks to have. Henry was a man with a family a wife, a son, and an ailing mother, whom he was forced to take care of in their very petite living area. Henry was from France, and served under King Philip II Augustus (AKA Philip II of France), who served Capetian France from 1180-1223. The man was a menacing leader who believed in war first tactics to resolve issues. He used war methods to win back property that originally belonged to France, and “Waged war against the Plantagenet rulers of England” whom ruled the French territories of Normandy, Maine, Anjou, and Aquitaine. You can also attribute his war tactics, and successes to the surplus of income he’d brought to the French monarchy.

Henry was among the many serfs whom served under Philip II, but he’d always seem to come out as the favorite in terms of his overall help to Philip II. Henry was a head grounds man to the gardens set up along the palace in which Philip II resided. On top of being a great help to the king, he was an avid supporter of his majesty, and was no pacifist in the slightest, as he supported all the war tactics used to gain back French land from the English. While being a diligent worker was key to his successes in the life of a serf, the negatives of the life were very evident as soon as he would get to his home, if that were what it could even be called. With a wife, and a son, a room with approximately 500-600 square feet would not suffice the life of an adult male. While during the days of work, Henry would always be in the best of moods, his mood would always change drastically to the effects of his life after work. The life seemed slightly lavish as his surroundings were all in the upper class, and he could be seen constantly relating to people and holding conversations with both the king, and descendants of the king, like members of his family, and even a common visitor such as Richard I who was a common visitor to the estate of Philip II’s. So after a day filled with such excitement and dialogue with people of power, and social importance, he would have to go back to his home and act as if it was okay to be a human being living curled up in a tiny shack of a home with a wife and kid, and he could do nothing about it. However, luckily he was a man of great positivity, and pushed for happiness despite life’s mishaps. Henry looked at his home and saw a tiny little room, but it could be much worse, as other serfs were not awarded a single home for one family, they were placed within tenement style living arrangements, with 2-3 families within the other homes. On top of having his own home, Henry was a part of a very successful dynasty, and while not being a leader in any way, shape, or form, he was integral in the success of Philip II, in his maintenance of his palace, and feeding of the king and his family, and he was a key supporter of all the king’s endeavors, that pertained to expanding the power and land of the Capetian Dynasty, in France.
Philip the II always looked to be a successful leader in the Capetian Dynasty, and he would always do his best to maintain a tough, and powerful image of his rule. He induced combat with Henry II of England, which lasted two years (1186-1188), and even got his (Henry II) sons to turn against their father in rebellion and fight on the side of Philip. The friendships built with Henry II’s sons proved to be worthy as they created a stir in French-English wars between them, but this did not last long until the fall of Jerusalem in 1187, and then ultimately the death of Henry II, completely negated the appeal of the fight for Philip II, yet the war ended up in the result of land increase for France and the Capetian Dynasty as a whole. Philip was seen as a great turning point in the Capetian Dynasty for these very reasons, he was a masterful leader, and a man who did not take anything from anyone; he fought for success of his dynasty, and of his land. Henry (serf) always agreed to such beliefs of the incredible prowess of Philip as a leader and continually commended him for his efforts of land retrieval and fight for his people. However one view that he saw as extreme and unnecessary was the belief of Jews as being bad people. Henry while conservative in most viewpoints that pertained to Philip II’s viewpoints, he did not agree with the belief that Jews were a problem in society. Jews were apparently seen as Christ killers, the people who were believed to be responsible for the death of Jesus Christ, but while this is further from the truth, the belief was alive and well throughout the Medieval period, and this resulted in the death of many Jews, as well as such regulations as visible in canon 68, which mention things such as “During the last three days before Easter and especially on Good Friday, they shall not go forth in public at all, for the reason that some of them on these very days, as we hear, do not blush to go forth better.” In conclusion, Philip II was a miraculous, and marvelous leader, a man with great turning point in Medieval France and Europe as a whole, and Henry believed such a thing as well, as he proudly served under Philip II. He was a great believer in his prowess, and complete overture to a dominating time in the Capetian Dynasty. He led the French to get land that was not apart of France for many years, and ended up bringing it back with few steps toward treaty, and more steps towards war, and success in that fashion. Henry however who lived well below the poverty line as did all serfs, was a man who looked at life through the positives, and completely avoided the negatives. He made life good for his wife and child, and made the life of serfdom to not look as bad as it genuinely was for the vast majority of the serfdom during the medieval period, in France, and generally all of Europe.

1. "Philip II of France." - New World Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. 2. "Chapter 10." Western Civilization: Volume I: To 1715. 8th ed. Vol. 1. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 210-22. Print. (Primary Source)