LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Middle Ages: High Middle Ages
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During the High Middle Ages the church, organized into an elaborate hierarchy with the pope as its unequivocal head, was the most sophisticated governing institution in western Europe. Not only did the papacy exercise direct political control over the domain lands of central and northern Italy, but through diplomacy and the administration of justice in the extensive system of ecclesiastical courts it ... exercised a directive power throughout Europe. In addition, the monastic orders grew and flourished, and they, too, became fully involved with the secular world. The old Benedictine houses were embedded in the network of feudal alliances; new orders such as the Cistercians were famous as drainers of marshland and clearers of forest. Even such movements as the Fransciscans, dedicated to voluntary poverty and renunciation, soon became thoroughly engaged in the newly emergent urban life. No longer did the church see itself as the heavenly city in exile; it was at the center of existence.
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The structure of society in the Middle Ages was like a feudal pyramid whose head was the king. The feudal system is a layered system where the peasants paid taxes to their lords and the lords paid the revenue to the king. But smartness was an essential criterion for the king to secure his high position. The nobles were the most important strata of the feudal pyramid and the king has to appease them constantly.
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In much of Europe during the High Middle Ages, women worked in almost as many fields as men did. Only a few professions were totally closed to women at this time: They could not be sailors, notaries, lawyers, or priests. But we have records from around 1300 that tell of women--especially in France Germany, and England--who were merchants, money changers, jewelers, goldsmiths, artists, stone masons, entertainers, tavern keepers, shoemakers, leather workers, shield makers, archers, gatekeepers, millers, blacksmiths, brewers, wine dealers, food sellers, fishmongers, bakers, peddlers, dyers, yarn makers, wool weavers, linen workers, tailors, dress makers, hat makers, furriers, hair dressers, candle makers, spice dealers, pharmacists, doctors, surgeons, and barbers (who not only cut hair but ... performed minor surgery and set broken bones). As household servants, laundresses, nurses, wax dealers, silk spinners, silk weavers, embroiderers, and lace makers, Parisian women outnumbered men in 1292. Unfortunately, as in so many other times and places, medieval women routinely earned less money than men, even for the same work.
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During the Middle Ages, in particular the High Middle Ages (the height of castle building in Europe), lords and kings often built castles for offensive reasons: territorial expansion and control of a region. A castle was a stronghold from which a lord or baron could control surrounding territory. The story of Hugh of Abbeville in the last decades of the 10th century illustrates this:
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The High Middle Ages were characterized by the urbanization of Europe, military expansion, and intellectual revival that historians identify between the 11th century and the end of the 13th century. This revival was aided by the conversion of the raiding Scandinavians and Magyars to Christianity, as well as the assertion of power by castellans to fill the power vacuum left by the Carolingian decline. The High Middle Ages saw an explosion in population. This population flowed into towns, sought conquests abroad, or cleared land for cultivation. The cities of antiquity had been clustered around the Mediterranean. By 1200 the growing urban centres were in the centre of the continent, connected by roads or rivers.
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During the high Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church became organized into an elaborate hierarchy with the pope as the head in western Europe. He establish supreme power. Many innovations took place in the creative arts during the high Middle Ages. Literacy was no longer merely requirement among the clergy. New readings were addressed to a newly literate public that had both the time and the knowledge to enjoy the work.
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High Middle Ages