![]() ![]() In fact, paper money issued by the government was first printed in China in 1023 and not in Europe. There’s no denying the immense impact of paper money and currency in the world we live in today. Image Credits: Markus Spiske via Unsplash Paper Money as Currency Paper currencies. Here are some of the most significant inventions from the Middle Ages that are still important to modern society and are objects that we use in our daily lives! 1. The High Middle Age period is especially notable as a time when a large number of agricultural and technological innovations were brought to life. While many history books believe the Middle Ages to be a period of “darkness” because of war, famine, and a decline in learning and literacy, it was also a period of discovery and innovation. This period was marked by a series of negative events but is also remembered for a range of crucial inventions that played a critical part in shaping the world that we live in today. The Middle Ages were a specific period in the history of Europe that lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. Old Age in Early Medieval England.Inventions From The Middle Ages That We Still Use Today ![]() ![]() The Early Middle Ages were certainly not a golden age for the elderly, but they were not a dark age either.' Porck concluded, 'As long as they could prove their worth, old men and women need not be concerned about being pushed to the margins of society. ![]() Most of these women played a useful role in their community, for example as abbesses (heads of convents), grandmothers or interpreters of dreams. Porck identified little more than 30 women in more socio-historical sources, such as chronicles, letters and wills. There is scant mention of older women in hagiographic and heroic literature about early medieval England. In contrast to British historians, Porck made a distinction between different societal groups, such as holy people, warriors and kings. He found that all these groups placed high demands on the elderly. In spite of their physical shortcomings, elderly saints were expected to persevere with their ascetic lifestyle, older warriors to fight in the front ranks and kings to be active rulers. 'It's also a misunderstanding that people didn't live to a ripe old age at that time. It is true that many people died early as a result of sickness or violence nonetheless people did live to their eighties or nineties.' High demands What counted as 'elderly' in the Middle Ages? 'Around fifty,' Porck explained. Old people are by no means always represented as wise: those elderly people who behaved in a dubious or ungodly manner were referred to as 'children of a hundred years'. In a number of poems and sermons the old man symbolizes the transience of earthly pleasures. Many texts are steeped in revulsion of the physical and mental decline that old age brings with it. But he also found sources that describe old age as a foretaste of hell. There are indeed medieval authors who represent the elderly as wise and spiritually superior, according to Porck. A number of elderly people did enjoy respect, but they had to earn it first and igh demands were placed on them. Although some medieval authors associated growing old with the potential for wisdom and pious living, they also anticipated various social, psychological and physical repercussions of ageing. By examining a wide range of Old English and Latin sources from the 700-1100 period (including homilies, heroic poems, medical texts, wisdom literature and saints’ lives), Porck came to different conclusions. Porck, assistant professor of medieval English in Leiden, found out that these historians had based their conclusion on fairly limited selections of source materials. Another historian even called this period ‘a golden age for the elderly’: they were highly respected and venerated for their wisdom. The English at that time saw old age as the most desirable stage of life, some argued. British historians have so far been remarkably positive about the position of elderly people in early medieval England. ![]()
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