Social Unrest

The social pyramid of the three orders—those who pray, those who fight, and those who work—was never a static picture. Beneath the apparent stability of feudal hierarchy, a steady current of discontent ran through medieval society, surfacing in moments of open rebellion. This unrest was not a single, uniform movement but a series of distinct pressures and eruptions, each rooted in the specific grievances of different groups. The section traces these tensions in the order they emerged, from the ea …