Socio Cultural Life In Medieval History

Winner of the 2020 PROSE Award for Multivolume Reference/Humanities Work was central to medieval life. Religious and secular authorities generally expected almost everyone to work. Artistic and literary depictions underlined work's cultural value. The vast majority of medieval people engaged in agriculture because it was the only way they could obtain food. Yet their work led to innovations in technology and production and allowed others to engage in specialized labor, helping to drive the growth of cities. Many workers moved to seek employment and to improve their living conditions. For those who could not work, charity was often available, and many individuals and institutions provided forms of social welfare. Guilds protected their members and created means for the transmission of skills. When they were not at work, medieval Christians were to meet their religious obligations yet many also enjoyed various pastimes. A consideration of medieval work is therefore one of medieval society in all its creativity and complexity and that is precisely what this volume provides. A Cultural History of Work in the Medieval Age presents an overview of the period with essays on economies, representations of work, workplaces, work cultures, technology, mobility, society, politics and leisure.

Socio - Cultural Life of Merchants in Mughal Gujarat by Monika Sharma focuses on the identification of the varied communities involved in commercial activities and maritime trade - Banias, Bohras. Parsis, Khojas, Memons, Ghanchis, Chalebis, Armenians and European during 16th-17th centuries. The project embraces life-style, traditions, festivals, institutions and the professional aspects of merchants life. The study explores the region of Gujarat its geographical layout, urban set-up, trade centres, cities, manufacturing centres, ports and trade routes. The living standards, viz. housing, system of education, entertainment, the status women, food habits, dresses, ornaments and other aspects of their daily life etc. are investigated in order to make a comparative study of the different cultures. The study intends to know about the religion, social activities, festivals, rituals, marriages, customs and mores followed. The present work entails the investigation of custom, rituals and mores related to society and religion of the various merchant communities. One can also discern the existing social evils like sati, polygamy and enforced widowhood. The focal point of the study is merchants-Mughal nexus too, which is vital to understand the benefits accrued by the merchant communities. In what manner the proximity with imperial court benefitted them and resulted in their social elevation. One of the objectives of this study would be contextualize the idea of money for different merchants, which is discussed in chapter six. How the various communities invested their money to acquire political and social advantages. The stable system of brokers, sarraf and sahukars, mahajan, and nagarsheth which sustained the community are also focussed.

The studies collected here centre on the social and economic life of medieval Germany, within a broader European context. The first three articles engage the day-to-day workings of rural society: literature, verbal attack and the language of mediated settlement of conflicts lead to a nuanced view of social hierarchy, in which the meek too have a say. The next group examines some major elements of rural life, dealing with technology, resources, ecology, transport, communication and credit. In the second part, the author focuses on the life of the Jews in Germany, first charting the process of settlement of Jews in Germany, the dynamics of social stratification and household composition, and the impact of economics and persecution on settlement patterns. A case study uncovers the motives and steps that led up to the expulsion of the Jews of Nuremberg in 1498. These themes are followed up into the early modern period, when German Jewry mostly came to live a village life. The last studies deal with the economic history of medieval European Jews, including professions other than moneylending, and with the function of women in economic life.

Culture Is Our Business is Marshall McLuhan's sequel to The Mechanical Bride: Folklore of Industrial Man. Returning to the subject of advertising newly armed with the electric sensibility that informed The Gutenberg Galaxy, Understanding Media, and The Medium Is the Massage, McLuhan takes on the mad men (a play on the ad men of Madison Avenue) of the sixties. Approaching commercial messages as unacknowledged art forms and cultural artifacts, McLuhan delivers a series of probes that pick apart their meanings and underlying values, their paradoxes and paralogisms, and their overt function as persuasion and propaganda. Through humor, satire, and a poetic sensibility, he provides us with a serious exploration of the consumer culture that emerged out of the electronic media environment. In keeping with the participatory ethos of the Internet that McLuhan so clearly anticipated, this is a book that is meant to open the door to further study, reflection, and discussion, and to encourage the development of critical reception on the part of the reader.

A Cultural History of Education in the Medieval Age presents essays that examine the following key themes of the period: church, religion and morality; knowledge, media and communications; children and childhood; family, community and sociability; learners and learning; teachers and teaching; literacies; and life histories. The medieval world was a rich blend of cultures and religions within which individuals were shaped and schooled. Men and women learned, taught, worked, fought, and prayed in social contexts that witnessed an expansion of literacy and learning. The chapters in this volume illustrate the extent to which medieval education formed the foundation of the modern educational enterprise. An essential resource for researchers, scholars, and students in history, literature, culture, and education.