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Handout #98 |
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The three orders of feudal society |
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Adalbero, Bishop of Laon from 977 A.D. to 1030
A.D., spent his life in political intrigue, changing sides several times. In
his poem he gives the king of France advice on reorganizing the state.
The heavenly people is divided into several bodies, and we are told that it is in its image that the peoples of the earth are disposed... The order of our church is called the kingdom of heaven, and God himself has established ministries without blemish ...If the state is to enjoy the tranquil peace of the church, it must be subject to two different laws... One, the divine law, makes no distinction between its ministers: according to it, they are all of equal status . . . The son of a worker is not inferior to the heir to the throne. To such, this merciful law forbids all common earthly occupations. They do not till the glebe, they do not walk behind herds of cattle ... God is their sole judge. He has subjected the whole human race by his commandments. There is not a prince who is exempt from them ... So they must keep vigil, abstain from food, pray without ceasing for the miseries of the people and for their own ... The society of the faithful forms but a single body ... but the state comprises three. For the other law, the human law, distinguishes two other classes: nobles and serfs are not ruled by the same statute. Two figures occupy the chief place: one is the king and the other the emperor; as we can see, it is their rule that ensures the solidity of the state. There are others whose condition is such that no power constrains them, provided that they abstain from crimes punished by the royal justice. These are the warriors, the protectors of the churches; they are the defenders of the people both great and small--defenders of all, and at the same time ensuring their own security. The other class is that of serfs: this unfortunate breed has to pay for everything with pain. What abacus could calculate the cares which drain the serfs, their long journeys and their harsh travail? Money, clothes, food, the serfs provide everything for all the world, no free man could exist without the serfs ... The house of God is thought to be one, but it is divided into three: some pray, some fight, and others work. These three parts which co-exist do not suffer from being disjunct: the services rendered by the one are the condition of the work of the two others: each in turn is charged with providing relief for the whole. Thus this threefold assembly is no less one; and so it is that the law has been able to triumph and the world to enjoy peace. Adalbero, Poem to King Robert. |
