Brief visual tour of the Middle Ages

The purpose of this web site on the Medieval period is to illustrate D.W. Robertson's comment: "The hierarchy of social organization was a fruitful source of analogy in thought and expression; inevitably one hierarchy suggested all the others and all could be thought of as illustrative of a body of related principles" (Robertson, A Preface to Chaucer).

Hierarchical (ladder-like) Social Organization:

God

Pope

Kings

Duke

Marquess

Earl

Viscount

Baron

Baronet

Knight

Serfs

animals

birds

amphibians

insects

Hierarchical structures are found in medieval literature, as

well:

Hierarchy in the Universe:

Hierarchy in Architecture:

Hierarchy in Self: the Soul was considered superior to the Body; sculpture and painting demonstrate the relative unimportance of the Body.