Both Uses of
medieval
in
The Communist Manifesto
- An oppressed class under the sway of the feudal nobility, an armed and self-governing association in the mediaeval commune; here independent urban republic (as in Italy and Germany), there taxable "third estate" of the monarchy (as in France), afterwards, in the period of manufacture proper, serving either the semi-feudal or the absolute monarchy as a counterpoise against the nobility, and, in fact, corner-stone of the great monarchies in general, the bourgeoisie has at last, since the establishment of Modern Industry and of the world-market, conquered for itself, in the modern representative State, exclusive political sway.†
- The mediaeval burgesses and the small peasant proprietors were the precursors of the modern bourgeoisie.†
*
Definition:
relating to or belonging to the Middle Ages
(The period of European history beginning with the fall of the Roman Empire and followed by the Renaissance -- roughly 500-1500 AD)
(The period of European history beginning with the fall of the Roman Empire and followed by the Renaissance -- roughly 500-1500 AD)
Often thought of as a time of instability, superstition, plagues, feudal lords, and knighthood.