Between the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century A.D. and the formation of "country states" by the beginning of the crusades some five-hundred plus years later, an interesting symbol began dotting the landscape of Europe: the castle.
As an amateur admirer of architecture, and the designer of my own home, I have long been intrigued by the design, beauty, and function of castles. On a tour of England once I developed a near fanatical interest in ramparts, portcullises, loopholes, dungeons, keeps, and the like. Every bit an instrument of war as much as shelter, of projected power as much as protection, castles throughout the period demonstrated enormous diversity and creativity. Over the years their construction evolved from wood to stone to humongous masonry structures designed to repel the assaults of seige machines such as catapults and trebuchets.
Architecture aside, however, castles were also representative of the sociological change of the times. Power and the rule of law had been centralized in Rome, with local vassal kings and imperial governors selected by the emperor. Once Roman power had been transplanted eastward to Constantinople and the remaining authority in Rome disintegrated, the landscape was open to ambitious princes and dukes. From time to time would-be Caesars attempted to knit the ancient empire back together in all its glory, but none of these efforts ever had the scale or durability of what had gone before. Eventually, it became obvious that might ruled the day and slaughter and conquest was the secret to advancement. As hundreds of princes scattered across Europe made claims to noble blood lines, they constructed castles on every possible hilltop and cliff to project their hegemony. With banditry and violence everywhere, peasants needed protection and were herded into villages within retreat-able distance to the local castle. Where once a people had been (at least to some degree) "free," now they were transformed into "serfs" in one of the largest protection rackets the world has ever seen (the Mafia has nothing on these guys).
The castle, then, became the symbol of the oppression of ancient liberties. The peasantry was not ignorant to what was happening; they came to resent the castellans' grasping of power at their own expense. There were some notable revolts, such as the attacks on the Harzburg castle in Saxony, but there was little the poorly armed, unorganized peasantry could do. If there had ever been a time when the common European could have prevented the putting over of himself of a castellated lord, that time had passed before anyone was aware of it. In the final analysis, the last remnants of freedom for the peasants had disappeared with the rule of Roman law.
It is a shame that in our own day the encroachments on our freedoms aren't as visible as the castles of the Dark Ages. We, too, like the peasants of old, are losing our freedoms as the rule of law gradually disappears. The structures that are being erected to control and mollify us are not ones of stone and mason, but of government bureaucracy and majority rule. And just like the serfs of Europe who longed for the extinct pax romana (Peace of Rome), we too may awake one day yearning for the good old days of Republican, representative government.
Most historians appear to agree that the peasantry of Europe was largely powerless to stop the onset of feudalism. Common people were not sufficiently informed or knowledgeable of the changes creeping in around them, and they never organized in a fashion that would blunt the trends effectively. In our society today, we may be faced with the same combination. The average American is uninformed about the erosion of his freedoms, and has at his disposal little chance to make a difference. In a two party political system that offers very little difference (in terms of actual governance, not in terms of the rhetoric) to the voter, in a government controlled by special interest lobbies, what can the common citizen, concerned as they may be about his future and that of his children, actually do? This is the question, more than any other, that I am asked the most frequently.
For starters, we can become educated ourselves about what kind of government we are supposed to have, and what we actually are experiencing now. Next, we can share this information with others, disseminating materials, websites, video clips, and (in short), the truth to everyone we can. That is the purpose of my business partner and co-author Orrin Woodward and his excellent recent series of articles on these very topics. Pass these URLs to others, get people awakened to the facts. Thirdly, get active in the political process. Vote. Write your representatives. Join organizations that believe in what you believe in (which will require the odious task of determining just what that is, first! 🙂 I look forward to hearing your comments and ideas on the subject as well!
There is a lot we can do. We don't have to be serfs, watching the construction of a castle with fear and trembling. These are not the Dark Ages. Nor, while we have anything to say about it, will it be said of our future, either!
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