Research Paper on:
Diet and Clothing in Europe and Spain of the Eleventh Century

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
Spanish and Western European food and textiles were decidedly diverse in both abundance and variety speaks to the globally variant aspects of cultural existence. II. WESTERN EUROPEAN Feudalism originated  as a means by which a small population could maintain tight control over Europes political system. Having been compared with the Celts chiefdom political system, feudalism afforded powerful families  the ability to hold the political reins over entire societies, just as long as these particular families upheld their political loyalties and alliances. This clich? type of political rule  was quite popular between and among the applicable families; however, it was not as welcomed by the rest of the citizenry, particularly due to the distinct difference in diet and  clothing between the classes. Inasmuch as feudalism existed as a "medieval contractual relationship among the upper classes, by which a lord granted land to his men in return for  military service,"i there stood to always be those who were not extended nearly the same benefits or pleasantries as were bestowed upon the privileged few. Additionally, it was the  goal of feudalism to confine political and economic power to the relatively few upper class autocrats, whose authority vastly extended from the power inherent to the dominating castle. The  pyramidal hierarchy that was inevitably created as a result of such exclusion was meant to maintain complete control over all the respective districts decisions, not the least of which were  cultural (food, textiles) in nature. Nature has not always been kind to humans with regard to food quality; ancient man often ate fetid  morsels; as time progressed, the quality of meats did not necessarily improve. This historical aspect certainly held true for serfs, who, unlike their aristocratic counterparts, rarely had the opportunity