Medieval European democracy movements

In medieval Europe there were no great empires and very little bureaucracy. Conflicts instead became direct – peasants had to assert their rights against local bigwigs, and artisans had to fight directly against the big merchants for power over the cities.

There was a kind of supreme power – the Christian Church which had inherited the dreams of the Roman Empire when that disappeared. While peasant movements and artisan movements were usually local, movements aimed at the privileges of the ecclesiastical clergy were what could unite people supraregionally.

These popular movements were for a time very successful. During the 15th century, the democratic element of Europe increased – wages rose, rents fell, vernacular ousted Latin, and aristocratic descent meant less and less. Until Europe’s upper class found a way to repel democracy – the world market system, with its bureaucratic states, global trade and imperial adventures.