Cultural Change In History

Throughout history, advanced technology and cultural change have played a game of chicken and egg, in the sense that it is unknown whether advanced technology drives people to make cultural changes in their civilization, or whether cultural changes in civilizations create the demand for more advanced technology. Depending on the situation at hand, it could be either scenario. Some advancements in technology simply would not be possible without the backing of a large state, such as the building of the Egyptian pyramids. This advancement in technology required a cultural shift before the technology could be created. However, there are many examples of technology that seems to arrive before a shift in culture happens, and they seem to drive the

This claim is backed up by the change of verbs used for mounting and dismounting horses changed, and the substantial change in Frankish weaponry around the same time period. At the same time, Charles Martel rapidly “seized lands and distributed them to retainers in order to strengthen his armed forces” (White 4). This was, in essence, the start of feudalism. White argues that not only was the introduction of stirrups to the Franks and the start of feudalism connected, the introductions of stirrups was the driving factor in allowing feudalism to

While early Germans did use limited cavalry, their mounted men were not that efficient. They held onto the horse only by pressing their knees into the sides of the horse, therefore could only attack with bows, or by sword with the power of their arms, they had no rigid base to keep them secure on the horse. When the potential of the stirrup was realized in western Europe, weaponry began to change in order to take advantage of the power it gives a rider. The new heavily armored knight was much more powerful than the infantry of the past. While these new knights were more powerful, they were also much more expensive. Horses were expensive and hard to keep, and their armor was much harder to create and maintain as well.
During this time, much of western Europe relied on the barter system, rather than a formal currency, therefore Charles Martel could not simply pay people to become knights for him. The one thing he did have that he could give was land. He was able to give sections of land to vassals, who in turn would repay him by fighting for him. They could in turn essentially rent the land out to serfs, who would work the land, and give a portion of everything to the vassal. Therefore, they were able to have a steady income, while spending their life learning to fight, and fighting for their liege