The classes were: 

1. Feudal Classes: The king stood at the top. He bestowed lands to a number of lords. These lords distributed lands to lesser lords called barons. The Dukes and Earls were king’s Vassals. They showed allegiance to the king.

In the time of war, the king could demand military help from his Vassals. The feudal lords kept soldiers. They levied taxes.

2. The peasants: The peasants formed the lowest class. Their number was largest in society. The peasants were divided into many classes -freeholders and villeins.

A new class sprang up. It was the middle class. Reasons for its development was the coming of new inventions and development of trade and industries.

Agricultural prosperity went hand in hand with political stability.

In many areas, especially in the Nile valley, the state supported : irrigation systems, the construction of dams and canals, and the digging of wells, all of which are crucial for harvests.

Many new crops such as cotton, oranges, bananas, and watermelons etc. were grown and even exported to Europe.

The three orders are three social categories: Christian priests, landowning nobles and peasants.The term ‘feudalism’ has been used by historians to describe the economic, legal, political and social relationships that existed in Europe in the medieval era.

The Three order

First Order

Priests (The Clergy)

– The Catholic Church

– Europe guided by bishops and clerics.

– Pope lived in Rome

– Women could not be become priests

– Monks – The church and Society

Second Order

Nobles

– Vassals of the king

– They enjoyed a privileged status

– Absolute control over property

– Could raise troops

– Even coin his own money

Third Order

– Peasants

– Free peasants and serfs

– Serfs cultivated plots of land, but these belonged to the lord.

the third century brought the first major signs of internal strain. From the 230s, the empire found itself fighting on several fronts simultaneously.

(ii) In Iran a new and more aggressive dynasty emerged in 225 (they called themselves the ‘Sasanians’) and within just 15 years were expanding rapidly in the direction of the Euphrates. In a famous rock inscription cut in three languages, Shapur I, the Iranian ruler, claimed he had annihilated a Roman army of 60,000 and even captured the eastern capital of Antioch.

(iii) Meanwhile, a whole series of Germanic tribes or rather tribal confederacies (most notably, the Alamanni, the Franks and the Goths) began to move against the Rhine and Danube frontiers, and the whole period from 233 to 280 saw repeated invasions of a whole line of provinces that stretched from the Black Sea to the Alps and southern Germany.

(iv) The Romans were forced to abandon much of the territory beyond the Danube, while the emperors of this period were constantly in the field against what the Romans called ‘barbarians’. The rapid succession of emperors in the third century (25 emperors in 47 years!) Is an obvious symptom of the strains faced by the empire in this period.

• Humanists reached out to people in a variety of ways. Though the curricula in universities continued to be dominated by law, medicine and theology, humanist subjects slowly began to be introduced in schools, not just in Italy but in other European countries as well.

Industrial Revolution means the transformation of industry and economy of a country with quick succession than normal slow rate.

It refers to the great change in the field of industries when the production of goods by hand in the houses were replaced with the help of machines in factories. The transformation of industry and the economy in Britain between the 1780s and the 1850s is called the 'first industrial revolution'.

The Crisis of the Third Century, also known as Military Anarchy or the Imperial Crisis (AD 235–284), was a period in which the Roman Empire nearly collapsed under the combined pressures of invasion, civil war, plague, and economic depression. The crisis began with the assassination of Emperor Severus Alexander by his own troops in 235, initiating a 50-year period during which there were at least 26 claimants to the title of emperor, mostly prominent Roman army generals, who assumed imperial power over all or part of the Empire. The same number of men became accepted by the Roman Senate as emperor during this period and so became legitimate emperors.

Johann Gutenberg was a German goldsmith and inventor, credited with the inventing of the movable type printing in Europe.Gutenberg was the son of a merchant, and his childhood was spent on a large agricultural estate. From his childhood, he had seen wine and olive presses. By and by, he learnt the art of polishing stones, became a master goldsmith, and also acquired the expertise to create lead moulds used for making trinkets. (Trinket-A small item of jewellery that is cheap or of low quality). Using this knowledge, Gutenberg adapted the existing technology to design his innovation. The olive press became the base model for the printing press and moulds were used for casting the metal types for the letters of the alphabet. By 1448, Gutenberg perfected the system. In 1455, Gutenberg published his 42-lines Bible, commonly known as the Gutenberg Bible. About 180 copies were printed most on paper and some on vellum.

The emperor, the aristocracyand the army were the "three main players" in the political history of the empire. The success of individual emperors dependedon their control of the army, and when thearmies were divided, the result usually was civil war. Except for one notorious year , when four emperorsmounted the throne in quick succession, the first two centuries werefree from civil war.

Roman Empire

• The ancient Roman empire which was spread across the three continents namely – Europe, Asia and Africa.
• To the North, the boundaries of the empire were formed by two great rivers – the Rhine and the Danube.
• To the South, by the huge expanse of desert called the Sahara.
• To the East river Euphrates and to the West Atlantic Ocean.
• This vast stretch of territory was the Roman Empire. That is why Roman Empire is called an Empire across Three Continents.
• The Mediterranean Sea is called the heart of Rome’s empire.

Herodotus is usually regarded as the 'Father of History'.

Ancient stories of Mesopotamia are valuable sources of information. As per the stories, Mesopotamia is situated between two rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates. Mesopotamia was one of the advanced civilizations of its time. Its society was divided into three classes, i.e.

1. The upper class
2. The middle class and
3. The lower class

People belonging to upper classes led a life full of comforts and luxury and enjoyed special privileges. Agriculture was the main occupation of the people. Their life was normally prosperous. Religion was an important part of their life and people worshiped many gods and goddesses. Shamas was their main God. It was the Sun. Ziggurat was the name given to Sumerian temples.

Another description from the Bible: According to the Bible, the flood was meant to destroy all forms of life on the earth. However, God chose a man, Noah, to ensure that life could continue after devastating flood on the earth. Noah, built a huge boat, an ark. He took a pair each of all known species of animals and birds on the board, the arks which survived the flood. When other things were destroyed by the flood, his boat remained safe along with all the species. Thus began a new life on the earth. There was a similar striking story in Mesopotamian tradition, where the principal character was called Ziusudra or Utnapishtim.

• City life began in Mesopotamia (Mesopotamia is derived from the Greek words ‘mesos’, meaning middle, and ‘potamos’, meaning river.)
• It is a flat land between the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers that is now part of the Republic of Iraq.
•  In the north, there is a stretch of upland called a steppe, where animal herding offers people a better livelihood than agriculture
• Agriculture began between 7000 and 6000 BCE.
• Soil was very fertile here but agriculture was threatened because of natural causes.
• Ur, Lagash, Kish, Uruk and Mari were some of its important cities.
• The excavation work started 150 years ago.

1. Arab's Contribution in the Field of Science :
(i) The Arabs produced great physicians like Al-Razi and Ibn-Sina who respectively discovered the true nature of smallpox and tuberculosis. They organised hospitals, for the treatment of the infectious diseases.

ii). In Mathematics the Arabs spread the knowledge of numbers and trigonometry in the other regions of the world Omar-Khayyam a great Mathematicians of Arab devised a calendar which is more accurate than the present Christian Calendar.

iii). The Arab astronomers believed that the earth revolves round the sun.

iv). In Chemistry, the Arbs discovered many new compounds like sodium carbonate, silver nitrate, Nitric and sulphuric acids.

By the eleventh century, there is evidence of several technological changes :
1. Instead of the basic wooden ploughs, cultivaros began using heavy iron-tipped ploughs and mould-boards. These ploughs could dig much deeper and the mould-boards turned the topsoil properly. With this the nutrients from the soil were better utilised.

2. The methods of harnessing animals to the plough improved. Instead of the neck-harness came into use. This enabled animals to exert greater power. Horses were now better shod, with iron horseshoes, which prevented foot decay.

There was increased use of wind and water energy for agriculture. More water-powered and wind-powered mills were set up all over Europe for purposes like milling corn and pressing grapes.

3. There were also changes in land use. The most revolutionary one was the switch from a two-field system. In this, peasants could use a field two years out of three if they planted it with one crop in autumn and a different crop in spring a year and a half later.
That meant that farmers could break their holdings into three fields. They could plant one with wheat or rye in autumn for human consumption.
The second could be used in spring to raise peas, beans and lentils for human use, and oats and barley for the horses. The third field lay fallow. Each year they rotated the use among the three fields.

With these improvements, there was an almost immediate increase in the amount of food produced from each unit of land. Food availability doubled. The greater use of plants like peas and beans meant more vegetable proteins in the diet of the average European and a better source of fodder for their animals.

4. Some of these technological changes cost a lot of money. Peasants did not have enough money to set up watermills and windmills. Therefore the initiative was taken by the lords. But peasants were able to take the initiative in many things, such as extending arable land.