Caste System, Medieval Europe, Mesoamerica And The Andes
429 Words2 Pages
The Hindu caste system, medieval Europe, and Mesoamerica and the Andes all contained some type of class system that were separated into different social rankings. The rankings were put in place usually to keep order within society. The caste system separated people into different groups called varna. Each group was viewed as a different body part of God. Their were 5 main groups in the caste system: priests and teachers, rulers and soldiers, merchants and traders, societies laborers, and the "untouchables". The "untouchables" were thought of as the lowest class ranking and were shunned by the higher classes. Each caste had several subcaste groups which were usually defined by the job you had. People who were lower in the caste system had jobs such at butchers and coroners, therefore the higher class saw them as a contamination to society.…show more content… They had three main groups which were called estates. The first and highest ranked group were the super wealthy people who didn't have to work and those who would join the army. The second group was clergy members, and the last group which was also the largest of the three were the farmers of the land. One thing that could move you higher on the social scale was if you joined the church. Women could also been seen as higher ranked if they married a man in a higher social class, which was a rare occurrence. These social classes limited career choices depending on gender. Most females had occupations such as servants, nurses, or caretakers. However, some women that lived in cities were able to work outside of their home doing things such as learning trade and joining