section_path: Early Middle Ages/Western society
section_name: Western society
paragraph_text: Western society
  
  In Western Europe, values attached to Latin scholarship and education largely disappeared. Although literacy remained important, it became a practical skill rather than an indication of status. By the late 6th century, the principal means of religious instruction were music and art rather than books. Most intellectual efforts imitated classical scholarship, but some original works were also created. The writings of Sidonius Apollinaris (d. 489), Cassiodorus (d. c. 585), and Boethius (d. c. 525) were typical of the age. Aristocratic culture focused on great feasts rather than literary pursuits. Family ties among the elites were important, as were the virtues of loyalty, courage, and honour; these ties led to the prevalence of feuds in aristocratic society. Most feuds seem to have ended quickly, with the payment of compensation.
  
  Women participated in aristocratic society primarily as wives and mothers, with the mother of an underage ruler especially prominent in Francia. The lack of many child rulers in Anglo-Saxon society meant a lesser role for women as queen mothers, but this was countered by the increased role played by abbesses of monasteries. Women's influence on politics was fragile, and early medieval authors tended to depict powerful women in a bad light. Women were more respected in Scandinavian societies; a Viking woman could demand compensation from her husband for domestic violence, act as a seeress, or even command ships. Women usually died at a considerably younger age than men, primarily due to complications at childbirth. The disparity in numbers between marriageable women and men led to the detailed regulation of legal institutions protecting women's interests, including their right to the Morgengabe ("morning gift"). Early medieval laws acknowledged a man's right to have long-term sexual relationships with women other than his wife (such as concubines), but women were expected to remain faithful. Clerics censured sexual unions outside marriage, and monogamy also became the norm of secular law in the 9th century.
  
  Landholding patterns were not uniform; some areas had greatly fragmented holdings but large, contiguous blocks of land were the norm in other areas. These differences permitted a wide variety of peasant societies, some dominated by aristocratic landholders and others with a great deal of autonomy. Land settlement also varied greatly. Some peasants lived in large settlements with as many as 700 inhabitants, and others on isolated farms. Since legislation made a clear distinction between free and unfree, there was no sharp difference between the legal status of the free peasant and the aristocrat; it was possible for a free peasant's family to rise to the aristocracy through military service. Demand for slaves was covered with warring and raids. After the Anglo-Saxons' conversion to Christianity, slave hunters mainly targeted the pagan Slav tribes; the English word "slave" derives from slavicus, the Medieval Latin term for Slavs. Christian ethics brought about significant changes in the position of slaves during the 7th and 8th centuries, since their right to a more humane treatment was enacted.
  
  City life and culture were declining. Although the northern Italian cities remained inhabited, they decreased significantly in size. Cities also shrank in northern Europe, and civic monuments and other public buildings were raided for building materials. Jewish communities survived in Spain, southern Gaul and Italy. The Visigothic kings made concentrated efforts to convert the Hispanic Jews to Christianity, but the Jewish community quickly revived after the Muslim conquest of Spain. Muslim rulers employed Jewish courtiers, but Christian legislation forbade the appointment of Jews to government positions.