Cosmic & Social Hierarchy
English Lit: OCR A Level - Hamlet, topic 6.1.2
The 'Great Chain of Being': Cosmic & Social Hierarchy
The ‘Great Chain of Being’ refers to a belief developed in medieval Christian societies that the world and universe were ordered by God.
The ‘Great Chain of Being’
- This order took the form of a structure where every living thing was ‘ranked’ according to their status – a hierarchy.
- At the top of the cosmic hierarchy was God, followed by the angels, then humankind and descending down further through animals and plant life to minerals.
Mirroring the Great Chain
- The idea of a social hierarchy mirrored the Great Chain.
- The King or Queen (appointed by God) was the supreme power in society, followed by the nobility, then common humanity.
Did hierarchy stabilise states?
- Some scholars have argued that the belief in a rigid cosmic and social hierarchical system helped stabilise nation-states in medieval Christian Europe, making acts of rebellion a crime against a divinely ordered universe.
Test yourself on Cosmic & Social Hierarchy
What was the medieval Christian belief that the world and universe were ordered by God?
What was the Cosmic Hierarchy?
What was the basic social hierarchy in medieval England?