Social scientist, Norbert Elias, examines in part two of his book, The Civilizing Process, the development of manners and the subsequent 'civilizing' of Western Europe since the middle ages. This journey in time is an attempt to understand what actually happened to humanity during several transitional periods. Elias perceives the development of western civilization in three historical stages. (From the middle ages with a progression to the renaissance (extended to 1750) and finally to modern day society) Each society of the three stages had it's own standards of behavior, which influenced the individual to act in a certain "accepted" way. A correlation was also found between the sudden appearance of words in a language and the transitional periods between each historical stage of the civilizing process. Meaning, as people change and grow, so to does society. In essence, Elias is speaking of the maturity of a people.

The usage of the word courtoisis acquired its meaning from Western society during the middle ages. This concept gradually diminish in the upper class, while civilite' grew more widespread in France during the Renaissance. The concept of civilite was an expression an

The social elite, the kings and Queens alike all followed suit and ate with their hands. There was a catch, however. For the elite to be the "elite", they needed some form of mannerism to distinguish them from the commoners (marks of distinction between classes). The elite usually possessed gold utensils and had table decorations to make clear their social status and level of wealth. "It is most refined to use only three fingers" when washing ones' hands (Elias 50). Erasmus himself makes explicit references to class; "To dip bread you have bitten into the sauce is to behave like a peasant..." is one example of a textual class distinction, prevalent of that time (Elias 50). This standard code of behavior first showed its head around the great feudal courts. Noble and courteous often compared their behavior to "coarse manners" of peasants. Books (on etiquette) were expensive but disseminated vital information to the nobility, which had a need to know the socially acceptable codes of behavior at court. Seeing as the poor could ill afford such expenditures they were last to develop proper manners.

Erasmus's book was about the behavior of people in society. This treatise was a "symptom of change, an embodim

Some common words found in the essay are:
Middle Ages, Erasmus Rotterdam, Western Europe, Elias Meant, France Renaissance, Civilizing Process, Norbert Elias, middle ages, civilizing process, upper class, Elias Social, elias 50, transitional periods, norbert elias, socially acceptable,
Approximate Word count = 818
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)