Freedom in the Age of Reformation Summary and Analysis

In the third chapter, Fromm begins an historical account of the ideas he presents in the introductory chapter. He divides the chapter into two sections, the first addressing the periods of the Middles Ages and the Renaissance and the second covering the Protestant Reformation.

Looking first at the middle ages, he characterizes this period as one without individual freedom. Medieval man was "chained to his role in the social order," Fromm writes (p. 40) and had very little chance of movement within society. At this time, a person's identity is the same as his occupation, Fromm claims, tying his identity directly to the economic structure of his day.

While this does not sound like freedom from a modern viewpoint, Fromm argues, within their society medieval individuals actually enjoyed a good deal of...