How did Past and Present compare medieval society with 19th-century Britain?

In his 1843 work Past and Present, Thomas Carlyle utilized a comparative historical approach to critique the social and economic conditions of 19th-century Britain.1

Carlyle contrasted the "muddled softness and chaos" of his own century with the perceived strength and wisdom of a medieval abbot’s rule. By examining a remote century, he aimed to illustrate the deficiencies of his contemporary era, which he viewed as an age of mechanism characterized by laissez-faire economics and utilitarian ethics.12

Despite his personal rejection of dogmatic Christianity and a noted aversion to the Roman Catholic Church, Carlyle pronounced in favor of the medieval model. His work served as a "prophetic" denunciation of the industrial age, inspiring other thinkers—such as John Ruskin—to further explore the political and social implications of medievalism as a response to the problems of the Victorian period.12