Answer:Before delving into the origins of the middle class in Europe during the middle ages it is important to get ones terminology in order. The bourgeoisie had many names and is referred to by many historians as burgess, middle, free venture capitalist classes. Before the middle class began to emerge in medieval times there was primarily only two significant classes in the feudal system, the nobles (kings, queens, dukes, knights, clergymen and such) and there was the lower class (all those that did the labor for their lords and masters, serfs, servants, men at arms etc.).
The merchant class however, left room for financial independence and free enterprise. Some merchants came from lower class family lines but many came from wealthy families. This is because of the large amount of start up money it took to become a successful merchant or trader. There may have always been a rift in the relationship between middle class traders and upper class traders, but that was because anyone that was smart and had access to money in the middle ages was involved in trade. Even the church, which argued at several points throughout history that the buying of something at one price and selling it for a higher price to someone else was immoral, was involved in trade. In the thirteenth century the Cistercian monks had become the greatest wool-merchants in the kingdoms.
Although the lower classes were at first looked down upon because of their pursuit of commerce Merchant guilds brought the merchant class together. These guilds, as discussed in the guilds section of this site were rich and powerful. The guilds offered many benefits to lords and aldermen alike. In a way, if you had money to pay your dues, merchant guilds cared very little of your birth. For the bourgeoisie and middle class, it was all about your money.
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