What event determined the start of the middle ages
What event determined the start of the middle ages
Middle Ages
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The Middle Ages was the period in European history from the collapse of Roman civilization in the 5th century CE to the period of the Renaissance (variously interpreted as beginning in the 13th, 14th, or 15th century, depending on the region of Europe and other factors).
After the dissolution of the Roman Empire, the idea arose of Europe as one large church-state, called Christendom. Christendom consisted of two distinct groups of functionaries: the sacerdotium, or ecclesiastical hierarchy, and the imperium, or secular leaders.In theory, these two groups complemented each other, attending to people’s spiritual and temporal needs, respectively. In practice, the two institutions were constantly sparring, disagreeing, or openly warring with each other.
The Migration Period was a historical period sometimes called the Dark Ages, Late Antiquity, or the Early Middle Ages. The period lasted from the fall of Rome to about the year 1000, with a brief hiatus during the flowering of the Carolingian court established by Charlemagne.
Romanesque art was the first of two great international artistic eras that flourished in Europe during the Middle Ages. Romanesque architecture emerged about 1000 and lasted until about 1150, by which time it had evolved into Gothic. Gothic art was the second of two great international eras that flourished in western and central Europe during the Middle Ages.Gothic art evolved from Romanesque art and lasted from the mid-12th century to as late as the end of the 16th century in some areas.
Feudalism designates the social, economic, and political conditions in western Europe during the early Middle Ages, the long stretch of time between the 5th and 12th centuries. Feudalism and the related term feudal system are labels invented long after the period to which they were applied. They refer to what those who invented them perceived as the most significant and distinctive characteristics of the early and central Middle Ages.
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Middle Ages, the period in European history from the collapse of Roman civilization in the 5th century ce to the period of the Renaissance (variously interpreted as beginning in the 13th, 14th, or 15th century, depending on the region of Europe and other factors).
A brief treatment of the Middle Ages follows. For full treatment, see Europe, history of: The Middle Ages.
The term and its conventional meaning were introduced by Italian humanists with invidious intent. The humanists were engaged in a revival of Classical learning and culture, and the notion of a thousand-year period of darkness and ignorance separating them from the ancient Greek and Roman world served to highlight the humanists’ own work and ideals. It would seem unnecessary to observe that the men and women who lived during the thousand years or so preceding the Renaissance were not conscious of living in the Middle Ages. A few—Petrarch was the most conspicuous among them—felt that their lot was cast in a dark time, which had begun with the decline of the Roman Empire. Indeed, Petrarch would provide something of a founding statement for the humanists when he wrote, “For who can doubt that Rome would rise again instantly if she began to know herself?”
In a sense, the humanists invented the Middle Ages in order to distinguish themselves from it. They were making a gesture of their sense of freedom, and yet, at the same time, they were implicitly accepting the medieval conception of history as a series of well-defined ages within a limited framework of time. They did not speak of Augustine’s Six Ages of the World or believe in the chronology of Joachimite prophecy, but they nevertheless inherited a philosophy of history that began with the Garden of Eden and would end with the Second Coming of Christ. In such a scheme, the thousand years from the 5th to the 15th century might well be regarded as a distinct respectable period of history, which would stand out clearly in the providential pattern. Throughout European history, however, there has never been a complete breach with medieval institutions or modes of thought.
The sack of Rome by Alaric the Visigoth in 410 ce had enormous impact on the political structure and social climate of the Western world, for the Roman Empire had provided the basis of social cohesion for most of Europe. Although the Germanic tribes that forcibly migrated into southern and western Europe in the 5th century were ultimately converted to Christianity, they retained many of their customs and ways of life. The changes in forms of social organization they introduced rendered centralized government and cultural unity impossible. Many of the improvements in the quality of life introduced during the Roman Empire, such as a relatively efficient agriculture, extensive road networks, water-supply systems, and shipping routes, decayed substantially, as did artistic and scholarly endeavours.
This decline persisted throughout the Migration period, a historical period sometimes called the Dark Ages, Late Antiquity, or the Early Middle Ages. The Migration period lasted from the fall of Rome to about the year 1000, with a brief hiatus during the flowering of the Carolingian court established by Charlemagne. Apart from that interlude, no large political structure arose in Europe to provide stability. Two great kingdoms, Germany and Italy, began to lose their political unity almost as soon as they had acquired it; they had to wait until the 19th century before they found it again. The only force capable of providing a basis for social unity was the Roman Catholic Church. The Middle Ages therefore present the confusing and often contradictory picture of a society attempting to structure itself politically on a spiritual basis. This attempt came to a definitive end with the rise of artistic, commercial, and other activities anchored firmly in the secular world in the period just preceding the Renaissance.
After the dissolution of the Roman Empire, the idea arose of Europe as one large church-state, called Christendom. Christendom was thought to consist of two distinct groups of functionaries: the sacerdotium, or ecclesiastical hierarchy, and the imperium, or secular leaders. In theory, these two groups complemented each other, attending to people’s spiritual and temporal needs, respectively. Supreme authority was wielded by the pope in the first of these areas and by the emperor in the second. In practice, the two institutions were constantly sparring, disagreeing, or openly warring with each other. The emperors often tried to regulate church activities by claiming the right to appoint church officials and to intervene in doctrinal matters. The church, in turn, not only owned cities and armies but often attempted to regulate affairs of state. This tension would reach a breaking point in the late 11th and early 12th centuries during the clash between Emperor Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII over the question of lay investiture.
During the 12th century a cultural and economic revival took place; many historians trace the origins of the Renaissance to this time. The balance of economic power slowly began to shift from the region of the eastern Mediterranean to western Europe. The Gothic style developed in art and architecture. Towns began to flourish, travel and communication became faster, safer, and easier, and merchant classes began to develop. Agricultural developments were one reason for these developments; during the 12th century the cultivation of beans made a balanced diet available to all social classes for the first time in history. The population therefore rapidly expanded, a factor that eventually led to the breakup of the old feudal structures.
The 13th century was the apex of medieval civilization. The classic formulations of Gothic architecture and sculpture were achieved. Many different kinds of social units proliferated, including guilds, associations, civic councils, and monastic chapters, each eager to obtain some measure of autonomy. The crucial legal concept of representation developed, resulting in the political assembly whose members had plena potestas—full power—to make decisions binding upon the communities that had selected them. Intellectual life, dominated by the Roman Catholic Church, culminated in the philosophical method of Scholasticism, whose preeminent exponent, St. Thomas Aquinas, achieved in his writings on Aristotle and the Church Fathers one of the greatest syntheses in Western intellectual history.
Defining the Middle Ages
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One of the most frequently asked questions about medieval history is, «When did the Middle Ages start and end?» The answer to this simple question is more complicated than you might think.
There is currently no true consensus among historians, authors, and educators for the precise dates—or even the general dates—that mark the beginning and end of the medieval era. The most common time frame is approximately 500-1500 C.E., but you will often see different dates of significance marking the era’s parameters.
The reasons for this imprecision become a little more clear when one considers that the Middle Ages as a period of study has evolved over centuries of scholarship. Once a «Dark Age,» then a romantic era and an «Age of Faith,» medieval times were approached by historians in the 20th century as a complex, multifaceted era, and many scholars found new and intriguing topics to pursue. Every view of the Middle Ages had its own defining characteristics, which in turn had its own turning points and associated dates.
This state of affairs offers the scholar or enthusiast the opportunity to define the Middle Ages in the manner that best suits his own personal approach to the era. Unfortunately, it also leaves the newcomer to medieval studies with a certain amount of confusion.
Stuck in the Middle
The phrase «Middle Ages» has its origins in the fifteenth century. Scholars of the time—primarily in Italy—were caught up in an exciting movement of art and philosophy, and they saw themselves embarking on a new age that revived the long-lost culture of «classical» Greece and Rome. The time that intervened between the ancient world and their own was a «middle» age and, sadly, one they disparaged and from which they disassociated themselves.
Eventually the term and its associated adjective, «medieval,» caught on. Yet, if the period of time the term covered was ever explicitly defined, the chosen dates were never unassailable. It may seem reasonable to end the era at the point where scholars began to see themselves in a different light; however, this would assume they were justified in their view. From our vantage point of considerable hindsight, we can see that this was not necessarily the case.
The movement that outwardly characterized this period was in reality limited to the artistic elite (as well as to, for the most part, Italy). The political and material culture of the world around them had not radically changed from that of the centuries preceding their own. And despite the attitude of its participants, the Italian Renaissance did not spontaneously burst forth from nowhere but was instead a product of the preceding 1,000 years of intellectual and artistic history. From a broad historical perspective, «the Renaissance» cannot be clearly separated from the Middle Ages.
Nevertheless, thanks to the work of historians such as Jacob Burkhardt and Voltaire, the Renaissance was considered a distinct time period for many years. Yet recent scholarship has blurred the distinction between «the Middle Ages» and «the Renaissance.» It has now become much more important to comprehend the Italian Renaissance as an artistic and literary movement, and to see the succeeding movements it influenced in northern Europe and Britain for what they were, instead of lumping them all together in an imprecise and misleading «age.»
Although the origin of the term «middle ages» may no longer hold the weight it once did, the idea of the medieval era as existing «in the middle» still has validity. It is now quite common to view the Middle Ages as that period of time between the ancient world and the early modern age. Unfortunately, the dates at which that first era ends and the later era begins are by no means clear. It may be more productive to define the medieval era in terms of its most significant and unique characteristics, and then identify the turning points and their associated dates.
This leaves us with a variety of options for defining the Middle Ages.
Empires
Once, when political history defined the boundaries of the past, the date span of 476 to 1453 was generally considered the time frame of the medieval era. The reason: each date marked the fall of an empire.
In 476 C.E., the Western Roman Empire «officially» came to an end when the Germanic warrior Odoacer deposed and exiled the last emperor, Romulus Augustus. Instead of taking the title of emperor or acknowledging anyone else as such, Odoacer chose the title «King of Italy,» and the western empire was no more.
This event is no longer considered the definitive end of the Roman empire. In fact, whether Rome fell, dissolved, or evolved is still a matter for debate. Although at its height the empire spanned territory from Britain to Egypt, even at its most expansive the Roman bureaucracy neither encompassed nor controlled most of what was to become Europe. These lands, some of which were virgin territory, would be occupied by peoples that the Romans considered «barbarians,» and their genetic and cultural descendants would have just as much impact on the formation of western civilization as the survivors of Rome.
The study of the Roman Empire is important in understanding medieval Europe, but even if the date of its «fall» could be irrefutably determined, its status as a defining factor no longer holds the influence it once had.
In 1453 C.E., the Eastern Roman Empire came to an end when its captial city of Constantinople fell to invading Turks. Unlike the western terminus, this date is not contested, even though the Byzantine Empire had shrunk through the centuries and, at the time of the fall of Constantinople, had consisted of little more than the great city itself for more than two hundred years.
However, as significant as Byzantium is to medieval studies, to view it as a defining factor is misleading. At its height, the eastern empire encompassed even less of present-day Europe than had the western empire. Furthermore, while Byzantine civilization influenced the course of western culture and politics, the empire remained quite deliberately separate from the tumultuous, unstable, dynamic societies that grew, foundered, merged and warred in the west.
The choice of Empires as a defining characteristic of medieval studies has one other significant flaw: throughout the course of the Middle Ages, no true empire encompassed a significant portion of Europe for any substantial length of time. Charlemagne succeeded in uniting large portions of modern-day France and Germany, but the nation he built broke into factions only two generations after his death. The Holy Roman Empire has been called neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire, and its emperors certainly did not have the kind of control over its lands that Charlemagne achieved.
Yet the fall of empires lingers in our perception of the Middle Ages. One cannot help but notice how close the dates 476 and 1453 are to 500 and 1500.
Christendom
Throughout the medieval era only one institution came close to uniting all of Europe, though it was not so much a political empire as a spiritual one. That union was attempted by the Catholic Church, and the geopolitical entity it influenced was known as «Christendom.»
While the exact extent of the Church’s political power and influence on the material culture of medieval Europe has been and continues to be debated, there is no denying that it had a significant impact on international events and personal lifestyles throughout the era. It is for this reason that the Catholic Church has validity as a defining factor of the Middle Ages.
The rise, establishment, and ultimate fracturing of Catholicism as the single most influential religion in Western Europe offers several significant dates to use as start- and end-points for the era.
In 306 C.E., Constantine was proclaimed Caesar and became co-ruler of the Roman Empire. In 312 he converted to Christianity, the once-illegal religion now became favored over all others. (After his death, it would become the official religion of the empire.) Virtually overnight, an underground cult became the religion of the «Establishment,» forcing the once-radical Christian philosophers to rethink their attitudes toward the Empire.
In 325, Constantine called the Council of Nicaea, the first ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. This convocation of bishops from all over the known world was an important step in building the organized institution that would have so much influence over the next 1,200 years.
These events make the year 325, or at the very least the early fourth century, a viable starting point for the Christian Middle Ages. However, another event holds equal or greater weight in the minds of some scholars: the accession to the papal throne of Gregory the Great in 590. Gregory was instrumental in establishing the medieval papacy as a strong socio-political force, and many believe that without his efforts the Catholic Church would never have achieved the power and influence it wielded throughout medieval times.
In 1517 C.E. Martin Luther posted 95 theses criticizing the Catholic Church. In 1521 he was excommunicated, and he appeared before the Diet of Worms to defend his actions. The attempts to reform ecclesiastical practices from within the institution were futile; ultimately, the Protestant Reformation split the Western Church irrevocably. The Reformation was not a peaceful one, and religious wars ensued throughout much of Europe. These culminated in the Thirty Years War that ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.
When equating «medieval» with the rise and fall of Christendom, the latter date is sometimes viewed as the end of the Middle Ages by those who prefer an all-inclusive view of the era. However, the sixteenth-century events that heralded the beginning of the end of Catholicism’s pervasive presence in Europe are more frequently regarded as the era’s terminus.
Europe
The field of medieval studies is by its very nature «eurocentric.» This does not mean that medievalists deny or ignore the significance of events that took place outside of what is today Europe during the medieval era. But the entire concept of a «medieval era» is a European one. The term «Middle Ages» was first used by European scholars during the Italian Renaissance to describe their own history, and as the study of the era has evolved, that focus has remained fundamentally the same.
As more research has been conducted in previously unexplored areas, a wider recognition of the importance of the lands outside Europe in shaping the modern world has evolved. While other specialists study the histories of non-European lands from varying perspectives, medievalists generally approach them with regard to how they affected European history. It is an aspect of medieval studies that has always characterized the field.
Because the medieval era is so inextricably linked to the geographical entity we now call «Europe,» it is entirely valid to associate a definition of the Middle Ages with a significant stage in the development of that entity. But this presents us with a variety of challenges.
Europe is not a separate geological continent; it is part of a larger land mass properly called Eurasia. Throughout history, its boundaries shifted all too often, and they are still shifting today. It was not commonly recognized as a distinct geographical entity during the Middle Ages; the lands we now call Europe were more frequently considered «Christendom.» Throughout the Middle Ages, there was no single political force that controlled all of the continent. With these limitations, it becomes increasingly difficult to define the parameters of a broad historical age associated with what we now call Europe.
But perhaps this very lack of characteristic features can help us with our definition.
When the Roman Empire was at its height, it consisted primarily of the lands surrounding the Mediterranean. By the time Columbus made his historic voyage to the «New World,» the «Old World» stretched from Italy to Scandinavia, and from Britain to the Balkans and beyond. No longer was Europe the wild, untamed frontier, populated by «barbarian,» frequently migratory cultures. It was now «civilized» (though still often in turmoil), with generally stable governments, established centers of commerce and learning, and the dominant presence of Christianity.
Thus, the medieval era might be considered the period of time during which Europe became a geopolitical entity.
The «fall of the Roman Empire» (c. 476) can still be considered a turning point in the development of Europe’s identity. However, the time when the migrations of Germanic tribes into Roman territory began to effect significant changes in the empire’s cohesiveness (the 2nd century C.E.) could be considered the genesis of Europe.
A common terminus is the late 15th century when westward exploration into the new world initiated a new awareness in Europeans of their «old world.» The 15th century also saw significant turning points for regions within Europe: In 1453, the end of the Hundred Years War signalled the unification of France; in 1485, Britain saw the end of the Wars of the Roses and the beginning of an extensive peace; in 1492, the Moors were driven from Spain, the Jews were expelled, and «Catholic unity» prevailed. Changes were taking place everywhere, and as individual nations established modern identities, so too did Europe appear to take on a cohesive identity of its own.
Major Events in the Middle Ages
This brief timeline of Middle Ages events mentions details of the major events during the Middle Ages which were significant to the lives and incidences of famous people, Kings and lords of the Middle Ages.
The timeline starts with the beginning of the Dark Ages or Early Medieval period. The fall of Western Roman Empire brought significant political, religious and social changes in the European society. Other important events of the Middle Ages included the success of Charles Martel against Islamic invaders and the establishment of Charlemagne’s empire.
The agricultural revolution and establishment of Ottonian Empire was also important as it first proved to be a natural allegiance of the Church and the Kingdom of Germany and then, it also proved to be the forced partnership of Church and Holy Roman Empire that decimated the successful Holy Roman Empire of Germany.
The Battle of Hastings had a very important incidence of European Middle Ages as it established the feudal system in England and gave way for feudalism in other parts of the Continent. Declaration of Magna Carta was also a very important event.
Commercial revolution of Europe after the last crusade changed the economical conditions of Europe. During the Great Famine of Europe in 13th century, a big mass of medieval people lost their life. One of the aftermaths of Great Famine was the increasing rivalry and bloodthirstiness of the members of nobility that was expressed by the event of the Hundred Years’ War between England and France.
Joan of Arc emerged as one of the most powerful, most loved and then most hated woman of the medieval period. The Black Death ate up around half the population of entire Europe. The Great Schism of late Middle Ages was the most important event of history that brought about a change in the social conditions of Europe along with the decreasing power of the Church.
The Fall of Western Roman Empire (476 AD)
The fall of Western Roman Empire is considered as the beginning of the Middle Ages. The last Roman emperor was Julius Nepos who was nominated by Eastern Emperor Zeno. Nepo’s rebellion magister militum Orestes dethroned Julius Nepos and declared his own son Romulus Augustus as the new Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
Charles the Hammer and the Battle of Tours (732 AD)
Charles Martel, also known as Charles the Hammer was a Frankish political and military leader who worked under the Merovingian Kings as the Mayor of the Palace. In 732 AD, he defeated Moorish invaders in the Battle of Tours which permanently ended the Islamic invaders and their expansion in western Europe. Charles Martel is considered as one of the founding fathers of feudalism and knighthood of Europe. He prepared the grounds for the establishment of Carolingian Empire. He was the grandfather of Charlemagne.
Charlemagne, the Emperor of Romans (800 AD)
Charlemagne or Charles the Great was a Frankish king who expanded the Frankish kingdom and covered almost all of the Western and Central Europe. He was declared as the Emperor of Romans in 800 AD and he enjoyed the empire successfully till his death. He associated his political steps with the Church and encouraged a revival of art, religion and culture with the help of the Church.
Treaty of Verdun (843 AD)
After his death, Louis the Pious was declared his successor who ruled as the Emperor of Romans. However, after his death, the Carolingian empire faced a Civil War because of the internal tussle between the three surviving sons of Louis the Pious who struggled for the emperorship. At last, the Carolingian empire was divided in three parts in August 843 AD through the Treaty of Verdun which ended the three years long Civil War.
The Ottonian Holy Roman Empire of Germany (962 AD)
Otto I was the successor of Henry the Fowler, the duke of Saxony who became the first Saxon Emperor. Just like his father, Otto I succeeded in protecting Germans against Magyar invaders. He chose to create a German monastery and this natural allegiance of German Church and Kingdom helped him to gain control over the rebellion dukes and establish his Ottonian Empire.
In 962 AD, the papacy of Italy invited him and declared him as the Emperor of Italy and he established his Holy Roman Empire.
The Battle of Hastings (1066 AD)
On 14th October 1066, William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy defeated the last Anglo-Saxon king Harold II. William the Conqueror established the Norman Empire and to protect his empire, he rewarded all his Norman supporters who fought for him in the war with large piece of land of England. He divided all land of England in manors and established the feudal system and manoralism.
Declaration of Magna Carta (1215 AD)
The Magna Carta Libertatum, or the Great Charter of Liberties of England was originally issued in 1215 AD. This charter is considered to be the first step towards the constitutional government of England. The Charter of Magna Carta restricted the power of the Emperor and proved the importance of a Constitution.
The Great Famine (1315-1317 AD)
Whole northern Europe suffered the Great Famine in 1315 which prolonged itself till 1317. During these two years of famine, a big portion of the population died of hunger and diseases. During those days of famine, crime rate increased to extreme and there were too many incidences of cannibalism, rapes, and infanticides. The Great Famine brought unrest in peasants and the members of nobility also suffered a setback and as a result, they became more bloodthirsty and gave up the oath of chivalry.
The Hundred Years’ War (1337 AD)
The Hundred Years’ War began in 1337 when the Kingdom of England waged war against the Kingdom of France. While there were many periods of peace and ceasefire between England and France during the period, however, this war was continued again and again in different conflicts till 1453.
The Black Death (1348-1350 AD)
The Black Death or the Black Plague proved to be the most threatening epidemic of the European Middle Ages that significantly weakened the feudal system and the Church of Europe. Huge masses of people met untimely death because of this plague and it significantly reduced the economic and political power of the kingdoms of Europe.
In order to take advantages of the situations, peasants revolted against their manors and asked for better treatment. People got angry against the Church because no volumes of prayers could save them; while they also got angry against the government because the government was unable to help them either.
The Great Schism (1378-1417 AD)
The Church suffered the first jolt in 1054, when the Church was divided in Eastern and Western Christian Church. The Eastern Orthodox Church believed that the Western Roman Catholic Church was corrupt and exploitative.
The Western Christendom suffered much bigger jolt during 1378 to 1417, when there were three contestants for the Papacy. This internal tussle for ultimate power of papacy significantly reduced the influence and power of the Church over common people.
Middle Ages
Contents
People use the phrase “Middle Ages” to describe Europe between the fall of Rome in 476 CE and the beginning of the Renaissance in the 14th century. Many scholars call the era the “medieval period” instead; “Middle Ages,” they say, incorrectly implies that the period is an insignificant blip sandwiched between two much more important epochs.
The Middle Ages: Birth of an Idea
The phrase “Middle Ages” tells us more about the Renaissance that followed it than it does about the era itself. Starting around the 14th century, European thinkers, writers and artists began to look back and celebrate the art and culture of ancient Greece and Rome. Accordingly, they dismissed the period after the fall of Rome as a “Middle” or even “Dark” age in which no scientific accomplishments had been made, no great art produced, no great leaders born. The people of the Middle Ages had squandered the advancements of their predecessors, this argument went, and mired themselves instead in what 18th-century English historian Edward Gibbon called “barbarism and religion.”
Did you know? Between 1347 and 1350, a mysterious disease known as the «Black Death» (the bubonic plague) killed some 20 million people in Europe—30 percent of the continent’s population. It was especially deadly in cities, where it was impossible to prevent the transmission of the disease from one person to another.
This way of thinking about the era in the “middle” of the fall of Rome and the rise of the Renaissance prevailed until relatively recently. However, today’s scholars note that the era was as complex and vibrant as any other.
The Catholic Church in the Middle Ages
After the fall of Rome, no single state or government united the people who lived on the European continent. Instead, the Catholic Church became the most powerful institution of the medieval period. Kings, queens and other leaders derived much of their power from their alliances with and protection of the Church.
In 800 CE, for example, Pope Leo III named the Frankish king Charlemagne the “Emperor of the Romans”–the first since that empire’s fall more than 300 years before. Over time, Charlemagne’s realm became the Holy Roman Empire, one of several political entities in Europe whose interests tended to align with those of the Church.
Ordinary people across Europe had to “tithe” 10 percent of their earnings each year to the Church; at the same time, the Church was mostly exempt from taxation. These policies helped it to amass a great deal of money and power.
The Middle Ages: The Rise of Islam
Meanwhile, the Islamic world was growing larger and more powerful. After the prophet Muhammad’s death in 632 CE, Muslim armies conquered large parts of the Middle East, uniting them under the rule of a single caliph. At its height, the medieval Islamic world was more than three times bigger than all of Christendom.
Under the caliphs, great cities such as Cairo, Baghdad and Damascus fostered a vibrant intellectual and cultural life. Poets, scientists and philosophers wrote thousands of books (on paper, a Chinese invention that had made its way into the Islamic world by the 8th century). Scholars translated Greek, Iranian and Indian texts into Arabic. Inventors devised technologies like the pinhole camera, soap, windmills, surgical instruments, an early flying machine and the system of numerals that we use today. And religious scholars and mystics translated, interpreted and taught the Quran and other scriptural texts to people across the Middle East.
The Crusades
Toward the end of the 11th century, the Catholic Church began to authorize military expeditions, or Crusades, to expel Muslim “infidels” from the Holy Land. Crusaders, who wore red crosses on their coats to advertise their status, believed that their service would guarantee the remission of their sins and ensure that they could spend all eternity in Heaven. (They also received more worldly rewards, such as papal protection of their property and forgiveness of some kinds of loan payments.)
The Crusades began in 1095, when Pope Urban summoned a Christian army to fight its way to Jerusalem, and continued on and off until the end of the 15th century. In 1099, Christian armies captured Jerusalem from Muslim control, and groups of pilgrims from across Western Europe started visiting the Holy Land. Many of them, however, were robbed and killed as they crossed through Muslim-controlled territories during their journey.
Around 1118, a French knight named Hugues de Payens created a military order along with eight relatives and acquaintances that became the Knights Templar, and they won the eventual support of the pope and a reputation for being fearsome fighters. The Fall of Acre in 1291 marked the destruction of the last remaining Crusader refuge in the Holy Land, and Pope Clement V dissolved the Knights Templar in 1312.
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No one “won” the Crusades; in fact, many thousands of people from both sides lost their lives. They did make ordinary Catholics across Christendom feel like they had a common purpose, and they inspired waves of religious enthusiasm among people who might otherwise have felt alienated from the official Church. They also exposed Crusaders to Islamic literature, science and technology–exposure that would have a lasting effect on European intellectual life.
The Middle Ages: Art and Architecture
Another way to show devotion to the Church was to build grand cathedrals and other ecclesiastical structures such as monasteries. Cathedrals were the largest buildings in medieval Europe, and they could be found at the center of towns and cities across the continent.
Between the 10th and 13th centuries, most European cathedrals were built in the Romanesque style. Romanesque cathedrals are solid and substantial: They have rounded masonry arches and barrel vaults supporting the roof, thick stone walls and few windows. (Examples of Romanesque architecture include the Porto Cathedral in Portugal and the Speyer Cathedral in present-day Germany.)
Around 1200, church builders began to embrace a new architectural style, known as the Gothic. Gothic structures, such as the Abbey Church of Saint-Denis in France and the rebuilt Canterbury Cathedral in England, have huge stained-glass windows, pointed vaults and arches (a technology developed in the Islamic world), and spires and flying buttresses. In contrast to heavy Romanesque buildings, Gothic architecture seems to be almost weightless. Medieval religious art took other forms as well. Frescoes and mosaics decorated church interiors, and artists painted devotional images of the Virgin Mary, Jesus and the saints.
Also, before the invention of the printing press in the 15th century, even books were works of art. Craftsmen in monasteries (and later in universities) created illuminated manuscripts: handmade sacred and secular books with colored illustrations, gold and silver lettering and other adornments. Convents were one of the few places women could receive a higher education, and nuns wrote, translated, and illuminated manuscripts as well. In the 12th century, urban booksellers began to market smaller illuminated manuscripts, like books of hours, psalters and other prayer books, to wealthy individuals.
Did You Know? Juliana Morell, a 17th-century Spanish Dominican nun, is believed to be the first woman in the Western world to earn a university degree.
Chivalry and courtly love were celebrated in stories and songs spread by troubadours. Some of medieval literature’s most famous stories include “The Song of Roland” and “The Song of Hildebrand.”
The Black Death
Between 1347 and 1350, a mysterious disease known as the » Black Death » (the bubonic plague) killed some 20 million people in Europe—30 percent of the continent’s population. It was especially deadly in cities, where it was impossible to prevent the transmission of the disease from one person to another.
The plague started in Europe in October 1347, when 12 ships from the Black Sea docked at the Sicilian port of Messina. Most sailors aboard the ships were dead, and those who were alive were covered in black boils that oozed blood and pus. Symptoms of the Black Death included fever, chills, vomiting, diarrhea, terrible aches and pains – and then death. Victims could go to bed feeling healthy and be dead by morning.
The plague killed cows, pigs, goats, chickens and even sheep, leading to a wool shortage in Europe. Understandably terrified about the mysterious disease, some people of the Middle Ages believed the plague was a divine punishment for sin. To obtain forgiveness, some people became “flagellants,” traveling Europe to put on public displays of penance that could include whipping and beating one another. Others turned on their neighbors, purging people they believed to be heretics. Thousands of Jews were murdered between 1348 and 1349, while others fled to less populated areas of Eastern Europe.
Today, scientists know the plague was caused by a bacillus called Yersina pestis, which travels through the air and can also be contracted through the bite of an infected flea.
The Middle Ages: Economics and Society
In medieval Europe, rural life was governed by a system scholars call “feudalism.” In a feudal society, the king granted large pieces of land called fiefs to noblemen and bishops. Landless peasants known as serfs did most of the work on the fiefs: They planted and harvested crops and gave most of the produce to the landowner. In exchange for their labor, they were allowed to live on the land. They were also promised protection in case of enemy invasion.
During the 11th century, however, feudal life began to change. Agricultural innovations such as the heavy plow and three-field crop rotation made farming more efficient and productive, so fewer farm workers were needed–but thanks to the expanded and improved food supply, the population grew. As a result, more and more people were drawn to towns and cities. Meanwhile, the Crusades had expanded trade routes to the East and given Europeans a taste for imported goods such as wine, olive oil and luxurious textiles. As the commercial economy developed, port cities in particular thrived. By 1300, there were some 15 cities in Europe with a population of more than 50,000.
In these cities, a new era was born: the Renaissance. The Renaissance was a time of great intellectual and economic change, but it was not a complete “rebirth”: It had its roots in the world of the Middle Ages.
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages are a time period in European history that stretched from the end of the Western Roman Empire (in the 5th century) [1] to the start of the Renaissance and the time Christopher Columbus discovered the New World in 1492. (at the end of the 15th century).
The ‘Middle Ages’ are called this because it is the time between the fall of Imperial Rome and the beginning of the Early modern Europe. This period of time is also known as the Medieval Age, the Dark Ages, or the Age of Faith (because of the rise of Christianity). When used narrowly, the term «Dark Ages» refer only to very early period, from 476 to 800 (when Charlemagne became king).
Across Europe, the fall of the Roman Empire, after the invasions of different barbarian tribes, devastated towns and cities and their inhabitants. The Dark Ages are given this name because during this period of time Europe was in disarray, and it was not fun to live there and since few could write, little is known about it. Much of the knowledge that the Romans used (science, technology, medicine, and literature) was lost. The Dark Ages period was marked by mass migrations, wars and plagues. This lasted some 300 years until the development of feudalism partly diminished the continuous violence. Emperor Charlemagne was crowned in 800, and he promoted order, education and civilization. Europe began slowly regain what was lost during those centuries.
During the Middle Ages, Europe changed as the remains of a great empire (the Western Roman Empire) slowly became independent countries (England, France (The Franks), Germany (Germania), Hungary, Spain, Portugal, Poland, and Russia.
Contents
Early Middle Ages [ edit | edit source ]
Society and economic life [ edit | edit source ]
Due to invasions and disorganized society, royal authority, too weak, was unable to properly protect the people. So the latter put themselves under the protection of a lord. In exchange, they worked for him, paying him taxes and giving him a portion of their harvests. This put in place a society divided between the owners of land (then the key to wealth) and those who worked it. Men were bound to each other by ties of loyalties granted more or less freely. Beginning in the 11th century, the development of towns allowed a new group (bourgeois artisans, merchants, and judicial and administrative officials) to gain importance, but at the same time, laborers in craft industries became more numerous.
The society was Christian and was organized in Western Europe through the Catholic Church, while in Eastern Europe, after the schism of 1054 it was the Orthodox churches that oversaw the population.
The attempted political unification of Europe by the Carolingians failed after the disintegration of the Frank empire in 843. While in the Germanic countries the Holy Roman Empire remained, to the west, very individualized countries progressively came into existence such as France and England. Dynastic kingdoms would compete for several centuries for these questions.
Economy [ edit | edit source ]
The economy remained largely tied to agricultural production. Agriculture experienced significant change beginning in the 12th century, with practically none in the 10th century. The 14th century was a period of great difficulty in Europe; agriculture declined but remained dominant in the 15th century.
Craft industry was embryonic in the cities at the beginning of the 11th century. But the urban growth that took off in the 12th century developed it. At the same time, major commerce resumed throughout continental Europe and the Mediterranean world. Wealthy merchants organized it.
European society in the Middle Ages [ edit | edit source ]
Society was organised into categories: those who worked (labourers), those who fought (warriors), and those who prayed (priests). The workers (farmers and artisans in the countrysides) represented over 90% of the European population. In the 10th century, they were subject to the authority of the warriors (the lords). Gradually, either through purchase or by force, they get their freedom (the freedom of urban immigration from the villages to the cities). The peasant world became more unequal, with the greater part of the population living in difficulty from day to day, while a tiny minority, the farmers, was able to play and important role in the campaigns. The warriors (the nobility’s army) would levy taxes on the agricultural production and the individual farmers are put in difficulty by the endless conflicts of the 14th century and the 15th century. A new nobility, made up of royal administrators, appeared in the 15th century.
Christianity [ edit | edit source ]
In the Middle Ages, Europeans were all true believers. For the most part they were Christians, but divided after the schism of 1054 into Catholics in the west, center and south of Europe, and the Orthodox in the east and southeast.
Christians sought salvation of the soul above all else and feared the Last Judgment that would lead some to the eternal torment of Hell and others to eternal happiness in Paradise. For that, in the conduct of their ephemeral earthly life, they relied on the recommendations of the Church which were locally proclaimed by priests and popes. These monks were the gatekeepers for a population that can not read or write (except for a small minority), and can not have access to sacred books.
The churches were responsible for education, but basic for the population. They were the only ones that could help the sick and the poor. The Catholic Church imposed the Peace of God to reduce the damage associated with wars between the lords.
Efforts to reform the Catholic Church at the Council of Constance (1414-1418) failed. Believers proposed new ways to practice religion, such as John Wycliffe in England and Jan Hus in Bohemia (who was executed for this reason). Growing concern about salvation led some Catholics to question the validity of their religious beliefs and practices, particularly the heavy reliance on Works, on the veneration of saints and on spectacular expressions of penance. At the start of the 16th Century, this resulted in the birth of the Lutheran and Calvinist Churches, which separated from Rome.
Architecture and art [ edit | edit source ]
Intellectual and artistic life, weakened by the Germanic invasions of the fifth century, began again with the Carolingian Renaissance in the ninth century. Transfer of knowledge, largely controlled by the Catholic church, continued in monasteries and later in universities. After Carolingian art, Romanesque and Gothic art developed covering Europe in monuments testifying to the faith of the people.
Late Middle Ages [ edit | edit source ]
The Late Middle Ages were the last two centuries of the Middle Ages, from 1300 to 1492. During this period the gun changed war and aristocracy and feudalism became less important. States founded standing armies. Before, armies were only formed when there was a war. States only made their laws, money and identity the same in the entire country. Technology, economy and science developed. Cities were founded and existing cities grew larger and richer. France and England fought the Hundred Years War. The Grand Duchy of Moscow regained its independence from the Mongols just like the Chinese, and under the name «Russia» became the most important state in Eastern Europe.
In the 15th century, the Ottoman Turks conquered the Byzantine Empire. That event cut off the Silk Road, and the Europeans had to find new trade routes. In turn, the Muslims were driven off Spain. This event triggered the period called the Great Expeditions.
In the late Middle Ages the Frisians rebelled against the Habsburgians from 1515 until 1523. They were lead into battle by the legendary warriors and warlords Donia and Jelckama. They were eventually defeated and decapitated (beheaded) in Leeuwarden.
Byzantium: The other side of Rome [ edit | edit source ]
Meanwhile, the remains of Eastern Rome had become the Byzantine Empire, which was started by Roman emperor Constantine in 330, and likewise had a capital city named Constantinople. The Byzantine empire controlled Asia Minor, Southern Spain, Northern Africa and sometimes southern Italy but its lands were slowly eaten away by enemies like the Turks and the Franks. As a walled city on a peninsula the city of Constantinople was extremely difficult to attack. The Byzantines were eventually destroyed by the Ottoman Turks, who seized Constantinople in 1453. They called the city by its present-day name, Istanbul. This event is sometimes called the end of the Middle Age.
Islam and its golden age [ edit | edit source ]
Islam was founded in the early 7th century by the prophet Muhammad. Muslims believe that the Qur’an is God’s ultimate revelation to mankind. Islam spread quickly along the major trade routes of the old world, finding appeal with traders and travellers. The Islamic religion soon split; between the Sunni Muslims and the Shi’a. The Sunni religion is the majority (roughly 85% of Muslims belong to this sect), whereas most Shi’a live in modern-day Iran and Iraq. The Sunni-Shi’a split has been compared to the Catholic-Eastern Orthodox split of the Christian church much later in 1054.
Muslims quickly conquered the Christian countries of Iraq, Syria, Egypt, North Africa and Spain. The Christians were able to keep France and other European countries. Later Muslims took other countries such as Persia and India where they built the Mughal Empire. The Muslim Ottoman Empire eventually conquered parts of eastern Europe. The Muslims took hold of vast areas of land making them a superpower of the Middle Ages.
Christianity in Europe confronted Islam in the Middle East during the Crusades, in the Iberian Peninsula during the Reconquista. From the fifteenth century, Christianity, had to face the conquering Ottoman Turks advancing to Europe and Central Balkan.
During the Early Middle Ages, Muslims achieved what is remembered as a golden age of knowledge. During these times of strife in Europe, Muslim caliphs gathered the ancient texts of the great empires (Rome, Greece, Egypt) and attempted to re-integrate that knowledge. During this time a Persian Muslim helped develop progress in algebra. The golden age of Islam ended with the Turkoman invasions in the 11th century.