Middle Ages Overview:
– The Middle Ages traditionally spans from around 500 to 1500.
– Major developments include agriculture predominance and exploitation of the peasantry.
– Movements of peoples led to the disintegration of the Western Roman Empire.
– Population increased during the High Middle Ages due to the Medieval Warm Period.
– New towns developed from local commercial centers.
– Calamities like the Black Death and conflicts intensified during the Late Middle Ages.
Historical Periodization and Terminology:
– Tripartite periodisation of the Middle Ages was first used by Leonardo Bruni in 1442.
– The term ‘medieval’ comes from ‘medium aevum’ (middle age).
– Different start and end dates are used, such as 476, 1453, 1492, and 1517.
– Historians divide the Middle Ages into Early, High, and Late periods.
– The entire Middle Ages were often referred to as the Dark Ages in the 19th century.
– Historians from Romance language-speaking countries divide the Middle Ages into high and low periods.
Challenges and Changes in the Middle Ages:
– Difficulties like the Black Death and great famine were faced during the Middle Ages.
– Conflicts between ethnic and social groups intensified.
– The Western Schism and dissident movements challenged traditional power structures.
– Humanist scholars emphasized human dignity.
– Early Renaissance architects and artists revived classical culture elements.
Cultural Assimilation and Post-Roman Kingdoms:
– Fusion of Roman culture with invading tribes documented in post-Roman world.
– New political entities based scholarly culture on Roman intellectual traditions.
– Decline in taxation systems as armies were supported through land grants.
– Anglo-Saxons in Britain assimilated linguistically with the native Britons.
– Roman culture influenced post-Roman kingdoms and tribes.
Religious and Cultural Developments:
– Christianization of the Roman Empire accelerated under Constantine.
– Christian symbolism developed by Early Christians in the 3rd century.
– Rise of Islam during Muhammad’s lifetime and its spread into various regions.
– Monasteries acted as important centers of education and literacy.
– Spread of monastic ideals through hagiographical literature.
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period (also spelt mediaeval or mediæval) lasted approximately from 500 AD to 1500, although some prefer other start and end dates. The Middle Ages is the second of the three traditional divisions of Western history: antiquity, medieval, and modern. Major developments include the predominance of agriculture in the economy, the exploitation of the peasantry, slow interregional communication, the importance of interpersonal relations in power structures, and the fragility of state bureaucracy. The medieval period is itself sometimes subdivided into the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages, and the early medieval period is alternatively referred to as the Dark Ages.
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Population decline, counterurbanisation, the collapse of centralised authority, the mass migration of tribes (mainly Germanic peoples), and Christianisation, which had begun in late antiquity, continued into the Early Middle Ages. The movements of peoples led to the disintegration of the Western Roman Empire, and the rise of new kingdoms. In the post-Roman world, taxation declined, the army was financed through land grants, and the blending of Later Roman civilisation and the invaders' traditions is well documented. The Eastern Roman Empire (or Byzantine Empire) survived but lost the Middle East and North Africa to Muslim conquerors in the 7th century. Although the Carolingian dynasty of the Franks reunited much of the Western Roman lands by the early 9th century, the Carolingian Empire quickly fell apart into competing kingdoms, which later fragmented into autonomous duchies and lordships.
During the High Middle Ages, which began after 1000, the population of Europe increased greatly as the Medieval Warm Period allowed crop yields to increase, and technological and agricultural innovations introduced a "commercial revolution". Slavery nearly disappeared, and peasants could improve their status by colonising faraway regions in return for economic and legal concessions. New towns developed from local commercial centers, and urban artisans united into local guilds to protect their common interests. Western church leaders accepted papal supremacy to get rid of lay influence, which accelerated the separation of the western Catholic and eastern Orthodox Churches, and triggered the Investiture Controversy between the papacy and secular powers. With the spread of heavy cavalry, a new aristocracy emerged who stabilised their position through strict inheritance customs. In the system of feudalism, the noble knights owed military service to their lords in return for the lands they had received in fief. Stone castles were built in regions where central authority was weak but by the end of the period state power was in the rise. The Western European peasants' and aristocrats' movement towards the peripheries of Europe, often in the guise of crusades, led to the expansion of Latin Christendom against the neighbouring Muslim, pagan, and Orthodox peoples. The spread of cathedral schools and universities stimulated a new method of intellectual discussions, with an emphasis on rational argumentation, known as scholasticism. Mass pilgrimages prompted the construction of massive Romanesque churches, while structural innovations led to the development of the more delicate Gothic architecture.
Difficulties and calamities, including a great famine and the Black Death, which reduced the population by 50 per cent, introduced the Late Middle Ages in the 14th century. Conflicts between ethnic and social groups intensified, and local conflicts often escalated into full-scale warfare, such as the Hundred Years' War. By the end of the period, the Byzantine Empire and the Balkan states were conquered by a new Muslim power, the Ottoman Empire, whereas in the Iberian Peninsula, the Christian kingdoms won their centuries-old war against their Muslim neighbours. The prominence of personal faith is well documented, but the Western Schism and dissident movements condemned as heresies presented a significant challenge to traditional power structures in the Western Church. Humanist scholars started to put a special emphasis on human dignity, and Early Renaissance architects and artists revived several elements of classical culture in Italy. During the last medieval century, naval expeditions in search for new trade routes introduced the Age of Discovery.
