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Middle Ages....
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The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic
division of European history into three 'ages': the classical civilization
of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times. The Middle Ages of
Western Europe are commonly dated from the end of the Western
Roman Empire
(5th century) until the rise of national monarchies, of European overseas
exploration, the invention and diffusion of printing, and the humanist
revival of the Renaissance in the 15th century in Italy, early 16th
century in Northern Europe, as well as the Protestant Reformation starting
in 1517. These various changes all mark the beginning of the Early Modern
period that preceded the Industrial Revolution.
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As the authority of the Roman Empire dwindled in Western
Europe, its territories were entered and settled by succeeding waves of
"barbarian" tribal confederations, some of whom distrusted and rejected the
classical culture of Rome, while others, like the Goths admired it and
considered themselves the legatees and heirs of Rome. Prominent among these
peoples in the movement were the Huns and Avars and Magyars with the large
number of Germanic and later Slavic peoples. |
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The era of the migrations is referred to as the Migration
Period. It has historically been termed the "Dark Ages" by Western European
historians, as Völkerwanderung ("wandering of the peoples") by German
historians. The term "Dark Ages" has now fallen from favor, partly to avoid
the entrenched stereotypes associated with the phrase, but also partly
because more recent research into the period has in fact revealed its
surprising artistic sophistication, though its political and social senses
were unevolved and its technologies undeveloped, compared to the preceding
culture. |
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Romanesque architecture
flourished in the early Middle Ages
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Following the Great Schism, prime examples of the force
of the divided cultural identities of Christendom can be found in the
unfolding developments of the Crusades, during which Popes, kings, and
emperors drew on the concept of Christian unity to inspire the population
of Western Europe to unite and defend Christendom from the aggression of
Islam, often at the expense of the Byzantine Empire. From the 7th century
onward, Islam had been gaining ground along Europe's southern and eastern
borders. Muslim armies conquered Egypt, the rest of North Africa,
Jerusalem, Spain, Sicily, and most of Anatolia (in modern Turkey),
although they were finally turned back in western Europe by
Christian
armies at the Battle of Tours in southern France. Political unanimity in
Europe was less secure than it appeared, however, and the military support
for most crusades was drawn from limited regions of Europe. Substantial
areas of northern Europe also remained outside Christendom until the
twelfth century or later; these areas also became crusading venues during
the expansionist High Middle Ages. |
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