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| Etymology and periodization | |
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See also: Periodization
The Middle Ages is one of the three major periods in the most enduring scheme for analyzing European history: classical civilization (or Antiquity), the Middle Ages, and the modern period.[1] It is "middle" in the sense of being between the two other periods in time. Humanists in the Renaissance argued that their scholarship restored direct links to the classical period, thus bypassing the Medieval period. The "Middle Ages" first appears in Latin in 1469 as media tempestas (middle times).[2] In early usage, there were many variants, including medium aevum (Middle Age), first recorded in 1604,[2] and media scecula (Middle Ages), first recorded in 1625.[3] English is the only major language that retains the plural form.[3]
Leonardo Bruni was a Renaissance historian who helped develop the concept of the Middle Ages.
Tags:European History,Classical,Modern,Renaissance,Periodization,Antiquity,Modern Period,Humanists,Leonardo Bruni,Arian, | |
| Development of concept | |
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Medieval historians did not think of themselves as being in the middle of history. Instead, they wrote history from a universal and theological perspective. They divided history into periods such as the "Six Ages" or the "Four Empires", with their period being the last before the end of the world. They considered the Roman period, especially the time of the Apostles, an historical peak, followed by a long slide toward the Apocalypse.[4]
In the 1330s, the humanist and poet Petrarch referred to pre-Christian times as antiqua (ancient) and to the Christian period as nova (new).[4] While retaining the theme of decline from the apogee of ancient Rome, Petrarch's division was not based on theology, but on a perception of cultural and political decline, especially the idea that Medieval Latin was inferior to Classical Latin.[5] From Petrarch's Italian perspective, this new period (which included his own time) was an age of national eclipse.[5]
Leonardo Bruni was the first historian to use tripartite periodization in his History of the Florentine People (1442).[6] Bruni's first two periods were based on those of Petrarch, but he added a third period because he believed that Italy was no longer in a state of decline. Flavio Biondo used a similar framework in Decades of History from the Deterioration of the Roman Empire (1439–1453). Tripartite periodization became standard after the German historian Christoph Cellarius published Universal History Divided into an Ancient, Medieval, and New Period (1683).
Tags:Christian,Art,Six Ages,Four Empires,Apostles,Apocalypse,Petrarch,Flavio Biondo,Christoph Cellarius,Ad,Italy,Classical Latin,Medieval Latin, | |
| Start and end dates | |
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The most commonly given start date for the Middle Ages is 476,[7] a date first given by Bruni.[6] This was when Romulus Augustus, the last Roman emperor in the West, abdicated. The western empire had already lost its military power by this time and Romulus Augustus was only a puppet emperor, so many historians object that this convention ascribes undue significance to an arbitrary year. In contrast, Biondo used the sack of Rome in 410 by the Goths as the beginning of the period.[4] In the history of Scandinavia, the Middle Ages followed prehistory during the 11th century, when the rulers converted to Christianity and substantial written records began to appear. A similar shift from prehistory to the Middle Ages occurred in Estonia and Latvia during the 13th century.
Richard III, England's last Medieval monarch
For Europe as a whole, the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453 is commonly used as the end date of the Middle Ages. Depending on the context, other events, such as the invention of the moveable type printing press by Johann Gutenberg c. 1455, the fall of Muslim Granada in Spain or Christopher Columbus's voyage to America (both 1492), can be used. For Italy, 1401, the year the contract was awarded to build the north doors of the Florence Baptistery, is often used. In contrast, English historians often use the Battle of Bosworth Field (1485) to mark the end of the period.[8] For Spain, the death of King Ferdinand II (1516), of Queen Isabella I of Castile (1504) or otherwise the conquest of Granada (1492) is often used.[9]
Tags:Muslim,Romulus Augustus,Sack Of Rome,Goths,History Of Scandinavia,Prehistory,Richard Iii,Conquest Of Constantinople,Moveable Type,Johann Gutenberg,Muslim Granada,Christopher Columbus,America,Florence Baptistery,Battle Of Bosworth Field,Ferdinand Ii,Isabella I Of Castile,Constantinople,Western Empire,Rule, | |
| Subdivisions | |
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Historians in the Romance languages tend to divide the Middle Ages into two parts: an earlier "High" and later "Low" period. English-speaking historians, following their German counterparts, generally subdivide the Middle Ages into three intervals: "Early", "High" and "Late".[1] Belgian historian Henri Pirenne and Dutch historian Johan Huizinga popularized the following subdivisions in the early 20th century: the Early Middle Ages (476-1000), the High Middle Ages (1000–1300), and the Late Middle Ages (1300–1453). In the 19th century, the entire Middle Ages were often referred to as the "Dark Ages".[10] But with the creation of these subdivisions use of this term was restricted to the Early Middle Ages, at least among historians.[10]
Tags:Henri Pirenne,Johan Huizinga,Dark Ages, | |
| The later Roman Empire | |
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Main articles: Late Antiquity, Decline of the Roman Empire, Migration Period, and Byzantine Empire
Map of territorial boundaries ca. 450 AD
The Roman empire reached its greatest territorial extent during the 2nd century with the following two centuries witnessing the slow decline of Roman control over its outlying territories.[citation needed] Economic issues, including inflation, and external pressures on the frontiers combined to make the 3rd century unstable politically, with a number of different emperors coming to the throne and then being replaced by new usurpers.[11] The Emperor Diocletian split the empire into separately administered eastern and western halves in 286 AD, although the empire was not considered divided, as legal and administrative promulgations in one division were considered valid in the other.[12][a] After a period of civil war, in 330 Constantine refounded the city of Byzantium as the newly renamed eastern capital, Constantinople.[13]
Military expenses increased steadily during the 4th century, even as Rome's neighbours became restless and increasingly powerful. Tribes who previously had contact with the Romans as trading partners, rivals, or mercenaries had sought entrance to the empire and access to its wealth throughout the 4th century.
Diocletian's reforms had created a strong governmental bureaucracy, reformed taxation, and strengthened the army.[14] These reforms bought the Empire time, but they demanded money. Roman power had been maintained by its well-trained and equipped armies. These armies, however, were a constant drain on the Empire's finances. As warfare became more dependent on heavy cavalry, the infantry-based Roman military started to lose its advantage against its rivals. The defeat in 378 at the Battle of Adrianople, at the hands of mounted Gothic lancers, destroyed much of the Roman army and left the Western Empire undefended.[14] Without a strong army, the empire was forced to accommodate the large numbers of Germanic tribes who sought refuge within its frontiers.
Known in traditional historiography collectively as the "barbarian invasions", the Migration Period, or the Völkerwanderung ("wandering of the peoples"), this migration was a complicated and gradual process. Some of these "barbarian" tribes rejected the classical culture of Rome, while others admired and aspired to emulate it. In return for land to farm and, in some regions, the right to collect tax revenues for the state, federated tribes provided military support to the empire. Other incursions were small-scale military invasions of tribal groups assembled to gather plunder. The Huns, Bulgars, Avars, and Magyars all raided the Empire's territories and terrorised its inhabitants. Later, Slavic and Germanic peoples would settle the lands previously taken by these tribes. The most famous invasion culminated in the sack of Rome by the Visigoths in 410, the first time in almost 800 years that Rome had fallen to an enemy.
By the end of the 5th century, Roman institutions were crumbling. Some early historians have given this period of societal collapse the epithet of "Dark Ages" because of the contrast to earlier times, (however, the term is avoided by current historians). The last emperor of the west, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed by the barbarian king Odoacer in 476.[14] The Eastern Roman Empire (conventionally referred to as the "Byzantine Empire" after the fall of its western counterpart) had little ability to assert control over the lost western territories. Even though Byzantine emperors maintained a claim over the territory, and no "barbarian" king dared to elevate himself to the position of Emperor of the West, Byzantine control of most of the West could not be sustained; the renovatio imperii ("imperial restoration", entailing reconquest of the Italian peninsula and Mediterranean periphery) by Justinian was the sole, and temporary, exception.
As Roman authority disappeared in the West, cities, literacy, trading networks and urban infrastructure declined. Where civic functions and infrastructure were maintained, it was mainly by the Christian Church. Augustine of Hippo is an example of one bishop who became a capable civic administrator.
Tags:Late Antiquity,Barbarian,Eastern Roman Empire,Gothic,Decline Of The Roman Empire,Migration Period,Byzantine Empire,Diocletian,Byzantium,Heavy Cavalry,Battle Of Adrianople,Germanic Tribes,Classical Culture Of Rome,Tax Revenues,Federated Tribes,Huns,Bulgars,Avars,Magyars,Slavic,Visigoths,Societal Collapse,Romulus Augustulus,Odoacer,Byzantine Emperors,Italian Peninsula,Justinian,Augustine Of Hippo, | |
| Early Middle Ages | |
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Main article: Early Middle Ages
The Book of Kells is one of the most famous artworks of the Early Middle Ages.
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| Breakdown of Roman society | |
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The breakdown of Roman society was dramatic. The patchwork of petty rulers was incapable of supporting the depth of civic infrastructure required to maintain libraries, public baths, arenas, and major educational institutions. Any new building was on a far smaller scale than before. The social effects of the fracture of the Roman state were manifold. Cities and merchants lost the economic benefits of safe conditions for trade and manufacture, and intellectual development suffered from the loss of a unified cultural and educational milieu of far-ranging connections.
As it became unsafe to travel or carry goods over any distance, there was a collapse in trade and manufacture for export. The major industries that depended on long-distance trade, such as large-scale pottery manufacture, vanished almost overnight in places like Britain. Whereas sites like Tintagel in Cornwall (the extreme southwest of modern day England) had managed to obtain supplies of Mediterranean luxury goods well into the 6th century, this connection was now lost.
Between the 5th and 8th centuries, new peoples and powerful individuals filled the political void left by Roman centralized government. Germanic tribes established regional hegemonies within the former boundaries of the Empire, creating divided, decentralized kingdoms like those of the Ostrogoths in Italy, the Suevi in Gallaecia, the Visigoths in Hispania, the Franks and Burgundians in Gaul and Western Germany, the Angles and the Saxons in Britain, and the Vandals in North Africa.
Roman landholders beyond the confines of city walls were also vulnerable to extreme changes, and they could not simply pack up their land and move elsewhere. Some were dispossessed and fled to Byzantine regions; others quickly pledged their allegiances to their new rulers. In areas like Spain and Italy, this often meant little more than acknowledging a new overlord, while Roman forms of law and religion could be maintained. In other areas, where there was a greater weight of population movement, it might be necessary to adopt new modes of dress, language, and custom.
The Muslim conquests of the 7th and 8th centuries of the Persian Empire, Roman Syria, Roman Egypt, Roman North Africa, Visigothic Spain, Sicily and southern Italy eroded the area of the Roman Empire and controlled strategic areas of the Mediterranean. By the end of the 8th century, the former Western Roman Empire was decentralized and overwhelmingly rural.
Tags:North Africa,Tintagel,Cornwall,Luxury Goods,Ostrogoths,Suevi,Gallaecia,Hispania,Franks,Burgundians,Gaul,Germany,Angles,Saxons, | |
| Church and monasticism | |
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Lincoln Cathedral. Lincoln in England is an example of a cathedral city.
The Catholic Church, which means "universal church", was the major unifying cultural influence. It preserved selections from Latin learning, maintained the art of writing, and provided centralized administration through its network of bishops. Some regions that were populated by Catholics were conquered by Arian rulers, which provoked much tension between Arian kings and the Catholic hierarchy. Clovis I of the Franks is a well-known example of a barbarian king who chose Catholic orthodoxy over Arianism. His conversion marked a turning point for the Frankish tribes of Gaul.
Bishops were central to Middle Age society due to the literacy they possessed. As a result, they often played a significant role in governance. However, beyond the core areas of Western Europe, there remained many peoples with little or no contact with Christianity or with classical Roman culture. Martial societies such as the Avars and the Vikings were still capable of causing major disruption to the newly emerging societies of Western Europe.
The Early Middle Ages witnessed the rise of monasticism within the West. Although the impulse to withdraw from society to focus upon a spiritual life is experienced by people of all cultures, the shape of European monasticism was determined by traditions and ideas that originated in the deserts of Egypt and Syria.[15] The style of monasticism that focuses on community experience of the spiritual life, called cenobitism, was pioneered by the saint Pachomius in the 4th century. Monastic ideals spread from Egypt to Western Europe in the 5th and 6th centuries through hagiographical literature such as the Life of Saint Anthony.[15]
Saint Benedict wrote the definitive Rule for Western monasticism during the 6th century, detailing the administrative and spiritual responsibilities of a community of monks led by an abbot.[15] The style of monasticism based upon the Benedictine Rule spread widely rapidly across Europe, replacing small clusters of cenobites. Monks and monasteries had a deep effect upon the religious and political life of the Early Middle Ages, in various cases acting as land trusts for powerful families, centres of propaganda and royal support in newly conquered regions, bases for mission, and proselytization. In addition, they were the main and sometimes only outposts of education and literacy in a region.
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| Carolingians | |
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Main articles: Frankish Empire, Carolingian Empire, and Government of the Carolingian Empire
The coronation of Charlemagne depicted in the 14th-century Grandes Chroniques de France
A nucleus of power unfolded in a region of northern Gaul and developed into kingdoms called Austrasia and Neustria. These kingdoms were ruled for three centuries by a dynasty of kings called the Merovingians, after their mythical founder Merovech. The history of the Merovingian kingdoms is one of family politics that frequently erupted into civil warfare between the branches of the family. The legitimacy of the Merovingian throne was granted by a reverence for the bloodline, and, even after powerful members of the Austrasian court, the mayors of the palace, took de facto power during the 7th century, the Merovingians were kept as ceremonial figureheads. The Merovingians engaged in trade with northern Europe through Baltic trade routes known to historians as the Northern Arc trade, and they are known to have minted small-denomination silver pennies called sceattae for circulation. Aspects of Merovingian culture could be described as "Romanized", such as the high value placed on Roman coinage as a symbol of rulership and the patronage of monasteries and bishoprics. Some have hypothesized that the Merovingians were in contact with Byzantium. The Merovingians also buried the dead of their elite families in grave mounds and traced their lineage to a mythical sea beast called the Quinotaur.[16]
The 7th century was a tumultuous period of civil wars between Austrasia and Neustria. Such warfare was exploited by the patriarch of a family line, Pippin of Landen, who curried favour with the Merovingians and had himself installed in the office of Mayor of the Palace at the service of the King. From this position of great influence, Pippin accrued wealth and supporters. Later members of his family line inherited the office, acting as advisors and regents. The dynasty took a new direction in 732, when Charles Martel won the Battle of Tours, halting the advance of Muslim armies across the Pyrenees.
Costumes of serfs or slaves. Approximately 10-20% of the rural population of Carolingian Europe consisted of serfs and slaves.
The Carolingian dynasty, as the successors to Charles Martel are known, officially took control of the kingdoms of Austrasia and Neustria in a coup of 753 led by Pippin III. A contemporary chronicle claims that Pippin sought, and gained, authority for this coup from the Pope.[17] Pippin's successful coup was reinforced with propaganda that portrayed the Merovingians as inept or cruel rulers and exalted the accomplishments of Charles Martel and circulated stories of the family's great piety. At the time of his death in 783, Pippin left his kingdoms in the hands of his two sons, Charles and Carloman. When Carloman died of natural causes, Charles blocked the succession of Carloman's minor son and installed himself as the king of the united Austrasia and Neustria. This Charles, known to his contemporaries as Charles the Great or Charlemagne, embarked in 774 upon a program of systematic expansion that would unify a large portion of Europe. In the wars that lasted just beyond 800, he rewarded loyal allies with war booty and command over parcels of land. Much of the nobility of the High Middle Ages was to claim its roots in the Carolingian nobility that was generated during this period of expansion.[17]
Charlemagne's cathedral at Aachen built 792/805 AD
The Imperial Coronation of Charlemagne on Christmas Day of 800 is frequently regarded as a turning-point in medieval history, because it filled a power vacancy that had existed since 476. It also marks a change in Charlemagne's leadership, which assumed a more imperial character and tackled difficult aspects of controlling an empire. He established a system of diplomats who possessed imperial authority, the missi, who in theory provided access to imperial justice in the farthest corners of the empire.[18] He also sought to reform the Church in his domains, pushing for uniformity in liturgy and material culture.
Tags:Charlemagne,Northern, | |
| Carolingian Renaissance | |
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Main article: Carolingian Renaissance
Charlemagne's court in Aachen was the centre of a cultural revival that is sometimes referred to as the "Carolingian Renaissance". This period witnessed an increase of literacy, developments in the arts, architecture, and jurisprudence, as well as liturgical and scriptural studies. The English monk Alcuin was invited to Aachen, and brought with him the precise classical Latin education that was available in the monasteries of Northumbria. The return of this Latin proficiency to the kingdom of the Franks is regarded as an important step in the development of medieval Latin. Charlemagne's chancery made use of a type of script currently known as Carolingian minuscule, providing a common writing style that allowed for communication across most of Europe. After the decline of the Carolingian dynasty, the rise of the Saxon Dynasty in Germany was accompanied by the Ottonian Renaissance.
See also the careers of Charlemagne, Louis the Pious, and Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor.
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| Breakup of the Carolingian empire | |
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See also: Holy Roman Empire
Breakup of the Carolingian empire
While Charlemagne continued the Frankish tradition of dividing the regnum (kingdom) between all his heirs (at least those of age), the assumption of the imperium (imperial title) supplied a unifying force not available previously. Charlemagne was succeeded by his only legitimate son of adult age at his death, Louis the Pious.
Louis's long reign of 26 years was marked by numerous divisions of the empire among his sons and, after 829, numerous civil wars between various alliances of father and sons against other sons to determine a just division by battle. The final division was made at Crémieux in 838. The Emperor Louis recognized his eldest son Lothair I as emperor and confirmed him in the Regnum Italicum (Italy). He divided the rest of the empire between Lothair and Charles the Bald, his youngest son, giving Lothair the opportunity to choose his half. He chose East Francia, which comprised the empire on both banks of the Rhine and eastwards, leaving Charles West Francia, which comprised the empire to the west of the Rhineland and the Alps. Louis the German, the middle child, who had been rebellious to the last, was allowed to keep his subregnum of Bavaria under the suzerainty of his elder brother. The division was not undisputed. Pepin II of Aquitaine, the emperor's grandson, rebelled in a contest for Aquitaine, while Louis the German tried to annex all of East Francia. In two final campaigns, the emperor defeated both his rebellious descendants and vindicated the division of Crémieux before dying in 840.
Hungarian campaigns in the 10th century. Most European nations were praying for mercy: "Sagittis hungarorum libera nos Domine" - "Lord save us from the arrows of Hungarians"
A three-year civil war followed his death. At the end of the conflict, Louis the German was in control of East Francia and Lothair was confined to Italy. By the Treaty of Verdun (843), a kingdom of Middle Francia was created for Lothair in the Low Countries and Burgundy, and his imperial title was recognized. East Francia would eventually morph into the Kingdom of Germany and West Francia into the Kingdom of France, around both of which the history of Western Europe can largely be described as a contest for control of the middle kingdom. Charlemagne's grandsons and great-grandsons divided their kingdoms between their sons until all the various regna and the imperial title fell into the hands of Charles the Fat by 884. He was deposed in 887 and died in 888, to be replaced in all his kingdoms but two (Lotharingia and East Francia) by non-Carolingian "petty kings". The Carolingian Empire was destroyed, though the imperial tradition would eventually lead to the Holy Roman Empire in 962.
The breakup of the Carolingian Empire was accompanied by the invasions, migrations, and raids of external foes as not seen since the Migration Period. The Atlantic and northern shores were harassed by the Vikings, who forced Charles the Bald to issue the Edict of Pistres against them and who besieged Paris in 885–886. The eastern frontiers, especially Germany and Italy, were under constant Magyar assault until their great defeat at the Battle of the Lechfeld in 955.[19] The Saracens also managed to establish bases at Garigliano and Fraxinetum, to Tags: | |
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