Period of European history from the 5th to the 15th century
This article is about medieval Europe. For a global history💸 of the period between the 5th and 15th centuries, see Post-classical history . For other uses, see Middle Ages (disambiguation)
In💸 the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period (also spelled mediæval or mediaeval) lasted approximately from 500 AD💸 to 1500, although alternative starting and end points exist. The Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional💸 divisions of Western history: antiquity, medieval, and modern. The medieval period is itself subdivided into the Early, High, and Late💸 Middle Ages, and the early medieval period is alternatively referred to as the Dark Ages.
Population decline, counterurbanisation, the collapse of💸 centralised authority, invasion and the mass migration of tribes, which had begun in late antiquity, continued into the Early Middle💸 Ages. The large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including of Germanic peoples, led to the rise of new kingdoms in💸 Western Europe. In the 7th century, the Middle East and North Africa came under caliphal rule with the Arab conquests.💸 The Byzantine Empire survived in the Eastern Mediterranean and advanced secular law through the Code of Justinian. In the West,💸 most kingdoms incorporated extant Roman institutions, while the influence of Christianity expanded across Europe. The Carolingian dynasty of the Franks💸 established the Carolingian Empire during the later 8th and early 9th centuries in Western Europe before it succumbed to internal💸 conflict and external invasions from the Vikings from the north, Magyars from the east, and the Muslims from the south.[not💸 verified in body]
During the High Middle Ages, which began after 1000, the population of Europe increased greatly as technological and💸 agricultural innovations allowed trade to flourish and the Medieval Warm Period climate change allowed crop yields to increase. Manorialism, the💸 organisation of peasants into villages that owed rent and labour services to the nobles, and feudalism, the political structure whereby💸 knights and lower-status nobles owed military service to their overlords in return for the right to rent from lands and💸 manors, were two of the ways society was organised in the High Middle Ages. This period also saw the formal💸 division of the Catholic and Orthodox churches, with the East–West Schism of 1054. The Crusades, which began in 1095, were💸 military attempts by Western European Christians to regain control of the Holy Land from Muslims and also contributed to the💸 expansion of Latin Christendom in the Baltic region and the Iberian Peninsula. Kings became the heads of centralised nation states,💸 reducing crime and violence but making the ideal of a unified Christendom more distant.[not verified in body] In the West,💸 intellectual life was marked by scholasticism, a philosophy that emphasised joining faith to reason, and by the founding of universities.💸 The theology of Thomas Aquinas, the paintings of Giotto, the poetry of Dante and Chaucer, the travels of Marco Polo,💸 and the Gothic architecture of cathedrals such as Chartres mark the end of this period.
The Late Middle Ages was marked💸 by difficulties and calamities including famine, plague, and war, which significantly diminished the population of Europe; between 1347 and 1350,💸 the Black Death killed about a third of Europeans. Controversy, heresy, and the Western Schism within the Catholic Church paralleled💸 the interstate conflict, civil strife, and peasant revolts that occurred in the kingdoms. Cultural and technological developments transformed European society,💸 concluding the Late Middle Ages and beginning the early modern period.
Terminology and periodisation
The Middle Ages is one of the three💸 major periods in the most enduring scheme for analysing European history: Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Modern Period. Leonardo💸 Bruni was the first historian to use tripartite periodisation in his History of the Florentine People (1442), and it became💸 standard with 17th-century German historian Christoph Cellarius. The adjective medieval, meaning pertaining to the Middle Ages,[note 1] derives from medium💸 aevum ('middle age'), a Neo-Latin term first recorded in 1604.[note 2]
Medieval writers divided history into periods such as the Six💸 Ages or the Four Empires, and considered their time to be the last before the end of the world. In💸 their concept, their age had begun when Christ had brought light to mankind, contrasted with the spiritual darkness of previous💸 periods. The Italian humanist and poet Petrarch (d. 1374) turned the metaphor upside down, stating that the age of darkness💸 had begun when emperors of non-Italian origin assumed power in the Roman Empire.
The Middle Ages customarily spans the period between💸 around 500 and 1500 in academic studies but both the starting and the end years are uncertain. A commonly given💸 starting point, first used by Bruni, is 476—the year the last Western Roman Emperor was deposed. As an alternative, the💸 conversion of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great ( r. 306–337) to Christianity is mentioned. There is no universally agreed-upon💸 end date either. Events such as the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, Christopher Columbus's first voyage to the Americas in💸 1492, or the Protestant Reformation in 1517 are the most frequently used dates. Europe, as the historian Miri Rubin emphasises,💸 "did not live to a single rhythm over this period": the Christianisation, or conversion of Europe to Christianity happened in💸 waves between Roman times and the 14th century.
Historians from Romance language-speaking countries 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". In the 19th century, the entire Middle Ages were often referred to as the💸 Dark Ages, but with the adoption of these subdivisions, use of this term was restricted to the Early Middle Ages💸 in the early 20th century. Historians who regard the Middle Ages as a Eurocentric concept tend to avoid its use💸 for global history but studies on "Indian Middle Ages", "Muslim Middle Ages", and similar subjects are not exceptional.
Sources
One Zhiznomir's letter💸 to a certain Mikula written on birch bark in Novgorod in the early 12th century
The systematic publication of medieval written💸 sources began with the Rerum italicarum scriptores by Ludovico Muratori (d. 1750) which was followed by similar series such as💸 the Monumenta Germaniae Historica in Germany, and the Rolls Series in the United Kingdom. These large collections mainly contain annals,💸 chronicles and other narrative sources with a focus on the deeds of powerful men. According to modern perceptions, most chronicles💸 were written in monasteries but cathedral chapters, royal courts, and cities were also important centers of historical writing. Modern historians💸 mainly treat medieval narratives cautiously as they are often filled with distorted facts or unrealistic information. Documents of state or💸 church administration, such as royal charters and chrysobulls, are indispensable sources for medieval history, although forged or backdated legal papers💸 abound. Most cartularies—collections of charters—have survived in monasteries. Further types of written sources include graffiti, seals, and letters.
Since the 1950s,💸 archaeology have significantly contributed to the study of the history of poorly documented regions and periods. However, chronological dating is💸 still uncertain. Radiocarbon dating mainly covers a 60-year-long period, and dendrochronological analysis—the study of growth rings in trunks—is applicable only💸 if wooden remains are available at the archaeological site. As few detailed written records documenting peasant life remain from before💸 the 9th century, surviving information available to historians also comes mainly from archaeology. Medieval
and sculptures may provide useful💸 information about everyday life but a critical approach is needed because irony, satire, and anachronism were popular stylistic devices of💸 medieval artists.
Later Roman Empire
The Roman Empire reached its greatest territorial extent during the 2nd century AD; the following two centuries💸 witnessed the slow decline of Roman control over its outlying territories. Runaway inflation, external pressure on the frontiers, and outbreaks💸 of plague combined to create the Crisis of the Third Century, with emperors coming to the throne only to be💸 rapidly replaced by new usurpers. Military expenses steadily increased, mainly in response to the war with the Sasanian Empire. The💸 army doubled in size, and cavalry and smaller units replaced the legion as the main tactical unit. The need for💸 revenue led to increased taxes and a decline in numbers of the curial, or landowning, class. More bureaucrats were needed💸 in the central administration to deal with the needs of the army.
The Emperor Diocletian (r. 284–305) split the empire into💸 separately administered eastern and western halves in 286. This system, which eventually encompassed two senior and two junior co-emperors (hence💸 known as the Tetrarchy) stabilised the imperial government for about two decades. Diocletian's further governmental, fiscal and military reforms bought💸 the empire time but did not resolve the problems it was facing. After a period of civil war, Constantine the💸 Great restored internal peace, and refounded the city of Byzantium as the newly renamed eastern capital, Constantinople in 330.
For much💸 of the 4th century, Roman society stabilised in a new form that differed from the earlier classical period, with a💸 widening gulf between the rich and poor, and a decline in the vitality of the smaller towns. Another change was💸 the Christianisation of the Roman Empire. It was accelerated by the conversion of Constantine but Christianity emerged as the empire's💸 dominant religion only at the end of the 4th century. Debates about Christian theology intensified, and those who persisted with💸 theological views condemned at the ecumenical councils faced persecution. Such heretic views survived through proselytising campaigns outside the empire, or💸 because of local ethnic groups' support in the eastern provinces, like Arianism among the Germanic peoples, or Monophysitism in Egypt💸 and Syria. Judaism remained a tolerated religion, although legislation limited Jews' rights.
By the 3rd century, the Early Christians developed their💸 own symbolism, often by reinterpreting popular motifs of pagan Roman art, and decorated their catacombs with frescoes depicting Biblical scenes.💸 The solemnity of the Later Roman artists' abstract style effectively visualised Christian messages. Christ's enthroned figure became a principal element💸 of Early Christian art in the early 4th century. Under Constantine, basilicas, large halls that had been used for administrative💸 and commercial purposes, were adapted for Christian worship. The first illuminated manuscripts—hand-written books decorated with colourful miniatures—were produced in parallel💸 with the spread of silent reading in the 5th century.
Civil war between rival emperors became common in the middle of💸 the 4th century, diverting soldiers from the empire's frontier forces and allowing invaders to encroach. Although the movements of peoples💸 during this period are usually described as "invasions", they were not just military expeditions but migrations into the empire. In💸 376, hundreds of thousands of Goths, fleeing from the Huns, received permission from Emperor Valens (r. 364–378) to settle in💸 Roman territory in the Balkans. The settlement did not go smoothly, and when Roman officials mishandled the situation, the Goths💸 began to raid and plunder.[note 3] Valens, attempting to put down the disorder, was killed fighting the Goths at the💸 Battle of Adrianople. The Visigoths, a Gothic group, invaded the Western Roman Empire in 401; the Alans, Vandals, and Suevi💸 crossed into Gaul in 406, and into modern-day Spain in 409. A year later the Visigoths sacked the city of💸 Rome. The Franks, Alemanni, and the Burgundians all ended up in Gaul while the Germanic groups now collectively known as💸 Anglo-Saxons settled in Britain, and the Vandals conquered the province of Africa. The Hunnic king Attila (r. 434–453) led invasions💸 into the Balkans in 442 and 447, Gaul in 451, and Italy in 452 but the Hunnic confederation he led💸 fell apart after his death.
When dealing with the migrations, the Eastern Roman elites combined the deployment of armed forces with💸 gifts and grants of offices to the tribal leaders, whereas the Western aristocrats failed to support the army but also💸 refused to pay tribute to prevent invasions by the tribes. These invasions led to the division of the western section💸 of the empire into smaller political units, ruled by the tribes that had invaded. The emperors of the 5th century💸 were often controlled by military strongmen such as Stilicho (d. 408), Aetius (d. 454), Aspar (d. 471), Ricimer (d. 472),💸 or Gundobad (d. 516), who were partly or fully of non-Roman ancestry. The deposition of the last emperor of the💸 west, Romulus Augustulus (r. 475–476) has traditionally marked the end of the Western Roman Empire.[note 4] The Eastern Roman Empire,💸 often referred to as the Byzantine Empire after the fall of its western counterpart, had little ability to assert control💸 over the lost western territories although the Byzantine emperors maintained a claim over the territory.
Early Middle Ages
Post-Roman kingdoms
Post-Roman kingdoms and💸 tribes, and the Byzantine Empire after the end of the Western Roman Empire
In the post-Roman world, the fusion of Roman💸 culture with the customs of the invading tribes is well documented. Popular assemblies that allowed free male tribal members more💸 say in political matters than had been common in the Roman state developed into legislative and judicial bodies. Material artefacts💸 left by the Romans and the invaders are often similar, and tribal items were often modelled on Roman objects. Much💸 of the scholarly and written culture of the new kingdoms was based on Roman intellectual traditions. Many of the new💸 political entities no longer supported their armies through taxes, instead relying on granting them land or rents. This meant there💸 was less need for large tax revenues and so the taxation systems decayed.
In Britain, the local Celtic Britons' culture had💸 little impact on the Anglo-Saxons' way of life, but the linguistic assimilation of masses of the natives to the newcomers💸 is evident. By around 600, new political centres emerged, some local leaders accumulated considerable wealth, and a number of small💸 kingdoms such as Wessex and Mercia were formed. Smaller kingdoms in present-day Wales and Scotland were still under the control💸 of the native Britons and Picts. Ireland was divided into even smaller political units, perhaps as many as 150 tribal💸 kingdoms.
The Ostrogoths moved to Italy from the Balkans in the late 5th century under Theoderic the Great (r. 493–526). He💸 set up a kingdom marked by its co-operation between the natives and the conquerors until the last years of his💸 reign. Power struggles between Romanised and traditionalist Ostrogothic groups followed his death, providing the opportunity for the Byzantines to reconquer💸 Italy. The Burgundians settled in Gaul where they reorganised their kingdom. Elsewhere in Gaul, the Franks and Celtic Britons set💸 up stable polities. Francia was centred in northern Gaul, and the first king of whom much is known is Childeric💸 I (d. 481). Under his son Clovis I (r. 509–511), the founder of the Merovingian dynasty, the Frankish kingdom expanded💸 and converted to Christianity. Unlike other Germanic peoples, the Franks accepted Catholicism which facilitated their cooperation with the native Gallo-Roman💸 aristocracy. Britons fleeing from Britannia – modern-day Great Britain – settled in what is now Brittany.[note 5]
Other monarchies were established💸 by the Visigoths in the Iberian Peninsula, the Suebi in northwestern Iberia, and the Vandals in North Africa. The Lombards💸 settled in Northern Italy in 568 and established a new kingdom composed of town-based duchies. Coming from the Asian steppes,💸 the nomadic Avars conquered most Slavic, Turkic and Germanic tribes in the lowlands along the Lower and Middle Danube by💸 the end of the 6th century, and they were routinely able to force the Eastern emperors to pay tribute. Around💸 670, another steppe people, the Bulgars settled at the Danube Delta. In 681, they defeated a Byzantine imperial army, and💸 established the First Bulgarian Empire, subjugating the local Slavic tribes.
The settlement of peoples was accompanied by changes in languages. Latin,💸 the literary language of the Western Roman Empire, was gradually replaced by vernacular languages which evolved from Latin, but were💸 distinct from it, collectively known as Romance languages. Greek remained the language of the Byzantine Empire, but the migrations of💸 the Slavs expanded the area of Slavic languages in Central and Eastern Europe.
Byzantine survival
The Eastern Roman Empire remained intact and💸 experienced an economic revival that lasted into the early 7th century. Here political life was marked by closer relations between💸 the political state and Christian Church, with theological matters assuming an importance in Eastern politics that they did not have💸 in Western Europe. As the Byzantines regarded the eunuchs exceptionally intelligent and loyal servants, they regularly employed castrated men as💸 state or church officials, and guardians or tutors to women and children. Legal developments included the codification of Roman law;💸 the most comprehensive compilation, the Corpus Juris Civilis, took place under Emperor Justinian (r. 527–565).
Justinian almost lost his throne during💸 the Nika riots, a popular revolt that destroyed half of Constantinople in 532. After crushing the revolt, he reinforced the💸 autocratic elements of the imperial government and mobilised his troops against the Arian western kingdoms. The general Belisarius (d. 565)💸 conquered North Africa from the Vandals, and attacked the Ostrogoths, but the campaign was interrupted by an unexpected Sasanian invasion💸 from the east. Between 541 and 543, a deadly outbreak of plague decimated the empire's population. Justinian ceased to finance💸 the maintenance of public roads, and covered the lack of military personnel by developing an extensive system of border forts.💸 In a decade, he resumed expansionism, completing the conquest of the Ostrogothic kingdom, and seizing much of southern Spain from💸 the Visigoths.
Justinian's reconquests and excessive building program have been criticised by historians for bringing his realm to the brink of💸 bankruptcy, but many of the difficulties faced by Justinian's successors were because of other factors, including the epidemic and the💸 massive expansion of the Avars and their Slav allies. In the east, border defences collapsed during a new war with💸 the Sasanian Empire, and the Persians seized large chunks of the empire, including Egypt, Syria, and much of Anatolia. In💸 626, the Avars and Slavs attacked Constantinople. Two years later, Emperor Heraclius (r. 610–641) launched an unexpected counterattack against the💸 heart of the Sassanian Empire bypassing the Persian army in the mountains of Anatolia; the empire recovered all of its💸 lost territories in the east.
Western society
In Western Europe, some of the older Roman elite families died out while others became💸 more involved with ecclesiastical than secular affairs. Values attached to Latin scholarship and education mostly disappeared. While literacy remained important,💸 it became a practical skill rather than a sign of elite status. By the late 6th century, the principal means💸 of religious instruction in the Church had become music and art rather than the book. Most intellectual efforts went towards💸 imitating classical scholarship, but some original works were created, along with now-lost oral compositions. The writings of Sidonius Apollinaris (d.💸 489), Cassiodorus (d. c. 585), and Boethius (d. c. 525) were typical of the age. Aristocratic culture focused on great💸 feasts rather than on literary pursuits. Family ties within the elites were important, as were the virtues of loyalty, courage,💸 and honour. These ties led to the prevalence of the feud in aristocratic society. Most feuds seem to have ended💸 quickly with the payment of some sort of compensation.
Women took part in aristocratic society mainly in their roles as wives💸 and mothers, with the role of mother of a ruler being especially prominent in Francia. In Anglo-Saxon society the lack💸 of many child rulers meant a lesser role for women as queen mothers, but this was compensated for by the💸 increased role played by abbesses of monasteries. Women's influence on politics was particularly fragile, and early medieval authors tended to💸 depict powerful women in a bad light.[note 6] Women usually died at considerably younger age than men, primarily owing to💸 infanticide and complications at childbirth. The disparity between the numbers of marriageable women and grown men led to the detailed💸 regulation of legal institutions protecting women's interests, including their right to the Morgengabe, or "morning gift". Early medieval laws acknowledged💸 a man's right to have long-term sexual relationships with women other than his wife, such as concubines, but women were💸 expected to remain faithful. Clerics censured sexual unions outside marriage, and monogamy became also the norm of secular law in💸 the 9th century.
Reconstruction of an early medieval peasant village in Bavaria
Landholding patterns were not uniform; some areas had greatly fragmented💸 holdings, but in other areas large contiguous blocks of land were the norm. These differences allowed for a wide variety💸 of peasant societies, some dominated by aristocratic landholders and others having a great deal of autonomy. Land settlement also varied💸 greatly. Some peasants lived in large settlements that numbered as many as 700 inhabitants, others on isolated farms. As legislation💸 made a clear distinction between free and unfree, there was no sharp break between the legal status of the free💸 peasant and the aristocrat, and it was possible for a free peasant's family to rise into the aristocracy over several💸 generations through military service. Demand for slaves was covered through warring and raids. Initially, the Franks' expansion and conflicts between💸 the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms supplied the slave market with prisoners of war and captives. After the Anglo-Saxons' conversion to Christianity, slave💸 hunters mainly targeted the pagan Slav tribes—hence the English word "slave" from slavicus, the Medieval Latin term for Slavs. Christian💸 ethics brought about significant changes in the position of slaves in the 7th and 8th centuries. They were no more💸 regarded as their lords' property, and their right to a decent treatment was enacted.
Roman city life and culture changed greatly💸 in the early Middle Ages. Although the northern Italian cities remained inhabited, they contracted significantly in size.[note 7] In Northern💸 Europe, cities also shrank, while civic monuments and other public buildings were raided for building materials. The Jewish communities survived💸 in Spain, southern Gaul and Italy. The Visigothic kings made concentrated efforts to convert the Hispanic Jews to Christianity but💸 the Jewish community quickly regenerated after the Muslim conquest of Spain. Whereas Muslim rulers employed Jewish courtiers, Christian legislation forbade💸 the Jews' appointment to government positions.
Rise of Islam
Religious beliefs were in flux in the lands along the Eastern Roman and💸 Persian frontiers during the late 6th and early 7th centuries. State-sponsored Christian missionaries proselytised among the pagan steppe peoples, and💸 the Persians made attempts to enforce Zoroastrianism on the Christian Armenians. Judaism was an active proselytising faith, and at least💸 one Arab political leader—Dhu Nuwas, ruler of what is today Yemen—converted to it. The emergence of Islam in Arabia during💸 the lifetime of Muhammad (d. 632) brought about more radical changes. After his death, Islamic forces conquered much of the💸 Near East, starting with Syria in 634–36, continuing with Persia between 637 and 642, and reaching Egypt in 640–42. The💸 Eastern Romans halted the Muslim expansion at Constantinople in 674–78 and 717–18. In the west, Islamic troops conquered North Africa💸 by the early 8th century, annihilated the Visigothic Kingdom in 711, and invaded southern France from 713.
The Muslim conquerors bypassed💸 the mountainous northwestern region of the Iberian Peninsula. Here a small kingdom, Asturias emerged as the centre of local resistance.💸 The defeat of Muslim forces at the Battle of Tours in 732 led to the reconquest of southern France by💸 the Franks, but the main reason for the halt of Islamic growth in Europe was the overthrow of the Umayyad💸 Caliphate and its replacement by the Abbasid Caliphate. The Abbasids were more concerned with the Middle East than Europe, losing💸 control of sections of the Muslim lands. Umayyad descendants took over Al-Andalus (or Muslim Spain), the Aghlabids controlled North Africa,💸 and the Tulunids became rulers of Egypt. The Islamisation of the countryside in Al-Andalus was slow. Christians were regularly employed💸 in state administration, but sometimes violent interreligious conflicts led to their mass migration to the north. Apart from Byzantium, Muslim💸 Spain was the only place in Europe where eunuchs played a preeminent role in administration and social life, holding positions💸 such as guardians of religious shrines, or harem servants.
Trade and economy
As the migrations and conquests disrupted trade networks throughout the💸 old Roman lands, goods from long-range trade were replaced with local products. Non-local goods appearing in the archaeological record are💸 usually luxury goods or metalworks. In the 7th and 8th centuries, new commercial networks were developing in northern Europe. Goods💸 like furs, walrus ivory and amber were delivered from the Baltic region to western Europe. Conflicts over the control of💸 trade routes and toll stations were common. In the post-Roman kingdoms, base metal coinage nearly ceased but Roman bronze coins💸 remained in circulation for centuries. Although gold coins were struck, they were mainly spent for extraordinary expenditures, such as the💸 purchase of land or luxury goods. A shift from gold coinage to the mint of silver pennies began in the💸 late 7th century, not independently of the cessation of Byzantine subsidy payments to the Lombards and Franks. The elites' new💸 emphasis on Christian charity also increased the demand for coins of lower value.
The flourishing Islamic economies' constant demand for fresh💸 labour force and raw materials opened up a new market for Europe around 750. Europe emerged as a major supplier💸 of house slaves and slave soldiers for Al-Andalus, northern Africa and the Levant. Venice developed into the most important European💸 center of slave trade. In addition, timber, fur and arms were delivered from Europe to the Mediterranean, while Europe imported💸 spices, medicine, incense, and silk from the Levant. The large rivers connecting distant regions facilitated the expansion of transcontinental trade.💸 Contemporaneous reports indicate that Anglo-Saxon merchants visited fairs at Paris, pirates preyed on tradesman on the Danube, and Eastern Frankish💸 merchants reached as far as Zaragoza in Al-Andalus.
Church life
An 11th-century illustration of Gregory the Great dictating to a secretary, inspired💸 by the Holy Spirit
The idea of Christian unity endured, although differences in ideology and practice between the Eastern and Western💸 Churches became apparent by the 6th century. The formation of new realms reinforced the traditional Christian concept of the separation💸 of church and state in the west, whereas this notion was alien to eastern clergymen who regarded the Roman state💸 as an instrument of divine providence. In the late 7th century, clerical marriage emerged as a permanent focus of controversy.💸 After the Muslim conquests, the Byzantine emperors could less effectively intervene in the west. When Leo III (r. 717–741) prohibited💸 the display of paintings representing human figures in places of worship, the papacy openly rejected his claim to declare new💸 dogmas by imperial edicts. Although the Byzantine Church condemned iconoclasm in 843, further issues such as fierce rivalry for ecclesiastic💸 jurisdiction over newly converted peoples, and the unilateral modification of the Nicene Creed in the west widened to the extent💸 that the differences were greater than the similarities. In the west, the tithe, originally a voluntarily contribution, was levied as💸 a regular church tax on agrarian products from the 10th century.
Few of the Western bishops looked to the papacy for💸 leadership. The only part of Western Europe where the papacy had influence was Britain, where Gregory had sent the Gregorian💸 mission in 597 to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. Irish missionaries were most active in Western Europe between the 5th💸 and the 7th centuries. People did not visit churches regularly. Instead, meetings with itinerant clergy and pilgr
to popular saints'💸 shrines were instrumental in the spread of Christian teaching. Clergymen used special handbooks known as penitentials to determine the appropriate💸 acts of penance—typically prayers, and fasts—for sinners. They placed a special emphasis on sexuality and prescribed severe penances for adulterers,💸 fornicators and those engaged in non-reproductive sexual acts, such as homosexuals. In contrast, the Bogomils of the Balkans condemned sexual💸 reproduction as they regarded Satan the creator of the physical universe.
The Early Middle Ages witnessed the rise of Christian monasticism.💸 Monastic ideals spread from Egypt through hagiographical literature, especially the Life of Anthony. Most European monasteries were of the type💸 that focuses on community experience of the spiritual life, called cenobitism. The Italian monk Benedict of Nursia (d. 547) developed💸 the Benedictine Rule which became widely used in western monasteries. In the east, the monastic rules compiled by Theodore the💸 Studite (d. 826) gained popularity after they were adopted in the Great Lavra on Mount Athos in the 960s, turning💸 the mount into the most important centre of Orthodox monasticism.
Monks and monasteries had a deep effect on religious and political💸 life, in various cases acting as land trusts for powerful families and important centres of political authority. They were the💸 main and sometimes only outposts of education and literacy in a region. Many of the surviving manuscripts of the Latin💸 classics were copied in monasteries. Monks were also the authors of new works, including history, theology, and other subjects, written💸 by authors such as Bede (d. 735), a native of northern England. The erudite Saxon nun Hrosvitha (d. 1000) authored💸 the first non-liturgical medieval dramas. The Byzantine missionary Constantine (d. 869) developed Old Church Slavonic as a new liturgical language,💸 establishing the basis for flourishing Slavic religious literature; around 900 a new script was adopted, now known for Constantine's monastic💸 name as Cyrillic.
In Western Christendom, lay influence over Church affairs came to a climax in the 10th century. Aristocrats regarded💸 the churches and monasteries under their patronage as their personal property, and simony—the sale of Church offices—was a common practice.💸 Simony aroused a general fear as many believed that irregularly appointed priests could not confer valid sacraments such as baptism.💸 Monastic communities were the first to react to this fear by the rigorous observance of their rules. The establishment of💸 Cluny Abbey in Burgundy in 909 initiated a more radical change as Cluny was freed from lay control and placed💸 under the protection of the papacy. The Cluniac Reforms spread through the founding of new monasteries and the reform of💸 monastic life in old abbeys. Cluny's example indicated that the reformist idea of the "Liberty of the Church" could be💸 achieved through submission to the papacy.
Carolingian Europe
Map showing growth of Frankish power from 481 to 814
The Merovingian kings customarily distributed💸 Francia among their sons and destroyed their own power base by extensive land grants. In the northeastern Frankish realm Austrasia,💸 the Arnulfings were the most prominent beneficiaries of royal favour. As hereditary Mayors of the Palace, they were the power💸 behind the throne from the mid-7th century. One of them, Pepin of Herstal (d. 714), also assumed power in the💸 central Frankish realm Neustria. His son Charles Martel (d. 741) took advantage of the permanent Muslim threat to confiscate church💸 property and raise new troops by parcelling it out among the recruits.
The Carolingians, as Charles Martel's descendants are known, succeeded💸 the Merovingians as the new royal dynasty of Francia in 751. This year the last Merovingian king Childeric III (r.💸 743–751) was deposed, and Charles Martel's son Pepin the Short (r. 751–768) was crowned king with the consent of the💸 Frankish leaders and the papacy. Pepin attacked the Lombards and enforced their promise to respect the possessions of the papacy.💸 His subsequent donation of Central Italian territories to the Holy See marked the beginnings of the Papal States.
Pepin left his💸 kingdom in the hands of his two sons, Charles, more often known as Charlemagne (r. 768–814), and Carloman (r. 768–771).💸 When Carloman died of natural causes, Charlemagne reunited Francia and embarked upon a programme of systematic expansion, rewarding allies with💸 war booty and command over parcels of land. He subjugated the Saxons, conquered the Lombards, and created a new border💸 province in northern Spain. Between 791 and 803, Frankish troops destroyed the Avars which facilitated the development of small Slavic💸 principalities, mainly ruled by ambitious warlords under Frankish suzerainty.[note 8] The coronation of Charlemagne as emperor on Christmas Day 800💸 marked a return of the Western Roman Empire although the Byzantines did not recognise him as a second "emperor of💸 the Romans".
The empire was administered by an itinerant court that travelled with the emperor, as well as approximately 300 imperial💸 officials called counts, who administered the counties the empire had been divided into. The central administration supervised the counts through💸 imperial emissaries called missi dominici, who served as roving inspectors and troubleshooters. The clerics of the royal chapel were responsible💸 for recording important royal grants and decisions.
Charlemagne's court in Aachen was the centre of the cultural revival sometimes referred to💸 as the "Carolingian Renaissance". Literacy increased, as did development in the arts, architecture and jurisprudence, as well as liturgical and💸 scriptural studies. Charlemagne's chancery—or writing office—made use of a new script today known as Carolingian minuscule,[note 9] allowing a common💸 writing style that advanced communication across much of Europe.[failed verification] Charlemagne sponsored changes in church liturgy, imposing the Roman form💸 of church service on his domains, as well as the Gregorian chant in liturgical music for the churches. An important💸 activity for scholars during this period was the copying, correcting, and dissemination of basic works on religious and secular topics,💸 with the aim of encouraging learning. New works on religious topics and schoolbooks were also produced.
Breakup of the Carolingian Empire
Charlemagne💸 continued the Frankish tradition of dividing his empire between all his sons, but only one son, Louis the Pious (r.💸 814–840), was still alive by 813. Louis's reign was marked by numerous divisions of the empire among his sons, and💸 civil wars between various alliances of father and sons over the control of various parts of the empire. Three years💸 after his death, his three surviving sons divided the empire into three by the Treaty of Verdun. A kingdom between💸 the Rhine and Rhone rivers was created for Lothair I (r. 817–855) to go with his lands in Italy, and💸 his imperial title was recognised. Louis the German (r. 843–876) was in control of the eastern lands in modern-day Germany.💸 Charles the Bald (r. 843–877) received the western Frankish lands, comprising most of modern-day France. Charlemagne's grandsons and great-grandsons divided💸 their kingdoms between their descendants, eventually causing all internal cohesion to be lost.
There was a brief re-uniting of the empire💸 by Charles the Fat in 884, although the actual units of the empire retained their separate administrations. By the time💸 he died early in 888, the Carolingians were close to extinction, and non-dynastic claimants assumed power in most of the💸 successor states, such as the Parisien count Odo in Francia (r. 888–898). In the eastern lands the dynasty died out💸 with the death of Louis the Child (r. 899–911), and the selection of the Franconian duke Conrad I (r. 911–918)💸 as king. In West Francia, the dynasty was restored first in 898, then in 936, but the last Carolingians were💸 unable to keep the aristocracy under control. In 987 the dynasty was replaced, with the crowning of Hugh Capet (r.💸 987–996) as king.[note 10] Although the Capetian kings remained nominally in charge, much of the political power devolved to the💸 local lords.
Frankish culture and the Carolingian methods of state administration had a significant impact on the neighboring peoples. Frankish threat💸 triggered the formation of new states along the empire's eastern frontier—Bohemia, Moravia, and Croatia. The breakup of the Carolingian Empire💸 was accompanied by invasions, migrations, and raids by external foes. The Atlantic and northern shores were harassed by the Vikings,💸 who also raided the British Isles and settled there. In 911, the Viking chieftain Rollo (d. c. 931) received permission💸 from the Frankish king Charles the Simple (r. 898–922) to settle in what became Normandy. The eastern parts of the💸 Frankish kingdoms, especially Germany and Italy, were under continual Magyar assault until the invaders' defeat at the Battle of Lechfeld💸 in 955. In the Mediterranean, Arab pirates launched regular raids against Italy and southern France, and the Muslim states began💸 expanding. The Aghlabids conquered Sicily, and the Umayyads of Al-Andalus annexed the Balearic Islands.
New kingdoms and Byzantine revival
10th-century Ottonian plaque💸 from the Magdeburg Ivories with Christ receiving a church from Otto I
The Vikings' settlement in the British Isles led to💸 the formation of new political entities, including the small but militant Kingdom of Dublin in Ireland. The Anglo-Saxon king Alfred💸 the Great (r. 871–899) came to an agreement with the Danish invaders in 879, acknowledging the existence of an independent💸 Viking realm in Britain. By the middle of the 10th century, Alfred's successors had restored English control over the territory.💸 In northern Britain, Kenneth MacAlpin (d. c. 860) united the Picts and the Scots into the Kingdom of Alba. In💸 the early 10th century, the Ottonian dynasty established itself in Germany, and was engaged in driving back the Magyars and💸 fighting the disobedient dukes. After an appeal by the widowed Queen Adelaide of Italy (d. 999) for protection, the German💸 king Otto I (r. 936–973) crossed the Alps into Italy, married the young widow and had himself crowned king in💸 Pavia in 951. His coronation as Holy Roman Emperor in Rome in 962 demonstrated his claim to Charlemagne's legacy. Otto's💸 successors remained keenly interested in Italian affairs but the absent German kings were unable to assert permanent authority over the💸 local aristocracy. In the Iberian Peninsula, Asturias expanded slowly south, and continued as the Kingdom of León in the 10th💸 century. By that time, the Basques' fight for independence had led to the formation of the small Kingdom of Navarre💸 in the Pyrenees, and the counts of Barcelona had gained autonomy in the Carolingian border province.
The Eastern European trade routes💸 towards Asia were controlled by the Khazars. Their multiethnic empire resisted the Muslim expansion, and their leaders converted to Judaism.💸 At the end of the 9th century, a new trade route developed, bypassing Khazar territory and connecting Central Asia with💸 Europe across Volga Bulgaria; here the local inhabitants converted to Islam. In Scandinavia, contacts with Francia paved the way for💸 missionary efforts by Christian clergy, and Christianisation was closely associated with the growth of centralised kingdoms in Denmark, Norway, and💸 Sweden. Swedish traders and slave hunters ranged down the rivers of the East European Plain, captured Kyiv from the Khazars,💸 and even attempted to seize Constantinople in 860 and 907. Norse colonists settled in Iceland and created a political system💸 that hindered the accumulation of power by ambitious chieftains.
Byzantium revived its fortunes under Emperor Basil I (r. 867–886) and his💸 successors Leo VI (r. 886–912) and Constantine VII (r. 913–959), members of the Macedonian dynasty. Commerce revived and the emperors💸 oversaw the extension of a uniform administration to all the provinces. The imperial court was the centre of a revival💸 of classical learning, a process known as the Macedonian Renaissance. The military was reorganised, which allowed the emperors John I💸 (r. 969–976) and Basil II (r. 976–1025) to expand the frontiers of the empire.
Missionary efforts by both Eastern and Western💸 clergy resulted in the conversion of the Moravians, Danubian Bulgars, Czechs, Poles, Magyars, and the inhabitants of the Kievan Rus'.💸 Moravia fell victim to Magyar invasions around 900, Bulgaria to Byzantine expansionism between 971 and 1018. After the fall of💸 Moravia, dukes of the Czech Přemyslid dynasty consolidated authority in Bohemia. In Poland, the destruction of old power centres accompanied💸 the formation of state under the Piast dukes. In Hungary, the princes of the Árpád dynasty applied extensive violence to💸 crush opposition by rival Magyar chieftains. The Rurikid princes of Kievan Rus' emerged as the hegemon power of East Europe's💸 vast forest zones after Rus' raiders sacked the Khazar capital Atil in 965.
Architecture and art
A page from the Book of💸 Kells, an illuminated manuscript created in the British Isles
New basilicas were built in the major Roman cities and the post-Roman💸 kingdoms in the 4th–6th centuries.[note 11] In the late 6th century, Byzantine church architecture adopted an alternative model imitating the💸 rectangular plan and the dome of Justinian's Hagia Sophia, the largest single roofed structure of the Roman world. As the💸 spacious basilicas became of little use with the decline of urban centres in the west, they gave way to smaller💸 churches. By the beginning of the 8th century, the Carolingian Empire revived the basilica form of architecture. One new standard💸 feature of Carolingian basilicas is the use of a transept, or the "arms" of a T-shaped building that are perpendicular💸 to the long nave. The former Great Mosque of Córdoba—now the city's cathedral church—is an extraordinary monument of Moorish architecture💸 with a forest of reused Roman columns supporting a double line of red-and-white-stripped arches.
Magnificent halls built of timber or stone💸 were the centres of political and social life. Their design often adopted elements of Later Roman architecture like pilasters, columns,💸 and sculptured discs.[note 12] After the disintegration of the Carolingian Empire, the spread of aristocratic castles indicates a transition from💸 communal fortifications to private defence in western Europe. Most castles were wooden structures but the wealthiest lords built stone fortresses.[note💸 13] One or more towers, now known as keeps, were their most characteristic features but castles often developed into multifunctional💸 compounds with their drawbridges, fortified courtyards, cisterns or wells, halls, chapels, stables and workshops.
In the age of mass migrations, gold💸 pouring to the tribal leaders from the Roman Empire was regularly remoulded into new artifacts, such as massive necklaces, and💸 eagle-shaped fibulae by local goldsmiths. Their unrealistic style, often influenced by Iranian polychrome and cloisonné metalworks, was introduced into Roman💸 territory by the invading peoples. Artisans working for post-Roman elites developed a distinctly abstract design, characterised by ribbons and highly💸 stylised animal motifs. Literary works, like the Old English epic poem Beowulf, and the Nordic sagas refer to great royal💸 treasures but only a few of them survived, including the grave goods from Childeric's tomb at Tournai, and the rich💸 Anglo-Saxon burial at Sutton Hoo. Religious art quickly assimilated several elements of the post-Roman secular style, such as strapwork ornamenting,💸 and extensive segmentation. Paintings have mainly survived in richly decorated Gospel Books, including the Book of Kells and the Book💸 of Lindisfarne—two representative works of the Insular art of Ireland and Northumbria.[note 14]
The Hellenistic tradition of realistic portrayal survived in💸 the Mediterranean. Although the iconoclastic movement restricted Byzantine art for almost a century, the iconophiles' triumph paved the way for💸 an artistic renewal.[note 15] The more naturalistic Mediterranean style served as an important source of inspiration for western artists during💸 the rule of Charlemagne who treated visual arts as a powerful instrument of education and propaganda. After a long pause,💸 Carolingian art rediscovered the human figure, and western artists often depicted people in illuminated codices.[note 16] These were often protected💸 by sumptuous book covers, made of gold, pearls, and polished gemstones. Charlemagne's court seems to have been responsible for the💸 acceptance of figurative monumental sculpture in Christian art, and by the end of the period near life-sized figures such as💸 the Gero Cross were common in important churches. In England, book illuminators freely enriched their Insular heritage with Carolingian motifs,💸 such as sprigs of foliage. In Germany, manuscripts illustrated with lively pictorial cycles indicate the direct impact of contemporary Byzantine💸 art on Ottonian artists. In Christian Spain, the use of Kufic letters and Moorish arches as decorative elements demonstrated the💸 influence of Islamic art.
Military and technology
Byzantine cavalry cheasing Muslim horsemen (a miniature from the 12th-century Madrid Skylitzes)
During the later Roman💸 Empire, the principal military developments were attempts to create an effective cavalry force as well as the continued development of💸 highly specialised types of troops. The creation of heavily armoured cataphract-type soldiers as cavalry was an important feature of the💸 Late Roman military. The various invading tribes had differing emphases on types of soldiers—ranging from the primarily infantry Anglo-Saxon invaders💸 of Britain to the Vandals and Visigoths who had a high proportion of cavalry in their armies. The greatest change💸 in military affairs was the adoption of the Hunnic composite bow in place of the earlier, and weaker, Scythian composite💸 bow. The Avar heavy cavalry introduced the use of stirrups in Europe, and it was adopted by Byzantine cavalrymen before💸 the end of the 6th century. Another development was the increasing use of longswords and the progressive replacement of scale💸 armour by mail and lamellar armour.
The importance of infantry and light cavalry began to decline during the early Carolingian period,💸 with a growing dominance of elite heavy cavalry, although a large proportion of the armies appear to have been mounted💸 infantry, rather than true cavalry. The use of militia-type levies of the free population declined. One exception was Anglo-Saxon England,💸 where the armies were still composed of regional levies, known as the fyrd. In military technology, one of the main💸 changes was the reappearance of the crossbow as a military weapon. A technological advance that had implications beyond the military💸 was the horseshoe, which allowed horses to be used in rocky terrain.
High Middle Ages
Society
13th-century French historiated initial with the three💸 classes of medieval society: those who prayed (the clergy) those who fought (the knights), and those who worked (the peasantry).
Severe💸 draughts hit the Middle East, and the Eurasian Steppe experienced cold anomalies between around 950 and 1060. The ensuing famines💸 led to riots and military coups in the Byzantine Empire, the Abbasid Caliphate, and Egypt, and forced masses of nomadic💸 Turks to seek new pasturelands in Iraq, Anatolia, and the Balkans. Their influx caused much destruction, and culminated in the💸 establishment of the Seljuk Empire in the Middle East. In Europe, a period of tremendous population expansion began around 1000,💸 and the estimated population grew from 35 to 80 million by 1347. The exact causes remain unclear: improved agricultural techniques,💸 assarting (or bringing new lands into production), a more clement climate and the lack of invasion have all been suggested.
Most💸 medieval western thinkers divided the society into three fundamental classes. These were the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners. Constituting💸 about 98 per cent of the total population, commoners were mainly rural peasants and artisans. The number of townspeople was💸 growing but never exceeded 10 per cent of the total population. Feudalism regulated fundamental social relations in many parts of💸 Europe. In this system, one party granted property, typically land to the other in return for services, mostly of military💸 nature that the recipient, or vassal, had to render to the grantor, or lord. In other parts of Europe, such💸 as Germany, Poland, and Hungary, inalienable allods remained the dominant forms of landholding. Their owners owed homage to the king💸 or a higher-ranking aristocrat but their landholding was free of feudal obligations.
Many of the peasantry were no longer settled in💸 isolated farms but had gathered into more defensible small communities, usually known as manors or villages. In the system of💸 manorialism, a manor was the basic unit of landholding, and it comprised smaller components, such as parcels held by peasant💸 tenants, and the lord's demesne. Slaveholding was declining as churchmen prohibited the enslavement of coreligionists, but a new form of💸 dependency (serfdom) supplanted it by the late 11th century. Unlike slaves, serfs had legal capacity, and their hereditary status was💸 regulated by agreements with their lords. Restrictions on their activities varied but their freedom of movement was customarily limited, and💸 they usually owed corvées, or labor services. Peasants left their homelands in return for significant economic and legal privileges, typically💸 a lower level of taxation and the right to administer justice at local level. The crossborder movement of masses of💸 peasantry had radical demographic consequences, such as the spread of German settlements to the east, and the expansion of the💸 Christian population in Iberia.
With the development of heavy cavalry, the previously uniform class of free warriors split into two groups.💸 Those who could equip themselves as mounted knights were integrated into the traditional aristocracy, but others were assimilated into the💸 peasantry. The new elite's position was stabilised through the adoption of strict inheritance customs, such as primogeniture—the eldest son's right💸 to inherit the family domains undivided. Nobles were stratified in terms of the land and people over whom they held💸 authority; the lowest-ranking nobles did not hold land and had to serve wealthier aristocrats.[note 17] The nobility was never a💸 closed group: kings could raise commoners to the aristocracy, wealthy commoners could marry into noble families, and impoverished aristocrats could💸 loose their privileged status. Western aristocrats often moved to the peripheries of Latin Christendom either with the support of local💸 rulers who appreciated their military skills, or as conquerors.[note 18] French-speaking noblemen mainly settled in the British Isles, southern Italy💸 or Iberia, whereas the German aristocrats preferred Central and Eastern Europe.
The clergy was divided into two types. The secular clergy💸 cared for believers' spiritual needs, mainly serving in the parish churches, whereas the regular clergy lived under a religious rule💸 as monks, canons, or friars. Churchmen supervised several aspects of everyday life, church courts had exclusive jurisdiction over marriage affairs,💸 and church authorities supported popular peace movements. Individuals who were thought to receive divine revelations might present a challenge to💸 clerical control of religious life but most of them respected official doctrines. The veneration of popular mystics, such as Francis💸 of Assisi (d. 1226), was often sanctioned by church authorities.
Women were officially required to be subordinate to some male, whether💸 their father, husband, or other kinsman. Women's work generally consisted of household or other domestically inclined tasks such as child-care.💸 Peasant women could supplement the household income by spinning or brewing at home, and they also did field-work at harvest-time.💸 Townswomen could engage in trade but often only by right of their husband, and unlike their male competitors, they were💸 not always allowed to train apprentices. Noblewomen could inherit land in the absence of a male heir but their potential💸 to give birth to children was regarded as their principal virtue. The only role open to women in the Church💸 was that of nuns, as they were unable to become priests.[note 19]
Trade and economy
Impression of the earliest known seal of💸 the northern German city of Hamburg (1241)
The expansion of population, greater agricultural productivity and relative political stability laid the foundations💸 for the medieval "Commercial Revolution" in the 11th century. People with surplus cash began investing in commodities like salt, pepper💸 and silk at faraway markets. Rising trade brought new methods of dealing with money, and gold coinage was again minted💸 in Europe, first in Florence and Genoa. New forms of commercial contracts emerged, allowing risk to be shared within the💸 framework of partnerships known as commenda or compagnia. Bills of exchange also appeared, enabling easy transmission of money. As many💸 types of coins were in circulation, money changers facilitated transactions between local and foreign merchants. Loans could also be negotiated💸 with them which gave rise to the development of credit institutions called banks.
As new towns were developing from local commercial💸 centres, the economic growth brought about a new wave of urbanisation. Kings and aristocrats mainly supported the process in the💸 hope of increased tax revenues. Most urban communities received privileges acknowledging their autonomy, but few cities could get rid of💸 all elements of royal or aristocratic control. Townspeople engaged in the same trade or profession were united in confraternities known💸 as guilds. Typically, these associations set the rules for quality, training, and pricing, and only their members had access to💸 the local market.
The Italian maritime republics such as Amalfi, Venice, Genoa, and Pisa were the first to profit from the💸 revival of commerce in the Mediterranean. In the north, German merchants established associations known as hansas and took control of💸 the trade routes connecting the British Islands and the Low Countries with Scandinavia and Eastern Europe.[note 20] Great trading fairs💸 were established and flourished in northern France, allowing Italian and German merchants to trade with each other as well as💸 local merchants.
Economic growth provided opportunities to Jewish merchants to spread all over Europe with the local rulers' support, but most💸 commoners regarded the non-Christian newcomers as an imminent threat to social cohesion. As the Jews could not engage in prestigious💸 trades outside their communities, they often took despised jobs such as ragmen or tax collectors. They were especially active in💸 moneylending for they could ignore the Christian clerics' condemnation on loan interest. The Jewish moneylenders and pawn brokers reinforced antisemitism,💸 which led to accusations of blasphemy, blood libels, and pogroms. Church authorities' growing concerns about Jewish influence on Christian life💸 inspired segregationist laws,[note 21] and even their permanent expulsion from England in 1290.
Technology and military
Technology developed mainly through minor innovations💸 and by the adoption of advanced technologies from Asia through Muslim mediation. Major technological advances included the first mechanical clocks💸 and convex spectacles, and the manufacture of distilled spirits. Windmills were first built in Europe in the 12th century, spinning💸 wheels appeared around 1200. Large scale construction projects advanced building technology, and increased demand for raw materials like timber, stone,💸 and bricks. Shipbuilding improved with the use of the rib and plank method rather than the old Roman system of💸 mortise and tenon. Other improvements to ships included the use of lateen sails and the stern-post rudder, both of which💸 increased the speed at which ships could be sailed. The use of astrolabe and compass allowed navigation in large distance💸 from the shores.
The development of a three-field rotation system for planting crops[note 22] increased the usage of land by more💸 than 30 per cent, with a consequent increase in production. The development of the heavy plough allowed heavier soils to💸 be farmed more efficiently. The spread of horse collar led to the use of draught horses that required less pastures💸 than oxen. Legumes—such as peas, beans, or lentils—were grown more widely, in addition to the cereal crops.
In military affairs, the💸 use of infantry with specialised roles increased. Along with the still-dominant heavy cavalry, armies often included mounted and infantry crossbowmen,💸 as well as sappers and engineers. Crossbows increased in use partly because of the increase in siege warfare.[note 23] This💸 led to the use of closed-face helmets, heavy body armour, as well as horse armour during the 12th and 13th💸 centuries. Gunpowder was known in Europe by the mid-13th century.
Church life
The Romanesque Church of Maria Laach Abbey, built mainly between💸 1130 and 1156
In the early 11th century, papal elections were controlled by Roman aristocrats, but Emperor Henry III (r. 1039–56)💸 broke their power and placed reform-minded clerics on the papal throne. Through popular support, they achieved the acknowledgement of their💸 supreme jurisdiction in church affairs in many parts of Europe. In contrast, the head of the Byzantine Church Patriarch Michael💸 I Cerularius (d. 1059) refused papal supremacy for which a papal legate excommunicated him in 1054. Eventually, after a string💸 of mutual excommunications, this event, known as the East–West Schism, led to the separation of the Roman Catholic and Eastern💸 Orthodox Churches.
Lay investiture—the appointment of clerics by secular rulers—was condemned at an assembly of bishops in Rome in 1059, and💸 the same synod established the exclusive right of the College of Cardinals to elect the popes. Henry's son and successor💸 Henry IV (r. 1056–1105) wanted to preserve the right to appoint his own choices as bishops within his lands but💸 his appointments outraged Pope Gregory VII (pope 1073–85). Their quarrel developed into the Investiture Controversy, involving other powers as well💸 because kings did not relinquish the control of appointments to bishoprics voluntarily. All conflicts ended with a compromise, in the💸 case of the Holy Roman Emperors with the 1122 Concordat of Worms.[note 24]
The High Middle Ages was a period of💸 great religious movements. Old pilgrimage sites such as Rome, Jerusalem, and Compostela received increasing numbers of visitors, and new sites💸 such as Monte Gargano and Bari rose to prominence. Popular movements emerged to support the implementation of the church reform💸 but their anticlericalism sometimes led to the rejection of Catholic dogmas by the most radical groups such as the Waldensians💸 and Cathars. To suppress heresies, the popes appointed special commissioners of investigation known as inquisitors. Monastic reforms continued as the💸 Cluniac monasteries' splendid ceremonies were alien to those who preferred the simpler hermetical monasticism of early Christianity, or wanted to💸 live the "Apostolic life" of poverty and preaching. New monastic orders were established, including the Carthusians and the Cistercians. In💸 the 13th century mendicant orders—the Franciscans and the Dominicans—who earned their living by begging, were approved by the papacy.
Rise of💸 state power
Europe and the Mediterranean Sea in 1190
The High Middle Ages saw the development of institutions that would dominate political💸 life in Europe until the late 18th century, or even later. The kings' right to rule, regulate, and judge without💸 a foreign power's intercession became widely accepted, inducing the idea of state sovereignty.[note 25] The concept of hereditary monarchy was💸 strengthening in parallel with the development of laws governing the inheritance of land. As female succession was recognised in most💸 countries, the first reigning queens assumed power.[note 26] The chancery emerged as the central office of royal government but also💸 acted as a court of appeals. Taxation quickly developed because revenues from the royal domains could no more cover state💸 expenditures. Initially, extraordinary taxes were levied for military purposes but by the end of the period taxes had been collected💸 on a more regular basis. Effective taxation depended on consent which reinforced the role of representative assemblies, allowing them to💸 exert influence on state administration.
The papacy, long attached to an ideology of independence from secular influence, first asserted its claim💸 to temporal authority over the entire Christian world. The Papal Monarchy reached its apogee under the pontificate of Innocent III💸 (pope 1198–1216). As rulers of much of central Italy and feudal overlords of some of the Catholic rulers such as💸 the Sicilian kings, the popes were deeply involved in secular politics. Sicily and southern Italy had been seized by Norman💸 warbands from the local Lombard, Byzantine and Muslim rulers between 1016 and 1091. Their hold of the territory was recognised💸 by the papacy in 1059, and Roger II (r. 1105–54) united the Norman principalities into the Kingdom of Sicily.
In the💸 Holy Roman Empire, the Ottonians were replaced by the Salians in 1024. They protected the lesser nobility to reduce ducal💸 power, and seized Burgundy before clashing with the papacy under Henry IV. After a short interval between 1125 and 1137,💸 the Hohenstaufens succeeded the Salians. Their recurring conflicts with the papacy allowed the northern Italian cities and the German princes💸 to extort considerable concessions from them. In 1183, Frederick I Barbarossa (r. 1155–90) sanctioned the right of the Lombard cities💸 to elect their leaders; the princes' autonomy was recognised during the reign of his grandson Frederick II (r. 1220–50). Frederick💸 was famed for his erudition and unconventional life style[note 27] but his efforts to rule Italy eventually led to the💸 fall of his dynasty. In Germany, a period of interregnum, or rather civil war began, whereas Sicily—Frederick's maternal inheritance—was seized💸 by an ambitious French prince Charles I of Anjou (r. 1266–85). During the German civil war, the right of seven💸 prince-electors to elect the king was reaffirmed. Rudolf of Habsburg (r. 1273–91), the first king to be elected after the💸 interregnum, realised that he was unable to control the whole empire. He granted Austria to his sons, thus establishing the💸 basis for the Habsburgs' future dominance in Central Europe. After his death, the people of three Alpine communities formed the💸 Swiss Confederacy to defend their judicial autonomy against the Habsburgs.
The French monarchy slowly began to expand its authority over the💸 nobility. The kings faced a powerful rival in the Dukes of Normandy, who in 1066 under William the Conqueror (r.💸 1035–87) conquered England. This cross-Channel empire further expanded when Henry II (r. 1154–89) from the Angevin dynasty ascended the throne,💸 as he had seized large areas of France through inheritance and marriage.[note 28] Under his son Richard I (r. 1189–99),💸 the Angevin Empire remained intact, but Richard's brother John (r. 1199–1216) lost the northern French possessions to the French king💸 Philip II Augustus (r. 1180–1223). This led to dissension among the English nobility, while John's financial exactions to pay for💸 his unsuccessful attempts to regain Normandy led in 1215 to Magna Carta, a charter that confirmed the rights and privileges💸 of free men in England. In France, Philip Augustus's son Louis VIII (r. 1223–26) distributed large portions of his father's💸 conquests among his younger sons as appanages—virtually independent provinces—to facilitate their administration. His son Louis IX (r. 1226–70) improved local💸 administration by appointing inspectors known as enquêteurs to oversee the royal officials' conduct. The royal court at Paris began hearing💸 litigants in regular sessions almost all over the year.
The Iberian Christian states began to push back against the Islamic powers💸 in the south, a period known as the Reconquista. After numerous divisions and reunifications of the Christian states, the Christian💸 north had coalesced into the four kingdoms of Castile, Aragon, Navarre, and Portugal by 1230. Aragon emerged as a naval💸 power, conquering the Balearic Island from the Muslims, Sicily from the Italian Angevins, and Sardinia from the Genoese. Southern Iberia💸 remained under the control of Islamic states, initially under the Caliphate of Córdoba, which broke up in 1031 into a💸 shifting number of petty states known as taifas. Although the Almoravids and the Almohads, two dynasties from the Maghreb, established💸 centralised rule over Southern Iberia in the 1110s and 1170s respectively, their empires quickly disintegrated, allowing further expansion of the💸 Christian kingdoms. The Catholic Scandinavian states also expanded: the Norwegian kings assumed control of the Norse colonies in Iceland and💸 Greenland, Denmark seized parts of Estonia, and the Swedes conquered Finland.
In the east, Kievan Rus' fell apart into independent principalities.💸 Among them, the northern Vladimir-Suzdal emerged as the dominant power after Suzdalian troops sacked Kyiv in 1169. Poland also disintegrated💸 into autonomous duchies in 1138, enabling the Czech kings to expand in the prosperous Duchy of Silesia in the late💸 13th century. The kings of Hungary seized Croatia but respected the liberties of the native aristocracy. They claimed (but only💸 periodically achieved) suzerainty over other lands and peoples such as Dalmatia, Bosnia, and the nomadic Cumans. The Cumans supported the💸 Bulgarians and Vlachs during their anti-Byzantine revolt that led to the restoration of Bulgaria in the late 12th century. To💸 the west of Bulgaria, Serbia gained independence.
With the rise of the Mongol Empire in the Eurasian steppes under Genghis Khan💸 (r. 1206–27), a new expansionist power reached Europe's eastern borderlands. Between 1236 and 1242, the Mongols conquered Volga Bulgaria, shattered💸 the Rus' principalities, and laid waste to large regions in Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia and Bulgaria. Their commander-in-chief Batu Khan💸 (r. 1241–56)—a grandson of Genghis Khan—set up his capital at Sarai on the Volga, establishing the Golden Horde, a Mongol💸 state nominally under the distant Great Khan's authority. The Mongols extracted heavy tribute from the Rus' principalities, and the Rus'💸 princes had to ingratiate themselves with the Mongol khans for economic and political concessions.[note 29] The Mongol conquest was followed💸 by a peaceful period in Eastern Europe which facilitated the development of direct trade contacts between Europe and China through💸 newly established Genoese colonies in the Black Sea region. The new land and sea routes to the Far East were💸 famously described in The Travels of Marco Polo written by one of the traders, Marco Polo (d. 1324).
Crusades
Clashes with secular💸 powers accelerated the militarization of the papacy. Pope Urban II (pope 1088–99) proclaimed the First Crusade at the Council of💸 Clermont in response to a Byzantine appeal for military aid against the Seljuk Turks. He declared the liberation of Jerusalem💸 as its ultimate goal, and offered indulgence—the remission of sins—to all who took part. Tens of thousands of fanatics, mainly💸 common people, formed loosely organised bands to march to the east. They lived off looting, and attacked the Jewish communities.💸 Antisemitic pogroms were especially violent in the Rhineland. Few of them reached Asia Minor, and those who succeeded were annihilated💸 by the Turks. The official crusade departed in 1096 under the command of prominent aristocrats like Godfrey of Bouillon (d.💸 1100), and Raymond of Saint-Gilles (d. 1105). They defeated the Turks in two major battles at Dorylaeum and Antioch, allowing💸 the Byzantines to recover western Asia Minor. The westerners consolidated their conquests into crusader states in northern Syria and Palestine,💸 but their security depended on external military assistance which led to further crusades. Muslim resistance was raised by ambitious warlords,💸 like Saladin (d. 1193) who captured Jerusalem in 1187. New crusades prolonged the crusader states' existence for another century, until💸 the crusaders' last strongholds fell to the Mamluks of Egypt in 1291.
The papacy used the crusading ideology against its opponents💸 and non-Catholic groups in other theaters of war as well. The Iberian crusades became fused with the Reconquista and reduced💸 Al-Andalus to the Emirate of Granada by 1248. The northern German and Scandinavian rulers' expansion against the neighbouring pagan tribes💸 developed into the Northern Crusades bringing the forced assimilation of numerous Slavic, Baltic and Finnic peoples into the culture of💸 Catholic Europe. The Fourth Crusade was diverted from the Holy Land to Constantinople, and captured the city in 1204, setting💸 up a Latin Empire in the east. Michael VIII Palaiologos (r. 1259–1282), the ruler of a Byzantine rump state in💸 Asia Minor[note 30] recaptured the city in 1261, but parts of Greece remained under the westerners' rule. The Albigensian Crusades💸 against the Cathars of Occitania provided the opportunity for the French monarchy to expand into the region.
With its specific ceremonies💸 and institutions, the crusading movement became a featuring element of medieval life.[note 31] Often extraordinary taxes were levied to finance💸 the crusades, and from 1213 a crusader oath could be fulfilled through a cash payment which gave rise to the💸 sale of plenary indulgences by Church authorities. The crusades brought about the fusion of monastic life with military service within💸 the framework of a new type of monastic order, the military orders. The establishment of the Knights Templar set the💸 precedent, inspiring the militarisation of charitable associations, like the Hospitallers and the Teutonic Knights, and the founding of new orders💸 of warrior monks, like the Order of Calatrava and the Livonian Brothers of the Sword. Although established in the crusader💸 states, the Teutonic Order focused much of its activity in the Baltic where they founded their own state in 1226.
Intellectual💸 life
Cathedral chapters were expected to operate a school from the late 11th century, and the more lenient cathedral schools quickly💸 marginalised the traditional monastic schools. Schools reaching the highest level of mastery within the disciplines they taught received the rank💸 of studium generale, or university from the pope or the Holy Roman Emperor. The new institutions of education encouraged scholarly💸 discussions. Debates between the realists and the nominalists over the concept of "universals" were especially heated. Philosophical discourse was stimulated💸 by the rediscovery of Aristotle and his emphasis on empiricism and rationalism. Scholars such as Peter Abelard (d. 1142) and💸 Peter Lombard (d. 1164) introduced Aristotelian logic into theology. Scholasticism, the new method of intellectual discourse and pedagogy, required the💸 study of authoritative texts, notably the Vulgate and patristic literature, but references to them could no more override rational argumentation.💸 Scholastic academics summarised their and other authors' views on specific subjects in comprehensive sentence collections known as summae, including the💸 Summa Theologica by Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274).
Chivalry and the ethos of courtly love developed in royal and noble courts. This💸 culture was expressed in the vernacular languages rather than Latin, and comprised poems, stories, legends, and popular songs. Often the💸 stories were written down in the chansons de geste, or "songs of great deeds", glorifying their male heroes' often brutal💸 acts, such as The Song of Roland, and The Poem of the Cid. In contrast, chivalric romance praised chaste love,💸 while eroticism was mainly present in poems composed by troubadours. Chivalric literature took inspiration from classical mythology, and also from💸 the Celtic legends of the Arthurian cycle collected by Geoffrey of Monmouth (d. c. 1155). Further featuring literary genres include💸 spiritual autobiographies, chronicles, philosophical poems, and hymns.[note 32]
The discovery of a copy of the Corpus Juris Civilis in the 11th💸 century paved the way for the systematic study of Roman law at Bologna. This led to the recording and standardisation💸 of legal codes throughout Western Europe. Around 1140, the monk Gratian (fl. 12th century), a teacher at Bologna, wrote what💸 became the standard text of ecclesiastical law, or canon law—the Decretum Gratiani. Among the results of the Greek and Islamic💸 influence on this period in European history was the replacement of Roman numerals with the decimal positional number system and💸 the invention of algebra, which allowed more advanced mathematics. Astronomy benefited from the translation of Ptolemy's Almagest from Greek into💸 Latin in the late 12th century. Medicine was also studied, especially in southern Italy, where Islamic medicine influenced the school💸 at Salerno.
Architecture, art, and music
León Cathedral, an example of Rayonnant Gothic, completed in three phases during the 13th–15th centuries
Encastellation continued,💸 as more and more stone fortresses were built in regions where central authority was weak. Many of them were motte-and-bailey💸 structures, but Bergfriede, or tower castles, were preferred in Central Europe,[note 33] and the competing urban families built tall towers💸 in Italian cities and towns.[note 34] The great pilgr
entailed the construction of large churches along pilgrimage roads.[note 35] This💸 led to the development of stone architecture that bears some resemblance to classical Roman building design, hence known as Romanasque.💸 Romanesque buildings have massive stone walls, decorated with sculpture in relief, and are typically covered by barrel, groin or rib💸 vaults. Romanesque has various regional variants: in Provence, Corinthian columns betray the direct influence of the local Roman monuments; in💸 Tuscany, stone arches were used as ornamental elements; and in Norway, dragon heads decorated the exterior of stave churches. Traditional💸 Byzantine religious architecture remained dominant in the Balkans although some Serbian churches display Romanesque influence.[note 36]
Romanesque art, especially metalwork, was💸 at its most sophisticated in Mosan art, in which distinct artistic personalities including Nicholas of Verdun (d. 1205) become apparent,💸 and an almost classical style is seen in works such as a font at Liège. Few wall-paintings survive although references💸 to
abound in written sources in the 11th–12th centuries. The employment of itinerant artists, and the use of sketches💸 made of murals facilitated the transmission of artistic motifs over large territory.[note 37] Embroidery flourished as the churches and castles💸 were decorated by tapestries, and clerical vestments were adorned by needlework
.
Structural innovations introduced the development of the Gothic style💸 from Romanesque. These included pointed arches for the reduction of lateral thrust, flying buttresses to reinforce the walls, and rib💸 vaults to minimise their static importance. The new solutions allowed the extensive use of large stained glass windows. The Gothic💸 architecture emerged as a combination of all these during the reconstruction of the Saint-Denis Abbey near Paris under Abbot Suger💸 (d. 1151). The new style quickly spread and dominated religious architecture in much of Catholic Europe till the end of💸 the Middle Ages.[note 38]
The practice of manuscript illumination gradually passed from monasteries to lay workshops, and the book of hours💸 developed as a form of devotional book for lay-people. Metalwork continued to be the most prestigious form of art, with💸 Limoges enamel a popular and relatively affordable option. In Italy the innovations of Cimabue and Duccio, followed by the Trecento💸 master Giotto (d. 1337), greatly increased the sophistication and status of panel painting and fresco. Increasing prosperity during the 12th💸 century resulted in greater production of secular art; many carved ivory objects such as gaming pieces, combs, and small religious💸 figures have survived.
Late Middle Ages
Society and economy
Execution of some of the ringleaders of the Jacquerie Chroniques de France ou de💸 St Denis
Average annual temperature was declining from around 1200, introducing the gradual transition from the Medieval Warm Period to the💸 Little Ice Age. Climate anomalies caused agricultural crises, culminating in the Great Famine of 1315–17. As the starving peasants slaughtered💸 their draft animals, those who survived had to make extraordinary efforts to revive farming. The previously profitable monoculture aggravated the💸 situation, as unseasonable weather could completely ruin a harvest season.
These troubles were followed in 1346 by the Black Death, a💸 pandemic that spread throughout Europe during the following four years, killing about one-third of the population. As plague continued to💸 strike Europe regularly, the total population had halved by 1400. Towns were especially hard-hit because of their crowded conditions.[note 39]💸 The trauma of the plague led to savage pogroms against the Jews, and the self-mortification of the flagellants. The rapid💸 and extremely high mortality destroyed economy and trade, and the recovery was slow. The peasants who survived the pandemic paid💸 lower rents to the landlords but demand for agricultural products declined, and the lower prices barely covered their costs. Urban💸 workers received higher salaries but they were heavily taxed. Occasionally, the governments tried to fix rural rents at a high💸 level, or to keep urban salaries low, which provoked popular uprisings across Europe, including the Jacquerie in France, the Peasants'💸 Revolt in England, and the Ciompi Revolt in Florence.
Lands that had been marginally productive were abandoned, as the survivors were💸 able to acquire more fertile areas. Labor services the peasants owed for their land tenure were often changed into cash💸 rents, providing the landlords with a stable source of income. Landlords joined to extort privileges from their governments but royal💸 administration also started to protect the interests of the poor. From the early 14th century, serfdom was officially abolished in💸 many places, although in other regions, mainly in Central and Eastern Europe, it was imposed on tenants who had previously💸 been free. Non-clergy became increasingly literate, and urban populations began to imitate the nobility's interest in chivalry. The rise of💸 banking continued, fuelled partly by the needs of the papacy to move money between kingdoms with the assistance of merchant💸 firms. These also loaned money to warring royalty, at great risk, as some were bankrupted when kings defaulted on their💸 loans.[note 40]
Private feuds were almost permanent in politically fragmented regions, such as Westphalia in Germany, and the Pyrenean frontier of💸 France, and regional conflicts often escalated into full-scale warfare. Reissen, or crusading tours in the Baltic region, became a fashionable💸 form of warring for Catholic aristocrats. Conflicts between ethnic groups became polarised, and local statutes were issued to prohibit intermarriages💸 and limit membership in guilds along ethnic lines.[note 41] The Jewish communities were permanently expelled from France, and at least💸 provisionally from most German cities and principalities. In contrast, the Hungarian and Polish rulers encouraged the Jewish moneylenders' immigration. Massive💸 pogroms led to the mass conversion of Spanish (or Sephardic) Jewry in 1391. As the "New Christians" were suspected of💸 heresy, the Spanish Inquisition was established to inspect their faith. The Jews who refused to convert were exiled from Spain💸 in 1492, and from Portugal in 1497. Most Spanish Jews left for the Ottoman Empire.
State resurgence
Joan of Arc in peasant💸 custom, wearing her arms, from a late 15th-century document
Although the growth of central governments continued throughout the Late Middle Ages,💸 still more than 500 autonomous polities existed at the end of the period. Taxation quickly expanded which contributed to the💸 development of self-conscious communities of taxpayers, eager to protect their common interests both at central and local levels. Successful dynasties💸 reigned over several states in close cooperation with the local elites but they could not freely redistribute resources among their💸 realms.[note 42]
In Germany, the elected emperors were regarded no more than supreme arbitrators, although they had a significant power base💸 in their hereditary lands.[note 43] The emperors' authority was even more limited in Italy where Florence, Milan, and Venice exploited💸 the power vacuum to expand. The centuries-old rivalry between England and France developed into the Hundred Years' War when Edward💸 III of England (r. 1327–1377) laid claim to the French throne in 1337. Early in the war, the English won💸 the battles of Crécy and Poitiers, captured the city of Calais, and won control of an enlarged Gascony. French aristocrats'💸 feuds escalated into a civil war, allowing Henry V of England (r. 1413–1422) to seize much of France. The unconquered💸 French regions put up a strong resistance, boosted by the visions of a peasant girl Joan of Arc (d. 1431),💸 and Charles VII of France (r. 1422–1461) expelled the English from the country except for Calais by 1453. England went💸 on to suffer a long civil war known as the Wars of the Roses, which only ended after Richard III💸 (r. 1483–85) died fighting at Bosworth, and his opponent Henry Tudor consolidated power as Henry VII (r. 1485–1509). The wars💸 mainly prevented the English to expand in the British Isles, but royal power remained weak in Scotland, and much of💸 Ireland was ruled by feuding local lords.
Succession crises were not uncommon in the Iberian kingdoms, as intermarriages between the royal💸 houses created conflicting claims to the throne, and royal bastards could successfully claim their father's inheritance. Portugal concentrated on expanding💸 overseas during the 15th century, while the other kingdoms were riven by difficulties over royal succession and other concerns. In💸 Scandinavia, Margaret I of Denmark (r. in Denmark 1387–1412) consolidated Norway, Denmark, and Sweden in the Union of Kalmar, which💸 continued until 1523. The major power around the Baltic Sea was the Hanseatic League, a commercial confederation of city-states that💸 traded from Western Europe to Russia.
Collapse of Byzantium and rise of the Ottomans
Battle of Nicopolis depicted in the late-16th-century Ottoman💸 illuminated chronicle Hunernama
Although the Palaiologos emperors recaptured Constantinople from the Western Europeans in 1261, they were never able to regain💸 control of much of the former imperial lands. The former Byzantine lands in the Balkans were divided between the new💸 Kingdom of Serbia, the Second Bulgarian Empire and the city-state of Venice. The power of the Byzantine emperors was threatened💸 by a new Turkish tribe, the Ottomans, who established themselves in Anatolia in the 13th century and steadily expanded throughout💸 the 14th century. The Ottomans expanded into Europe, reducing Bulgaria to a vassal state by 1366 and taking over Serbia💸 after its defeat at the Battle of Kosovo in 1389. Western Europeans rallied to the plight of the Christians in💸 the Balkans and declared a new crusade in 1396; a great army was sent to the Balkans, where it was💸 defeated at the Battle of Nicopolis. Constantinople was finally captured by the Ottomans in 1453.
Controversy within the Church
During the tumultuous💸 14th century, disputes within the leadership of the Church led to the Avignon Papacy of 1309–76, and then to the💸 Great Schism, lasting from 1378 to 1418, when there were two and later three rival popes, each supported by several💸 states. Ecclesiastical officials convened at the Council of Constance in 1414, and in the following year, the council deposed one💸 of the rival popes, leaving only two claimants. Further depositions followed, and in November 1417, the council elected Martin V💸 (pope 1417–31) as pope.
Besides the schism, the Western Church was riven by theological controversies, some of which turned into heresies.💸 John Wycliffe (d. 1384), an English theologian, was condemned as a heretic in 1415 for teaching that the laity should💸 have access to the text of the Bible as well as for holding views on the Eucharist that were contrary💸 to Church doctrine. Wycliffe's teachings influenced two of the major heretical movements of the later Middle Ages: Lollardy in England💸 and Hussitism in Bohemia. The Bohemian movement initiated with the teaching of Jan Hus, who was burned at the stake💸 in 1415. The Hussite Church, although the target of a crusade, survived beyond the Middle Ages. Other heresies were manufactured,💸 such as the accusations against the wealthy Knights Templar that resulted in their suppression in 1312.
The papacy further refined the💸 practice in the Mass in the Late Middle Ages, holding that the clergy alone was allowed to partake of the💸 wine in the Eucharist. This further distanced the secular laity from the clergy. The laity continued the practices of pilgr
,💸 veneration of relics, and belief in the power of the devil. Mystics such as Meister Eckhart (d. 1327) and Thomas💸 à Kempis (d. 1471) wrote works that taught the laity to focus on their inner spiritual life, which laid the💸 groundwork for the Protestant Reformation. Besides mysticism, belief in witches and witchcraft became widespread, and by the late 15th century,💸 the Church had begun to lend credence to populist fears of witchcraft.
Scholars, intellectuals, and exploration
During the Later Middle Ages, theologians💸 such as John Duns Scotus (d. 1308) and William of Ockham (d. c. 1348) led a reaction against intellectualist scholasticism,[failed💸 verification] objecting to the application of reason to faith. Their[failed verification] efforts undermined the prevailing Platonic[failed verification] idea of universals.💸 Ockham's insistence that reason operates independently of faith allowed science to be separated from theology and philosophy. Legal studies were💸 marked by the steady advance of Roman law into areas of jurisprudence previously governed by customary law. The lone exception💸 to this trend was in England, where the common law remained pre-eminent. Other countries codified their laws; legal codes were💸 promulgated in Castile, Poland, and Lithuania.
Clerics studying astronomy and geometry, French, early 15th century
Education remained mostly focused on the training💸 of future clergy. The basic learning of the letters and numbers remained the province of the family or a village💸 priest, but the secondary subjects of the trivium—grammar, rhetoric, logic—were studied in cathedral schools or in schools provided by cities.💸 Universities spread throughout Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries.[citation needed] Lay literacy rates rose, but were still low; one💸 estimate gave a literacy rate of ten per cent of males and one per cent of females in 1500.
The publication💸 of vernacular literature increased, with Dante (d. 1321), Petrarch and Boccaccio in 14th-century Italy, Geoffrey Chaucer (d. 1400) and William💸 Langland (d. c. 1386) in England, and François Villon (d. 1464) and Christine de Pizan (d. c. 1430) in France.💸 Much literature remained religious in character, and although a great deal of it continued to be written in Latin, a💸 new demand developed for saints' lives and other devotional tracts in the vernacular languages. This was fed by the growth💸 of the Devotio Moderna movement, most prominently in the formation of the Brethren of the Common Life. Theatre also developed💸 in the guise of miracle plays put on by the Church. At the end of the period, the development of💸 the printing press in about 1450 led to the establishment of publishing houses throughout Europe by 1500.
In the early 15th💸 century, the countries of the Iberian Peninsula began to sponsor exploration beyond the boundaries of Europe. Prince Henry the Navigator💸 of Portugal (d. 1460) sent expeditions that discovered the Canary Islands, the Azores, and Cape Verde during his lifetime. After💸 his death, exploration continued; Bartolomeu Dias (d. 1500) went around the Cape of Good Hope in 1486, and Vasco da💸 Gama (d. 1524) sailed around Africa to India in 1498. The combined Spanish monarchies of Castile and Aragon sponsored the💸 voyage of exploration by Christopher Columbus (d. 1506) in 1492 that led to his discovery of the Americas. The English💸 crown under Henry VII sponsored the voyage of John Cabot (d. 1498) in 1497, which landed on Cape Breton Island.
Technological💸 and military developments
One of the major developments in the military sphere during the Late Middle Ages was the increased use💸 of infantry and light cavalry. The English also employed longbowmen, but other countries were unable to create similar forces with💸 the same success. Armour continued to advance, spurred by the increasing power of crossbows, and plate armour was developed to💸 protect soldiers from crossbows as well as the handheld guns that were developed. Pole arms reached new prominence with the💸 development of the Flemish and Swiss infantry armed with pikes and other long spears. The cannon appeared on the battlefield💸 at Crécy in 1346.
In agriculture, the increased usage of sheep with long-fibred wool allowed a stronger thread to be spun.💸 In addition, the spinning wheel replaced the traditional distaff, tripling production.[note 44] A less technological refinement that still greatly affected💸 daily life was the use of buttons as closures for garments. Windmills were refined with the creation of the tower💸 mill, allowing the upper part of the windmill to be spun around to face the direction from which the wind💸 was blowing. The blast furnace appeared around 1350 in Sweden, increasing the quantity of iron produced and improving its quality.💸 The first patent law in 1447 in Venice protected the rights of inventors to their inventions.
Art and architecture
The Late Middle💸 Ages in Europe as a whole correspond to the Trecento and Early Renaissance cultural periods in Italy. Northern Europe and💸 Spain continued to use Gothic styles, which became increasingly elaborate in the 15th century, until almost the end of the💸 period. International Gothic was a courtly style that reached much of Europe in the decades around 1400, producing masterpieces such💸 as the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. All over Europe, secular art continued to increase in quantity and💸 quality, and in the 15th century, the mercantile classes of Italy and Flanders became important patrons, commissioning small portraits as💸 well as a growing range of luxury items such as jewellery, ivory caskets, cassone chests, and maiolica pottery. Although royalty💸 owned huge collections of plate, little survives except for the Royal Gold Cup. Italian silk manufacture developed, so that Western💸 churches and elites no longer needed to rely on imports from Byzantium or the Islamic world. In France and Flanders💸 tapestry weaving of sets like The Lady and the Unicorn became a major luxury industry.
The large external sculptural schemes of💸 Early Gothic churches gave way to more sculpture inside the building, as tombs became more elaborate and other features such💸 as pulpits were sometimes lavishly carved, as in the Pulpit by Giovanni Pisano in Sant'Andrea. Painted or carved wooden relief💸 altarpieces became common, especially as churches created many side-chapels. Early Netherlandish paintings by artists such as Jan van Eyck (d.💸 1441) and Rogier van der Weyden (d. 1464) rivalled that of Italy, as did northern illuminated manuscripts, which in the💸 15th century began to be collected on a large scale by secular elites, who also commissioned secular books, especially histories.[citation💸 needed] From about 1450, printed books rapidly became popular, though still expensive. There were around 30,000 different editions of incunabula,💸 or works printed before 1500,[dead link] by which time illuminated manuscripts were commissioned only by royalty and a few others.💸 Very small woodcuts, nearly all religious, were affordable even by peasants in parts of Northern Europe from the middle of💸 the 15th century.[failed verification] More expensive engravings supplied a wealthier market with a variety of
.[failed verification]
Modern perceptions
The medieval period💸 is frequently caricatured as a "time of barbarism, ignorance, and superstition" that placed "religious authority above personal experience and rational💸 activity" (David Lindberg). This is a legacy from both the Renaissance and Enlightenment when scholars favourably contrasted their intellectual cultures💸 with those of the medieval period. Renaissance scholars saw the Middle Ages as a period of decline from the high💸 culture and civilisation of the Classical world. Enlightenment scholars saw reason as superior to faith, and thus viewed the Middle💸 Ages as a time of ignorance and superstition.
Others argue that reason was generally held in high regard during the Middle💸 Ages. Science historian Edward Grant writes, "If revolutionary rational thoughts were expressed in the Age of Reason, they were only💸 made possible because of the long medieval tradition that established the use of reason as one of the most important💸 of human activities". Also, contrary to common belief, Lindberg writes, "The late medieval scholar rarely experienced the coercive power of💸 the Church and would have regarded himself as free (particularly in the natural sciences) to follow reason and observation wherever💸 they led."
The caricature of the period is also reflected in some more specific notions. One misconception, first propagated in the💸 19th century, is that all people in the Middle Ages believed that the Earth was flat. This is untrue, as💸 lecturers in the medieval universities commonly argued that evidence showed the Earth was a sphere.
Notes
Citations
References
Further reading
