Contents
Middle Ages
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Middle Ages (adjectival form: medieval or mediæval) is a period of European history covering roughly a millennium from the 5th century through to the 16th century. It is commonly dated from the fall of the Western Roman Empire, and contrasted with a later Early Modern Period; the time during which the rise of humanism in the Italian Renaissance and the Reformation unfolded, are generally associated with the transition out of the Middle Ages, with European overseas expansion as a succeeding process, but such dates are approximate and based upon nuanced arguments.
More specific starting and ending points are sometimes adopted by scholars to suit their respective specializations or current focus. In particular, in British history, the Middle Ages are often understood to start at the Norman conquest of 1066 and continue through to about the end of the 15th century (the era between the fall of the Roman Empire and the Norman conquest is referred to as the Anglo-Saxon period). "Periodization issues" are discussed in a later section of this article.
The Middle Ages included the first sustained urbanization of northern and western Europe. Many modern European countries owe their origins to events and trends in the Middle Ages; present European political boundaries are, in many regards, the result of the military and dynastic outcomes during this period.
Periodization issues
The Middle Ages form the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three "ages": the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the modern period. The idea of such a periodization is attributed to Flavio Biondo, an Italian Renaissance humanist historian.
Commonly seen periodizations specify a beginning between ca. 400 CE and 476 (the sackings of Rome by the Visigoths to the deposing of Romulus Augustus).[1] An end is even less clear; scholars assign different dates in different parts of Europe. End dates range between ca. 1453 and 1517 (the Fall of Constantinople to the Protestant Reformation begun with Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses).
Most scholars who work in 15th century Italian history, for instance, consider themselves Renaissance specialists, while anyone working elsewhere in Europe during the early 15th century is considered a medievalist. Others choose specific events, such as the Turkish capture of Constantinople or the end of the Anglo-French Hundred Years' War (both 1453), the invention of the moveable type printing press in Europe by Johann Gutenberg (around 1455, independently of Asian innovations in the field centuries earlier), the fall of Muslim Spain or Christopher Columbus's voyage to America (both 1492), the Protestant Reformation starting 1517, or the Battle of Lepanto (1571) to mark the period's end. In England, the change of monarchs which occurred on 22 August 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth is often considered to mark the end of the period, Richard III representing the old medieval world, and the Tudors a new royal house and a new historical period.[2] The Catholic Monarchs are generally deemed the last medieval rulers of Spain.[3]
Similar differences are now emerging in connection with the start of the period. Traditionally, the Middle Ages are said to have begun when the West Roman Empire formally ceased to exist in 476. However, that date is not important in itself, since the West Roman Empire had been very weak for some time, while Roman culture was to survive at least in Italy for yet a few decades or more. Today, some date the beginning of the Middle Ages to the division and Christianization of the Roman Empire (4th century); others, like Henri Pirenne, see the period to the rise of Islam (7th century) as "late Classical".
Another argument for a late beginning to the Middle Ages was presented by Peter Brown. Brown championed the idea of Late Antiquity, a period that was culturally distinct from both the preceding Empire and from the rest of the Middle Ages. Brown’s argument rests less on the economic changes within the Mediterranean than on social and religious change within the Empire between 300 and 750. To Brown, the slow collapse of the Empire allowed a period of great creativity and expressiveness in which Christianity flourished and became institutionalized.
The Middle Ages in Western Europe are often subdivided into three intervals. This includes an early period (sometimes called the "Dark Ages", at least from the fifth to eighth centuries) of shifting polities, a relatively low level of economic activity, and successful incursions by non-Christian peoples (Slavs, Arabs, Scandinavians, Avars). The middle period (the High Middle Ages) follows, a time of developed institutions of lordship and vassalage, castle-building and mounted warfare, and reviving urban and commercial life. The last span is a later period of growing royal power, the rise of commercial interests, and weakening customary ties of dependence, especially after the 14th century plague.
In the history of Scandinavia, the Middle Ages followed prehistory during the 11th century, as the rulers converted to Christianity, and substantial written records appeared. A similar shift from prehistory to the Middle Ages occurred in Estonia and Latvia during the 13th century.
Geographic issues
While the term "medieval period", often used synonymously with "Middle Ages", is usually used to describe a period of European history, some 20th century historians have described non-European countries as "medieval" when those countries show characteristics of "feudal" organization. The pre-Westernization period in the history of Japan, and the pre-colonial period in developed parts of sub-Saharan Africa, are also sometimes termed "medieval." These terms have fallen out of favor, as modern historians are reluctant to try to fit the history of other regions to the European model.
Origins: The later Roman Empire
The Roman empire reached its greatest territorial extent during the 2nd century. The following two centuries witnessed the slow decline of Roman control over its outlying territories. The Emperor Diocletian split the empire into separately administered eastern and western halves in 285. The division between east and west was encouraged by Constantine, who refounded the city of Byzantium as the new capital, Constantinople, in 330.
Military expenses increased steadily during the 4th century, even as Rome’s neighbours became restless and increasingly powerful. Tribes who previously had contact with the Romans as trading partners, rivals, or mercenaries had sought entrance to the empire and access to its wealth throughout the 4th century. Diocletian’s reforms had created a strong governmental bureaucracy, reformed taxation, and strengthened the army.[1]
These reforms bought the Empire time, but they demanded money. Roman power had been maintained by its well-trained and equipped armies. These armies, however, were a constant drain on the Empire's finances. As warfare became more dependent on heavy cavalry, the infantry-based Roman military started to lose its advantage against its rivals. The defeat in 378 at the Battle of Adrianople, at the hands of mounted Gothic lancers, destroyed much of the Roman army and left the western empire undefended.[1] Without a strong army, the empire was forced to accommodate the large numbers of Germanic tribes who sought refuge within its frontiers.
Known in traditional historiography collectively as the “barbarian invasions”, the Migration Period, or the Völkerwanderung ("wandering of the peoples"), this migration was a complicated and gradual process. Some of these "barbarian" tribes rejected the classical culture of Rome, while others admired and aspired to it. In return for land to farm and, in some regions, the right to collect tax revenues for the state, federated tribes provided military support to the empire. Other incursions were small-scale military invasions of tribal groups assembled to gather plunder. The Huns, Bulgars, Avars, and Magyars all raided the Empire's territories and terrorised its inhabitants. Later, Slavic and Germanic peoples would settle the lands previously taken by these tribes. The most famous invasion culminated in the sack of Rome by the Visigoths in 410, the first time in almost 800 years that Rome had fallen to an enemy.
By the end of the 5th century, Roman institutions were crumbling. Some early historians have given this period of societal collapse the epithet of "Dark Ages" because of the contrast to earlier times. The last emperor of the west, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed by the barbarian king Odoacer in 476.[1] The Eastern Roman Empire (conventionally referred to as the "Byzantine Empire" after the fall of its western counterpart) had little ability to assert control over the lost western territories. Even though Byzantine emperors maintained a claim over the territory, and no "barbarian" king dared to elevate himself to the position of Emperor of the west, Byzantine control of most of the West could not be sustained; the renovatio imperii ("imperial restoration", entailing reconquest of the Italian peninsula and Mediterranean periphery) by Justinian was the sole, and temporary, exception.