Medieval Europe

Medieval Europe Map - Year 1328
Medieval Europe refers to the historical period in Europe that followed the fall of the Western Roman Empire and preceded the early modern period. Although often caricatured as the period of general backwardness, medieval Europe laid the foundation of the western civilization and its global domination.

Table of Contents

Periodization of Medieval Europe

Medieval Europe covers a period known as the Middle Ages or the Medieval Times that followed the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century and lasted into the 15th century. The “time of ignorance and superstition” as the medieval period is often caricatured was very different to that of the classical world of the ancient Greeks and Romans but the transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages took place gradually.

Transition to Medieval Period

The Roman Empire changed dramatically in its character after the Crisis of the Third Century when one of the mightiest empires in history nearly collapsed under the pressure of civil war, invasions, and economic and spiritual crisis. The medieval period was to some extent a continuation of a process that started in late antiquity although the barbarian peoples that settled within the boundaries of the former Roman Empire and established their own kingdoms between the 5th and 8th centuries were backward culturally, economically and politically in comparison to highly advanced Roman society, economy and culture.

Europe in the Dark Ages

Medieval Europe between 5th and 8th centuries, also referred to as the Dark Ages was marked by rise of numerous short-lived barbarian kingdoms and a period of general instability that delivered the final blow to long distance trade and manufacture for export as it was no longer safe to travel to any distance, especially after the Muslim conquests in the 7th and 8th centuries. The newly emerged barbarian kingdoms were politically unstable and unable to maintain the Roman extensive infrastructure, and medieval Europe became predominantly rural by the end of the 8th century.

Church in the Early Middle Ages

The Catholic Church entered the Early Middle Ages (period lasting from 5th to the end of the 10th century) as a powerful and centralized institution, while its support to secular authorities greatly increased its political influence and wealth. A Christianity-centered culture emerged in most parts of Europe by the 8th century, while whole Europe was virtually Christianized by the end of the Early Middle Ages. The Church and its institutions were the centers of art, science and learning as the clergymen were often the only literate individuals in predominantly illiterate medieval society.

Rise and Fall of the Carolingian Empire

The political map of Europe witnessed dramatic changes throughout the Early Middle Ages. The Carolingian Empire emerged as the dominant power under Charlemagne (768-814) but the internal struggles for power and new waves of invasions, in first place by Magyars and the Vikings in the 9th century resulted in fragmentation of Charlemagne’s empire and formation of two political units that became the basis for the future Kingdom of France in the west and the Holy Roman Empire in the east.

Byzantine Empire in the Early Middle Ages

The Eastern Roman Empire that came to be known as the Byzantine Empire survived the barbarian invasions and even managed to recapture some of the territory of the former Western Roman Empire during the reign of Justinian I (527-565). The Byzantines also successfully repulsed the Muslim assaults but lost their territory in the Balkans to the Slavic peoples, while most of the Justinian’s conquests on the west were lost by the end of the Early Middle Ages.

Social and Economic Changes in Early Medieval Europe

Social and economic changes that led to formation of feudalism and the manorial system as the predominant social, economic and political organization throughout medieval Europe by the end of the Early Middle Ages can be traced back to the late antiquity. The Crisis of the Third Century resulted in profound social and economic changes that dramatically transformed the Roman Empire and provided a model to the medieval social organization. The economic crisis in the 3rd century resulted in deurbanization and emergence of the coloni, half-free tenant peasants who worked on large Roman estates and paid a rent to the estate owners.

Formation of the Feudal Society

The barbarian tribal and military leaders seized the Roman estates as a reward for their accomplishments, while the free small landholders were eventually forced to seek protection at powerful landlords due to frequent wars and invasions, brigandage and general instability. In return, they had to provide labor on their lord’s fields and pay certain fees and taxes. Barbarian military and tribal leaders, on the other hand, emerged as the ruling class – nobility that eventually became hereditary. As the leading spiritual authority and an important political power, the Catholic clergy was placed very high in the medieval social hierarchy and often exercised feudal authority as it gained a lot of land and wealth for its support to secular rulers.

Europe in the High Middle Ages

The High Middle Ages encompassing the period from the 11th to the end of the 13th century was marked by rise of urban centers, economic growth, military expansion, major population growth, intellectual revival and rise of central power in France, England and Spain. The Papacy reached its height, especially under the pontificate of Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) and played the key role in the Crusades that would result in the first European expansion outside Europe and profound changes in both medieval Europe and the Muslim world.

The First Crusade

Despite the Great Schism, also known as the East-West Schism in 1054 that permanently divided Christianity into Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church, Pope Urban II (1088-1099) launched a campaign for military intervention against the Muslims in the Holy Land on appeal of the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Comnenus. Pope Urban’s call to the Crusade was responded by tens of thousands of people from all classes of society from all over Europe, while the capture of Jerusalem in 1099 was followed by the establishment of the Crusader states in the Middle East.

Impact of the Crusades on Medieval Europe

The conquests of the Crusaders in the Middle East were lost by the end of the Middle Ages, while the breach between the Eastern and Western Churches deepened and reached its height with the fall of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade in 1204. On the other hand, the Crusades greatly stimulated trade and economy, while contact with the Arab world had a major influence on science, medicine and learning as the Arabs preserved many works from the Classical and Hellenistic periods most of which were lost in Europe including the works of Aristotle that had a major influence on St. Thomas Aquinas and the philosophy of scholasticism.

Rise of Medieval Cities and Towns

The Western Europe in the High Middle Ages enjoyed relative stability and peace which in combination with steady economic growth and technological advances in agriculture resulted in explosion of population that according to some estimations doubled before the outbreak of the Black Death in 1348. This population flowed into cities that sprouted throughout Europe and were self-governing to certain extent. Some cities such as those on the shores of the Baltic joined into a form of alliances such as the Hanseatic League, for instance, while the others, most notably the Italian cities of Venice, Genoa and Pisa competed with each other for supremacy.

Romanesque Architecture

The High Middle Ages was also marked by establishment of the first universities in major cities that made literacy and education available to wider population as well as a major progress in art, sculpture and architecture that mostly remained in the domain of the Church. Large cathedrals were built all over Europe, initially in Romanesque and later in Gothic style. Some of the finest examples of Romanesque architecture include the Vezelay Abbey in Vezelay (France), the Duomo di Pisa (Italy), Durham Cathedral (England) and Speyer Cathedral (Germany).

Gothic Architecture

Gothic architecture that originates from 12th century France spread throughout Europe by the end of the High Middle Ages. The most beautiful examples include the Basilica of Saint Denis, Notre Dame de Paris and Rheims Cathedral, while King’s College Chapel (Cambridge), Cologne Cathedral (Germany), Burgos Cathedral (Spain) and Florence Cathedral are among the most famous Gothic cathedrals outside France. The Orthodox Balkan states, Kievan Rus and the Caucasus region were influenced by Byzantine architectural style despite the decline of the Byzantine Empire during the High Middle Ages.

France and England in the Late Middle Ages

The Late Middle Ages, the transition period from the medieval to the modern world that lasted from 14th to the end of the 15th century saw the rise of strong, centralized nation-states, in first place France and England. Although the Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453) seriously affected economy in both countries, more than a century long struggle strengthened royal authority in both France and England.

Unification of Castile and Aragon

The Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula continued the Reconquista or the Christian reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslim Moors and witnessed the unification of the two most powerful kingdoms of Aragon and Castile through marriage of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile in 1469. The Catholic Monarchs completed the Reconquista by conquest of Granada in 1492 and laid the foundation for modern Spain. They also funded the voyage of Christopher Columbus resulting in discovery of the Americas in 1492 which foreshadowed the European colonization of the New World.

Germany and Italy in the Late Middle Ages

Unlike France and England, and the Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula, Germany and Italy became even more decentralized in the Late Middle Ages. The Holy Roman Empire witnessed the emergence of numerous petty states that were de facto independent, while the Holy Roman Emperors were chosen by Prince-Electors although the election was merely a formality after the 15th century when the Imperial office became hereditary within the House of Habsburg. Like Germany, Italy was politically fragmented among the Italian-city states on the north, and Kingdom of Naples and Kingdom of Sicily on the south, while a large portion of central Italy was under direct rule of the Papal States.

Rise of the Grand Duchy of Moscow

In Eastern Europe, the Grand Duchy of Moscow took the initiative in liberation of Russia from the Mongol yoke in the early 15th century and become the predecessor of the Tsardom of Russia. The Grand Princes of Moscow gradually increased the Moscow’s territory eastwards and northwards, while Ivan III the Great (1462-1505) stopped paying tribute to the Golden Horde in 1476. The Mongol Khan sent his forces to Moscow but after the Grand Standoff on the Ugra River in 1480, the Mongols retreated and the Mongol rule over Russia finally collapsed. By the end of his rule, Ivan III the Great quadrupled the territory of the Grand Duchy of Moscow and assumed the title Tsar.

Conquest of Constantinople and the Balkans by the Ottoman Turks

At the same time when the Christian Kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula captured the last Muslim stronghold, the Byzantine Empire and most of the Balkans was conquered by another Muslim force – the Ottoman Turks. Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror (1451-1481) captured Constantinople in 1453 and continued the Ottoman conquest in Europe reaching as far as Belgrade.

Europe at the End of the Middle Ages

The intellectual revitalization of Europe started in the High Middle Ages continued, while science and learning at the end of the Middle Ages became influenced by Renaissance, a cultural movement starting in Florence in the 14th century. Ironically, economic growth and secularization continued despite the Great Famine of 1315-1317 and the Black Death in the mid-14th century that killed one third to one half of European population. Europe at the end of the Late Middle Ages saw the rise of the bourgeois class and weakening of serfdom in many parts of Europe. The Catholic Church finally lost its power to secular rulers, while the Avignon Papacy (1305-1378) and the Western Schism (1378-1417) during which two men claimed to be popes, corruption of the clergy and the practice of indulgence sale provoked the Protestant Reformation in the early 16th century resulting in the permanent division between the Catholics and Protestants.