Middle Ages

The Middle Ages were a period of about 1000 years in European history. They took place between the end of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE^[1] and the beginning of the Renaissance around 1400 - 1500 CE.^[2] Because it occurred in the "middle" of these two events, this period was named the Middle Ages.

Historians do not agree about the exact dates when the Middle Ages began and ended. Some say the period began before the fall of Rome, when Constantine the Great became a Christian in 337.^[3] Others propose various end dates, including 1453, when the Byzantine Empire ended with the Fall of Constantinople; 1492, when Christopher Columbus arrived in the New World; and 1517, when Martin Luther posted his Ninety-Five Theses.^[3]

The period is often separated into the Early Middle Ages, the High Middle Ages, and the Late Middle Ages. Very few people during this period could read and write, so there are few records. For this reason, historians do not know as much about the Middle Ages as other periods in history.

Other names

People also use other names like the "Medieval Age” to describe the Middle Ages.^[4] Another term is “the Age of Faith” because Christianity and Islam became much more popular.^[5] The Early Middle Ages have also been called the “Dark Ages” because past scholars wrongly^[6] believed that there was very little culture, good literature, art, or progress during the period.^[7]

Western Roman Empire

A medieval wall painting depicting the crucifixion of Jesus

During the Middle Ages, many people’s lives were short, difficult, and poor. The fall of the Western Roman Empire and the invasions of barbarian tribes devastated Europe. The Romans had made progress in science, technology, engineering, medicine and literature, but during the Middle Ages, much of their knowledge was lost. There were mass migrations, wars, and plagues. For around 300 years, there was continuous violence. Then, the development of feudalism decreased some of the violence.

In 800, Charlemagne became Emperor of the Romans.^[8] He promoted order, education, and civilization. Slowly, Europe began to regain what it had lost. Still, the Late Middle Ages were a difficult time. Wars and the bubonic plague killed millions of people in Europe and Asia.^[9]

Europe greatly changed during the Middle Ages. Independent unified nation-states formed across the old Western Roman Empire.^[10] The new nations included England, Scotland, Hungary, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Lithuania, Denmark, Norway, and France (which evolved from the realm of the Franks).

Eastern Roman Empire

The Fall of Constantinople from the 15th-century Chronique de Charles VII

In 330 AD, Roman Emperor Constantine the Great created the Eastern Roman Empire (now called the Byzantine Empire) and made its capital city Constantinople (now Istanbul).^[11]

The Byzantine Empire controlled Asia Minor and Northern Africa. Briefly, it also controlled what are now southern Spain and southern Italy. However, its lands were slowly eaten away by enemies like the Ottomans and the Franks.

The Byzantine Empire survived the fall of the Western Roman Empire and lasted until 1453.^[12] Constantinople was a walled city on a peninsula, which made it difficult for invaders to take over. That year, the Ottoman Empire finally captured Constantinople, which was the end of the Byzantine Empire.^[12]

The fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans is sometimes considered to be the end of the Middle Ages.^[3]

Islamic Golden Age

The Islamic prophet Muhammad founded Islam in 610 CE.^[13] Soon after his death in 633^[13], Islam split into two main branches: the Sunni and the Shi'a. This split has been compared to the East–West Schism of 1054 or the Protestant Reformation within Western Christianity starting in 1517. Today, around 85% of Muslims are Sunni, while most Shi'a live in Iran and Iraq.^[14]

After Muhammad’s death, Arab Muslims conquered many Christian territories and converted them to Islam. Over time, they took control of what are now Iraq, Syria, Egypt, North Africa, and Spain. According to one source:

Muslims consider[ed] their conquest [to be] the liberation of subjugated people, since in most instances they were under oppressive rule.^[13]

France and other Western European countries stayed under Christian rule. However, eventually the Ottoman Empire also conquered parts of Eastern Europe. Many Muslim states held of vast areas of land, which made them superpowers in the Middle Ages.

Islam spread along the major trade routes of the Old World. Many traders and travelers became Muslim.

Golden age of knowledge

Algebra was discovered during the Golden Age of Islam

The Middle Ages were a golden age of knowledge in Muslim territories. Europe struggled greatly, but the Islamic world made great progress in the arts, agriculture, economics, industry, law, literature, navigation, philosophy, sciences, and technology.

Many Muslim caliphs and Sultans gathered the ancient texts of great classical empires. (For example, the caliphs of Andalusia, based in Cordoba, gathered ancient Roman texts.) During the Islamic Golden Age, Al-Khwarizmi, a Persian Muslim mathematician, helped to develop algebra, which was named after him.

The Golden Age of Islam ended with the Mongol invasions in the mid-13th century.^[15]

Trade routes

During the Middle Ages, trade between countries became much more common. Most trade ran along the Silk Road, a trade route that connected Europe to the Middle East and to East Asia. Arab traders brought things back and forth along the Silk Road.

Items that were light, easy to carry, and valuable traveled the farthest. During the High Middle Ages, wealth began to return, and consumers began to demand luxuries again. Traders brought silk, porcelain, spices, incense, gold, and gems thousands of miles across deserts, mountains and plains to reach Europe. They also brought glass from Europe to Asia.

The Silk Road included land routes (in red) and sea routes (in blue)

Not all items traveled along the entire Silk Road. Traders carrying heavier or less valuable items would travel shorter distances. Food, for example, would usually travel only within a few villages.

Trade was greatly interrupted several times by the Crusades (1095-1291), Mongol invasions, wars between Muslims and Christians, and the Black Plague. Historians think the Mongols brought the plague with them from Asia. The disease killed almost a third of the world's population between 1347-1351, but the Americas were not affected.

Buddhism

Buddhism is a nontheistic religion; its followers do not believe in a god. It is based on philosophy and began in India. However, Muslim invaders drove Buddhism out of India, which forced it to flee east. There are now very few Buddhists in India, but Buddhism eventually took up strong roots in China.

Mongol Empire and Chinese exploration

During the Middle Ages, the Mongols created the world's largest-ever contiguous empire. Under the leadership of Genghis Khan, the Mongols took over territories in much of Asia, the Middle East, and far Eastern Europe. Because the Mongol Empire was so large and powerful, there was little war within the empire, so the period is now called the Pax Mongolica (Latin for “Mongolian peace”). Like the earlier Pax Romana ("Roman Peace"), the Pax Mongolica was a time of relative peace and stability. That made it possible for trade, technology, and ideas to travel safely throughout Eurasia and for international trade and diplomacy along the Silk Road to expand greatly.

Around the time of his death in 1227, Genghis Khan’s empire had gotten too large to survive. It collapsed under its own size as Alexander the Great's had in Ancient Greece. The former Mongol Empire was split four ways, which allowed China to become the dominant power in the Far East once again. Later, under the Yuan dynasty, the Chinese also retook control of northern China.

Dapperheid van Grote Pier ("Bravery of Greate Pyr") depicting Donia & Jelckama, Frisians fighting for freedom

Around 1405, a Chinese admiral, Zheng He, went to explore the world. His fleet of 300 treasure ships explored great areas of the Eastern world. The ships were many times larger than anything the Europeans had built. A treasure ship was wider than Columbus' ship Santa Maria was long.

Late Middle Ages

The Late Middle Ages were the last two centuries of the Middle Ages, from around 1291 (when the Crusades ended) to 1492 (when Columbus traveled to the New World). The gun was invented during this period and changed the way that wars were fought. Aristocracy and feudalism became less important.

Before the Late Middle Ages, armies were formed only when there was a war. Now states began to create permanent standing armies. Technology, economy, and science developed. New cities were founded, and existing cities grew larger and richer.

During the Late Middle Ages, France and England fought the Hundred Years' War. China regained its independence from the Mongol Empire. The Grand Duchy of Moscow, which became the most important state in Eastern Europe, also became independent from the Mongols and later grew to become Russia.

In 1453, the Ottoman Empire conquered the Byzantine Empire. That cut off the Silk Road, so Europeans had to find new trade routes. That triggered the Age of Discovery during the Renaissance. In turn, the Christian states drove the Muslims out of Spain in 1492.^[16]