waragne obsessed slaughter

0 views

Skip to first unread message

Twyla Plack

unread,

Aug 2, 2024, 8:41:49 PM8/2/24

to profithusher

In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period (also spelt mediaeval or medival) lasted from approximately 500 to 1500 AD. It is the second of the three traditional divisions of Western history: antiquity, medieval, and modern. Major developments include the economic predominance of agriculture, exploitation of the peasantry, slow inter-regional communication, the importance of personal relationships in power structures, and the weakness of state administration. The period is sometimes 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, the mass migration of tribes (mainly Germanic peoples), and Christianisation, which had begun in late antiquity, continued into the Early Middle Ages. The movement of peoples led to the disintegration of the Western Roman Empire and the rise of new kingdoms. In the post-Roman world, taxation declined, the army was financed through land grants, and the blending of Later Roman civilisation and the invaders' traditions is well documented. The Eastern Roman Empire (or Byzantine Empire) survived, but lost the Middle East and North Africa to Muslim conquerors in the 7th century. Although the Carolingian dynasty of the Franks reunited many of the Western Roman lands by the early 9th century, the Carolingian Empire quickly fell apart into competing kingdoms which later fragmented into autonomous duchies and lordships.

During the High Middle Ages, which began after 1000, the population of Europe increased greatly as the Medieval Warm Period allowed crop yields to increase, and technological and agricultural innovations introduced a "commercial revolution". Slavery nearly disappeared, and peasants could improve their status by colonising faraway regions in return for economic and legal concessions. New towns developed from local commercial centers, and urban artisans united into local guilds to protect their common interests. Western church leaders accepted papal supremacy to get rid of lay influence, which accelerated the separation of the western Catholic and eastern Orthodox Churches and triggered the Investiture Controversy between the papacy and secular powers. With the spread of heavy cavalry, a new aristocracy stabilised their position through strict inheritance customs. In the system of feudalism, noble knights owed military service to their lords in return for the lands they had received in fief. Stone castles were built in regions where central authority was weak, but state power was on the rise by the end of the period. The settlement of Western European peasants and aristocrats towards the eastern and southern peripheries of Europe, often spurred by crusades, led to the expansion of Latin Christendom. The spread of cathedral schools and universities stimulated a new method of intellectual discussion, with an emphasis on rational argumentation known as scholasticism. Mass pilgrimages prompted the construction of massive Romanesque churches, while structural innovations led to the development of the more delicate Gothic architecture.

Calamities which included a great famine and the Black Death, which reduced the population by 50 per cent, began the Late Middle Ages in the 14th century. Conflicts between ethnic and social groups intensified and local conflicts often escalated into full-scale warfare, such as the Hundred Years' War. By the end of the period, the Byzantine Empire and the Balkan states were conquered by a new Muslim power: the Ottoman Empire; in the Iberian Peninsula, Christian kingdoms won their centuries-old war against their Muslim neighbours. The prominence of personal faith is well documented, but the Western Schism and dissident movements condemned as heresies presented a significant challenge to traditional power structures in the Western Church. Humanist scholars began to emphasise human dignity, and Early Renaissance architects and artists revived several elements of classical culture in Italy. During the last medieval century, naval expeditions in search for new trade routes introduced the Age of Discovery.

The Middle Ages is the second of the three major periods in the most enduring scheme of analysing European history: antiquity, the Middle Ages and the modern era.[1] The Italian Leonardo Bruni (d. 1444) was the first to use tripartite periodisation in 1442,[2] and it became standard with the German historian Christoph Cellarius (d. 1707).[note 1][4] The adjective "medieval", pertaining to the Middle Ages,[5] derives from medium aevum ("middle age"), a Neo-Latin term first recorded in 1604.[6] It is also spelt "mediaeval" or "medival".[5][6]

Historians from Romance language-speaking countries tend to divide the Middle Ages into two parts: early ("high") and late ("low"). English-speaking historians, following their German counterparts, generally subdivide the period into thirds: Early, High, and Late.[13] During the 19th century, the Middle Ages were often known as the Dark Ages; with the adoption of the three subdivisions in the early 20th century, however, use of that term was restricted to the Early Middle Ages.[14] Historians who regard the Middle Ages as a Eurocentric concept tend to avoid its use in global history, although studies of "Medieval India", the "Muslim Middle Ages", and similar subjects are not uncommon.[15][16]

Certain aspects of medieval society (including the lives of women or slaves) are poorly documented, which limits a comprehensive study of the period.[17] 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 primarily contain annals, chronicles and other narrative sources focusing on the deeds of powerful men.[18] Professional historians treat medieval narratives cautiously, since they are often filled with distorted facts or unrealistic information.[19] Documents of state or church administration such as royal charters and chrysobulls are indispensable sources of medieval history, although many are forged.[20] Other written sources include graffiti, seals, and letters.[21]

Since the 1950s, archaeology has significantly contributed to studying the history of poorly-documented regions, periods, and groups (such as peasantry); chronological dating, however, is still uncertain.[22][23] Legislation may influence archaeological research. New finds of coins and hoards are frequently exhibited in jurisdictions with liberal regulation such as England and Wales, but in other countries (such as Italy) finds from unofficial excavations are seldom published.[24] Although medieval images and sculptures may provide useful information about everyday life, a critical approach is necessary; irony, satire, and anachronism were popular stylistic devices of medieval artists.[25]

Roman society stabilised in a new form which differed from the earlier classical period, with a widening gulf between rich and poor and a decline in the vitality of smaller towns.[32] Another change was the Christianisation of the Roman Empire accelerated by the conversion of Constantine, although Christianity emerged as the empire's dominant religion only at the end of the 4th century.[33] Debates about Christian theology intensified, and those who persisted with theological views condemned at the ecumenical councils faced persecution. Heretical views survived through proselytising campaigns outside the empire or because of local ethnic-group support; examples include Arianism among the Germanic peoples and monophysitism in Egypt and Syria.[34][35] Judaism remained tolerated, although legislation limited Jewish rights.[36]

In the post-Roman world, the fusion of Roman culture with the customs of the invading tribes is well documented. Popular assemblies, which allowed free male tribal members more say in political matters than had been common in the Roman state, developed into legislative and judicial bodies.[54] Much of the scholarly and written culture of the new political entities was based on Roman intellectual traditions.[55] Many no longer supported their armies through taxes, instead relying on granting them land or rent; with less need for large tax revenues, the taxation systems declined.[56]

Other monarchies were established by the Visigoths in the Iberian Peninsula, the Suebi in northwestern Iberia, the Vandals in North Africa,[64] and the Lombards in northern Italy.[65] 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.[66] Another steppe people (the Bulgars) defeated a Byzantine imperial army in 681 and established the First Bulgarian Empire, subjugating the local Slavic tribes near the Danube Delta.[67]

The settlement of peoples was accompanied by changes in language. Latin, the literary language of the Western Roman Empire, was gradually replaced by vernacular languages (which evolved from Latin) collectively known as Romance languages. Greek remained the language of the Byzantine Empire, but Slav migrations expanded the area of Slavic languages in central and eastern Europe.[68]

Justinian nearly died 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 western Arian kingdoms. The general Belisarius (d. 565) seized North Africa from the Vandals and attacked the Ostrogoths, but his campaign was interrupted by an unexpected Sasanian invasion from the east. Between 541 and 543, a deadly outbreak of plague decimated the empire. Justinian developed an extensive system of border forts to compensate for the lack of military personnel, but stopped maintaining the public roads. He resumed his expansionism in a decade, completing the conquest of the Ostrogothic kingdom and seizing much of southern Spain from the Visigoths.[73]