The Middle Ages is the period of history located between the Ancient Age and the Modern Age. It begins with the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and ends with the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire (also called the Byzantine Empire) in 1453, a date that has the particularity of coinciding with the invention of the printing press. During this period, the church had a notable presence, as it could influence political and economic decisions.
What is the Middle Ages
Table of Contents
Also known as the Middle Ages or Middle Ages, it is the historical period that took place between the V and XIV centuries, and in which numerous events in the political, religious, cultural, technological and intellectual fields, helped to define what later in the history would be known as the Modern Age, together with which it shaped the Contemporary Age or our days.
During this era, which lasted almost a millennium, the church played a leading role in political decisions and was closely linked to the empires and kingdoms that marched across the continents for generations.
Data from the Middle Ages
Being an extensive period, which spanned practically a thousand years, there were great modifications in all aspects and events that gave a historical turn to the history of mankind. Here are data that help to understand what the Middle Ages is.
Period in which it passed
There are several theories about how many exact years this period lasted, since, although historians agree that the beginning occurred in the year 476, several establish that the end occurred in the year 1453 coinciding with the invention of the printing press and some others, which ended in 1492, the year in which the explorer Christopher Columbus arrived in America. What is clear is how many centuries the Middle Ages lasted, which were 11 (from the 5th to the 15th).
Start
This takes place in history when the Ancient Age ends in Western civilization, coinciding with the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the year 476. But some historians maintain that the Late Ancient Age existed, which would extend until the 6th and 6th centuries. VII, thereby defining the gradual transition from one era to another. Other French authors came to consider that the Ancient Age had a presence until the 9th and 11th centuries.
The transition from the Ancient Ages to the Middle Ages, passed gradually, as there were various economic, social, political, ideological and cultural changes. The slave model is replaced by feudalism, the estates of the era appear and Roman citizenship disappears, the centralism of the Roman system disappears and Christian and Muslim theocentrism takes center stage.
Final
The culmination of the Middle Ages was marked by the fall of the Byzantine Empire with the taking of Constantinople by the Turks and the invention of the printing press, giving way to the beginning of the Modern Age.
Natural calamities, such as floods and the little presence of sunlight, affected crops. After that, the famine overshadowed the continent, and later the Black Death and great conflicts such as the Hundred Years War, meant the end of the long era, opening the way to the Renaissance.
Nicknames
During the Middle Ages, it was common to add to the names some predominant characteristic in the personality of the person who carried it, whether it was positive or negative. This was common to bestow upon kings, counts, and emperors.
Some of the most prominent were the following:
- Justinian II (669-711): Byzantine Emperor. He was known as the "Cut Nose", due to his tyranny, his nose was mutilated.
- Pepin III (714-768): King of the Franks. Called “Pepin the Short”, for his short stature (1.37 cm).
- Constantine V (718-755): Byzantine Emperor. Called "Coprónimo", because when he was baptized, he defecated in the baptismal font.
- Edgar I (943-975): English King. They nicknamed him "The Pacific", but in this case, it was an incongruous and ironic nickname, as he was a cruel and violent king.
- Ramiro II (1086-1157): King of Aragon. Known as "The Monk", so nicknamed because he lived in a monastery since he was a child and was a bishop when he ascended to the throne.
- Alfonso II (759-842): King of Asturias. Called “El Casto”, presumably because extramarital love affairs were not evidenced.
- Enrique IV (1425-1474): King of Castile. Known as "El Impotente", due to the fact that he suffered from sexual impotence, and several detractors alluded to his alleged inability to govern.
- Felipe V (1683-1746): King of Spain. Nicknamed "El Animoso", a nickname given to him for his mood swings and insane episodes.
Predominant political model
The feudalism took presence and was established as the predominant political system in line time of the Middle Ages. The feudal lords would be those who had a privileged position, as in the case of royalty, nobility and clergy, since they administered the lands. On the other hand, the vassals are those who were under the absolute authority of the feudal lords and who were at their disposal in exchange for protection, obtaining services, and had to pay tribute to their lords.
This model opened the way to a system in which it allowed the cooperation between royals and nobles, with which there was a new distribution of wealth and power. For this, there was a subordination of the nobles and the clergy against the monarchy.
On the other hand, the Byzantine Empire, the eastern part of the Roman Empire, continued to exist throughout the Middle Ages until the arrival of the Renaissance. This arises when the emperor Theodosius I the Great (347-395), divided the Roman Empire in two in 395, because of how expensive it was to keep its borders safe. The capital of this empire was transferred to Constantinople, and its location between the Marmara and Black Seas facilitated trade, so the restoration of the city was favored.
The rise of the empire took place during the government of the Emperor Justinian, who sought to retake the spaces that the Roman Empire had lost with the fall of that of the West. Many invasions that tried to recover lost territories, represented a high price for the empire, so it fell into a significant economic depression with which the collection of taxes from the population was implemented.
The papacy also marked a presence during this period as a political reality. Its origin came from the need for an organization for the followers of Christ.
Christian groups existed inside and outside Rome, but they soon imposed their position as the ecclesiastical seat of the capital of the Roman Empire and the papal figure emerged.
The Roman see had a period of decline, called the “ Iron Age ” or “Dark Century”, this time was characterized by the absolute domination of two Roman families - the Theodora and the Marozia -, and the power they exercised over ecclesiastical aspects and politicians from Rome.
In part of medieval times, the popes were reduced to their exclusively religious functions, and faced with the aggressiveness of the imperial presence, the Holy See was exposed to the anarchy of feudalism in the Middle Ages, being at the mercy of the nobility.
Social classes
During the Middle Ages, there were three large groups of predominant classes, outside the figure of the king: the nobility, the clergy and the peasantry, the latter being the only non-privileged group.
1. The nobility: it was made up mostly of those who owned the land. This social class in turn was hierarchically subdivided into magnates (marquises, dukes and counts), owners of large extensions of territories; the nobles (viscounts and barons), lords of smaller lands; and the knights (they were part of the personal guard), who only owned a horse, armor and weapons. Nobles defended kingdoms in times of war, and when there was no conflict, they spent their time hunting, competing in sword tournaments, and fishing.
2. The clergy: it was the group belonging to the Catholic and Orthodox Church, made up of priests, monks, bishops, abbots and cardinals. His main occupation was the celebration of religious services, the preaching, teaching and administration of the sacraments. Likewise, they carried out the rituals associated with the church, such as baptisms, confirmations, marriages and ceremonies related to birth and death. The church had as its highest authority the figure of the bishop of Rome or pope.
3. The peasantry or serfs: it was the group with the largest population. This group was made up of artisans, wealthy merchants, rich farmers, liberal trades and soldiers (middle groups); the peasants with land, artisans and small merchants and officials (modest groups); serfs, day laborers, landless peasants and wage earners of poor trades (poorer strata); and the marginalized. Many of them were subject to the will of their masters; However, they were far from traditional slaves since they were recognized in their human condition, they could have goods and were protected by their "owner".
Religious beliefs
During this stage, the Western Christian church had a greater development in its structure, since it was then that a large part of its orders and organizations were formed and later merged into what was the ecclesiastical institution. This institution had great influence on a social level, since they were in charge of educational and welfare tasks for the most disadvantaged through shelters, hospitals, alms, among others.
Also in medieval Europe there were Jews and Muslims. The first group was dispersed in different cities of the continent and their main activity was commerce. It was a group persecuted for its ideals and little accepted. The second, the Muslims, had great occupation and presence, especially in Spain.
However, the Catholic Church reached its peak in the 12th century, thanks to its reforms and the growth of fervor in the most humble groups, for the hope and faith of achieving a better life through miracles.
Despite the predominance of Christian beliefs in the population, there were regions where they failed to reach. This led to the preservation of pagan beliefs prior to Christianity in these rural areas and little communicated with the outside world, where esotericism, magic and superstition flooded the rituals and dogmas of that group.
Blasphemies were punished through two powerful tools, very characteristic of the Middle Ages: excommunication and the Inquisition. The excommunication was the expulsion from the church of the disobedient, who could not receive the sacraments, remaining outside the divine law; and the order of the Inquisition, a court in charge of persecuting people with doubtful faith, and in order to obtain information, they tortured and killed them.
Pilgrimages were also practiced, trips on foot that the faithful made, regardless of their social class, to different sanctuaries, these could last months or even years. The reasons for their pilgrimage ranged from the most spiritual reasons (promises, penances or purifications) to the most secular (curiosity or commercial interests).
It was also believed that the second coming of Christ would be a thousand years after his death and that he would reign on Earth for a thousand years before the great Final Judgment. This gave rise to the birth of several sects, in which many believers of millennialism (as this particular dogma is called), stripped themselves of all their belongings in order to make themselves "more worthy" of the arrival of Jesus.
The rumor spread that the Holy Grail still existed, which was the chalice where Jesus Christ drank at the Last Supper, but there was never any historical record of its finding. A sect of French monks called the Albigensians declared that they possessed it and thanks to this, Philip II, King of France, declared war on them for heresy under the consent of the church.
Main events
Making a summary of the Middle Ages in terms of outstanding events, we have the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the appearance of feudalism, the formation and presence of religious orders and monasteries, the intolerance of the church with the detractors and the Byzantine Empire. Similarly, there were others of great impact that set a trend in the period.
The declaration of the Magna Carta was one of the most important moments of the Middle Ages, as it was considered the origin of the world's constitutions.
The Carolingian Empire, led by Charlemagne (742-814), whose politics was managed by him and Pepin El Breve, tried to recover classical culture in the political, religious and cultural aspects of the Middle Ages. Through the Treaty of Verdun, the Carolingian Empire was divided into three, one of which was the Holy Roman Empire of Germany, headed by Otto I the Great, in a way to succeed the Roman Empire in a way.
Another event that shook the continent was the Great Famine or Famine that occurred between the years 1315 and 1322. This caused millions of people to give in to starvation, resulting in the end of the period of economic boom and population explosion experienced during the 11th centuries., XII and XIII. Died in the streets by disease or people bitten by infected rodents, they were images of the Middle Ages.
It originated in 1315, where there were great crop losses from that year until 1317, and it was not until 1322 that Europe could raise its head against this crisis. During this period, the levels of poverty, criminality, and even cannibalism and infanticide rose. This tragedy shook all the structures of medieval society.
At the end of the 16th century, the Black or Bubonic Plague was one of the darkest and saddest episodes of the Middle Ages. This disease, whose carriers were fleas and lice, was spread throughout the European territory by rodents present in the cities, fields and towns of Europe.
The crusades also stand out as an important event: they were military expeditions for religious purposes to recover spaces with Christian beliefs from places where there was a Turkish occupation with Islamic ideas. There were eight great crusades, spanning the years 1095 to 1291. They occurred because they constituted an important source of power and wealth, and because the occupation in certain areas by Christians was not very solid due to the presence of Turkish armies.
Other events that can be highlighted are the Great Schism (the division of the church by difference of interests, beliefs and doctrines); the Hundred Years War (from 1337 to 1443, due to the rivalry between France and England); and the influence this era had on modern science, culture, and learning; among others.
Economic activities
Livestock and agriculture were some of the most developed activities in this era. Agriculture advanced, since farmland and forests were the most precious properties, the peasants being the main engine of this activity. Thanks to the improvement of the climate between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries and technological advances such as the use of plowshares replacing the wooden ones, agrarian expansion took place.
Crafts and other characteristic tasks of the Middle Ages, boosted the economy, since everyday items such as tools, utensils, clothing, footwear, and other luxury items such as jewelry, metal weapons and fine clothing were made. The exchange with other populations (import and export) took place and began to trade with other kingdoms. There were also tailors, tanners, blacksmiths, carpenters, potters, butchers, bakers, among many activities.
From an early age, children were put to work. Boys from eight years of age could already be shepherds and from ten they could work, while girls could already be domestic workers from the age of five.
Notable characters
In the almost a thousand years of this era, the most prominent characters were:
- Muhammad (570-632): Father of Islam, after a revelation by the archangel Gabriel, expanded the word of Allah.
- Charlemagne (742-814): King of the Franks, he was the founder of the Carolingian Empire.
- Don Pelayo (685-737): First monarch of Asturias, stopped the Muslim expansion to the north.
- Urban II (1042-1099): Catholic Pope who promoted the Crusades to recover holy sites in Palestine from the hands of the Muslims.
- Averroes (1126-1198): He made a medical encyclopedia, and his writings had an impact on medieval Christian thought.
- Dante Alighieri (1265-1321): Author of the Divine Comedy (important work of literature in the Middle Ages) expositor of the transition from medieval to Renaissance thought.
- Joan of Arc (1412-1431): Military decisive for the union of France and outcome of the Hundred Years War in favor of the nation.
- Marco Polo (1254-1324): Explorer and adventurer who related discoveries during his travels in the world.
- Innocent III (1161-1216): One of the most powerful popes, who promoted Christianity, and put the power of the church above the power of the emperor.
- Alfonso X El Sabio (1221-1284): Spanish monarch who left poems from the Middle Ages, which led to the beginning of Castilian prose.
- Saint Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274): Exponent of philosophy in the Middle Ages, he stated that Aristotle's logic and thoughts did not contend with the Catholic faith.
- Francisco de Asís (1181-1226): He was one of the first saints to be martyred.
- Isabel La Católica (1451-1504): During her reign, the discovery of America took place thanks to the faith she had in Christopher Columbus.
Stages of the Middle Ages
The Middle Ages were delimited by three major stages:
High Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages marked the beginning of this era, spanning from the 5th to the 11th centuries, in which the rise of feudalism over royalty was evidenced. The High Middle Ages was considered a dark stage due to the existing ignorance and the number of wars; in which the Byzantine, Islamic and Carolingian empires vied for supremacy.
Full Middle Ages
The Full Middle Ages goes from the 11th to the 13th century, being considered as the transition from the High to the Low Middle Ages. In this period, the power of the royalty is established over the feudal lords; agriculture shows a great expansion, thanks to technological advances in the area, so there were improvements in food, which opened the way to other economic areas, such as crafts; likewise gave rise to the rebirth of large cities and commerce; among other events.
Historians consider that the Full Middle Ages does not exist, meaning then that the era could only be divided into High and Low Middle Ages. However, other authors use the term to better demarcate the events in both periods and understand the evolution of the Middle Ages.
Middle Ages
This stage, between the 13th and 14th centuries, brought this era to a close. It was a period in which the bourgeoisie emerged; they gave rise to voyages of exploration in the world; the reigns were strengthened; culture and religion maintained their influence (universities and great monuments were built); and famine, plague, and other wars arose.
Feudalism in the Middle Ages
This was a political system in which there were two main agents: the feudal lord (owner and administrator of the land) and the vassal (who submitted to the feudal lords in exchange for services and protection). The feudal lord was in command thanks to the power that possession of territory gave him, since it represented a valuable asset, and the vassalage was subject to the decisions and ordinances that they established.
