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| Medieval period | |
|---|---|
| Name | Medieval period |
| Caption | Bayeux Tapestry depicting the Battle of Hastings and figures such as William the Conqueror |
| Start | c. 5th century |
| End | c. 15th century |
| Regions | Western Europe, Byzantine Empire, Islamic Caliphate, Kingdom of Aksum |
Medieval period The Medieval period was a broad era spanning roughly from late Western Roman Empire fragmentation to the onset of the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery, shaping institutions from the Holy Roman Empire and Carolingian Empire to the Mongol Empire, the Abbasid Caliphate, and the Song dynasty. Major transformations included the rise and fall of dynasties like the Merovingian dynasty and the Capetian dynasty, conflicts such as the First Crusade and the Hundred Years' War, and cultural synthesis in centers like Cordoba, Constantinople, and Paris.
Scholars debate boundaries using markers such as the fall of Rome in 476, the coronation of Charlemagne as Emperor in 800, the sack of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade in 1204, and the 1453 fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire, with period labels like Early Middle Ages, High Middle Ages, and Late Middle Ages employed by historians referencing sources like Bede and annalists of the Carolingian Renaissance. Chronologies often cross-reference events such as the Viking raids on Lindisfarne, the Norman Conquest at the Battle of Hastings, the papal reforms of Gregory VII and investiture conflicts with the Holy Roman Emperor in the Investiture Controversy.
Feudal relationships formed around lords like William the Conqueror and vassals exemplified in oaths such as those recorded after the Battle of Hastings and the Domesday Book, while monarchies including the Capetian dynasty in France and the Plantagenet kings in England centralized power alongside composite polities like the Kievan Rus' and the Byzantine Empire. Urban communes such as Florence, Genoa, and Venice negotiated charters against nobles and institutions like the Papacy and Holy Roman Empire; guilds in Ghent and Bruges shaped civic life as did peasant revolts exemplified by the Jacquerie and uprisings during the reigns of Richard II and Philip VI.
Long-distance commerce linked markets from Novgorod and Lübeck of the Hanseatic League to Mediterranean hubs like Alexandria, Antioch, Alexandria, and Venice, with commodities traded along routes used by merchants of Genoa and caravans traversing Silk Road corridors under the influence of the Mongol Empire and Ilkhanate. Monetary systems evolved through coinage reforms by rulers like Charlemagne and institutions such as the Knights Templar and municipal mints in Siena, while agricultural innovations from three-field system adopters, estates managed by manorialism, and technologies diffused via contacts with the Islamic Golden Age and centers like Cordoba increased productivity and urbanization.
Christian institutions centered on the Papacy and monastic reforms by figures such as Benedict of Nursia, Cluny Abbey, and Bernard of Clairvaux interacted with Islamic scholarship in cities like Baghdad under the Abbasid Caliphate and Jewish intellectuals in communities such as Toledo and Cordoba, transmitting texts including works by Aristotle and commentators like Averroes into Latin via translators in the School of Translators of Toledo. Scholastic centers at University of Bologna, University of Paris, and Oxford University hosted thinkers like Thomas Aquinas, Peter Abelard, and William of Ockham debating theological syntheses amid controversies such as the East–West Schism and the reform movements associated with Gregory VII and the Conciliar movement.
Romanesque and Gothic styles evolved in cathedrals such as Santiago de Compostela, Chartres Cathedral, and Notre-Dame de Paris under patrons including bishops and monarchs like Louis IX and Eleanor of Aquitaine, while illuminated manuscripts like the Lindisfarne Gospels and portable objects from workshops in Constantinople and Cairo display cross-cultural motifs. Artistic production incorporated techniques transmitted from the Byzantine Empire and Islamic arts reflected in the Alhambra and Great Mosque of Córdoba, and material culture from workshops in Bruges and Nuremberg preserved luxury goods, reliquaries, and textiles exemplified by the Bayeux Tapestry.
Medieval conflict ranged from sieges at Acre and Antioch during the Crusades to pitched battles like the Battle of Agincourt and the Battle of Hastings, employing fortifications such as concentric castles exemplified by Krak des Chevaliers and siegecraft recorded in manuals like those attributed to Vegetius and later compilations. Cavalry tactics used armored knights under codes associated with figures like Richard the Lionheart and equipment innovations including the longbow at Crécy and Agincourt, the introduction of gunpowder weapons by contacts with China, and logistics managed by maritime powers like Venice and Genoa.
Western Europe saw dynastic shifts among the Merovingian dynasty, Carolingian Empire, and Capetian dynasty while the Byzantine Empire confronted the Seljuk Turks and the Ottoman Empire; the Islamic world experienced political phases from the Umayyad Caliphate in Cordoba to the Fatimid Caliphate in Cairo and the scholarly florescence in Baghdad under the Abbasid Caliphate. In Asia, the Song dynasty's economic revolution preceded the expansion of the Mongol Empire and the Yuan administration, while African polities such as the Mali Empire under rulers like Mansa Musa and kingdoms like Aksum and Great Zimbabwe participated in Atlantic and Indian Ocean networks mediated by ports such as Mogadishu and Kilwa Kisiwani.