Characteristic Features of the Middle Ages Essay

In the Years between 500 AD to 1450 AD were considered the Middle Ages that started after the Roman Empire fell. During that Time there were crusades, Plagues, warfare, constant killing, and little advancements. People are always in a constant argument about the real label for the Middle ages; some say Age of Faith, the Golden Age, or Age of Feudalism. However the strongest argument for the correct label is the Dark ages.

The Middle ages came after the fall of Rome, no single state or government united the people who lived on the European continent. Instead, the Catholic Church became the most powerful institution of the medieval period. Kings, queens and other leaders derived much of their power from their alliances with and protection of the Church. There were many different events that occurred during the middle ages that gave this time periods all of the different titles. The impacts on the middle ages were feudalism, dark ages, and most importantly faith.

The Middle Ages is a medieval time period in Western Europe that lasted from 500 to 1500 C.E. The Middle Ages began as a result from the collapse of the Roman Empire which began in 31 BCE, and fell in 476 C.E. In around 300 C.E. the emperor of the Rome divided the land for easier control. This began the decline of Rome. The Western half of Rome fell to Barbarian invaders, while the eastern half lived on as the Byzantine Empire. The Early Middle Ages began shortly after the western half fell. After the Roman Empire lost its position as the center of power, Western Europe fell into a time of chaos and warfare. There were a lot of attacks by Vikings, Magyars (hungarian nomads), and Muslims. The invasions caused disorder, and suffering, and the government system developed into feudalism.The High Middle Ages followed, the Early Middle Ages, and was the time period in Western Europe from around the 11th century to the 13th. The Middle Ages are referred to as the “Dark Ages” because of the disorder, hopelessness of the time. It is accurate to refer to the Middle Ages (500-1500) as a whole as a” the Dark Ages”.The Early Middle Ages meet the qualities of a dark age due to the, lack of government, education, and dysfunctional economy. However, the high middle ages was a time of improvement for these issues.

Personally, when thinking of the middle Ages, I tend to have the misconception that it is a period of darkness with no progress. However, R.W. Southern’s book, ‘The Making of the Middle Ages’, offers an in depth study of the development of history in the world today. Observing that this book was published during the 1950s, Mr. Southern’s interpretation of the ‘Middle Ages’ was very distinctive in comparison to other historians of his time. He explores the significance of the Middle Ages as a separate sector in the study of history by which the audience will notice that previous categories of studied history is set aside, as we are no longer focusing on the usual ‘Classical Greece’ and ‘Rome’

After the collapse of the Roman Empire, Europe remained split into two parts: Western Europe and Eastern Europe. Eastern Europe then after developed into the Byzantium Empire and left Western Europe in a period of slow development called the Middle Ages. The Middle Ages occurred around 500 A.D. to 1400 A.D. The Middle Ages were split into several different time periods called the Early Middle Ages, the High Middle Ages, and the Late Middle Ages, each period contributing to the tension or progress of the Middle Ages. The Middle Ages is deserving of the titles Age of Feudalism due to this governing style influencing the social order of the society and the Dark Ages because this time was plagued with disease and destruction, however, the

Agriculture was becoming easier to understand and the population was rapidly increasing. The industrial revolution brought about new inventions such as the heavy plow, the shoulder crop for horses, metal horseshoes, and more efficient watermills and windmills. The population expanded from twenty-five million to to more than seventy million in eight hundred years. New land was available for farming thanks to past invasions. This fertile land was able to feed millions upon thousands of mouths in the Middle Ages. This proves that the Middle ages should be the called the Light ages because of the abundant food supply, increasing population, new inventions. Middle Age life was made so much more convenient thanks to the developing economy of

There are several labels that could best describe the era between 500 and 1400 in Europe otherwise known as the Middle Ages. The best three are, The Dark Ages, Age of Feudalism, and, the Age of Faith. All three of these labels represented ideas that were vital parts of the Middle Ages. For example, The Dark Ages lasted a long period of time right after the fall of the Roman Empire where much culture was lost.The Age of Feudalism brought a new type of social structure to the Middle Ages, helping the people of Europe attempt to once again bring about culture and knowledge lost because of the Dark Ages. Finally, the Age of Faith showed how truly powerful the Catholic Church was. Everything, whether it be architecture, art, literature, or music

Rome was important to Europe because the country was under its rule. In other words, all of Europe was part of the Roman Empire and depended on it. Therefore, when half of the empire declined; the rest fell as well. The fall of the Roman Empire’s government resulted into religion being the new government system. Three labels that describe the Middle Ages are: the Age of Faith; their lifestyle depended on their faith, the Age of Feudalism; their lifestyle depended on the feudal system, and the Dark Ages; everything going on was bad. The best label to describe the Middle Ages is the Dark Ages because everything going on during this time had a dark side.

The Middle Ages were the roughly thousand year period between the fall of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance. The fall of the Roman Empire divided the great Roman Empire into several smaller “empires” ruled by their own king. It produced a cultural and religious divide within Europe. The Renaissance was an era known for its vast cultural influence. The artwork of the Renaissance has achieved worldwide acclaim. Historians typically refer to the Middle Ages as the Dark Ages and regard it as being a trivial era. Historians argue that compared to other eras, namely the Renaissance, there was little cultural development in the Middle Ages. Foreign attackers, a complicated feudal system, and lack of universal education further solidify the epoch as the Dark Ages.

By The Middle Ages, one understands a relatively long historical period extending from the end of the Roman Empire to the 1500's. The conquest of The Roman Empire by Germanic tribes, and synthesis of Germanic and Roman ways of life formed the civilization which we call medieval (medieval-from Latin words; medium (middle) and aevum (age)). Medieval civilization was greatly influenced by the Muslims in Spain and The Middle East, and by Byzantine Empire and Christians in Southeast Europe.

Christianity played a major role throughout the Middle Ages in society and politics. The Middle Ages, classified from 600 AD to 1350 AD, was significantly effected by Christianity because of the impact it had on the daily lives of people of the time. The beginning of the Early Middle Ages, after the Fall of Rome in 476 AD and the period known as the Dark Ages, the reorganization of the empire brought a desire for faith and religion, primarily Christianity. This trend of Christian importance was apparent until 1350, when the Black Death caused the end of a systematized era. The church is often viewed, during this period of time, as a center of corruption, greed, and evil, with materialistic popes and

The Middle Ages were a period in Europe dating from the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West, around the 5th century. However, the fixing of dates for the beginning and end of the Middle Ages is arbitrary. According to the Norton Anthology, "Medieval social theory held that society was made up of three 'estates': the nobility, composed of a small hereditary aristocracy,...,the church, whose duty was to look after the spiritual welfare of that body, and everyone else..."( Norton 76).

The Middle Ages, often referred to as the Dark Ages, was regarded to be a time of despair, disease, and death. Just as the name the “Dark Ages” suggests, this period of European history seemed to be surrounded by darkness and hopelessness. Unfortunately, the majority of people only see this side of the Middle Ages when, in fact, the Middle Ages was a much more important era. Especially during the late Middle Ages, one can find a change in orthodox social structure, political instability mostly concerned with succession to the throne, and economic changes and how those changes went hand in hand with the change in society. After certain demographical changes and turning points such as the Hundred Years’ War, Europe began to transform

In the Middle ages there were things that could not be ignored like documents one such Document was the Magna Carta

In this time period there are no guns only swords,battle axes, maces, bows(longbow,crossbow), shields,spears, knight armour,ballista,battering ram, flails, warhammers, polearms,poleaxes, scimitar, catapult this time period is medieval times or middle ages and kings are at this and peasants and turkey legs were the main lunch and dinner eggs were the main breakfast and clothing was bad if you