Political, Social, And Political Changes In The Medieval Ages

During the time period between 1550 and 1650, Europe had diverse changes. An important issue of this time was the change in the way people thought. Churches had high level of power due to people believing in the same religion. France. Italy, Germany & Scandinavia, and Spain were countries facing hard times as their ruling were changing.

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.

For most civilizations, religious figures have had a large influence over the lives of the common people. The Roman Catholic Church was a very influential figure in many civilizations. It can trace its origins to over 2000 years ago. One of the Church’s most influential periods of this time was the Middle Ages. The Roman Catholic Church played a very big role in the lives of the people during that period. For many, it was the center of their life. The three most important impacts of the Church on medieval life were their secular roles concerning laws and their position over the state, the way that the Church unified Europe, and their power over the common people.

Between 500 to 1500 A.D in Europe, there was a period of time called the Middle Ages (OI). During this time, kings, nobles, knights and serfs lived together in a society called feudalism (Doc. 1). The Church was very important, trade began to grow, and the knights lived by a code called the Code of Chivalry. During this time, the social, political and economic lives were influenced by the feudal system and the Church.

In the 1300's an Italian scholar named Petrarch came up with the name "Dark Age" to describe the time Europe was going through during the Middle Ages in 500AD-1500AD. Throughout the Middle Ages Europe was going through some rough times, but there were also moments of growth. For example the Black Death was a time of darkness but there were positive times like when universities were built. Although the dark ages were looked at as a negative occurrence, more events show a sign of growth.

Throughout the time period from 800 to 1500 there were several dynamic shifts in power between the Church and the nobility of western Europe. These changes would decide if Europe would be controlled by kings and lords, or ruled by the pope. During periods of prosperity in Europe power rested in the hands of the nobility, while during fragile periods of Western Europe, the church exercised more authority, as a result rule by king was better for Europe. One example of how a European king exercised authority over Europe during a peaceful time of the middle ages was during the reign of Charlemagne.

In the High Middle ages (after 1000 A.D) and beyond there were major political, economic and intellectual changes that happed across Europe. The changes helped bring about new eras to the European landscape. As Europe was brought into these new eras, it thus brought upon the end of the Dark Ages.

The Middle Ages was a time of high achievement and also a period of despair but many of the aspects that occurred was influenced by the Roman Catholic Church. In spite of the many changes that occurred from 1000-1100 such as separation of beliefs, political power, and the forgiving of sins have affected how the Church runs society, however there were also continuities including the Pope as the center and the seeking of converting people. The separation of the Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church brought confusion to the people of what belief system was more better and that brought an abundant amount of Christians to lose members. The political power has changed because it brought conflict of who was to rule. The forgiving of sins were changed from how the pope viewed society.

Power Struggles in the High Middle Ages Throughout most of history, knights and nobles held most of the political power. Once the High Middle Ages began, that power shifted into the hands of popes and kings. This struggle went on for a very long time. Popes believed to have the power because they believed they were chosen by God to rule over the people.

The high Middle Ages brought a dynamic change in the creation of Europe. During that time there was a strong political and economic difference (distinction) between Western and Eastern Europe. In the West, there was the beginning of present day England and France and in the East there was the beginning of present day Italy and Germany. This divide because of reasons such as the advancement of commerce, religion and feudalism help explain why Italy and Germany, but not England and France were slow to unite politically after the Middle Ages.

Finally, the last concept that is crucial to the change in Europe during 14th century Europe is the Great Schism. The Great Schism represented a division between the church due to 3 individuals each claiming papacy and accusing the others of heresy. There were significant reforms that occurred in the church due to this event. Initially, to solve the of having multiple popes an agreement was made at the Council of Constance to practice conciliarism. However, this concept was ultimately undermined by Pope Martin. The major result of the Great Schism was the growth of national churches. Before the Great Schism, the pope had more power over the rulers and their domains. However, after the Great Schism, Popes were forced to surrender their power

The Middle Ages was the period of European history from the 5th to the 15th century during the fall of the Western Roman empire. During the central Middle Ages, social, economic, and political structures were rediscovered and organized. Although Europe suffered disasters of famine and war in the 14th century the main social, economic, and political structures remained the same. Europe began to experience its revival between the 15th and 16th century. The Middle Ages ended with the Renaissance period. While Christians stressed the importance of individuality and human equality, secularism and individualism continued to rise and mark the Renaissance society. The middle classes and peasant populations both believed it was possible to change their standard of living. They no longer subjected to inflexible social position as they began to improve their social class and lifestyle through new ideas and hard work.

Western European people had endured a series of changes during the late medieval period. Changes can be categorized into two aspects: politically and socially. On politics, Popes were not as strong as they were due to conflicts between the state and the church. Socially, people began to live a religion- dominated life, and experienced active sexism towards women. These changes, either positive or negative, have become an undivided part of European History.

The transition of Medieval to Modern happened over a long period of time. The middle ages marked a dark time in Europe’s history, and the people were anxious to get out. The Renaissance began, and art emerged to create a brighter society. During the Reformation, the country shifted away from the Roman Catholic Church, and many Protestant religions emerged. The Scientific Revolution also marked a change in medical to modern by creating new ways to look at the world and mathematics. The Age of Discovery marked yet another change in Medical to modern Europe when new technologies emerged in order to navigate around the world. Along with many other rulers, King Louis XIV changed France into a country looking to expand, which differed from

Separated into several parts, history has various important and influential moments that occurred. So to speak, the middle ages were one of the most critical points in history, including the early, middle, and late stages of it; in which all refer to the same time period but broken down into smaller segments due to many occurrences during each time. Although there were several events that influenced the middle ages, the High Middle Ages was a time in which best represents the entire time period due to its high concentration of noteworthy, and significant events. For example, during this time is where we began to see change amongst land and population, trade and cities, and the development of Kingdoms and cultures.