The word \"medieval\" came about when early scholars combined the two Latin words medium (middle) and aevum (age), which means the transition between ancient and modern times. The first 500 years of this period are the Early Middle Ages or the Dark Ages. They were called the Dark Ages because learni...

Until fairly recently, the middle ages have been recognized as a period of social and economic stagnation. The humanists of the Renaissance, whose ideal was inspired by the antique civilization, considered the medieval world as a period of darkness and influenced greatly the biased perception of fut...

Imagine, one morning you wake up in an unfamiliar place. You wake up not in your home, but on a straw mattress in a cold, almost bare room. You wake up in Europe in the year 1250 AD. You are in a middle class home in the Middle Ages. Having little knowledge of the medieval culture, you may...

Higher education plays a major part in today's society. Expected to continue their education beyond high school, many students attend four-year universities and colleges. The emergence of such higher education was first recorded in Europe during the Middle Ages. The origins and characteristics o...

BLACK DEATH The Black Death, also known as the Bubonic Plague, was a horrible disease that was spread mainly in the middle areas of Europe. It serves as a divider in the central and the late Middle Ages. There were many changes during these two ages, such as the importance of cities because of t...

Though the result of the Black Plague is initially deterioration, seen in Boccaccio's Decameron, the decline stimulates efforts at reform and renewal. In 1798 the English clergyman Thomas Malthus published the first edition of his influential Essay on the Principle of Population. In it, Malthus co...

Christianity The period from the eighth to the fourteenth century was one of vast reforms, some for the better and some for the worse. During this period in Europe, commonly known as The Middle Ages, economic reforms took place as well as social, political, and religious changes. One common theme th...

The period from the eighth to the fourteenth century was one of vast reforms, some for the better and some for the worse. During this period in Europe, commonly known as The Middle Ages, economic reforms took place as well as social, political, and religious changes. One common theme throughout Th...

Black Death was the bubonic plague that struck Europe and the Mediterranean during the fourteenth century. It was known as the Great Mortality, or the Pestilence. The name "Black Death" was not giving until much later. This was also the divider of the central and the late Middle Ages. It's not ...

Melson Summary Chapter Three - Like the Armenians, Jews had to overcome social, economic, political, cultural spheres - they did not suffer a massacre but anti-Semitic reaction to undo their emancipation and social mobilization - anti-Semitism took form in a political party and failed befor...

The Middle Ages, the Early Renaissance, and the High Renaissance are only three ages individually but as a whole helped shape our modern philosophies and ideas of art and influenced generations of artists among them, Leonardo Da Vinci, Giovanni Bellini, and Giotto. Among there many works of art ther...

Music has been a great influence in the lives of many people for many years and is constantly changing. Music has been divided into six periods: Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, and Twentieth Century.The Medieval period was the longest and most distant period of musical history and consist...

KINGS AND LORDS France England Germany After the year 1000, conditions in Europe again changed-this time for the better. The Vikings no longer endangered life and property. The Muslims no longer threatened western Europe. Instead, the European Christians carried war to the Muslim lands in the e...

Humanism symbolizes an intellectual movement that began in Verona. Humanists had faith in and emphasized the dignity and worth of the individual. That faith turned into the rediscovery of the culture of classical antiquity, which contains elements of literature, history, rhetoric, ethics, and politi...

In prehistoric times advice and knowledge were passed from generation to generation in an oral tradition. The development of writing systems enabled knowledge to be stored and communicated with much greater accuracy in reporting and describing facts and details, This combined with the development o...

In the file The name of the Rose, the monks who run the Benedictine Order Abbey recognize that knowledge can be a very dangerous thing. Knowledge can be dangerous if it says that the truth is different from what the ruling authority says is the truth. Then such knowledge can become part of a revol...

European civilizations in the Early Middle Ages (750-1000) stemmed from the fall of the Roman Empire. The establishment of the Germanic states (which was a result of Roman disintegration) brought together the three main components of a new European civilization. The combination of the German tribes...

A booming economy along with the communes desire to obtain political power led to the formation of a new class in society which ultimately lead Europe into a period simply known as the Renaissance. Northern Italy's thriving economy was a result of great advances in shipbuilding. Their ships we...

The Middle AgesFor safety and for defense, people in the Middle Ages formed small communities around a central lord or master. Most people lived on a manor, which consisted of the castle, the church, the village, and the surrounding farmland. These manors were isolated, with occasional visits from p...

Eleanor of Aquitaine's life spans most of the 12th century, which was when the Middle Ages were at their pinnacle. During this time kings were too weak to defend their kingdoms and their people sought refuge and protection from a strong leader. This brought about the feudal system and af...

The spiritual attitude that dominated the Romanesque age was not as strong and sure during the Gothic period. In the Romanesque age, people believed that the world was a God-inspired mystery that could be expressed in simple, direct art. In the Renaissance that followed the Middle Ages, people be...

The spiritual attitude that dominated the Romanesque age was not as strong and sure during the Gothic. In the earlier period, people believed that the world was a God - inspired mystery that could be expressed in simple, direct art. In the Renaissance that followed the Middle Ages, p...

When a culture constantly evolves and changes it truly is a healthy culture indeed. Since the beginnings of the Pagan warriors to the skilled and accomplished craftsmen of the Renaissance, the European world was drastically transformed. The literature of every epoch indicates the profound cultural i...

Societies and cultures are often defined by the behaviours and idiosyncrasies that are unique to a group of people. Just as this rule generally applies to the modern world, so does it to the past and more specifically the time of rebirth in western society (AKA the Renaissance.) Just before and du...

The Mass of Saint Giles The Mass of Saint Giles by the unknown Master of Saint Giles embodies all the ideals of the Middle Ages. The painting's portrayal of the consecration of the host is consistent with the religious, God-fearing society of which it is a part. The spirit of the Middle Age...