Everything about the High Middle Ages totally explained
The
High Middle Ages was the
period of
European history in the
11th,
12th, and
13th centuries (AD 1000–1300). The High Middle Ages were preceded by the
Early Middle Ages and followed by the
Late Middle Ages, which by convention end around
1500.
The key historical trend of the High Middle Ages was the
rapidly increasing population of Europe, which brought about great social and political change from the preceding era. By 1250 the robust population increase greatly benefited the economy, reaching levels it wouldn't see again in some areas until the
19th century. This trend was checked in the Late Middle Ages by a
series of calamities, notably the
Black Death but also including numerous wars and economic stagnation.
From about the year
1000 onwards, Western Europe saw the last of the barbarian
invasions and became more politically organized. The
Vikings had settled in the
British Isles,
France and elsewhere, whilst Norse Christian kingdoms were developing in their
Scandinavian homelands. The
Magyars had ceased their expansion in the 10th century, and by the year 1000, a Christian
Kingdom of Hungary was recognized in central Europe. With the brief exception of the
Mongol invasions, major barbarian incursions ceased.
In the 11th century, populations north of the
Alps began to settle new lands, some of which had reverted to wilderness after the end of the
Roman Empire. In what is known as the "great clearances," vast forests and marshes of Europe were cleared and cultivated. At the same time settlements moved beyond the traditional boundaries of the
Frankish Empire to new frontiers in eastern Europe, beyond the
Elbe River, tripling the size of Germany in the process. Crusaders founded
European colonies in the
Levant, the majority of
Iberian Peninsula was conquered from the Moors, and the
Normans colonized southern Italy, all part of the major population increase and resettlement pattern.
The High Middle Ages produced many different forms of intellectual, spiritual and
artistic works. This age saw the rise of modern nation-states in
Western Europe and the ascent of the great Italian
city-states. The still-powerful
Roman Church called armies from across Europe to a series of
Crusades against the
Seljuk Turks, who occupied the
Holy Land. The rediscovery of the works of
Aristotle led
Thomas Aquinas and other thinkers to develop the philosophy of
Scholasticism. In architecture, many of the most notable
Gothic cathedrals were built or completed during this era.
Historical events and politics
British Isles
» Main articles: Britain in the Middle Ages and Scotland in the High Middle Ages
In
England, the
Norman Conquest of
1066 resulted in a kingdom ruled by a
Francophone nobility. The Normans invaded Ireland in force in
1169 and soon established themselves throughout most of the country, though their stronghold was the southeast. Likewise,
Scotland and
Wales were subdued to vassalage at about the same time, though Scotland later regained her independence. The
Exchequer was founded in the 12th century under
King Henry I, and the first
parliaments were convened. In
1215, after the loss of
Normandy,
King John signed the
Magna Carta into law, which limited the power of
English monarchs.
Scandinavia
» Main articles: Histories of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden
From the mid-tenth to the mid-eleventh centuries, the
Scandinavian kingdoms were unified and Christianized, resulting in an end to
Viking raids, and greater involvement in European politics. King
Cnut of
Denmark ruled over both England and
Norway. After Knut’s death in
1035, England and Norway were lost, and with the defeat of
Valdemar II in
1227, Danish predominance in the region came to an end. Meanwhile, Norway extended its
Atlantic possessions, ranging from
Greenland to the
Isle of Man, while
Sweden, under
Birger jarl, built up a power base in the
Baltic Sea.
France and Germany
» Main articles: France in the Middle Ages, Germany in the Middle Ages
By the time of the High Middle Ages, the
Carolingian Empire had been divided and replaced by separate successor kingdoms called
France and
Germany, although not with their modern boundaries. Germany was under the banner of the
Holy Roman Empire, which reached its high-water mark of unity and political power.
Southern Europe
» Main articles: Spain in the Middle Ages, Italy in the Middle Ages
Much of the
Iberian peninsula had been occupied by the
Moors after
711, although the northernmost portion was divided between several Christian states. In the 11th century, and again in the thirteenth, the Christian kingdoms of the north gradually drove the Muslims from central and most of southern Iberia.
In Italy, independent city states grew affluent on eastern maritime trade. These were in particular the
thalassocracies of
Pisa,
Amalfi,
Genoa and
Venice.
Eastern Europe
The High Middle Ages saw the height and decline of the Slavic state of
Kievan Rus' and the
emergence of Poland. Later, the
Mongol invasion in the 13th century had great impact on
Eastern Europe, as many countries of that region were invaded, pillaged, conquered and vassalized.
During the first half of this period (c.1025-1185) the
Byzantine Empire dominated the Balkans south of the Danube, and under the
Comnenian emperors there was a revival of prosperity and urbanisation; however, their domination of the region came to an end with a successful
Bulgarian rebellion in
1185, and henceforth the region was divided between the Byzantines in
Greece and some parts of
Macedonia and
Thrace, the
Bulgarians in
Moesia and most of Thrace and Macedonia and the
Serbians to the north-west. The Eastern and Western churches had formally split in the
11th century, and despite occasional periods of co-operation during the twelfth century, in 1204 the
Fourth Crusade used treachery to capture
Constantinople. This severely damaged the Byzantines, and their power was ultimately usurped by the
Ottoman Empire in the 15th century. The power of the
Latin Empire, however, was shortly lived after the Crusader army was routed by the
Bulgarian Emperor Kaloyan in the
battle of Adrianople (1205).
Climate and agriculture
The
Medieval Warm Period, the period from 10th century to about the
14th century in
Europe, was a relatively warm and gentle interval ended by the generally colder
Little Ice Age. Farmers grew
wheat well north into
Scandinavia, and
wine grapes in northern
England, although the maximum expansion of vineyards appears to occur within the Little Ice Age period. This protection from
famine allowed Europe's population to increase, despite the famine in
1315 that killed 1.5 million people. This increased population contributed to the founding of new towns and an increase in industrial and economic activity during the period. Food production also increased during this time as new ways of farming were introduced, including the use of a heavier plow, horses instead of oxen, and a three-field system that allowed the cultivation of a greater variety of crops than the earlier two-field system - notably legumes, the growth of which prevented the depletion of important nitrogen from the soil.
The rise of chivalry
Household heavy cavalry (
knights) became common in the 11th century across Europe, and
tournaments were invented. Although the heavy capital investment in horse and armor was a barrier to entry, knighthood became known as a way for serfs to earn their freedom. In the 12th century, the
Cluny monks promoted ethical warfare and inspired the formation of
orders of chivalry, such as the
Templar Knights. Inherited titles of nobility were established during this period. In 13th-century Germany, knighthood became another
inheritable title, although one of the less prestigious, and the trend spread to other countries.
Religion
The Church
The
East-West Schism of
1054 formally separated the Christian church into two parts:
Western Catholicism in Western Europe and
Eastern Orthodoxy in the east. It occurred when
Pope Leo IX and
Patriarch Michael I excommunicated each other, mainly over disputes as to the existence of papal authority over the four Eastern
patriarchs.
The Crusades
Christians fought to retake
Palestine from the
Seljuk Turks. The Crusades impacted all levels of society in the High Middle Ages, from the kings and emperors who themselves led the Crusades, to the lowest peasants whose lords were often absent in the east. The height of the Crusades was the 12th century, following the First Crusade and the foundation of the
Crusader states; in the 13th century and beyond, Crusades were also directed against fellow Christians, and in eastern and northern Europe, non-Muslim pagans.
Military orders
In the context of the crusades, monastic
military orders were founded that would become the template for the late medieval
chivalric orders.
The
Knights Templar were a Christian military order founded after the
First Crusade to help protect Christian pilgrims from hostile Muslims. The order was deeply involved in banking, and in
1307 Philip the Fair (Philippe le Bel) had the entire order arrested in France and was dismantled on charges of heresy. They were secretly pardoned by
Pope Clement V in
1314.
Scholasticism
The new
Christian method of learning was influenced by
Anselm of Canterbury (
1033-
1109) from the rediscovery of the works of
Aristotle through Medieval Jewish and Muslim Philosophy (
Maimonides,
Avicenna, and
Averroes) and those whom he influenced, most notably
Albertus Magnus,
Bonaventure and
Abélard. Scholastics believed in
empiricism and supporting Roman Catholic doctrines through secular study, reason, and logic. They opposed
Christian mysticism, and the Platonist-Augustinian beliefs in
mind dualism and the view of the world as inherently evil. The most famous of the scholastics was
Thomas Aquinas (later declared a "
Doctor of the Church"), who led the move away from the
Platonic and
Augustinian and towards Aristotelianism. Aquinas developed a
philosophy of mind by writing that the
mind was at birth a
tabula rasa ("blank slate") that was given the ability to think and recognize forms or ideas through a divine spark. Other notable scholastics included
Roscelin, Abélard, and
Peter Lombard. One of the main questions during this time was the problem of the universals. Prominent anti-scholastics included as
Duns Scotus,
William of Ockham,
Anselm of Canterbury,
Peter Damian,
Bernard of Clairvaux, and the
Victorines.
Golden age of monasticism
- The late 11th century/early-mid 12th century was the height of the golden age of Christian monasticism (8th-12th centuries).
Mendicant orders
The 13th century saw the rise of the Mendicant orders such as the:
- Franciscans (Friars Minor, commonly known as the Grey Friars), founded 1209
- Carmelites (Hermits of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Carmel, commonly known as the White Friars), founded 1206–1214
- Dominicans (Order of Preachers, commonly called the Black Friars), founded 1215
- Augustinians (Hermits of St. Augustine, commonly called the austin Friars), founded 1256
Heretical movements
Heresy existed in Europe before the 11th century but only in small numbers and of local character: a rogue priest, or a village returning to pagan traditions; but beginning in the 11th century mass-movement heresies appeared. The roots of this can be found with the rise of urban cities, free merchants and a new money-based economy. The rural values of monasticism held little appeal to urban people who began to form sects more in tune with urban culture. The first heretical movements originated in the newly urbanized areas such as southern France and northern Italy. They were mass movements on a scale the Church had never seen before, and the response was one of elimination for some, such as the Cathars, and the acceptance and integration of others, such as St. Francis, the son of an urban merchant who renounced money.
Cathars
Catharism was a movement with Gnostic elements that originated around the middle of the 10th century, branded by the contemporary Roman Catholic Church as heretical. It existed throughout much of Western Europe, but its home was in Languedoc and surrounding areas in southern France.
The name Cathar most likely originated from Greek katharos, "pure". One of the first recorded uses is Eckbert von Schönau who wrote on heretics from Cologne in 1181: "Hos nostra Germania catharos appellat."
The Cathars are also called Albigensians. This name originates from the end of the 12th century, and was used by the chronicler Geoffroy du Breuil of Vigeois in 1181. The name refers to the southern town of Albi (the ancient Albiga). The designation is hardly exact, for the centre was at Toulouse and in the neighbouring districts.
The Albigensians were strong in southern France, northern Italy, and the southwestern Holy Roman Empire.
Dualists believed that historical events were the result of struggle between a good force and an evil force and that evil ruled the world, but could be controlled or defeated through asceticism and good works.
Albigensian Crusade, Simon de Montfort, Montségur, Quéribus
Waldensians
Peter Waldo of Lyon was a wealthy merchant who gave up his wealth around 1175 after a religious experience and became a preacher. He founded the Waldensians which became a Christian sect believing that all religious practices should have scriptural basis. Waldo was denied the right to preach his sermons by the Third Lateran Council in 1179, which he didn't obey and continued to speak freely until he was excommunicated in 1184. Waldo was critical of the Christian clergy saying they didn't live according to the word. He rejected the practice of selling indulgences, as well as the common saint cult practices of the day.
Trade and commerce
In Northern Europe, the Hanseatic League was founded in the 12th century, with the foundation of the city of Lübeck in 1158–1159. Many northern cities of the Holy Roman Empire became hanseatic cities, including Amsterdam, Cologne, Bremen, Hannover and Berlin. Hanseatic cities outside the Holy Roman Empire were, for instance, Bruges and the Polish city of Gdańsk(Danzig). In Bergen, Norway and Novgorod, Russia the league had factories and middlemen. In this period the Germans started colonising Eastern Europe beyond the Empire, into Prussia and Silesia.
In the late 13th century, a Venetian explorer named Marco Polo became one of the first Europeans to travel the Silk Road to China. Westerners became more aware of the Far East when Polo documented his travels in Il Milione. He was followed by numerous Christian missionnaries to the East, such as William of Rubruck, Giovanni da Pian del Carpini, Andrew of Longjumeau, Odoric of Pordenone, Giovanni de Marignolli, Giovanni di Monte Corvino, and other travellers such as Niccolò da Conti.
Science
» :
Philosophical and scientific teaching of the Early Middle Ages was based upon few copies and commentaries of ancient Greek texts that remained in Western Europe after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. Much of Europe had lost contact with the knowledge of the past.
This scenario changed during the Renaissance of the 12th century. The intellectual revitalization of Europe started with the birth of medieval universities. The increased contact with the Islamic world in Spain and Sicily, and during the Reconquista and the Crusades, allowed Europeans access to scientific Arabic and Greek texts, including the works of Aristotle, Alhazen, and Averroes. The European universities aided materially in the translation and propagation of these texts and started a new infrastructure which was needed for scientific communities.
At the beginning of the 13th century there were reasonably accurate Latin translations of the main works of almost all the intellectually crucial ancient authors, allowing a sound transfer of scientific ideas via both the universities and the monasteries. By then, the natural science contained in these texts began to be extended by notable scholastics such as Robert Grosseteste, Roger Bacon, Albertus Magnus and Duns Scotus. Precursors of the modern scientific method can be seen already in Grosseteste's emphasis on mathematics as a way to understand nature, and in the empirical approach admired by Bacon, particularly in his Opus Majus.
Technology
»
During the 12th and 13th century in Europe there was a radical change in the rate of new inventions, innovations in the ways of managing traditional means of production, and economic growth. In less than a century there were more inventions developed and applied usefully than in the previous thousand years of human history all over the globe. The period saw major technological advances, including the adoption or invention of windmills, watermills, printing, gunpowder, the astrolabe, spectacles, a better clock, and greatly improved ships. The latter two advances made possible the dawn of the Age of Exploration. Many of these inventions were adapted from other countries, such as China. These inventions were influenced by foreign culture and society.
Alfred Crosby described some of this technological revolution in The Measure of Reality: Quantification in Western Europe, 1250-1600 and other major historians of technology have also noted it.
The earliest written record of a windmill is from Yorkshire, England, dated 1185.
Paper manufacture began in Italy around 1270.
The spinning wheel was brought to Europe (probably from India) in the 13th century.
The magnetic compass aided navigation, first reaching Europe some time in the late 12th century.
Eyeglasses were invented in Italy in the late 1280s.
The astrolabe returned to Europe via Islamic Spain.
Leonardo of Pisa introduces Arabic numerals to Europe with his book Liber Abaci in 1202.
The West's oldest known depiction of a stern-mounted rudder can be found on church carvings dating to around 1180.
Arts
Visual arts
Art in the High Middle Ages includes these major periods or movements:
Romanesque art - traditions from the Classical world (not to be confused with Romanesque architecture)
Gothic art - Germanic traditions (not to be confused with Gothic architecture).
Byzantine art - Byzantine traditions.
Christian art
Other areas of study include regional surveys (Anglo-Saxon art and Jewish art for example) or areas of speciality such as Illuminated manuscripts.
Architecture
Gothic architecture superseded the Romanesque style by combining flying buttresses, gothic (or pointed) arches and ribbed vaults. It was influenced by the spiritual background of the time, being religious in essence: thin horizontal lines and grates made the building strive towards the sky. Architecture was made to appear light and weightless, as opposed to the dark and bulky forms of the previous Romanesque style. Saint Augustine of Hippo taught that light was an expression of God. Architectural techniques were adapted and developed to build churches that reflected this teaching. Colorful glass windows enhanced the spirit of lightness. As color was much rarer at medieval times than today, it can be assumed that these virtuoso works of art had an awe-inspiring impact on the common man from the street. High-rising intricate ribbed, and later fan vaultings demonstrated movement toward heaven. Veneration of God was also expressed by the relatively large size of these buildings. A gothic cathedral therefore not only invited the visitors to elevate themselves spiritually, it was also meant to demonstrate the greatness of God. The floor plan of a gothic cathedral corresponded to the rules of scholasticism: According to Erwin Panofsky's Gothic Architecture and Scholasticism,the plan was divided into sections and uniform subsections. These characteristics are exhibited by the most famous sacral building of the time: Notre Dame de Paris.
Literature
A variety of cultures influenced the literature of the High Middle Ages, one of the strongest among them being Christianity. The connection to Christianity was greatest in Latin literature, which influenced the vernacular languages in the literary cycle of the Matter of Rome. Other literary cycles, or interrelated groups of stories, included the Matter of France (stories about Charlemagne and his court), the Acritic songs dealing with the chivalry of Byzantium's frontiersmen, and perhaps the best known cycle, the Matter of Britain, which featured tales about King Arthur, his court, and related stories from Brittany, Cornwall, Wales and Ireland. There was also a quantity of poetry and historical writings which were written during this period, such as Historia Regum Britanniae by Geoffrey of Monmouth.
Southern France gave birth to Provençal literature, which is best known for troubadours who sang of courtly love. It included elements from Latin literature and Arab-influenced Spain and North Africa. Later its influence spread to several cultures in Western Europe, Portugal, the Minnesänger in Germany, Sicily and Northern Italy, giving birth to the Italian Dolce Stil Nuovo of Petrarca and Dante, who wrote the most important poem of the time, the Divine Comedy.
Music
music notation developed in religious institutions, and the application of notation to secular music was a later development. Early in the period, Gregorian chant was the dominant form of church music; other forms, beginning with organum, and later including clausulae, conductus and the motet, developed using the chant as source material.
During the eleventh century, Guido of Arezzo was one of the first to develop musical notation, which made it easier for singers to remember Gregorian chants.
It was during the 12th and 13th centuries that Gregorian plainchant gave birth to polyphony, which appeared in the works of French Notre Dame School (Léonin and Pérotin). Later it evolved into the ars nova (Philippe de Vitry, Guillaume de Machaut) and the musical genres of late Middle Ages. An important composer during the 12th century was the nun Hildegard of Bingen.
The most significant secular movement was that of the troubadours, who arose in the south of France in the late 11th century. The troubadours were often itinerant, came from all classes of society, and wrote songs on a variety of topics, especially courtly love. Their style went on to influence the trouvères of northern France, the minnesingers of Germany, and the composers of secular music of the Trecento in northern Italy.
Timeline
962 — Otto I crowned Holy Roman Emperor
1003 — death of Pope Sylvester II
1027 — the Salian Conrad II succeeds the last Ottonian Henry II the Saint
1054 — East-West Schism
1066 — Battle of Hastings
1066-1067 Bayeux Tapestry
1073-1085 — Pope Gregory VII
1071 — Battle of Manzikert
1077 — Henry IV's Walk to Canossa
1086 — Domesday Book
1086 — Battle of az-Zallaqah
1091 — Battle of Levounion
1096-1099 — First Crusade
1123 — First Lateran Council
1139 — Second Lateran Council
1145-1149 — Second Crusade
1147 — Wendish Crusade
1155-1190 — Frederick I Barbarossa
1158 — foundation of the Hanseatic League
1185 — reestablishment of the Bulgarian Empire
1189-1192 — Third Crusade
1200–1204 — Fourth Crusade
1205 — battle of Adrianople
1209-1229 — Albigensian Crusade
1212 — Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa
1215 — Magna Carta
1216 — recognition of the Dominican Order
1215 — Fourth Lateran Council
1217–1221 — Fifth Crusade
1220-1250 — Frederick II
1223 — foundation of the Franciscan Order
1228–1229 — Sixth Crusade
1230 — Prussian Crusade
1230 — battle of Klokotnitsa
1237-1240 — Mongol invasion of Rus
1241-1242 — Mongol invasion of Europe
1241 — Battle of Legnica
1242 — Battle of the Ice
1248–1254 — Seventh Crusade
1257 — foundation of the Collège de Sorbonne
1274 — death of Thomas Aquinas; Summa Theologiae published
1280 — death of Albertus Magnus
1291 — Acre, the last European outpost in the Middle East, is captured by the Mamluks under Khalil.
1321 — death of Dante AlighieriFurther Information
Get more info on 'High Middle Ages'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://high_middle_ages.totallyexplained.com">High Middle Ages Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
