No one event marks the end of antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages. Neither the sack of Rome nor the deposing of Romulus Augustus, the last Roman emperor of the West. But, for the next 300 years western culture remained essentially a primitive culture, although one built upon the complex, elaborate culture of the Roman Empire, which was never entirely lost or forgotten. The peasantry became bound to the land and dependent on landlords for protection against the never ending parade of hostile invaders and for the basic administration of justice.

The only universal European institution at this time was the church. At first the church's power was in the hands of the local bishops. As the centuries progressed the church's monarchial system headed by the pope emerged. A call for a "crusade", against the Arab world, united the countries of Europe for the first time since the fall of Rome. Conceived in church law as an armed pilgrimage, the crusades cut across lines of class and profession in their appeal.

The crusades helped lift Europe out of the primitive state that it had been. It ushered in an age of international commerce. By the high Middle Ages, town life, and with it, regular and large-scale trade and commerce was revived. The society and culture were complex, dynamic, and innovative.

At this time, the most important centers of learning were the monastaries that dotted Europe. New educational institutions, such as cathedral and monastic schools prospered, and the first universities were established. Advanced degrees in medicine, law, and theology were offered. The medical writings, many of which had been preserved only by Arab scholars, were recovered and translated. The 12th century thus ushered in a great age of philosophy in the West.

Literacy was no longer merely a professional prerequisite for the clergy, and the result was a flowering of new literarure, both in Latin and - for the first time - in the vernacular languages. These new writings were addressed to a literary public that had both the education and liesure to read. The love lyric, the courtly romance, and the new rules of chivalry became the guiding light in a new age of learning.

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Middle Ages Sites

Hill Monastic Manuscript Library
The Rules of Chivalry
Labyrinth
The Silk Road
Medieval Treasures
Medieval Studies
Athurian Essays
Avalon
The Age of Chivalry
DScriptorium
The Philosophy of Aquinas
Ptolemy's Geography
Alchemy
Hunting and Falconry
Astrolabe
Astronomiæ Historia / History of Astronomy
Archæoastronomy
Astronomy and Mythology
Medieval Botanica: Mythical Plants of the Middle Ages
Ptolemy's Geography
Cartography
The Art of the Mapmaker
The History of Medicine
The Art of Renaissance Science
The Columbus Navigation Homepage.
Natural Magick
Historic Maps of Dutch Cartographers

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THE MIDDLE AGES