The Amazing Middle Ages
The middle ages were a very interesting time it came about after the collapse of the Roman Empire. Different leaders tried their best to create their own empires, which did not last. As you read more about this period, you will discover many different things like the noble class, King John and the plague or the Black Death.
It was a hard life to live is this period, and we hope you enjoy the information. Do not forget to try the quiz after each section.
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Early Middle Ages
So, you’d like to know about the Middle Ages? First, we’ll need to back up a bit. (Yes, even before the start of what we refer to as the Early Middle Ages.) It begins with Rome, or rather, the collapse of what was once.
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High Middle Ages
At this point, we’ve talked about the fall of the Roman Empire, the rise of the Catholic Church, and the practices of feudalism and manorialism that began after a long series of invasions throughout Europe
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Late Middle Ages
Looking at the High Middle Ages (1000-1300) in comparison to the Late Middle Ages (1300-1500), it’s easy to think of the High Middle Ages as being the best period of medieval history
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Medieval Architecture
There are several ways to approach the subject of medieval architecture, including talking about the differences between two popular styles of building during this time period known as “Romanesque” and “Gothic”
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Medieval Daily Life
As you might guess, the daily life of a man, woman, or child could be very different based on whether he or she lived during the Early, High, or Late Middle Ages and depending on what sort of status in society he or she held
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Medieval Literature
Based on what you know, it should not be a surprise that most early medieval literature was written in Latin. Latin was the language (both spoken and written) of the educated during the Early Middle Ages, and most of these educated people happened to be monks.
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Battle of Hastings
The battle of Hastings was a very important battle in English history. It resulted in a new king and drastic changes to the country as a whole.
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Bayeux Tapestry
The Bayeux Tapestry, in spite of its name, is not really a tapestry. The scenes on the tapestry were embroidered with coloured thread to create the scenes
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Domesday Book
The Domesday Book was a survey designed to record everything that people owned in England. It was ordered by William the Conqueror
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Great Schism of 1054
The Great Schism of 1054 was the breakup of the Christian church into two sections—the Western and the Eastern sections
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Hundred Years War
The Hundred Years’ War was not actually fought for a hundred years. It actually lasted 116 years
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Norman Conquest 1066
The Norman conquest of 1066 ended Anglo-Saxon rule of England and installed a new king. The stage was set for the invasion
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Peasants Revolt
The Peasants’ Revolt (also known as the Great Rising or Wat Tyler’s Rebellion) occurred in 1381
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Reconquista of Spain
Spain had been conquered by the Moors in 711. After seven and a half centuries, Christians were finally able to take back the territory conquered by the Moors
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The Black Death
In late 1347, the Black Death killed approximately 30 to 45 percent of the European population (although some people put this rate even higher at around 60 percent).
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The Crusade
As you have learned, religion played a very important role in shaping the Middle Ages. It influenced education, customs, morals, and routines of nearly everyone in Europe, and from time to time, the rule of a king and the laws
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War of the Roses
The War of the Roses was a war for the English throne. At the end of the war, one dynasty had been destroyed and another had been crowned.
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Adelard Of Bath
Adelard of Bath was a prominent 12th century natural philosopher and translator. He is remembered as much for translating Greek and Arabic scientific works in Latin as he is for his original work.
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Alaric The Visigoth
Alaric I was the king of Visigoths. Visigoths were the western tribes of Goths, the Germanic people who lived across Europe. Alaric is best known for the sack of Rome in 410
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Alexius Comnenos
Alexius I or more commonly Alexius Comnenos was a Byzantine Emperor. He belonged to the Comnenos dynasty of Byzantine rulers.
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Alfred The Great
Alfred the Great was the King of Wessex, an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in southwestern England. He is one of the only two English kings who were given the appellation ‘Great’
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Arnold Von Winkelried
Arnold Von Winkelried is a legendary hero of Swiss history. The authenticity of the legend is widely debated. According to the legend, Winkelried was a Swiss soldier
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Attila The Hun
Attila was the ruler of Hunnic Empire during the early 5th century. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential military leaders of the history.
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Canute The Great
Canute the Great was the king of Denmark, Norway and England. His empire was more commonly known as Anglo-Scandinavian Empire or the North Sea Empire
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Charlemagne
Charlemagne was the King of the Franks and the Holy Roman Emperor. He was born on April 2, 742. Nobody knows where he was born
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Charles Martel
Pepin or Pepin of Herstal was a Frankish statesman who ruled Kingdom of the Franks or Francia as the Duke. His reign lasted from 680 till his death in 714 AD
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Christine De Pizan
Christine de Pizan was an Italian French author from late medieval times. She acted as the court writer in the royal court of French ruler, Charles VI.Read More -
Clovis I
Clovis I was the first Frank King to unite all Frankish tribes under one authority. Before him, Frankish tribes were independently ruled by severalRead More -
Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri was a famous Italian poet. He lived during the late medieval period. His original work ‘Divine Comedy’ is considered an all time classicRead More -
Edward The Black Prince
Edward of Woodstock or Edward the Black Prince was an English prince and son of King Edward III and his wife Philippa Hainault
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Edward The Confessor
Edward the Confessor was an Anglo-Saxon King of England. He was the last king from the House of Wessex.
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Fredrick Barbarossa
Fredrick I or Fredrick Barbarossa was the most influential and well known emperor of Holy Roman Empire from the middle ages
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Genseric
Genseric or Gaiseric was the King of Vandals. He reigned during the fifth century and was a major tormentor of Western and Eastern Roman Empire.
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Geoffrey Chauser
Geoffrey Chauser Geoffrey Chauser was an English poet from middle ages. He is widely celebrated as the Father of English Literature
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Harun Al-Rashid
Harun al-Rashid was the fifth ruler (caliph) of Abbasid dynasty. His reign is considered to be the golden age of Islam
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Henry II
Henry II or Henry Curtmantle was King of England during middle to late 12th Century. He was also Count of Anjou, Count of Maine
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Henry The Fowler
Henry the Fowler or Henry of Saxony was Duke of Saxony and King of Germany during the 10th century.
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Henry V
Henry V was King of England during the early 15th century. He belonged to the House of Lancaster and was the second English monarch from the family.
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Heraclius Augustus
Heraclius or Flavius Heraclius Augustus was a Byzantine Emperor. He ruled the Eastern Roman Empire during the first half of the seventh century.
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Ivan the Terrible
Ivan Vasilyevich or Ivan IV was the first Tsar of All the Russias and Grand Prince of Moscow. He is popularly known as Ivan the Terrible
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Joan of Arc
This section is coming real soon.
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Johannes Gutenberg
Johannes Guttenberg was a German goldsmith, printer and publisher. He is best known for developing a Movable Type for printing.
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Justinian
This section is coming real soon.Read More -
King Arthur
The story of King Arthur has grown and changed over the years. One of the first books to mention Arthur was written in the year 830
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Louis The Ninth
Louis IX or Saint Louis was King of France from 1226 till his death in 1270. He belonged to the Capetian line of French monarchs
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Maimonides
Maimonides is one of the most famous Jewish philosophers from the Middle Ages. He is well known for writing the Commentary on the Mishnah
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Marco Polo
This section is coming real soon.
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Muhammad
Muhammad was the Prophet of Islam and a central figure of the religion. Muslims across the world consider him as the last of the prophets of God.
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Pepin The Short
Pepin III or Pepin the Short was the King of Franks from 751 till his death in 768.
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Peter Abelard
Peter Abelard was a medieval French philosopher, logician, theologian and poet. He is known as the finest academic brain of 12th century
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Peter the Hermit
Peter the Hermit was a French monastic founder and preacher from the middle ages. He is widely considered one of the most vocal advocate
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Petrarch
Petrarch or Francesco Petrarca was an Italian scholar, poet and humanist who lived in the Renaissance Italy.
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Richard the Lionheart
Richard I or Richard the Lionheart was King of England and the central figure during the Third Crusade
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Robert the Bruce
Robert the Bruce or Robert I was the King of Scotts during the early 14th century. He was a great military leader and perhaps
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Rollo the Viking
Rollo was a Viking leader who became the first ruler of Normandy in the early 10th century
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St Augustine
St Augustine or Augustine of Hippo was an early Christian theologian and philosopher. He is widely considered the most prominent Christian
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Leather Armor
During the middle ages, leather armor, particularly in the early Middle Ages, was one of the most popular types of armor to be used. In the later stages of the Middle Ages, leather became less popular.
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Medieval Armor
The medieval soldier had a number of different options when it came to armor. Each type of armor offered different levels of protection and different problems.
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Medieval Arrows
A bow was only as good as the arrows a person had to use. A person from the medieval age would use different arrows depending on what he was doing and on what type of bow the person was using.
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Medieval Crossbow
When the crossbow first began to be used, it was hated by a number of people. In fact, the Pope declared that if a person used a crossbow, that person could be excommunicated and demanded that the weapon be banned.
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Medieval Lance
Lances and pikes are similar and both developed from the spear but they were used for different purposes. Lances were used by mounted soldiers, particularly knights, while pikes were used by foot soldiers and other infantry
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Medieval Longbow
One of the most important inventions in warfare was the development of the longbow. It allowed archers to deliver arrows from a greater distance and with greater force than the short bow.
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Medieval Swords
Swords were one of the most common weapons used by knights in the Middle Ages. Swords were not typically used by common soldiers who were more likely to use pikes or other weapons.
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Medieval War Horses
Horses in the Middle Ages were not grouped by breed. Instead they were grouped according to what the horse was used for. There were horses for battle, for travel, for speed and for working on the farm.
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Medieval Weapons
There are a number of different weapons a medieval soldier could use in battle. While there are a large number of weapons, they can be broken down into a few broad categories.
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Kievan Rus
Kievan Rus was the first organized state on Russian territory. At its height, Kievan Rus stretched from the Carpathian Mountains
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The Anglo Saxons
During the 400s, Germanic tribes (Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Friesians) came from continental Europe and settled in the British Isles after the fall of the Roman Empire
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The Byzantine Empire
By the 300s, the Roman Empire could no longer control its long borders and far-flung outposts. After Constantine I took over, he divided the Roman Empire
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The Franks
The Franks were Germanic tribes who lived along the middle and lower Rhine River. As the Roman Empire lost control of Gaul, the Franks rose to power
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The Vikings
Around 800 CE, various peoples from Scandinavian regions sailed away from their homelands and began raiding other areas of Europe.
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