Out of the ashes of the collapsed western Roman Empire rose an agrarian, decentralized world of small, mostly Christianized kingdoms. This period, a significant part of medieval Europe history, gave birth to universities, workers' guilds, a revolution in commerce, and more. The very idea of Europe as a distinct cultural unit emerged during the era (read 101).
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The breakdown of the Western Roman Empire ushered in a new, dynamic millennium of innovation, religious fervor, and warfare across the European continent. The era, often maligned as the "Dark Ages" by Renaissance writers, was a crucial transition period from antiquity to modernity. Glean an overview of the era with this helpful 101 guide.
Famous peoples like the Franks, Vandals, Visigoths, and Suebi migrated into the collapsed Roman Empire during the early Middle Ages (roughly 300 - 700 CE), reshaping the culture and governance there while retaining many elements of the antecedent Roman culture. Trace their movements with this map showing their origins and where they settled within the former Roman provinces.
The Carolingian Renaissance took place during the height of the Frankish empire in the Middle Ages, where King Charlemagne and his successors invested in the arts, education, and more. The era saw hundreds of crucial texts from Roman antiquity copied for posterity and saw the revival of Roman architecture and art. Find out more about this medieval renaissance with this deep dive into the period.
Monks and nuns played a unique role during the Middle Ages, committing themselves to simple lives of communal work and prayer. Aside from the religious culture it celebrated, monasticism played a key role in preserving ancient documents via its rigorous script-copying tradition, which saw hundreds of key texts remade in decorative, illuminated manuscripts. Read more and see photos of contemporary artifacts in this deep dive from the Met.
The modern university has its roots in the Middle Ages, when a series of schools opened up across Italy, France, England, and elsewhere in the 10th and 11th centuries CE. Originally acting as schools for priests and monks, these schools gradually opened up to laypeople to learn law, medicine, theology, and more. Explore the origins of the university with this curated selection of photos and explainers.
A hierarchical system of local control sustained Europe's agricultural production during the 10th to 13th centuries CE. Knights received lands from lords in exchange for defensive services to the manor; small plots of that land were then allotted to free peasants who would pay fees in money or produce to their lord. The system is characterized by local administration and predominantly free participants and is distinct from slavery or serfdom. Learn more about the system with this survey of the concept.
Between 750 and 1350 CE, some parts of the world saw temperatures jump above average levels recorded in the late 20th century. Researchers attribute this regional climate phenomenon to a broad shift in the El Nino-La Nina oscillation in the Pacific. The anomaly's humid warmth is credited with agricultural surpluses and expansion northward in northeast North America and Europe, but western America and much of central America saw droughts during the period. Learn more about this climate aberration here.
The basic commodity during the Middle Ages gradually became money, rather than land—a major shift which fueled an economic transformation of Europe called the commercial revolution. Without this revolution, historians argue the better-known Industrial Revolution of modernity could not have occurred. Learn how these changes took place with this witty, 8-minute video.
What were some of the highlights of the Middle Ages? The printing press, a proto-computer, coffee: the Medieval Era was a time of rich, creative innovation, where some of the world's most beloved and practical things were developed. Browse this list of eighteen of the major inventions of the Middle Ages and forget, once and for all, you ever heard the time called "dark."
Is the king above the law? The Magna Carta, adopted in 1215 by a corrupt king and his audacious barons, answered this question with a resounding "no." Trace the evolution of human rights from this proto-document to the declaration of human rights in the 20th century with this high-quality, absorbing interactive timeline.
Weave together the many narratives of world history with our highly curated and expanding selection of diverse, fascinating resources designed to showcase the breadth and richness of Earth's story, from the earliest traces of human civilization to the dramatic developments of contemporary cultures.