Test Your Knowledge of the Middle Ages

The Middle Ages spanned from the late 5th to late 15th centuries, starting with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ending with the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. It is subdivided into the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages.

During the Early Middle Ages, there were invasions and mass migrations of tribes, leading to the formation of new kingdoms. The Franks briefly established the Carolingian Empire but it later succumbed to internal civil wars and external invasions.

The High Middle Ages saw an increase in population due to technological and agricultural innovations. Society was organised through manorialism and feudalism, and the Catholic and Orthodox churches were formally divided. The Crusades were launched by Western European Christians to regain control of the Holy Land from Muslims.

The Late Middle Ages was marked by difficulties and calamities, including famine, plague, and war, which significantly diminished the population of Europe. Controversy, heresy, and the Western Schism within the Catholic Church paralleled the interstate conflict, civil strife, and peasant revolts that occurred in the kingdoms.

The Middle Ages is one of the three major periods in the most enduring scheme for analysing European history: Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Modern Period.

The Roman Empire reached its greatest territorial extent during the 2nd century AD but then began to decline due to runaway inflation, external pressure, and outbreaks of plague. The Emperor Diocletian split the empire into separately administered eastern and western halves in 286. Constantine the Great refounded the city of Byzantium as the newly renamed eastern capital, Constantinople.

During the Early Middle Ages, ethnic identities were flexible and often determined by loyalty to a successful military leader or by religion. Ethnic markers quickly changed, and the fusion of Roman culture with the customs of the invading tribes is well documented.

Among the new peoples filling the political void left by Roman centralised government, the first Germanic groups now collectively known as Anglo-Saxons settled in Britain before the middle of the 5th century. By around 600, new political centres emerged, and a number of small kingdoms were formed.

The Middle Ages is divided into different periods by historians from different countries. English-speaking historians generally subdivide the Middle Ages into three intervals: "Early", "High", and "Late".

The Middle Ages saw the emergence of new political centres, the development of popular assemblies, and the gradual loss of tax revenue by the new polities. The taxation systems decayed, and the new political entities relied on granting land or rents to support their armies.

Smaller kingdoms in present-day Wales and Scotland were still under the control of the native Britons and Picts.life-sustaining products was a defining feature of the early Middle Ages. The economy was largely agrarian, with subsistence agriculture dominating in most areas. There was a significant decline in urbanization, which led to the disappearance of many crafts and industries. Trade routes shifted towards the north and east, as the Mediterranean became a Muslim lake and the Byzantine Empire lost its influence in the west. The Carolingian Empire in the 8th and 9th centuries saw a revival of trade and urbanization, but it was short-lived. The economy was largely based on barter and the use of precious metals as currency, with coinage becoming increasingly scarce. The use of money in trade and commerce was limited. The fall of the Western Roman Empire led to a significant decline in the standard of living in Western Europe, with a decrease in population, a decline in agricultural productivity, and a rise in violent conflict.to a civil war between Louis and his eldest sons, which ended with the Treaty of Verdun in 843, dividing the empire into three parts: West Francia, Middle Francia, and East Francia. The Carolingian Empire continued to weaken after the Treaty of Verdun, with Viking raids and internal disputes causing further fragmentation. By the 10th century, the Carolingian Empire had dissolved into smaller, independent states. The end of the Carolingian Empire also marked the beginning of the feudal system, with local lords becoming more powerful and independent. The Viking raids of the 9th and 10th centuries had a significant impact on Europe, with raids and settlement leading to the formation of new states in Scandinavia and the British Isles. The Magyar invasions of the 9th and 10th centuries also had a significant impact on Europe, leading to the formation of new states in Central and Eastern Europe. The Early Middle Ages saw the development of feudalism, with lords granting land to vassals in exchange for military service. This system of land tenure became the basis of medieval society. The Early Middle Ages also saw the development of chivalry, a code of conduct for knights that emphasized honor, loyalty, and bravery. The Crusades, a series of military campaigns launched by Western Europeans in the 11th to 13th centuries, were a response to the Muslim conquests of the Holy Land and had a significant impact on European society, culture, and religion.The Middle Ages: A Summary

• The Carolingian Empire was created by Charlemagne and divided between his grandsons after his death, leading to the loss of cohesion and eventual fragmentation of the empire.
• The breakup of the empire was accompanied by invasions and raids by external foes, such as the Vikings who settled in Normandy and harassed the Atlantic and northern shores.
• The Eastern European trade routes were controlled by the Khazars who resisted Muslim expansion. The trade routes shifted to Volga Bulgaria, where the local elite and population converted to Islam.
• Byzantium revived under the Macedonian dynasty, with a revival of commerce and classical learning, and the conversion of many tribes to Christianity.
• Carolingian art was produced for a small group of figures around the court, and the monasteries and churches they supported, influenced by Roman and Byzantine art as well as Insular art of the British Isles.
• Military developments included the adoption of the Hunnic composite bow, the use of stirrups by the Avar heavy cavalry, and the increasing dominance of elite heavy cavalry during the early Carolingian period.
• The High Middle Ages saw a tremendous expansion of population, estimated to have grown from 35 to 80 million in Europe.
• The growth of towns and cities led to the emergence of a new urban class of merchants and artisans, challenging the traditional feudal hierarchy.
• The Crusades were a series of religious wars fought between Christians and Muslims in the Holy Land, resulting in the establishment of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem and the emergence of a new military order, the Knights Templar.
• The emergence of universities in the 12th and 13th centuries marked a new era of learning and scholarship in Europe, with the rise of scholasticism and the rediscovery of ancient Greek and Roman texts.