The Middle Ages
The Middle Ages are used to describe the period between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance in the 14th century. This time period is also known as the Medieval Period, which historians tend to rely on as a more accurate term. There were no predecessors after Rome, leaving Europe in a state where no advancements were being made in any field. An 18th century historian, Edward Gibbon, said that it was a time of "barbarism and religion". Because of this lack of a leader, the Catholic Church rose to power. Any monarchy at the time received all of its influence over others from the Church. Part of the Church's power came from taxation; the Church was exempt from taxes, but every year ten percent of the peoples' earnings had to go to the Church, which gave them a great deal of money.
While the Catholic Church gained power over the citizens, the Islamic religion was greatly increasing. Muslim armies began uniting the Middle East under one caliph after Muhammad's death. This left Islam, at its medieval peak, at three times the size and dominance as the Catholics. With all this power, Islam had little to worry about, which gave their scholars the free time to work on translating ancient texts, specifically that of the Greeks, Iranians, and Indians.
Also during this time, the Crusades were in action, starting wars between the Islams and the Christians. This made the Islams uneasy. However, after the Crusades, they had an almost reverse effect. The Crusades gave the Catholics purpose and reunited them with the feeling of religious enthusiasm. It exposed the Christians to Islamic technology and knowledge, which changed European ideals forever.
During the Middle Ages, people made tributes to the church by building extravagant cathedrals, mostly in the Romanesque style, but around 1200 C.E., they were introduced to Gothic architecture. This type of building would be used for thousands of new momuments, and was recognizable by large stained glass windows and gargoyles.
The government of the Middle Ages was lead by a system called feudalism. In this system, the king gave large sums of land to noblemen and bishops, who employed peasents to work on the land and defend it. The peasents got some of the crops they worked on and protection from an enemy invasion. The system ended before the end of the Medieval Period due to agricultural innovations.
With everything else going on, from 1347 to 1350, the Black Death wrecked havoc among the people. Roughly 20 million people died, particularily those that lived in cities, because preventing the disease from spreading was difficult in close corners. Although it ran its course during those three years, the plague is never truly gone and has no known cure, and reappears every so often.
While the Catholic Church gained power over the citizens, the Islamic religion was greatly increasing. Muslim armies began uniting the Middle East under one caliph after Muhammad's death. This left Islam, at its medieval peak, at three times the size and dominance as the Catholics. With all this power, Islam had little to worry about, which gave their scholars the free time to work on translating ancient texts, specifically that of the Greeks, Iranians, and Indians.
Also during this time, the Crusades were in action, starting wars between the Islams and the Christians. This made the Islams uneasy. However, after the Crusades, they had an almost reverse effect. The Crusades gave the Catholics purpose and reunited them with the feeling of religious enthusiasm. It exposed the Christians to Islamic technology and knowledge, which changed European ideals forever.
During the Middle Ages, people made tributes to the church by building extravagant cathedrals, mostly in the Romanesque style, but around 1200 C.E., they were introduced to Gothic architecture. This type of building would be used for thousands of new momuments, and was recognizable by large stained glass windows and gargoyles.
The government of the Middle Ages was lead by a system called feudalism. In this system, the king gave large sums of land to noblemen and bishops, who employed peasents to work on the land and defend it. The peasents got some of the crops they worked on and protection from an enemy invasion. The system ended before the end of the Medieval Period due to agricultural innovations.
With everything else going on, from 1347 to 1350, the Black Death wrecked havoc among the people. Roughly 20 million people died, particularily those that lived in cities, because preventing the disease from spreading was difficult in close corners. Although it ran its course during those three years, the plague is never truly gone and has no known cure, and reappears every so often.