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In [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Europe European history], the '''Middle Ages''', or '''Medieval period''', lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the collapse of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Roman_Empire Western Roman Empire] and merged into the [[Renaissance]] and the Age of Discovery. The Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history: Antiquity, Medieval period, and Modern period. The Medieval period is itself subdivided into the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Middle_Ages Early], the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Middle_Ages High], and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Middle_Ages Late Middle Ages].

In [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Europe European history], the '''Middle Ages''', or '''Medieval period''', lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the collapse of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Roman_Empire Western Roman Empire] and merged into the [[Renaissance]] and the Age of Discovery. The Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history: Antiquity, Medieval period, and Modern period. The Medieval period is itself subdivided into the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Middle_Ages Early], the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Middle_Ages High], and the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Middle_Ages Late Middle Ages].

Depopulation, deurbanisation, invasion, and movement of peoples, which had begun in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Antiquity Late Antiquity], continued in the Early Middle Ages. The [[barbarian]] invaders, including various [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_peoples Germanic peoples], formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the 7th century, North Africa and the Middle East, once part of the Eastern Roman Empire came under the rule of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caliphate Caliphate], an Islamic empire, after conquest by [[Muhammad]]'s successors. Although there were substantial changes in [[society]] and political structures, the break with Antiquity was not complete. The still-sizeable [[Byzantine Empire]] survived in the east and remained a major power. The empire's law code, the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpus_Juris_Civilis Code of Justinian], was rediscovered in Northern Italy in 1070 and became widely admired later in the Middle Ages. In the West, most kingdoms incorporated the few extant Roman institutions. [[Monasteries]] were founded as campaigns to Christianise [[pagan]] Europe continued. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franks Franks], under the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolingian_dynasty Carolingian dynasty], briefly established an empire covering much of Western Europe; the Carolingian Empire in the later 8th and early 9th century, when it succumbed to the pressures of internal civil wars combined with external invasions—[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikings Vikings] from the north, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_people Magyars] from the east, and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saracen Saracens] from the south.

Depopulation, deurbanisation, invasion, and movement of peoples, which had begun in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Antiquity Late Antiquity], continued in the Early Middle Ages. The [[barbarian]] invaders, including various [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_peoples Germanic peoples], formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the 7th century, North Africa and the Middle East, once part of the Eastern Roman Empire came under the rule of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caliphate Caliphate], an Islamic empire, after conquest by [[Muhammad]]'s successors. Although there were substantial changes in [[society]] and political structures, the break with Antiquity was not complete. The still-sizeable [[Byzantine Empire]] survived in the east and remained a major power. The empire's law code, the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpus_Juris_Civilis Code of Justinian], was rediscovered in Northern Italy in 1070 and became widely admired later in the Middle Ages. In the West, most kingdoms incorporated the few extant Roman institutions. [[Monasteries]] were founded as campaigns to Christianise [[pagan]] Europe continued. The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franks Franks], under the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolingian_dynasty Carolingian dynasty], briefly established an empire covering much of Western Europe; the Carolingian Empire in the later 8th and early 9th century, when it succumbed to the pressures of internal civil wars combined with external invasions—[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikings Vikings] from the north, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_people Magyars] from the east, and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saracen Saracens] from the south.

During the High Middle Ages, which began after AD 1000, the [[population]] of [[Europe]] increased greatly as [[technological]] and [[agricultural]] innovations allowed trade to flourish and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_Warm_Period Medieval Warm Period] climate change allowed crop yields to increase. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manorialism Manorialism], the organisation of [[peasants]] into villages that owed rent and labour services to the nobles, and [[feudalism]], the political structure whereby knights and lower-status nobles owed [[military]] service to their overlords in return for the right to rent from lands and manors, were two of the ways society was organised in the High Middle Ages. The [[Crusades]], first preached in 1095, were military attempts by Western European Christians to regain control of the Middle Eastern Holy Land from the Muslims. Kings became the heads of centralised nation states, reducing crime and [[violence]] but making the ideal of a unified [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christendom Christendom] more distant. Intellectual life was marked by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scholasticism scholasticism], a philosophy that emphasised joining [[faith]] to [[reason]], and by the founding of [[universities]]. The theology of [[Thomas Aquinas]], the paintings of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giotto Giotto], the poetry of [[Dante]] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Chaucer Chaucer], the travels of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Polo Marco Polo], and the architecture of Gothic cathedrals such as Chartres are among the outstanding achievements of this period.

During the High Middle Ages, which began after AD 1000, the [[population]] of [[Europe]] increased greatly as [[technological]] and [[agricultural]] innovations allowed trade to flourish and the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_Warm_Period Medieval Warm Period] climate change allowed crop yields to increase. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manorialism Manorialism], the organisation of [[peasants]] into villages that owed rent and labour services to the nobles, and [[feudalism]], the political structure whereby knights and lower-status nobles owed [[military]] service to their overlords in return for the right to rent from lands and manors, were two of the ways society was organised in the High Middle Ages. The [[Crusades]], first preached in 1095, were military attempts by Western European Christians to regain control of the Middle Eastern Holy Land from the Muslims. Kings became the heads of centralised nation states, reducing crime and [[violence]] but making the ideal of a unified [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christendom Christendom] more distant. Intellectual life was marked by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scholasticism scholasticism], a philosophy that emphasised joining [[faith]] to [[reason]], and by the founding of [[universities]]. The theology of [[Thomas Aquinas]], the paintings of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giotto Giotto], the poetry of [[Dante]] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Chaucer Chaucer], the travels of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Polo Marco Polo], and the architecture of Gothic cathedrals such as Chartres are among the outstanding achievements of this period.

The Late Middle Ages was marked by difficulties and [[calamities]] including [[famine]], [[plague]], and [[war]], which much diminished the population of Western Europe; between 1347 and 1350, the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death Black Death] killed about a third of Europeans. [[Controversy]], [[heresy]], and [[schism]] within the Church paralleled the interstate conflict, civil strife, and peasant revolts that occurred in the kingdoms. Cultural and technological developments transformed European society, concluding the Late Middle Ages and beginning the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_modern_period early modern period].

The Late Middle Ages was marked by difficulties and [[calamities]] including [[famine]], [[plague]], and [[war]], which much diminished the population of Western Europe; between 1347 and 1350, the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death Black Death] killed about a third of Europeans. [[Controversy]], [[heresy]], and [[schism]] within the Church paralleled the interstate conflict, civil strife, and peasant revolts that occurred in the kingdoms. Cultural and technological developments transformed European society, concluding the Late Middle Ages and beginning the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_modern_period early modern period].

[[Category: History]]

[[Category: History]]