background preloader

Middle Ages

Middle Ages
In European history, the Middle Ages, or Medieval period, lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the collapse of the 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 Early, the High, and the Late Middle Ages. Depopulation, deurbanisation, invasion, and movement of peoples, which had begun in Late Antiquity, continued in the Early Middle Ages. The barbarian invaders, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. 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 Medieval Warm Period climate change allowed crop yields to increase. Etymology and periodisation[edit]

Middle Ages From Academic Kids The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three 'ages': the Classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. The Middle Ages of Western Europe are commonly dated from the end of the Western Roman Empire (5th century) until the rise of national monarchies, of European overseas exploration, the invention and diffusion of printing, and the humanist revival of the Renaissance in the 15th century in Italy, early 16th century in Northern Europe, as well as the Protestant Reformation starting in 1517. The Early Middle Ages As the authority of the Roman Empire dwindled in Western Europe, its territories were entered and settled by succeeding waves of "barbarian" tribal confederations, some of whom distrusted and rejected the classical culture of Rome, while others, like the Goths admired it and considered themselves the legatees and heirs of Rome. A new order

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (also known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. The three founders were joined by William Michael Rossetti, James Collinson, Frederic George Stephens and Thomas Woolner to form the seven-member "brotherhood". The group's intention was to reform art by rejecting what it considered the mechanistic approach first adopted by Mannerist artists who succeeded Raphael and Michelangelo. Beginnings[edit] Illustration by Holman Hunt of Thomas Woolner's poem "My Beautiful Lady", published in The Germ, 1850 Early doctrines[edit] The brotherhood's early doctrines were expressed in four declarations: First exhibitions and publications[edit] Public controversy[edit] Christ In the House of His Parents, by John Everett Millais, 1850 Later developments and influence[edit] After 1850, Hunt and Millais moved away from direct imitation of medieval art.

Horses in the Middle Ages This 15th-century depiction of Charlemagne and Pope Adrian I shows a well-bred medieval horse with arched neck, refined head and elegant gait. Horses in the Middle Ages differed in size, build and breed from the modern horse, and were, on average, smaller. They were also more central to society than their modern counterparts, being essential for war, agriculture, and transport. Consequently, specific types of horse developed, many of which have no modern equivalent. Significant technological advances in equestrian equipment, often introduced from other cultures, allowed for significant changes in both warfare and agriculture. Consequently, the assumptions and theories developed by historians are not definitive, and debate still rages on many issues, such as the breeding or size of the horse, and a number of sources must be consulted in order to understand the breadth of the subject. Breeding[edit] This 15th-century battle scene shows the powerfully-built horses used in warfare. Notes[edit]

Gothic Revival architecture Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, Neo-Gothic or Jigsaw Gothic, and when used for school, college, and university buildings as Collegiate Gothic) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. Its popularity grew rapidly in the early 19th century, when increasingly serious and learned admirers of neo-Gothic styles sought to revive medieval Gothic architecture, in contrast to the neoclassical styles prevalent at the time. Gothic Revival architecture often has certain features,derived from the original Gothic architecture style, including decorative patterns, finals, scalloping, lancet windows, hood moldings and label stops. Relation to other cultural movements[edit] The Gothic Revival was paralleled and supported by "medievalism", which had its roots in "antiquarian' concerns with survivals and curiosities. Survival and revival[edit] A younger generation, taking Gothic architecture more seriously, provided the readership for J.

Black Death Spread of the Black Death in Europe (1346–53) The Black Death is thought to have originated in the arid plains of central Asia, where it then travelled along the Silk Road, reaching the Crimea by 1343.[6] From there, it was most likely carried by Oriental rat fleas living on the black rats that were regular passengers on merchant ships. Spreading throughout the Mediterranean and Europe, the Black Death is estimated to have killed 30–60% of Europe's total population.[7] In total, the plague reduced the world population from an estimated 450 million down to 350–375 million in the 14th century. The aftermath of the plague created a series of religious, social, and economic upheavals, which had profound effects on the course of European history. It took 150 years for Europe's population to recover.[citation needed] The plague recurred occasionally in Europe until the 19th century. Chronology Origins of the disease European outbreak There appear to have been several introductions into Europe.

Romanticism Defining Romanticism[edit] Basic characteristics[edit] Defining the nature of Romanticism may be approached from the starting point of the primary importance of the free expression of the feelings of the artist. The importance the Romantics placed on untrammelled feeling is summed up in the remark of the German painter Caspar David Friedrich that "the artist's feeling is his law".[7] To William Wordsworth poetry should be "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings".[8] In order to truly express these feelings, the content of the art must come from the imagination of the artist, with as little interference as possible from "artificial" rules dictating what a work should consist of. Not essential to Romanticism, but so widespread as to be normative, was a strong belief and interest in the importance of nature. However this is particularly in the effect of nature upon the artist when he is surrounded by it, preferably alone. The term[edit] The period[edit] Romantic literature[edit]

Mongols The Mongols, or Mongolic peoples, are a Central and Northern Asian (Inner Asia) ethno-linguistic group. Although the largest Mongolic group consists of the inhabitants of Mongolia, they also live as minorities across Northern Asia, including in Russia, China, and many of the former Soviet Union states. Mongolic peoples belonging to the Buryat ethnic group live predominantly in what is now the autonomous Republic of Buryatia, Russia. In China, they live mainly either in Inner Mongolia or, less commonly, in Xinjiang. Mongolic peoples are bound together by a common culture and language, a group of related tongues known as Mongolic languages. Definition Broadly defined, the term includes the Mongols proper (also known as Khalkha), the Buryats, Oirats, Kalmyks and Southern Mongols. History In various times Mongolic peoples have been equated with the Scythians, the Magog and the Tungusic peoples. Xianbei Empire under Tanshihuai (141–181).

Medievalism Medievalism is the system of belief and practice characteristic of the Middle Ages, or devotion to elements of that period, which has been expressed in areas such as architecture, literature, music, art, philosophy, scholarship, and various vehicles of popular culture.[1] Since the 18th century, a variety of movements have used the medieval period as a model or inspiration for creative activity, including Romanticism, the Gothic revival, the Pre-Raphaelite and arts and crafts movements and neo-medievalism (a term often used interchangeably with medievalism). Medievalism can also be used as an insult, implying conservatism and outdated attitudes. The words "medievalism" and "Medieval" are both first recorded in the 19th century. "Medieval" is derived from Latin medium aevum (Middle Ages). This term comes from the idea the Middle Ages was an interruption in the advance of classical learning. History[edit] Renaissance to Enlightenment[edit] Romanticism[edit] The Nazarenes[edit]

Republic of Genoa Geography[edit] When the Republic of Genoa was established in the early 11th century, it consisted of the city of Genoa and the surrounding areas. As the commerce of the city increased, so did the territory of the Republic. In 1015, the entirety of Liguria was part of the Republic of Genoa. After the First Crusade in 1098, Genoa gained settlements in Syria. The majority of them were lost during the campaigns of Saladin. Major territorial possessions[edit] History[edit] Rise[edit] After the capture of Antioch on May 3, 1098, Genoa forged an alliance with Bohemond of Taranto, who became the ruler of the Principality of Antioch. In 1147 Genoa took part in the Siege of Almería, helping Alfonso VII of León and Castile reconquer that city from the Muslims. Over the course of the 11th and particularly the 12th centuries, Genoa became the dominant naval force in the Western Mediterranean, as its erstwhile rivals Pisa and Amalfi declined in importance. 13th and 14th century[edit] Decline[edit]

Supernatural The supernatural (Medieval Latin: supernātūrālis: supra "above" + naturalis "nature", first used: 1520–30 AD)[1][2] is that which is not subject to the laws of physics, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature. In philosophy, popular culture and fiction, the supernatural is associated with the paranormal, religions and occultism. It has neoplatonic[3] and medieval scholastic[4] origins. In Catholicism[edit] Catholic theologians sometimes call supernatural the miraculous way in which certain effects, in themselves natural, are produced, or certain endowments (like man's immunity from death, suffering, passion, and ignorance) that bring the lower class up to the higher though always within the limits of the created, but they are careful in qualifying the former as accidentally supernatural (supernaturale per accidens) and the latter as relatively supernatural (prœternaturale). Process theology[edit] Contrasting views[edit] indistinct from nature.

Related: