High Middle Ages

The High Middle Ages was a time in European history between about the year 1000 and the year 1300. This period saw many big changes. Europe's population grew quickly, leading to new towns and cities and a stronger economy. People also started the first universities in places like Bologna, Oxford, and Paris.

During this time, many new things happened. The Vikings settled in places like the British Isles and France. The Magyars stopped moving and formed the Kingdom of Hungary. The Byzantine Empire faced challenges but was still important.

People also cleared forests and marshes to create new farmland. The Catholic Church was very powerful and called for Crusades to the Holy Land. New artistic and intellectual ideas grew, and many famous Gothic cathedrals were built. This was a time of great growth and change in Europe.

Historical events and politics

Great Britain and Ireland

Main articles: England in the High Middle Ages, Scotland in the High Middle Ages, History of Gwynedd during the High Middle Ages, and Lordship of Ireland

In England, the Norman Conquest in 1066 led to a kingdom ruled by a noble group from France. The Normans also entered Ireland in 1169, setting up control mainly in the southeast. Both Scotland and Wales were made to follow English rule around this time, though Scotland later stood up for its freedom. Important changes happened in government, like the creation of the Exchequer in the 12th century and the first meetings of parliament. In 1215, King John signed the Magna Carta, which limited the power of English kings.

Iberia

A big change in the Iberian Peninsula was when Christian forces took the city of Toledo in 1085. Life in the northern Christian areas was shaped by constant wars. As these areas grew south, new communities formed where soldiers and settlers were valued. In places with warm, dry weather, people grew crops in a way that let the land rest every other year. Even with more people, farming didn’t change much until later. Muslim areas had more people and money, but leaders from Africa had trouble keeping their rule steady.

Italy

Main article: Italy in the Middle Ages

In Italy, the Normans created a big and strong state called the Kingdom of Sicily. Later, it joined with a larger empire. In other parts of Italy, rich city-states grew because of their trade in the sea, especially Pisa, Amalfi, Genoa, and Venice. These cities became important centers for money and trade.

Scandinavia

Main articles: Denmark in the Middle Ages, Norway in the Middle Ages, Early Swedish history, and North Sea Empire

From the 900s to the 1000s, the lands of Scandinavia became united and turned to Christianity. This ended the old Viking raids and brought them more into the world of Europe. Denmark once ruled over England and Norway, but lost these after the year 1035. Norway grew its lands far to the west, but faced inner fights between 1130 and 1240.

France and Germany

Main article: France in the Middle Ages

France and Germany in the middle ages

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By this time, the old Carolingian Empire had split into new kingdoms called France and Germany. France grew to the west. The Angevin Empire held much of France until France took back its land.

Germany

Main article: Germany in the Middle Ages

Germany was part of the Holy Roman Empire, which reached its strongest point under Kaiser Frederick Barbarossa.

Georgia

Main article: Georgian Golden Age

Under King David IV of Georgia, Georgia grew strong and pushed away attackers. A big win in the Battle of Didgori in 1121 helped Georgia take back its capital, Tbilisi. David’s granddaughter, Queen Tamar, kept building the kingdom’s power, making it stretch from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea.

Hungary

Main article: Kingdom of Hungary in the Middle Ages

In this time, Hungary became a very strong country in Europe. It started in 1000 under King Saint Stephen I and grew under leaders like Saint Ladislaus, who made the country stronger and brought in Christianity. Hungary grew to include parts near the Adriatic Sea and joined with Croatia. It became a larger empire controlling areas around the Carpathian Mountains.

Lithuania

Main article: Grand Duchy of Lithuania

Lithuania began as a small duchy in the early 1200s and later grew into a big state in Europe, expanding to the east.

Poland

Main articles: History of Poland in the Middle Ages and History of Poland during the Piast dynasty

Poland started as a duchy in the 900s and became a kingdom in 1025 under Bolesław I the Brave.

Southeast Europe

Main articles: Komnenian restoration, Second Bulgarian Empire, Serbian Grand Principality, Principality of Arbanon, Banate of Bosnia, and Croatia in the union with Hungary

Big changes happened in Southeast Europe. The Byzantine Empire was strong at first but faced challenges from groups like the Bulgarians and later the Ottomans. The area was divided among different rulers after a rebellion in 1185.

Climate and agriculture

Main article: Medieval Warm Period

The Medieval Warm Period, from about the 900s to the 1300s, was a time when Europe was warmer. Farmers could grow wheat farther north, and even wine grapes in places like northern England. New farming methods, like a better plow and rotating crops every three years, helped grow more food. This helped Europe’s population grow, even though a famine in 1315 caused many deaths.

The rise of chivalry

Main article: Chivalry

During this time, the idea of knights being brave and kind grew stronger. Knights started having tournaments to show off their skills and win fame. Monks helped create groups of knights who promised to protect the weak. Being a knight became a family title that could be passed down.

Religion

Christian Church

Main article: Christianity in the Middle Ages

The East–West Schism of 1054 split the Christian church into two parts: Roman Catholicism in Western Europe and Eastern Orthodoxy in the east. This happened when Pope Leo IX and Patriarch Michael I stopped working together, mainly because they disagreed about the filioque, a change to a special prayer about the Holy Spirit. They also had other disagreements.

Crusades

Main article: Crusades

The Catholic Crusades happened between the 11th and 13th centuries. Leaders of these trips were told by the Pope to take back special lands called The Holy Land from Muslim groups. These lands had been taken by Muslims many years before.

Military orders

Main article: Military order (religious society)

During the Crusades, special groups of monks who were also soldiers were created. These groups protected Christian travelers.

The Knights Templar were created after the first trip to help keep travelers safe. Later, their leader was arrested and the group was broken up.

The Knights Hospitaller started to help sick and poor travelers. After losing the Holy Lands, they moved to Rhodes and later Malta.

The Teutonic Knights were a German group that helped travelers and took care of the sick. Later, they tried to bring Christianity to new places but fought with other Christian countries too.

Golden age of monasticism

The late 11th century and early-mid 12th century was a busy time for Christian monasticism (8th-12th centuries).

Benedictine Order – black-robed monks
Cistercian Order – white-robed monks - Bernard of Clairvaux

Mendicant orders

Main article: Mendicant orders

The 13th century saw new groups of traveling preachers such as the:

Franciscans (Friars Minor, commonly known as the Grey Friars), founded 1209
Carmelites (Hermits of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Carmel, commonly known as the White Friars), founded 1206–1214
Dominicans (Order of Preachers, commonly called the Black Friars), founded 1215
Augustinians (Hermits of St. Augustine, commonly called the Austin Friars), founded 1256

Heretical movements

Christian groups that disagreed with the main church appeared in Europe during the 11th century. These groups were different from the usual church and often came from new cities and towns.

Cathars

Main article: Catharism

Catharism was a group with some secret beliefs that started around the middle of the 10th century. The main church called them wrong because they did not agree with them. They were strong in places like southern France.

The name Cathar comes from a word meaning "pure". They are also called Albigensians, a name that comes from the town of Albi, though their main place was Toulouse.

The Albigensians were strong in southern France, northern Italy, and parts of the Holy Roman Empire.

Waldensians

Main article: Waldensians

Peter Waldo of Lyon was a rich person who decided to live a simple life around 1175 after feeling a strong need to follow God. He started a group called the Waldensians, who believed that all church actions should follow the Bible exactly. He was not allowed to preach by church leaders, but he kept talking anyway.

Waldensians are seen as early supporters of later changes in the church, and some of their beliefs matched those of later church leaders. Waldensian groups still exist today in many parts of the world.

Trade and commerce

In Northern Europe, a group of cities called the Hanseatic League worked together to help trade by sea. It started in the 1100s with the city of Lübeck. Many cities in the Holy Roman Empire, like Amsterdam, Cologne, Bremen, Hanover, and Berlin, joined this group. Other important cities outside the empire, such as Bruges and Gdańsk in Poland, were also part of the league. The league had trading places in Bergen in Norway and Veliky Novgorod in Russia.

Later, in the late 1200s, a traveler from Venice named Marco Polo was one of the first Europeans to journey to China along the Silk Road. His writings, called Il Milione, helped people in Europe learn more about faraway lands. After him, many Christian missionaries and other travelers went to explore these distant places.

Natural philosophy

Main articles: European science in the High Middle Ages, Scholasticism, and Medieval medicine of Western Europe

Further information: Foundation of universities and List of medieval European scientists

The High Middle Ages saw the birth of the world’s oldest university, the University of Bologna, in Italy in the 11th century. Two more universities opened in the 12th century: the University of Paris in France and the University of Oxford in England. As Europeans met people from the Islamic world in Spain and Sicily, and from the Byzantine world and Muslim Levant during the Crusades, they learned about many new ideas from Arabic and Greek texts. These texts included works by thinkers like Aristotle, Alhazen, and Averroes. The universities helped share these ideas, leading to new ways of thinking called scholasticism during the Renaissance of the 12th century.

By the 13th century, many important ancient books had been translated into Latin. Smart scholars like Robert Grosseteste, Roger Bacon, Albertus Magnus, and Duns Scotus studied these books. They began to use mathematics and careful observation to understand the world, which are ideas that still influence science today.

Technology

Main articles: Medieval technology and Artes mechanicae

From the 12th to the 13th century, Europe saw many new inventions and ways to improve old tools. In just a few decades, more new ideas were created than in the past thousand years! Some of these new inventions included windmills, watermills, early forms of printing, gunpowder, the astrolabe, glasses, modern-shaped scissors, better clocks, and improved ships. These changes helped start the Age of Discovery. Many of these ideas came from other cultures and places.

Some key inventions from this time include:

The first written record of a windmill comes from Yorkshire, England, in 1185.
Paper making started in Italy around 1270.
The spinning wheel came to Europe in the 13th century.
The magnetic compass reached Europe in the late 12th century, helping sailors.
Eye glasses were invented in Italy in the late 1280s.
The astrolabe came back to Europe from Islamic Spain.
Fibonacci shared Hindu-Arabic numerals with Europe in his book Liber Abaci in 1202.
The oldest known picture of a stern-mounted rudder is on church carvings from around 1180.

Arts

Visual arts

Main article: Medieval art

Art in the High Middle Ages included many important styles. Art from the British Isles, known as Anglo-Saxon art, was strong until the year 1066. Romanesque art kept ideas from older times, and Gothic art began with its own special look. Byzantine art stayed true to its traditions and influenced parts of Eastern Europe. Special books called illuminated manuscripts became popular in churches.

Architecture

Main article: Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture became popular because it looked very different from older styles. Buildings had tall, thin lines and colorful glass windows that made them feel light and airy. These churches were built to look like they were reaching up toward the sky, showing how special and great they were.

Literature

Main article: Medieval literature

Many cultures helped shape the stories of this time, with Christianity being very important. Stories were told in Latin and also in everyday languages. Famous groups of stories included tales about Charlemagne, stories from Britain about King Arthur, and poems from Germany. Writers also made poems and histories, like one called Historia Regum Britanniae.

Byzantine scholars kept learning strong, with Michael Psellos helping bring back old ideas. In southern France, poets called troubadours wrote songs about love, which later influenced many other places.

Music

Main article: Medieval music

Most music from this time was for churches, using special symbols to write it down. Early music was called Gregorian chant. Later, new styles like organum and motet were created. A man named Guido of Arezzo helped make music easier to write down. In southern France, troubadours wrote songs about love and life, influencing music in many places.

Theatre

Main article: Medieval theatre

As towns grew, groups of people began performing plays, often based on religious stories. For example, a baker's group might act out a story from the Bible. These plays were performed in many towns across Europe. Later, some plays were more fun and silly, telling stories about everyday life and magic.