Middle ages

• Assumptions about the beginning and end of the Middle Ages

  • Beginning: 476 - Odoacer dethrones the last ruler, Romulus Augustulus
  • 313 - Edict of Milan
  • End: 1492 - Christopher Columbus discovers America
  • 1453 - Fall of Byzantium / Constantinople
  • 1517 - Martin Luther's protest
  • 1640 - Beginning of the English Civil War
• Smaller periods and eras within the Middle Ages

  • The early Middle Ages (476 – approx. 1000)
  • The mature or flourishing Middle Ages (approx. 11th–13th century)
  • The late or declining Middle Ages (approx. 14th–15th century)
• The Middle Ages


  In comparison to antiquity, not only occupied a central position for humanists but was also perceived as an era of decline in relation to the Greco-Roman world
• The term 'dark'


  First appears with Petrarch in the 14th century, emphasizing this characterization
• Aspects the Middle Ages was characterized by

  • Barbarism
  • Superstitions
  • Ignorance
  • Blind faith
  • Vulnerability
• Christianity spread throughout Europe during the Middle Ages
• The Church brought literacy and Latin culture to Northern and Central Europe
• Slavery ceased in the Middle Ages
• Universities, cities, and soaring cathedrals were born in the Middle Ages
• The Holy Roman Empire


  962 – 1806
• Treaty of Verdun = the division of the empire


  843
• Louis the German
• The election of kings among the tribes living within the empire
• The cessation of the Carolingian dynasty in 911
• The reigns of I. Conrad (Saxon) and Henry the Fowler / Birdcatcher
• Otto the Great / Otto I


  936-973
• Otto the Great / Otto I

  • Son of Henry
  • Duke of Saxony, from 936 to 961, German King from 936, and Holy Roman Emperor from 962
  • Solidified the German Empire by suppressing rebellious vassals and achieving decisive victories over the Hungarians
  • Elected as king in Aachen on August 7, 936, just a month after Henry's death
  • Crowned by the archbishops of Mainz and Cologne
  • Asserting his authority firmly over the feudal lords caused immediate conflict
  • Strengthened and expanded the borders of his empire
  • Achieved a decisive victory over the Hungarians in the Battle of Lechfeld near Augsburg in August 955
  • Subjugated the Slavs living between the middle Elbe and Oder rivers to the German kingdom
  • Elected and crowned his son as German King
  • Pope John XII crowned him emperor on February 2, 962 - formation of the Holy Roman Empire
  • Concluded the Privilegium Ottonianum treaty, regulating the relationship between the emperor and the pope, strengthening and expanding the secular power of the papacy
• Otto the Great / Otto I held a grand court assembly in Quedlinburg on March 23, 973, but he died a few weeks later
• The formation of the estate monarchies in Western Europe
• Early History of England

  • Roman rule: Caesar and Hadrian = Romanization of the Celts - Hadrian's Wall against Celtic attacks
  • In the 2nd century, the emergence and spread of Christianity among the Celts and Romans
  • At the end of the 4th century, the Celts and Scots breached the fortified border and occupied the province of Britannia
  • The Germanic Anglo-Saxons arrived (from the present-day territory of Denmark) in search of new settlements (called upon by the Celts for assistance!)
  • They put an end to Roman rule
  • The Romans evacuated their province, and the Celts confronted the barbarians (the legend of King Arthur)
  • The Anglo-Saxons, initially called for help, turned into conquerors
  • They established seven kingdoms (heptarchy)
  • From the 7th century, they became acquainted with Christianity
  • Good relations with the Carolingians
• Viking attacks lasted from 793 to 1066
• They established a kingdom in York
• By the end of the 800s, every English kingdom had submitted to them, except Wessex
• Alfred the Great


  • Laid the foundations of administrative unity (county, shire)
  • Reached an agreement with the Danes
• Under his successors, the assimilation of conquerors and the English accelerated significantly - success in uniting the Anglo-Saxons (Wessex as the leading power in England)
• In 1016, Cnut the Great occupied and annexed England
• Annexation


  The merging of one state with another, the incorporation of one state into another
• After Cnut's death, his sons were unsuccessful, and the empire fell apart
• Edward the Confessor (1042-1066) was raised in Normandy by a Norman mother
• Norman priests and advisors arrived with Edward the Confessor
• Norman and Anglo-Saxon conflicts led to power falling into the hands of Edward's brother-in-law, Harold, leader of the English party
• William, the Norman Duke / Conqueror / I, also claimed the throne (illegitimate lineage = bastard)
• William achieved a decisive victory at Hastings


  October 14, 1066
• Harold and most nobles perished on the battlefield
• A new chapter in English history began
• William the Conqueror


  • Created a strict feudal system
  • In 1086 demanded oaths of loyalty from everyone
  • Conducted a census of England's residents and their properties = Domesday Book
• King Henry I (1100-1135)


  • Completed the organization of the state
  • Established the royal treasury
  • Appointed sheriffs at the head of counties
  • The Investiture Controversy concluded under his rule
  • After his heir's death his dynasty became extinct = was replaced by the new Plantagenet dynasty
• The French dynasty on the English throne = vassals of the French king = the king of England got involved in the conflicts of the French
• King Henry II (1154-1189)


  • Established French family connections through marriage
  • Possessed extensive lands in France (Normandy, Brittany, Anjou, Aquitaine, Gascony, Auvergne)
  • Thomas Becket became the Archbishop of Canterbury (Henry's Chancellor)
• Richard the Lionheart (1189-1199) actively participated in the Third Crusade