Timeline

• Late-Roman Period


  • Dissolving of Roman state
  • Migrants into Roman empire
  • Demographic decline
  • Archaeological phenomena: fortifications on hilltops, weapon burials, settlements
• Merovingian Period


  • After royal lineage of Merovingians (king Merovech, but best‐known king = Clovis (466‐511))
  • Continuity of some Roman structures
  • Franks, Burgundians, Goths, Alamanni, Anglo‐Saxons, Langobards
  • Art: animal style
  • Archaeological phenomena: cemeteries, settlements
• Carolingian Period


  • After lineage of the Carolingians
  • Most famous king: Charlemagne / Karel de Grote (768‐814)
  • Expansion of Carolingian empire
  • Cultural and economic flowering period 8th/9th century
  • Formation of manorial system
  • Growing influence of church and monasteries
  • Incursions of Vikings, Magyars (Hungarians) and Saracens
  • Berber conquest of Spain: Al‐Andalus, early 8th century
  • Archaeological phenomena: trading settlements, fortresses churches and palaces
• Central Middle Ages


  • Royal lineages of the Ottonians (Otto I the Great, Otto II, III, Henry I, II) and Salians
  • Fragmentation of Carolingian empire (in East and West‐Francia, Lothringia)
  • Rise of feudalism – counts and dukes become important castles
  • Christianity goes rural: many new parish churches
  • New monastic orders (Cistercians, Premonstratensians)
  • Bishops become important (Liège, Cologne, Utrecht)
  • Expansion of agrarian economy
  • Art: Romanesque (11th‐12th) and Gothic style (12th‐16th century)
  • Music: Hildegard von Bingen (1098‐1179)
  • Archaeological phenomena: castles, churches, rural settlements, reclamations
• Late Middle Ages


  • Rise of towns
  • Monasteries in towns, mendicant orders
  • Decline of manorial system and feudalism
  • Urban mercantilism penetrates rural areas
  • Crisis: plague, famines and wars
  • Hanseatic league (1250‐1500)
  • Crafts become professional (cloth, iron, ceramics)
  • Music: Jacob Obrecht, Johannes Ockeghem, Josquin des Prez
  • Archaeological phenomena: towns, diversification of material culture
• Early Modern Period


  • Europe: religious wars, Thirty Years' War
  • Demographic decline 17th century
  • Discovery of the New World
• Low Countries


  • Netherlands and Belgium separated
  • Mass migration of Flemish to Holland (Amsterdam, Leiden)
  • Dutch Golden Century: 1550‐1650
  • Art: renaissance (15th‐16th), baroque (1600‐1740)
  • Archaeological phenomena: geometric fortifications, mills, rise of Delft ware
• Modern Period


  • Dutch Republic loses its dominant position to England
  • New food: potatoes, chocolate, tea and coffee
  • Industrial revolution 1750
  • Art: baroque (1600‐1740), rococo (1740‐1780) and neoclassicism
  • Music: J.S. Bach (1685‐1750) and W.A. Mozart (1756‐1791)
  • Archaeological phenomena: Chinese porcelain, Delft ware, industrial wares