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The Medieval Period: A Time of Great Change and Discovery
A broad look at how Europe changed between roughly 500 and 1500: new farming tools, growing towns, universities, printing, and widening knowledge of the world.
Empires and Wars
Era Overviews
Broad looks at the medieval period and its themes of change.
The Medieval Period: A Time of Great Conflict and Diplomacy
How medieval rulers used war, marriage alliances, envoys, oaths and treaties to gain and keep power, and why fighting and negotiation often went together.
The Medieval Period: A Time of Great Cultural and Intellectual Achievement
A tour of medieval literature, art, architecture and music, and why historians now reject the old idea of the Middle Ages as a long dark age.
The Medieval Period: A Time of Great Exploration and Conquest
How Norse seafarers, Normans, Iberian kingdoms, crusaders and others expanded their reach by force and settlement during the Middle Ages, and what the results were.
The Medieval Period: A Time of Great Exploration and Discovery
How pilgrims, merchants, envoys and other travelers moved across the medieval world, and how their journeys shaped maps and what Europeans knew about distant lands.
The Medieval Period: A Time of Great Intellectual and Cultural Achievement
How medieval universities, scholastic thought and the translation of Greek and Arabic works built a lasting tradition of learning in Europe.
The Medieval Period: A Time of Great Social and Economic Change
How towns grew, population rose and then fell, and relations between lords and peasants shifted across the Middle Ages, with the Black Death as a major turning point.
Related topics
More in empires and wars
Rome and the Carolingians How the Roman west gave way to new kingdoms and how Charlemagne empire later broke apart. The Byzantine Empire The eastern Roman state, its power, its legacy and its end at Constantinople. The Crusades Causes, campaigns and consequences of the crusading movement. The Crusader States The Latin lordships founded in the East and the fall of Jerusalem. Templars and Hospitallers The great military and charitable orders of the crusading world. The Hundred Years War The long English and French conflict and the Black Prince. Realms and Empires The Holy Roman Empire, the Ottomans and the dynastic wars of England. Ottomans and Iberia The early Ottomans, the fall of Constantinople and the Reconquista. Norman Conquests The Norman takeover of England and the later push into Ireland. City-States Self-governing medieval cities, from Italian republics to royal Paris. Rise of the Kingdoms How England, France, Burgundy and the Holy Roman Empire took shape. The Vikings Norse raiders, traders and settlers and their impact on Europe and England. Famous Battles and Sieges Individual clashes beyond Hastings and Agincourt and what each changed.