The Middle Ages It began in 476 and ended according to some historians in 1453 with the fall of Eastern Roman Empire and according to others in 1492 with the discovery of America. For a long time it was believed that in the Middle Ages humanity had not progressed, but today it is valued differently, it was the origin of many nations, new geographical knowledge and better economic conditions. The Middle Ages can be divided into two periods.
- The High Middle Ages , which began in the 5th century with the barbarian invasions and ended in the 10th century when the Normans, Saracens, and Hungarians invaded Europe.
- The late Middle Ages , which began in the 11th century and lasted until the 15th century. This period is in turn divided into two stages:the medieval heyday, which spanned from the 11th to the 13th century, and the crisis, between the 14th and 15th centuries.
Three great civilizations
With the Middle Ages, Mediterranean uniformity was broken and the world was divided into three political-religious units:the Christian West, the Christian East and Islam .
For centuries, the Christian West was the most backward. In this territory various Germanic kingdoms created the foundations of a political, economic and social system that characterized Christian Europe at that time:the feudal system.
The Christian East (Byzantium) it constituted a long-lasting empire, which combined the Greek heritage with the Roman and Eastern traditions.
Islam For its part, it achieved through a fulminating expansion in the 7th and 8th centuries to form a cultural area that largely endures to the present day.