Medieval Era (Meaning and Explanation)

We explain what the medieval era, its characteristics and its stages was. In addition, its economy, society, the role of the Church and more.

What was the medieval era?

The medieval era, also called Middle or Middle Ages, is One of the four periods of the history of humanity. It is among the old age, which ended with the fall of the Roman Empire of the West in the 5th century d. C., and the Modern Age, which began with the discovery of America in 1492.

Traditionally, the medieval era was considered a time of ignorance, superstition and social oppressionunlike the ancient age and the modern age, which were valued for their developments in the arts and sciences. However, historical studies clarified this vision and demonstrated the importance of the period in political, economic, social and cultural aspects.

The medieval era is also a period that refers especially to the past of European societies. It covers different types of social and political organizationbut it is commonly related to the development of feudalism, the preeminence of gentlemen as feudal lords, the imposition of Christian dogma throughout society and the subjection of the peasants to the earth.

During medieval times, The Muslim religion appeared and expanded through Muslim Califatos And, in contrast, Christianity became a symbol of unity and identity of the different European societies.

At this time the legends of King Arturo and the round table, Robin Hood and Juana de Arco.

Stages of medieval times

The medieval era is divided into two main stages:

High Middle Ages. It took place between the IX and XI centuries d. C. and was characterized by the creation of a feudal regime as a social, commercial and hierarchical system. The King’s figures, the nobles and the clergy formed the upper class (or also called “privileged”) and, on the other hand, was the lower class formed by peasants, artisans and slaves.
Low Middle Ages. It took place between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries d. C. And it was characterized by the decline of the church and monarchical power, hunger, pests and crusades, which consisted of eight military campaigns promoted by the Catholic Church against Palestine. Many of Europe’s intellectual and political structures remained intact, between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, managed to regain intellectual and economic strength and settled the foundations of the cultural movement of the Renaissance, which was a period of transition between the medieval era and the Modern Age.

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Economy of the medieval era

Since the beginning of the ninth century, the earth became the main source of wealth. With the emergence of feudalism, in which the upper minority class owned most of the fiefs, The land began to exploit with the work of the peasants.

At the end of the eleventh century agricultural production increaseddue to the climatic conditions that were favorable in the sowing seasons and technological advances, such as water mills and the triennial rotation of the crops. As a consequence, the food of the population improved, the famine and pests decreased and a gradual population growth occurred.

This population increase encouraged the resurgence of cities. The new inhabitants of the Burgos (neighborhoods or new population settlements), They dedicated themselves to trade their artisanal production by agricultural products. Over time, some of these bourgeois became exclusively merchants and reactivated long -range trade.

Society at medieval times

In medieval times society was hierarchical and unequal. I was divided into different levelsthat is, social strata differentiated by economic and legal conditions. The belonging to an estate was designated by birth and, in general, there was no social mobility.

The Christian Church legitimized the stately inequality and argued that the social order had been created by God. From this perspective, the different social groups fulfilled differentiated functions to specify the divine designs on Earth:

Clergy. The Oratores (In Latin, “those who pray”) represented the spiritual defense of society. Church members were integrated into the feudal system. The ecclesiastical nobility (bishops and abbots) had great feuds and lived on the taxes that the peasants had to pay.
Warrior nobility. The Bellators (In Latin, the warriors) dealt with military defense. The lay lords were educated as gentlemen who had to attend to the protection of their lands, those of their king (to which they gave vassalage) and those of their own vassals. They formed an aristocracy whose members enjoyed privileges: they did not work for their livelihood, they gave justice in their lands and did not pay taxes.
Peasantry. The Laborators (In Latin, the workers) were dedicated to work the land and generate sustenance for the whole society. While there were free peasants owners of their own lands, the majority of the population was composed of servant peasants who were subject to the lands that made up a feudal manor.

With the resurgence of cities, A new urban social class called bourgeoisie appeared. The bourgeois were the inhabitants of the cities and dedicated themselves to trade, to artisanal production and monetary exchanges. Over time, the great merchants and enriched bankers formed the high bourgeoisie; Instead, artisans and small merchants integrated bourgeoisie.

The Catholic Church in medieval times

Medieval Era Catholic Church — The Christian Church exerted a lot of influence in medieval society.

Most European inhabitants were Christians. They all formed what was known as the “Christianity” and the Church maintained its unity.

In addition to the body of believers, The Church was made up of the clergywhich included the Pope, Cardinals, Archbishops and Bishops, Abbots, Priests, friars, monks and nuns. It was considered that the clergy as a whole acted as guardian of the faith. The Pope reserved the right of excommunication, that is, the possibility of declaring that someone was left out of Christianity and could not receive the sacraments.

The Church marginalized and excluded other religions, such as Judaism, and fight openly against Islam. Since the eleventh century, the Pope, with the support of the feudal lords, undertook the reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula that was under the power of the Muslim Califatos. They managed to conquer the total peninsula only in 1492 d. C. and most Muslims were expelled from the lands.

In addition, between the XI and XIII centuries, the different potatoes organized “the crusades”: armed expeditions in order to reconquer Jerusalem, in Palestine. Many Christians participated in the crusades motivated by faith, but these campaigns also created opportunities for the knights to loot populations and come into war. The Christians managed to conquer Jerusalem for some time, but they lost it again to the Muslims in 1291 and the Crusades ended.

Besides, The Christian Church persecuted those who considered heretics; that is, to those who interpreted religious faith in a different way from that backed by the Church. With this objective, in the twelfth century the Church created the Inquisition: an ecclesiastical court that was in charge of detecting and condemning those who practiced witchcraft or other heresies. The condemnations of the Inquisition court could be very hard: from torture to deaths in the bonfire.

Art in medieval times

During the medieval era, different artistic and currents of thought arose that were especially linked to religious representation and power figures. The different artistic movements were expressed especially in the architecture and decoration of large constructions:

He Byzantine art of the Roman Empire of the East combined the Roman legacy with the Christian images and a new use of space: vaulted covers and domes, and decorations of geometric mosaics and with figurative representations. The Church of Hagia Sophia, in Constantinople, was an example of the greatness of Byzantine constructions.
He Islamic art He prospered in the Muslim Califatos and manifested especially in the construction of great works such as the Great Mosque of Córdoba, the Bab Al-Mardum Mosque in Toledo or the Alhambra Palace in Granada.
Of the Romanesque art The great buildings of buildings such as cathedrals, castles, abbeys, walls, among other works, which have in common the strength and solidity of their walls, low height and the use of the vault are highlighted. Examples of this architecture are the abbey of Saint Etcane, the Basilica of San Marcos or the castle of Carcassonne.
He Gothic artlinked to the Romanesque, marked the change of style in the search for height, the solidity of lighter walls and coronation with cruise vaults. In the decorations of the interior and exterior walls, the statues and the motives were more expressive and figurative than in Romanesque art, which preceded him. Some examples of Gothic art are Notre Damme’s cathedral, Westminster’s abbey and the Duomo de Orvieto.

End of medieval times

Historians use different events to mark the end of medieval times. Some specialists see in the fall of the Roman Empire of the East, with the taking of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453 d. C., the end of the Middle Ages.

Others stand out in 1492 d. C. as the end of the periodsince it was the year in which the Christian reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula was completed and, at the same time, the year in which Columbus arrived in America for the first time and discovered, for the Europeans, the unknown continent.

These events are milestones that stand out in a deeper network of changes that occurred gradually in European society. The appearance of the bourgeoisie as a free and enriched social class, exempt from feud-voucatic relations was a key factor for the transition to the modern age.

The economic crisis of the fourteenth century and the black plague generated an extreme decrease in the amount of population and, consequently, the power of the feudal lords was weakened in the face of peasant labor.

Continue with: Modern Age

References

Romero, JL (2013). The Middle Ages. Economic Culture Fund.
Pirene, H., Van Werveke, H., Echevarría, S., & Soler-Vinyes, M. (1939). Economic and social history of the Middle Ages. Economic Culture Fund.
De Libera, A., & Lanceros, P. (2000). “Introduction” in Think about the Middle Ages. Editorial Anthropos.