The Middle Age

The Middle Age has been portrayed as a tumultuous period that started from the fall of Rome in 476 AD to the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation in 1517.  In spite of all the negative depictions of the period, the two most important contributions of this period are: (1) the rise of independent nations out of the fragmentation of the former Roman Empire; and (2) the rise of urban towns which eventually became centers of trade and sustained economic activity in Europe.

Morris Bishop, in the book The Middle Ages, describes this period of European history both as “a continuation and a formation.” It is a continuation in the sense that it continued the Roman legacy and civilizations, assimilating the “barbaric” civilizations along the way (Bishop, p. 7). But more importantly, this is a formation, according to Bishop, because out of this period emerged the modern Europe of our times.

Out of the ashes of the former “grandeur that was Rome” arose independent nations with a common language and tradition. The Carolingian Empire founded by Charlemagne in 800 AD was subdivided into different geographical patches because of inheritance over his grandsons and great grandsons. These geo-political subdivisions of Europe eventually defined the boundaries of modern Europe as we now know it. It gave birth to the independent nations of France, England, and the Italian city-states. Moreover, it was during the Middle Age that the masses of the different regions of the former empire developed their vernaculars (from Latin vernaculus, “out of one’s house”) that eventually became the modern languages.

During the height of the Roman Empire, Latin was used as the language of nobility, politics and church. In medieval times, the Christianized “barbaric” tribes gradually developed their own version of Latin. The geo-political subdivisions mentioned earlier hastened the rise of these vernaculars that would later develop into independent languages of Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese. With common political background and language, the independent kingdoms arose. The Crusades also helped strengthen these newly-created kingdoms by weakening the hold of the nobility and ending the feudal system, thus making the nobles swear allegiance to the king. Indeed, much of Europe’s boundaries, geographically and politically, were in essence created during the Middle Age.

Economic activity during the early Middle Age was almost halted by the constant wars that plagued the boundaries of the former empire. Transferring goods from one location to another proved dangerous, and with the rise of Muslim armies controlling east of the Mediterranean, trading between the eastern and western regions of the empire declined. The latter part of the Medieval Period, however, was characterized as a period of relative peace, and even though there were political instabilities, especially within the crumbling Byzantine Empire, trading flourished within commercial districts and towns.

The medieval towns laid the foundations of trading that now characterize modern economy. The system of economy shifted from the land-based feudalism to that of money-based mercantilism. Merchants emerged, and they engaged in banking, which financed economic activity. Even kings and nobles borrow money from the merchant class, and they were regarded as an important component of the society. With the rise of the merchant class, the material growth led to the fostering of the arts and literature, as these merchants became patrons of the arts and supporters of artists.

Citizens engaging in the businesses or the trades established guilds to promote mutual aid and protection, the forerunners of present-day labor unions. Even the land laborers, who were then very much oppressed, were empowered during this period, as described by Barbara Rosenwein: “Peasants, like town citizens, gained a new sense of identity and solidarity as they bargained with a lord keen to increase his income at their expense” (Rosenwein, p. 224).

In summary, the Middle Age created a strong and materially progressive Europe. The independent nations of modern-day Europe owes much to the events that occurred during the period between 500 and 1500 AD.  The Middle Age also created an atmosphere of active trading and economic activity, which in turn caused proliferation of the arts and culture.

Bishop, Morris. The Middle Ages. Houghton Mifflin Books, 2001.

Rosenwein, Barbara. A Short History of the Middle Ages. Broadway Press, 2004.