THREE PERIODS OF THE MIDDLE AGES

THE 'DARK' AGES (AD 500-1000)

To protect themselves from roving bands of invaders and primitive tribes, men were forced to sacrifice their freedom and independence for the security offered by rigid institutions. Insecurity in this world led to a demand for certainty to insure salvation, through religion, in the next world.

  1. Political - The institution of feudalism provided a system whereby an individual swore an oath (fealty) to offer his services and support to a feudal lord in exchange for protection from attack.

  2. Economic - The institution of manorialism provided economic and military security for the farmer in case of famine, raiding, etc., but he lost the freedom of private land ownership.

  3. Religious - Since St. Augustine, and other Church Fathers, had asserted the primacy of faith over reason, Roman Catholicism required the individual to submit his will and reason to the Church in exchange for salvation. Moreover, the individual was constantly reminded of his extreme guilt and sinfulness. This doctrine of 'natural depravity' was based on original sin and was later taken up by Calvinism (Swiss Reformed Church, Presbyterianism, Puritanism).

  4. Art - Basilica-type churches; Byzantine wall mosaics; Beowulf.

THE DAWN OF HUMANIZATION (AD 1000-1250)

The individual came to seek greater freedom and relaxation from the austerity of the previous period while managing to stay within the limits prescribed by the institutions described above.

  1. Socio-Political - Chivalry tended to humanize feudalism.

  2. Military - The Crusades offered opportunities for adventure and gain while putting men in contact with new ideas and exotic, luxurious cultures in the Near East.

  3. Economic - The rise of the cities, especially in Italy, resulted in a richer, more colorful life than that of the meager, dreary villages of medieval life.

  4. Religious - The Cult of the Virgin tended to soften the austerity of Augustinian faith. In addition, the rise of the Universities meant that the Church now recognized the need for reason and rational theology. At first, the schools were subordinate to the Church in their interpretation of theology through Aristotelian logic; they became instruments of change later. Finally, the Church's attitude toward 'sinful' sexual passion was challenged by the conventions of Courtly Love.

  5. Art - Romanesque monastery churches; Gothic cathedrals; rose windows; ribbed vaulting; illuminations; Song of Roland.

SYNTHESIS AND DISSOLUTION (AD 1250-1400)

Although the general framework of the medieval order remained intact, certain fundamental changes occurred which resulted in a brief high-water mark for civilization.

  1. Political - The rise of Nationalism meant allegiance to a political unit larger than a single nobleman's domain.

  2. Military - Wars were now fought for national sovereignty, e.g., the Hundred Years' War between England and France. Feudal warfare (armored cavalry) declines with the advent of the English longbow.

  3. Economic - Craftsman and businessmen gain considerable power in their guilds.

  4. Religious - Cathedrals provided a liturgical synthesis of sight (light and color), sound (hymns and chants) and odor (incense) to create a religious experience for the common man. In the intellectual realm, Thomas Aquinas provided a synthesis of faith and reason in his Summa Theologiae. Ultimately, the sentiment of romantic love, derived from the conventions of Courtly Love, was applied to a relationship which was meant to result in marriage, not adultery.

  5. Art - International Gothic; Giotto; Dante; Boccaccio; Petrarch; Chaucer.

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