-
Period: 500 to 1500
The Middle Ages / Medieval Period
-[Fall of Roman Empire] ~ [Renaissance/Age of Discovery]
-no scientific accomplishments made, no great art produced, no great leaders born
-squandered the advancements of predecessors
-“barbarism and religion” (Edward Gibbon) -
Period: 500 to 1000
Early Middle Ages
-time when a massive political confederation (western Roman Empire) was slowly reconstructing itself into new political units
-period of cultural and technological stagnation
-weak economy -
Period: 800 to
The Holy Roman Empire
-developed during early middle ages
-first emperor?: Frankish king Charlemagne (800)/ Otto I (962)
-confederation of (mostly) Germanic territories/kingdoms in central Europe
-pope had no formal authority in the empire -
Period: 1000 to 1300
High Middle Ages
-Was the time of...
›troubadours (a poet who writes verse to music)
›soaring Gothic cathedrals
›vigorous scientific & philosophical inquiry
›quasi-modern literature (ex: letters of Abelard and Héloïse) -fairly disproves idea that “nothing” was going on during the middle ages -
1054
The Great Schism
-breakup of the Christian church into two sections
(the separation of the Roman and Byzantine branches)
-branches: Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox
-causes:
›political, cultural, economic, social, theological differences
›political unity of Mediterranean world shaken and finally destroyed through the barbarian invasions (west) & the rise of Islam (east)
›breakup of the Roman empire (difficult to govern as a whole)
›different languages (decreased communication) -
Period: 1300 to 1500
Late Middle Ages (the Renaissance)
-agricultural decline (climate change & soil exhaustion) -famine and black death -
Period: 1347 to 1351
The Black Death
-disastrous mortal disease/ bubonic plague
-one of the most devastating pandemics in human history
-killed 30%-60% of Europe's population
-carried by oriental rat fleas living on the black rats (merchant ships) -spreaded throughout the Mediterranean and Europe -
Period: 1400 to
The Scientific Revolution
-cause: collaboration, development of new experimental methods, academic publishing
-series of events that marked the emergence of modern science during the early modern period
-developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology (including human anatomy) and chemistry
-ex. of development / discovery:
Universal Gravitation (Newton) - states that every particle of matter attracts every other particle with a force proportional to the product of the two masses -
Period: 1517 to
The Reformation
-schism in Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther in 16th century Europe
-publication of the Ninety-five Theses by Martin Luther in 1517 ~ the end of the Thirty Years' War in 1648
-core motivation: theological;
›rise of nationalism
›the Western Schism (eroded loyalty to the Papacy)
›the perceived corruption of the Roman Curia
›the impact of humanism
›the new learning of the Renaissance (questioned much traditional thoughts) -
Period: to
Age of Enlightenment / Reason
-included a range of ideas:
›the primary source of authority and legitimacy
›advance ideals: liberty, progress, tolerance, fraternity, constitutional government, separation of church and state
-marked by an emphasis on the scientific method & increased questioning of religious orthodoxy
-questioned traditional authority & embraced the concept that humanity could be improved through rational change
-produced numerous books, essays, inventions, scientific discoveries, laws, wars, revolutions