We will only be studying this era in Europe. When the Roman Empire finally collapsed in 476AD, the Middle Ages, or Medieval Times, officially began. While the Middle Ages was unique in because the people no longer had the structure and organization of Rome, they replaced it with the love and devotion to Christ’s Holy Catholic Church. Some terms we will be studying are:
In Europe, during the thousand years known as the Middle Ages (476 – 1400s), people increasingly moved closer to Christ and His Church.
Feudalism
In Feudal Europe, land equaled power. Those people who possessed land (nobles and kings) had power over those people without land (serfs/peasants).
Religious Life
People who are called into a religious vocation, lead a religious life; they include: priests, monks, nuns, etc. Many of these religious were educated, faithful and a dominated influence on the daily lives of people living in the Medieval Era.
Islam
This is the faith of Muslims, which began with Muhammad during the Middle Ages in the Middle East.
Crusades
This was the epic battle between the Christian world and the Islamic world which began in 1096.
Modern Times:
This is the era in which we live. It has lasted for about 500-600 years and began with the Renaissance. Here are some of the terms you will be learning from the Renaissance.
Renaissance
The people who lived during the Renaissance (1400s-1600) became fascinated with the ideas and values of the people who had lived a thousand years earlier in Ancient Times. During the Renaissance, which began in Italy, people began rejected the ideas of the Middle Ages (which they called the Dark Ages) and moved toward the ideas of the ancients.
The word ‘renaissance’ means ‘rebirth’. It was the rebirth of the ideas from ancient Greece and Rome.
Renaissance achievements
The most positive effect of the Renaissance was that the people began to make discoveries which had been known to the people who lived during ancient times. These achievements included most of the ones listed above during ancient times:
While the achievements were great during the Renaissance, the negative side-effect was devastating. The Reformation is better described as the Protestant Revolution for it was a ‘protest’ or a ‘revolution’ against the One Holy and Apostolic Church founded by Christ. It began in 1517 and shattered the unity of the faith.
