Medieval Europe
The
Dark Ages. That's one of the terms used to describe nearly
1000 years of history-a history that is often hard to understand
due to a lack of surviving documents, and often is clouded
by myth and legends. Western Europe was under the rule of
hundreds of feudal lords and kings. Castles dominated the
landscape, and entire cities were built behind protective
walls.
The
Roman Empire formally legalized Christianity during the 4th
century, and soon afterward, the zeal and evangelism of practitioners
spread this faith throughout Western Europe as far west as
Ireland. The Church would be one of the most powerful medieval
institutions, controlling publication of books and the making
of laws. Much of medieval Europe's art and architecture has
a direct connection to the Christian church.
 Knights,
soldiers, peasants and pilgrims marched along European roads
and trails during the Crusades and brought back with them
stories of differing cultures, and began to adopt their architecture,
tales of Romance, and advances in medicine. Trade was both
a blessing and curse. Merchants began importing silks, cottons
and rare spices from all over the known world. But these ships
would also bring the horror that became known as the Black
Death. The disease ravaged Asia, before wiping out nearly
one-third of Western Europe.
Wars
took their toll, from William the Conqueror's invasion of
England in 1066, to the Hundred Year's War that ended in 1453,
there were few years that didn't see battles raging in some
part of Europe. This was an era of siege warfare-catapults,
trebuchets, battering rams, and towers. Men fought hand-to-hand
in the thousands in bloody conflicts using swords, axes, longbows,
crossbows, stones and daggers. Medieval Europe saw some humanity-changing
developments, such as Gutenberg's moveable types press in
the middle of the 15th century. This would bring printed material
to the masses, and improve communication between societies.
Marco Polo would popularize the account of his voyage to the
Orient, and intrigue Europeans about this exotic land.
Through
these centuries, Europe was slowly waking from a harsh slumber,
and begin to sow the seeds of a Renaissance.
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