Comparison Of Early

& High Medieval (Middle Ages) Period Essay, Research Paper

The Middle Ages was the period between ancient and modern times in Europe. It was also known as the Medieval period. It was a time of great change. Before the Middle Ages, Western Europe was part of the Roman Empire. After the Middle Ages, Western Europe included the last remains of the Holy Roman Empire and the countries of England and France, which are still around today. The turning point of the Middle Ages and of European history was the year 1000, which marked the collapse of an old civilization and separated it from the appearance of a new one. In this essay, I will compare the early Medieval period to the High Medieval period, based on in-class lectures, the manuscript given to us, and an online encyclopedia. The two periods will be compared in terms of geography, population, economics, society, politics, warfare, diplomacy, and culture.

First of all, during the beginning of the Early Medieval period most Europeans were still getting over the ‘fall’ of the Western Roman Empire. That had divided into small states controlled by Germanic tribes, also known as the barbarians. The Eastern Roman Empire then became the Byzantine Empire, yet they still called themselves Romans. Which is strange because they spoke Greek instead of Latin and changed the capital from Rome to Constantinople. Soon enough, however, the Byzantine Empire started losing territory to the rising-in-power Muslims. During the High Medieval period, agricultural improvements like invention of a more efficient plow and a harness for horse to pull it led to a big change in geography. Lots of Western Europeans started to move into the Eastern Mediterranean because of the Crusades. The Crusades were the many holy wars fought between the Christians and the Muslims for control of the holy land. Also, lots of Italians from the northern city-states moved into the Eastern Mediterranean coast because of the trade and Germanic knights colonizing the Baltic area and the Pagan Slavs. Spanish and French peasants, following the crusading knights from these countries, also settled along Western Europe. And the biggest bang of all in the geography department is in 1492, when Christopher Columbus ‘discovers’ the New World and opens the floodgates for colonization and migration there. This is really what is meant when talking about the ushering of a new era.

Next is the comparison of population. As the Western Roman Empire fell, the population in Europe decreased steadily. The collapse of the commercial economy of the Western Roman Empire, the loss of economic stability, the diseases going around, and the barbarian attacks and abuses led to a drastic decrease in population all over Europe after the Western Roman Empire fell. Soon enough, the uncivilized started outnumbering the civilized, and this was the perfect set up for feudalism. During the High Medieval period, feudalism was the government of choice. It was highly accepted throughout Europe. Because of this and the agricultural developments mentioned earlier, population took off. During the beginning of the High Medieval period, the population doubled in 350 years, from 40 to 80 million people. This led to a growth in towns, trade, and a more organized economy. These in turn all led to a bigger population. However, around the 1300’s the population got too big for the land and the resources. This led to huge famines and a terrible plague called the Black Death, which killed around 25 million people.

The next category to be analyzed is economy. Needless to say, the collapse of the Western Roman Empire left tremendous damage on the economy of all of Europe. The economy transformed into a subsistence economy, with each local estate producing only what was necessary for their survival. This is very typical trait in feudalism. Trade for luxuries remained, but it was very limited. This stabilized the economy, but kept it at a minimum. The transition to the High Medieval period brung agricultural improvements, but this stabilized the economy rather than expanded it. However, soon enough trade and manufacturing appeared stronger because of this. Connections to the luxury trade became stronger with China and the silk produced there. After the economy stabilized, it started growing again. Trade and Manufacturing started growing fast in Europe, and organizations called trade guilds started popping up to regulate the quality and prices of products.

The next department to be analyzed is society. Society is very much tied to economy and how it’s going, and as economical power died, so did society. Instead of many different social classes, after the Western Roman Empire fell there became only two social classes, landlord and peasant. The landlords were usually warriors who led other warriors. They conquered their estate, and all the warriors had a part in it, a piece of land called a fief. They all defended it from attackers, whether the attackers attacked one small part of the land or all of it. The warriors were called vassals. The leader was usually the strongest or the smartest general within the warriors. He was called the lord. Most of the peasants worked the land for the lord and got some of the food grown in return. These people were called serfs. This was all a part of the feudalistic government. During the beginning of the High Medieval period, nothing changed. In fact, these feudali