AP European History Chapter Breakdown

It reached Europe in 1347. In a few years up to 50 percent of the population died, with higher mortality rates in urban areas. It returned every few years for centuries.

As compared to its experience in the early Middle Ages, Europe in the High Middle Ages was a. more decentralized. c. less militaristic. b. less isolated. d. more religiously diverse. Which is the best summary of the authors’ introductory overview of the late Middle Ages? a. Political and religious institutions grew steadily stronger throughout Europe. b. Populations grew, while cultural institutions faced severe challenges. c. Political conflicts

The later Middle Ages is characterized as a time of great transition and advancement, especially pertaining to areas of politics, economics, art and intellect. A new trend towards the pursuit of new knowledge and ideas first emerged in fifteenth century Renaissance Italy. This new area of intellect marks the emergence of humanism, which essentially came to be the defining characteristic leading up to the Scientific Revolution in the eighteenth

Europe went through an era fueled by the search of truth and grand ambitions. This was a time period was characterized by much advancement in the sciences, politics, philosophy, and the arts.

The middle ages were regarded as a dark and desolate time period in history. Society during this time has no social progress, incessant wars, extreme violence, and no improvement to intellect or education. The Renaissance marked the end of the middle ages lasting roughly from the early 1400s to the 17th century. The Renaissance was exceptionally different from the Dark Ages because of many evolutions to the human intellect, social climate, and the beliefs of Renaissance men. During the bridge between the middle ages and present times the Renaissance innovated art, architecture, philosophy, science, and literature. Also, there was s shift from heavily relying on the church to a focus on humanism. William Manchester author of A World Lit Only by Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance, Portrait of an Age discusses the concept of the medieval mind, the culture of the Renaissance, and significant changes during these time periods. According to Manchester the end of the middle ages and the beginning of the Renaissance is referred to as ‘The Shattering.’ ‘The Shattering’ is the destruction of the medieval world view, “the implications of the Renaissance appear to be obvious. It was astonishing that no one saw where is was leading” (Manchester, 26). The previous medieval mindset was challenged frequently by religious shifts and numerous prominent historical individuals. ‘The Shattering’ occurred because of a shift in mindset and worldview caused by changes in the church and

The European High Middle Ages, which lasted from about 1050 to 1300, evoke for many people romantic images of knights in shining armor, magnificent castles, and glorious cathedrals. And to many people, the word medieval (Latin medium aevum; "middle age") wrongly suggests a cultural intermission between the classical period of the Greek and Roman civilizations and the Renaissance. On the contrary, the High Middle Ages was a dynamic period that shaped European identity and development, stimulated in part by Europe’s interactions with other cultures in Eurasia and the Mediterranean. Many of the basic social and political patterns and institutions later associated with European history were formed during this era. Clear political boundaries and cultural identities emerged in the British Isles, France, Germany, Italy, eastern Europe, Iberia, and Scandinavia. Between 1000 and 1300, a chain reaction of developments in economy, society, and political life contributed to new trends in religion, scholarship, literature, and other arts—trends that shaped European culture to the present day.

The Middle Ages provides historians with various examples of concepts like kingship, church, warfare, politics, and health. Historians are able to explore events during the middle ages to determine how society operated and what mindset medieval people had. The middle ages is split into three sections early (500-1000), high or central (1000-1300), and late (1300-1500). This paper is going to delve into some similarities and differences between the high and late middle ages specifically looking at religion, politics, and warfare.

The term humanism is not one of a single definition. To different scholars and in different contexts, humanism means a variety of belief systems, people and lifestyle choices. Popularized during the Italian Renaissance, some scholars identify humanism as an ideology that “stressed the dignity of humankind, individualism, and secular values.” Comparatively, others saw it as the progressive thinking of those who went against the Catholic Church and studied the pagan teachings of the ancient Greeks. Lastly, humanism was also seen as a form of “scholarship adopted to promote above all a sense of civic responsibility and political liberty.” Today, humanism is described as “the scholarly study of the Latin and Greek classics and of the ancient Church

People use the saying “Middle Ages” to tell about the time period Europe went through between the decline of the Roman Empire and the start of the Renaissance around the time of 5th to the 15th century. The representation of Europe during the Middle Ages as stagnant is an accurate statement. This can be proven through the lack of development in the economic, political, and religious categories.

Directly following the scientific and cultural atrophy of the Early Middle Ages (5th C.-10th C. CE), more commonly referred to by the colloquial epithet of “The Dark Ages”, came the intellectual and spiritual eras of the High Middle Ages (11th-13th C. CE) and Late Middle Ages (14th C. CE-15th C. CE). Following the stagnation of the Early Middle Ages, the five century span directly succeeding the period would be marked by numerous developments in intellectual pursuits, as works and concepts from Greek antiquity were reclaimed by medieval scholars and advancements from Arabic scholars began to make their way to Western Europe, as well as the growth of esoteric, mystical, and superstitious beliefs as the population of Western Europe rapidly increased

(Jordan M. Ahn). These thinkers were also known as “humanists”. They believed that rather than being subject to God, man should be subject to study. Investigations in writings of ancient Greece and Rome, astronomy, anatomy, science, and much more began to blossom from the depths of the human psyche (Fabio Castellan). Feelings and emotions were key to illustrating humanism and in turn became the heart of modern literature.

We as a society see the history of Europe as if it had taken off with the Renaissance. Typically, the timeframe of the Early Middle Ages, from around 500 A.D. to 1500 A.D., is seen through the perspective that common advances such as education and cultural growth were slim to none. For this reason, the period is known as the Dark Ages. The span of time was initially labeled as such simply due to bias towards Latin literature at the time, and the reasons for the name snowballed. However, the coined term could not be more misleading or further from the truth. This is because the ‘Dark Ages’ were actually a point in Europe’s history awash with forward movement and achievements such as: the birth of universities, increasing fairness of laws, and an

At the turn of the 14th century, Italian thinkers desired to rewrite society as they saw and dreaded the pain and hate brought onto humanity by Medieval times. Humanists returned to the teachings of the ancient greats to rewrite European civilizations. The Middle Ages were times of chaos and lack of admiration for beauty. Artists of that time were confined in strict rules forced onto them by the clergy or by laic rulers as rival sovereigns waged war upon war for their own glory.

Throughout the Renaissance, notions and theories reformed significantly. Humanism, a vital portion of the Renaissance, focused on nonspiritual concepts and theories and the significance of promoting individual’s thoughts and morals. This movement depicted stimulation from the early Greek and Roman

Humanism was the intellectual movement of the Renaissance period, in which individuals concentrated on life in the present rather than life after death. Two major works from the period of the Renaissance, at different ends of the spectrum, illustrated this new way of thinking; a self-consciousness to the here and now as opposed to the predominating theme or focus of the Middle Ages, the afterlife. Giovanni Pico della Mirandola’s Oration on the Dignity