Middle ages in the European history lasted from the 5th century to 15th century. The era began during the collapse of the Roman Empire and later merged into Age of Discovery and Renaissance. It is worth noting that middle age refers to the middle era of the western history, which is divided into three. These include the Modern period, the medieval period, as well as the antiquity period. Middle age is a period that is mostly associated with the end of antiquity. Middle age was affected by the migration of people in the 3rd century (Newman, 2001). During these era artists and writers assert that there was no art, no leaders and no scientific accomplishments had been made. People who lived in the Middle Ages squandered the several accomplishments made by predecessors.
Some of the things that are focused during the middle Ages include the crusades, rise of Islam, economics, art, architecture, and Catholic Church. During the Middle Ages, there was a gradual growth of the kingdom. Some of these kingdoms led to the foundation of Europeans states and produced rulers. One of the greatest rulers in the Middle Ages was Charlemagne. The collapse of Charlemagne leadership led to restructuring of the medieval society (Bildhauer & Mills, 2003). In fact, in the history of Middle Ages 11th-13th century was the critical point of barbaric civilization. On the same note, the Church became stronger, and the powers of the pope increased leading to clash with emperor (Newman, 2001). On the same note, economy and society in general began to flourish. The population growth and towns began to flourish during the Middle Ages.
Medieval civilization reached the climax in the 13th century. These were marked by emergence of the Gothic Architecture and the appeared of new religious order. In fact, the religious and church activities were dominated by the elite and intellectuals in society (Friedman, 2000). The deadline of Middle Ages was marked by the end of barbaric governments, papal schism, economic collapse, as well as critique of philosophy and medieval theology. Diseases and famine led to the collapse of economy and decrease of population.
The Monstrous Middle Ages entails the cultural use whereby monstrosity was put in the Middle Ages. Monstrosity is bound up with deformity and body image, horror and hybridity, as well as knowledge and nature. Monstrous Middle Ages is asserted to be an era full of monstrous, which in the real sense tend to challenge the aspects of modernity (Bildhauer & Mills, 2003). Since the middle Ages, there are various information that elaborate on the presence of monstrous people that were living at the edge of the world. In the 1sr century, it is believed that there were extraordinary races of human beings that lived in Ethiopia and India. Some of the features that described the monstrous people include mouthless, hairy, men with dog head, one-legged, as well as giant feet. In fact, during the Monstrous Middle Ages, the extraordinary races influenced part of religious practices. In fact, antique monster became part of various issues in the Christian framework.
During the Monstrous Middle Ages, Christians asserted that the monstrous humans tested their ethics and naivety. The Monstrous races are believed to endure through the entire Middle Ages (Friedman, 2000). The rhetoric of monstrosity was descriptively issues in Early Medieval and Late Antique on issues of geography. The monstrous creatures during the era were taken to be at the heart of pagan apocalypse.
References
Bildhauer, B., & Mills, R. (2003). The monstrous Middle Ages. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Friedman, J. B. (2000). The monstrous races in medieval art and thought. Syracuse, N.Y: Syracuse University Press.
Newman, P. B. (2001). Daily life in the Middle Ages. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland & Co.
