Introduction
Medieval period is not a new term, and it frequently appears in the history classes and is mainly used to point out that period in history characterized by the commencing of the renaissance period, in the fourteenth century. Moreover, many scholars refer to this period as the middle ages and sometimes the dark ages. This period also denotes the beginning of the fall of the Roman Empire, about 476 CE. This period implies that the society that the people were living in the fifteenth century was more civilized and significant than the previous civilizations that have ever existed for thousands of years in so many ways. Even though, the middle Ages is overlooked by scholars, they are slowly approving the middle ages. The medieval period has very distinct characteristics that distinguish it from the other time periods, early renaissance and late renaissance.
Rise of the medieval Catholic Church
With regards to the fallen Roman Empire in the fifteenth century during the renaissance period, the society lacked in any form of order due to the absence of a state and even government. As a result, the Catholic Church took over control and it became a very powerful institution in those times, the medieval period (Clifford, DeVries and France 218). During this crucial moment, the leaders of the various regions maintained and possessed power as a result of their alliances with the Catholic Church. For instance, Pope Leo III, in 800 CE, named King Charlemagne as the Roman Emperor. As a proof of their power, the normal people who were not leaders, in other words, commoners had to tithe up to ten percent of their earnings to the church annually. Apart from that, they were always exempted from taxation in the medieval ages, and such policies enabled it to gain and accumulate money, control and even more power.
Rise of the medieval Islam religion
In the medieval periods, the Islamic world was also gaining popularity as well as power let alone increasing in its size. Their beloved prophet Muhammad is said to have died in 632 CE. As a result, the Muslim guided armies sought to control Middle East and so they attacked and seized large parts of the Middle East. Despite the fact that the Christians were controlling the Roman Empire in the medieval era, the Islam word grew to thrice the size of the Christian world. Great and powerful cities like Cairo and Baghdad sprung from the ground under their great religious and civil leaders, the caliphs, and so did their cultural and intellectual lives foster accordingly. For instance, the poets and philosophers together with their scientists wrote many books and at the same time scientists invented lots of things like the pinhole camera.
The medieval crusades
The medieval age is also characterized by the “holy” wars between the Muslims and the Christians given that they were both two large and powerful sides. The Catholic Church, towards the final years of the eleventh century commenced to authorize crusades that were actually army expeditions whose sole aim was to eliminate the Muslim from the so-called Holy Land. The crusaders were sinners who believed that their service under the church would clear them of the sins and guarantee them safe passage to heaven during the judgment day. The crusades were initiated in 1095 by the Pope who built a Christian army and fought through Jerusalem, and the conflict continued till the finalizing of the fifteenth century. However, the fight was never won but instead countless people lost their lives during the war on both sides.
Medieval art and architecture
Another aspect of the middle ages is the art and architecture which was made in order to depict their devotions to the Catholic Church. This architecture, for instance was applied in the building of the cathedrals, as well as other Catholic related structures such as monuments. During this period, the most distinctive characteristic of the Catholic churches was that they possessed the largest buildings in Europe and were mainly located at the very center of the towns, as well as cities all over the continent. Mostly, the most common architectural style that the churches displayed between the tenth and the thirteenth centuries was the Romanesque style whose main reliable characteristic was that they were solid, strong, and substantial. For instance, the Porto Cathedral that was located in Portugal depicted this type of architectural style, Romanesque, and they mainly had rounded arches, as well as vaults that supported the roof.
During the thirteenth century, around 1200, the architectural engineers during those periods started to employ a completely new and totally different art style which was termed as gothic (Grossman 308). The distinguishing feature is that the gothic buildings contained huge glass windows that are tinted, vaults that are pointed and even flying buttresses. Since the Romanesque buildings appeared to be substantially solid, the gothic structures seemed to be weightless. For example, the Abbey Church in France, together with the Canterbury Cathedral that was rebuilt in England depict the gothic artistic style of the medieval period. Medieval art also employed other forms including the frescoes, mosaics and even artistic paintings of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary, decorated the interior of the churches. The illuminated manuscripts by craftsmen in monasteries were works of art in the medieval periods before the invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century.
The society and the economy
Another distinguishing characteristic of the medieval period was the societal system that was governed by a system that was referred to as feudalism. This system involved the king issuing large sections of lands to loyal noblemen and even bishops. The noblemen, on the other hand employed serfs who are the landless and poor to work on the fields and the produce was returned to the owner in exchange for them to live on that piece of land. In the eleventh century, innovations regarding agriculture were employed such as the three-field crop rotation which in turn made farming be much easier and efficient implying that the number of farmers reduced. Therefore, feudal society gradually began to change. As a result of efficient farming, agricultural produce increased and so the population multiplied as well. Moreover, the crusades of the medieval period resulted into open routes that favored trade at a great extent. People migrated from the farms of the noblemen and settled in major towns.
Conclusion
The medieval period has very distinct characteristics that distinguish it from the early renaissance as well as the late renaissance with the major feature being the fall of the Roman Empire followed by the rise of religious grounds and they were mainly two religions, Christianity and Islam. Moreover, the medieval period had distinct artistic culture that distinguished it which are the Romanesque and the gothic styles that were used in the general design of the cathedrals, as well as other church-related buildings. Moreover, the crusades that marked this period are a mark that cannot be easily eradicated due to the large amounts of blood spilled as a result of the conflicts between the two major religions. In a nutshell, the medieval history was quite eventful regarding the two religions.
Works cited
Grossman, Heather E., and Alicia Walker. "Introduction." Medieval Encounters 18.4/5 (2012): 299-314. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Dec. 2014.
Rogers, Clifford J, Kelly DeVries, and John France. Journal of Medieval Military History: Volume Xii. Woodbridge, UK: The Boydell Press, 2014. Print.
