The Middle Ages

Between Rome and the Renaissance: Europe Finds its Identity

What do you think of when you consider the Middle Ages? Knights in armor and damsels in distress? Vikings plundering monasteries? Religious dissenters burning at the stake? The dead bodies piling up as war, famine, and plague devastated Europe? Think again. While all these are part of the tapestry of the medieval era, the threads of politics, personality and war, culture, religion, education and the arts are vastly more intricate and fascinating. Think Charlemagne, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Joan of Arc, Peter Abelard, Geoffrey Chaucer and a riveting cast of thousands. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Western Europe had to re-invent itself and redefine its philosophical parentage. As the Christian Church filled the void left by the loss of Roman authority, nations would emerge out of blurred geographical boundaries and dynastic kings would evolve from warlords. Rome gets the glory, and the Renaissance gets the glamor, but they are bookends for the dynamic centuries that are known as the Middle Ages.