NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Early medieval

The Early Middle Ages are a period in the History of Europe following the fall of the Western Roman Empire, spanning roughly the five centuries from AD 500 to 1000^[1]. Aspects of continuity with the earlier classical period are discussed in greater detail under the heading "Late Antiquity". Image File history File links Sacre_de_Charlemagne. ... Image File history File links Sacre_de_Charlemagne. ... Charlemagne (742 or 747 â€“ 28 January 814) (also Charles the Great[1]; from Latin, Carolus Magnus or Karolus Magnus), son of King Pippin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, was the king of the Franks from 768 to 814 and king of the Lombards from 774 to 814. ... Leo III (disambiguation). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Late Antiquity is a rough periodization (c. ...

Collapse of Rome (372-410)

Starting in the second century, various indicators of Roman civilization began to decline, including urbanization, seabourne commerce, and population. Only 40 percent as many Mediterranean shipwrecks have been found for the third century as for the first^[2]. The population of the Roman Empire shrank from 65 million in 150 to 50 million in 400, a decline of more than 20 percent. Some have connected this to the Dark Age Cold Period (100-700), when there was a decline in temperature globally which reduced agricultural harvests^[3]. The Alans, Alani, Alauni or Halani were an Iranian nomadic group among the Sarmatian people, warlike nomadic pastoralists of mixed backgrounds, who spoke an Iranian language and shared, in a broad sense, a common culture. ... Aryan is an English language word derived from the Vedas which was written in India. ... The Huns were a confederation of Eurasian tribes, most likely of diverse origin with a Turkic-speaking aristocracy, who appeared in Europe in the 4th century, the most famous being Attila the Hun. ... For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ...

Migrating south from Scandinavia, the Germanic peoples reached the Black Sea early in the third century. They created confederations which proved more formidable opponents than the Sarmatians, whom the Romans had dealt with earlier. In Romania and the grassy steppes north of the Black Sea, the Goths, a Germanic people, created two kingdoms, one Visigothic, the other Ostrogothic. The arrival of the Huns in 372-375 ended the history of these kingdoms. The Huns were a confederation of central Asian tribes who founded an empire with a Turkic-speaking aristocracy. They had mastered the difficult art of shooting composite recurve bows from horseback and swept aside both the mounted lancers of the Ostrogoths and the infantry of the Visigoths. The Gothic people were forced to seek refuge in Roman territory (376). The Goths agreed to enter the Empire as unarmed settlers, but many bribed the Danube border guards into allowing them to bring their weapons with them. Sarmatian Cataphract Sarmatians, Sarmatae or Sauromatae (the second form is mostly used by the earlier Greek writers, the other by the later Greeks and the Romans) were a people whom Herodotus (4. ... Invasion of the Goths: a late 19th century painting by O. Fritsche portrays the Goths as cavalrymen. ... Migrations The Visigoths were one of two main branches of the Goths, an East Germanic tribe (the Ostrogoths being the other). ... The Ostrogoths (Gleaming Goths or Eastern Goths), in distinction to the Visigoths (Noble Goths or Western Goths), were a Germanic tribe that influenced political events of the late Roman Empire. ... The Huns were a confederation of Eurasian tribes, most likely of diverse origin with a Turkic-speaking aristocracy, who appeared in Europe in the 4th century, the most famous being Attila the Hun. ... A bow is a weapon that shoots arrows powered by the elasticity of the bow. ...

The discipline and organization of a Roman legion made it a superb fighting machine. The Romans preferred infantry to cavalry because infantry could be trained to retain formation in combat, while cavalry tended to flee when faced with danger. But unlike a barbarian army, the legions required constant training and salaries that made them a huge expense for the empire. As agriculture and economic activity declined, taxes grew harder to collect, and the system came under strain.

In the Gothic War (377–382), the Goths revolted and confronted the main Roman army in the Battle of Adrianople (378). Not wanting to share the glory, Eastern Emperor Valens ordered an attack on Visigothic infantry under Fritigern without waiting for Western Emperor Gratian, who was on the way with reinforcements. While the Romans were fully engaged, the Ostrogothic cavalry arrived. Vastly outnumbered, only one third of the Roman army managed to escape. It was the most shattering defeat that the Romans had suffered since Cannae, according to Roman military writer Ammianus Marcellinus. The core army of the eastern empire was destroyed, Valens killed, and the Goths free to lay waste to the Balkans, including the armories along the Danube. "The Romans, who so coolly and so concisely mention the acts of justice which were exercised by the legions, reserve their compassion and their eloquence for their own sufferings, when the provinces were invaded and desolated by the arms of the successful Barbarians," as Edward Gibbon comments in A History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776). Image File history File links Routes_of_the_barbarian_invaders,_5th_century_AD.gif Summary Description Routes of the barbarian invaders, 5th century AD Author/Source The Department of History, United States Military Academy Permission In the public domain as original works of the United States federal government and/or military [1] Licensing File links The... Image File history File links Routes_of_the_barbarian_invaders,_5th_century_AD.gif Summary Description Routes of the barbarian invaders, 5th century AD Author/Source The Department of History, United States Military Academy Permission In the public domain as original works of the United States federal government and/or military [1] Licensing File links The... The Huns were a confederation of Eurasian tribes, most likely of diverse origin with a Turkic-speaking aristocracy, who appeared in Europe in the 4th century, the most famous being Attila the Hun. ... The Visigoths, originally Tervingi, or Vesi (the noble ones), one of the two main branches of the Goths (of which the Ostrogothi were the other), were one of the loosely-termed Germanic peoples that disturbed the late Roman Empire. ... The Vandals sacking Rome, by Heinrich Leutemann (1824-1904) Vandal and Vandali redirect here. ... The Gothic War of 377-382 is a name given to a series of Gothic battles and plunderings of the eastern Roman Empire in the Balkans in the late 4th century. ... Combatants Eastern Roman Empire Goths Commanders Valensâ€ Fritigern, Alatheus, Saphrax Strength 15,000 to 30,000 ca. ... Flavius Julius Valens (Latin: IMPÂ·CAESARÂ·FLAVIVSÂ·IVLIVSÂ·VALENSÂ·AVGVSTVS) (328 â€“ August 9, 378) was Roman emperor from 364 until his death, after he was given the Eastern part of the empire by his brother Valentinian I. His father was the general Gratian the Elder. ... Fritigern (died 380), King of the Visigoths (369-380), was one of the prominent Germanic warrior-kings whose military victories led to the eventual fall of the western half of the Roman Empire. ... A coin of Gratian. ... Cannae (mod. ... Ammianus Marcellinus is a Roman historian who wrote during Late Antiquity. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

The empire lacked the resources, and perhaps the will, to reconstruct the professional mobile army that had been destroyed at Adrianople, so it was forced to rely on barbarian armies to fight on its behalf. The Eastern Roman Empire was able to buy off the Goths with tribute. The Western Roman Empire was less fortunate. Stilicho, the western empire's half-Vandal military commander, stripped the Rhine frontier of troops to fend off invasions of Italy by the Visigoths in 402-03 and by the Ostrogoths in 406-07. Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered around its capital in Constantinople. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Flavius Stilicho (occasionally written as Stilico) (c. ... Loreley At 1,320 kilometres (820 miles) and an average discharge of more than 2,000 cubic meters per second, the Rhine (Dutch Rijn, French Rhin, German Rhein, Italian: Reno, Romansch: Rein, ) is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe. ...

Fleeing before the terrifying advance of the Huns, the Vandals, Suebi, and Alans launched an attack across the frozen Rhine near Mainz; on December 31, 406, the frontier gave way and these tribes surged into Gaul. They were soon followed by the Burgundians and by bands of the Alemanni. In the fit of anti-barbarian hysteria which followed, Emperor Honorius had Stilicho summarily beheaded (408). "[W]ith a firmness not unworthy of the last of the Roman generals, [Stilicho] submitted his neck to the sword of Heraclian," writes Gibbon. Honorius was left with only incompetent courtiers to advise him. In 410, the Visigoths led by Alaric captured the city of Rome and for three days there was fire and slaughter as bodies filled the streets, palaces were stripped of their valuables, and those thought to have hidden wealth interrogated and tortured. As newly converted Christians, the Goths respected church property. But those who found sanctuary in the Vatican and in other churches were the fortunate few. The Huns were a confederation of Eurasian tribes, most likely of diverse origin with a Turkic-speaking aristocracy, who appeared in Europe in the 4th century, the most famous being Attila the Hun. ... The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century and created a state in North Africa, centered on the city of Carthage. ... Suebi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Alan can refer to: Alan (Sesame Street), character in the television series Sesame Street Alan, Haute-Garonne, commune in the Haute-Garonne dÃ©partement in France where tourists can see medieval monuments Alan (automobile), short-lived German automobile Alan (crater), crater on the Moon Alans, ancient nomadic people See also... Mainz is a city in Germany and the capital of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. ... Events December 31 - Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gallia Roman legions in Britain mutiny against the Roman Emperor and select Marcus as new Roman Emperor. ... Map of Gaul circa 58 BC Gaul (Latin Gallia, Greek Galatia) was the region of Western Europe occupied by present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the Rhine river. ... The Burgundians or Burgundes were an East Germanic tribe which may have emigrated from mainland Scandinavia to the island of Bornholm, whose old form in Old Norse still was Burgundarholmr (the Island of the Burgundians), and from here to mainland Europe. ... The Alamanni, Allemanni or Alemanni, are a Germanic tribe, first mentioned by Dio Cassius, under the year 213. ... See: Flavius Augustus Honorius, western Roman emperor 395-423 Saint Honorius, archbishop of Canterbury 627-655 Pope Honorius I, pope 625-638 Pope Honorius II, pope 1124-1130 Pope Honorius III, pope 1216-1227 Pope Honorius IV, pope 1285-1287 Antipope Honorius II, 1061-1064 This is a disambiguation page... Alaric or Alrekr (Old Norse) is a Germanic name which means everybodys ruler. The form Alaric may refer to: Alaric I, king of the Visigoths, sacked Rome Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths in Hispania (Spain and Portugal) The merchant ship Alaric Alaric is a dude who goes...

Migrations (Dark Age) 400-700

The Goths and Vandals were only the first of many waves of invaders that flooded Western Europe. Some lived only for war and pillage and disdained Roman ways. Others admired Rome and wished to become its heirs. "A poor Roman plays the Goth, a rich Goth the Roman" said King Theodoric of the Ostrogoths^[4], implying that only a poor Roman would want to be like a Goth. Human migration denotes any movement of groups of people from one locality to another, rather than of individual wanderers. ... Image File history File linksMetadata RavennaMausoleum. ... Image File history File linksMetadata RavennaMausoleum. ... Mausoleum of Theodoric The Mausoleum of Theodoric (Italian Mausoleo di Teodorico) in Ravenna was built in 520 by Theodoric the Great as his future tomb. ... Ravenna is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. ... Gold medallion of Theodoric, discovered at Sinigaglia, Italy in the 19th century. ...

The Romans were orthodox trinitarian Christians, the disciplined subjects of a long-established bureaucratic empire. The Germanic peoples knew little of cities, money or writing. They valued freedom above all else. They were recent converts to Arian Christianity and were thus heretics to the churchmen of the empire. Arian may refer to one of the following. ...

The era of the migrations has historically been termed the "Dark Ages" by some Western European historians, and as Völkerwanderung, or "wandering of the peoples", by German historians. The term Dark Ages has fallen from favour since the Second World War, partly to avoid the entrenched stereotypes associated with the phrase, but also because more recent research and archaeological findings from the period challenge old notions of backwardness in the arts, technology, political and social organizations. Petrarch, who conceived the idea of a European Dark Age. From Cycle of Famous Men and Women, Andrea di Bartolo di Bargillac, c. ... The German term VÃ¶lkerwanderung (the migration of peoples), is used in historiography as an alternate label for the Migration Period, of Germanic, Slavic and other tribes on the European continent during the period AD 300â€“900. ...

The earlier settled population was often, but not always, left intact. Whereas the peoples of France, Italy, and Spain continued to speak dialects of Latin, the smaller Roman-era population of Britain disappeared with barely a trace, displaced by the Anglo-Saxons. The new peoples greatly altered established society, including law, culture, religion, and patterns of property ownership.

The pax Romana had provided safe conditions for trade and manufacture, and a unified cultural and educational milieu of far-ranging connections. As this was lost, it was replaced by the rule of local potentates, sometimes members of the established Romanized ruling elite, sometimes new lords of alien culture. In Aquitania, Gallia Narbonensis, southern Italy and Sicily, Baetica or southern Spain, and the Iberian Mediterranean coast, Roman culture lasted until the sixth or seventh centuries. Download high resolution version (599x611, 80 KB)Map drawn by Lupo, published here under the terms of the GFDL. File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Download high resolution version (599x611, 80 KB)Map drawn by Lupo, published here under the terms of the GFDL. File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The Visigoths, originally Tervingi, or Vesi (the noble ones), one of the two main branches of the Goths (of which the Ostrogothi were the other), were one of the loosely-termed Germanic peoples that disturbed the late Roman Empire. ... Roman Empire as its greatest extent with the conquests of Trajan Pax Romana (27 BC-180 AD), Latin for the Roman peace, is the long period of relative peace experienced by states within the Roman Empire. ... History In Roman times, the province of Gallia Aquitania originally comprised the region of Gaul between the Pyrenees Mountains and the Garonne River, but Augustus Caesar added to it the land between the Garonne and the Loire River. ... Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis, 120 AD Gallia Narbonensis was a Roman province located in what is now Languedoc and Provence, in southern France. ... Roman province of Hispania Baetica, 120 AD In Hispania, which in Greek is called Iberia, there were three Imperial Roman provinces, Hispania Baetica in the south, Lusitania, corresponding to modern Portugal, in the west, and Hispania Tarraconensis in the north and northeast. ...

Everywhere, the gradual break-down of economic and social linkages and infrastructure resulted in increasingly localized outlooks. This breakdown was often fast and dramatic as it became unsafe to travel or carry goods over any distance; there was a consequent collapse in trade and manufacture for export. Major industries that depended on trade, such as large-scale pottery manufacture, vanished almost overnight in places like Britain. Tintagel in Cornwall managed to obtain supplies of Mediterranean luxury goods well into the sixth century, but then lost their trading links. Administrative, educational and military infrastructure quickly vanished, and the loss of the established cursus honorum led to the collapse of the schools and to a rise of illiteracy even among the leadership. The careers of Cassiodorus (died c. 585) at the beginning of this period and of Alcuin of York (died 804) at its close were founded alike on their valued literacy. Situated on the north Atlantic coast of Cornwall, the village of Tintagel (pronounced with the stress on the second syllable; Cornish: Dintagell) and nearby Tintagel Castle are associated with the legends surrounding King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. ... Cornwall (Cornish: Kernow) is a county at the extreme South-West of England on the peninsula that lies to the west of the River Tamar. ... The cursus honorum (Latin: succession of magistracies) was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in both the Roman Republic and the early Empire. ... Flavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator (ca 484/490 - ca585), commonly known as Cassiodorus, was a Roman statesman and great writer, serving in the administration of Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. ... Flaccus Albinus Alcuin (about 735 - May 19, 804) was a monk from York, England. ...

For the formally Roman area, there was another 20 percent decline in population between 400 and 600, or a one third decline for 150-600^[5]. In the sixth century, the volume of trade reached its lowest level since the bronze age. There was also reforestation and a retreat of agriculture that centered around 500. This phenomenon coincided with a period of rapid cooling, according to tree ring data^[6]. The Romans had practiced two-field agriculture, with a crop grown in one field and the other left fallow and plowed under to eliminate weeds. With the breakup of the empire, owners were unable to stop their slaves from running away and the plantation system broke down. Systematic agriculture largely disappeared and yields declined to subsistence level.

Byzantine Empire

The death of Theodosius I in 395 was followed by the division of the empire between his two sons. The Western Roman Empire disintegrated a mosaic of warring Germanic kingdoms in the fifth century, making the Eastern Roman Empire in Constantipole the legal successor to the classical Roman Empire. After Greek replaces Latin as the dominent language, historians refer to the empire as "Byzantine." Westerners at the time referred to it as "Greek." The inhabitants called themselves Romaioi, or Romans. Byzantine Empire (Greek: Î’Ï…Î¶Î±Î½Ï„Î¹Î½Î® Î‘Ï…Ï„Î¿ÎºÏÎ±Ï„Î¿ÏÎ¯Î±) is the term conventionally used since the 19th century to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered at its capital in Constantinople. ... On the reverse of this coin minted under Valentinian II, both Valentinian and Theodosius are depicted with halos. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered around its capital in Constantinople. ...

The Eastern Roman Empire aimed at retaining control of the trade routes between Europe and the Orient, which made the Empire the richest polity in Europe. Making use of their sophisticated warfare and superior diplomacy, the Byzantines managed to fend off assaults by the migrating barbarians. Their dreams of subduing the Western potentates briefly materialised during the reign of Justinian I in 527-565. Not only did Justinian restore the Roman Empire to its former borders, but he also codified Roman law (with his codification remaining in force in many areas of Europe until the 19th century) and built the largest and the most technically advanced edifice of the Early Middle Ages, the Hagia Sophia. Justinian may refer to: Justinian I, a Roman Emperor; Justinian II, a Byzantine Emperor; Justinian, a storeship sent to the convict settlement at New South Wales in 1790. ... Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered around its capital in Constantinople. ... Justinian I depicted on one of the famous mosaics of the Basilica of San Vitale. ... Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome. ... Hagia Sophia as it appears today A section of the original architecture of Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia (Church of Holy Wisdom), now known as the Ayasofya Museum, is a former Eastern Orthodox church converted to a mosque in 1453, converted into a museum in 1935, in the Turkish city of...

Justinian's successors Maurice and Heraclius had to confront invasions of the Avar, Bulgar and Slavic tribes. In 626 Constantinople, by far the largest city of early medieval Europe, withstood a combined siege by Avars and Persians. Within several decades, Heraclius completed a holy war against the Persians by taking their capital and having a Sassanian monarch assassinated. Yet Heraclius lived to see his spectacular success undone by the Arab conquest of Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and North Africa which was considerably facilitated by religious disunity and the proliferation of heretical movements (notably Monophysitism and Nestorianism) in the areas converted to the Islam. A solidus of Maurices reign Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus or Maurice I (539 - November, 602) was the emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 582 to 602. ... Heraclius and his sons Heraclius Constantine and Heraclonas. ... The word Avars can mean: The nomadic people that conquered the Hungarian Steppe in the early Middle Ages, the Eurasian Avars. ... For the people of Central Asia see Bulgars Bulgar language is an extinct language commonly considered Turkic but more recently Indo-Iranian Bulgar, or bulgarish is Yiddish word for Romanian dance bugareascÄƒ (means Bulgarian cf. ... Slav, Slavic or Slavonic can refer to: Slavic peoples Slavic languages Slavic mythology Church Slavonic language Old Church Slavonic language Slav, a former Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip. ... Events July 2 - In the early morning, Li Shimin, the future Emperor Tang Taizong of China, eliminated two of his brothers, Li Yuanji and the crown prince Li Jiancheng in a coup détat at the Xuanwu Gate in Changan. ... Head of king Shapur II (Sasanian dynasty A.D. 4th century). ... Palestine (Hebrew: Eretz Israel, Arabic: â€Ž FilastÄ«n or FalastÄ«n, see also Land of Israel) is one of many historical names for the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the banks of the Jordan River, plus various adjoining lands to the east and south. ... Northern Africa (UN subregion) geographic, including above North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent. ... Monophysitism (from the Greek monos meaning one, alone and physis meaning nature) is the christological position that Christ has only one nature, as opposed to the Chalcedonian position which holds that Christ has two natures, one divine and one human. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Although Heraclius's successors managed to salvage Constantinople from two Arab sieges (in 674-77 and 717), the empire of the 8th and early 9th century was rocked by the great Iconoclastic Controversy, punctuated by dynastic struggles between various factions at court. The Bulgar and Slavic tribes profited from these disorders and invaded Illyria, Thrace and even Greece (which they called Morea). Image File history File links Theodora_ravenna. ... Image File history File links Theodora_ravenna. ... The Basilica of San Vitale is the most famous monument of Ravenna, Italy and is one of the most important examples of Byzantine art and architecture in western Europe. ... Ravenna is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. ... Map of Constantinople. ... Literally, iconoclasm is the destruction of religious icons and other sacred images or monuments, usually for religious or political motives. ... For the people of Central Asia see Bulgars Bulgar language is an extinct language commonly considered Turkic but more recently Indo-Iranian Bulgar, or bulgarish is Yiddish word for Romanian dance bugareascÄƒ (means Bulgarian cf. ... Slav, Slavic or Slavonic can refer to: Slavic peoples Slavic languages Slavic mythology Church Slavonic language Old Church Slavonic language Slav, a former Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip. ... Illyria Illyria (Anc. ... Thrace (Greek Î˜ÏÎ¬ÎºÎ·, ThrÃ¡kÄ“, Bulgarian Ð¢Ñ€Ð°ÐºÐ¸Ñ, Trakija, Turkish Trakya; Latin: Thracia or Threcia) is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. ... The Morea and surrounding states carved from the Byzantine Empire, as they were in 1265 (William R. Shepherd, Historical Atlas, 1911) The name Morea (Μωρέας) for Peloponnesos first appears in the 10th century in Byzantine chronicles. ...

To counter these threats, a new system of administration was introduced. The regional civil and military administration were combined in the hands of a general, or strategos. A theme, which formerly denoted a subdivision of the Byzantine army, came to refer to a region governed by a strategos. The reform led to the emergence of great landed families which controlled the regional military and often pressed their claims to the throne (see Bardas Phocas and Bardas Sklerus for characteristic examples). Theme may refer to: Theme (music), the initial or primary melody Theme music, in film and television, a melody closely associated with the program Theme (literature), is the unifying subject of the story Theme (computer), a custom graphical appearance for certain software, similar to a skin Thema, in the Byzantine... Bardas Phocas - Vardas Phokas was an eminent Byzantine general of Armenian origine who took a conspicuous part in three revolts pro and contra the ruling Macedonian dynasty. ... Bardas Skleros or Sklerus - (Vardas Skleros) was a Byzantine general of Armenian origin who led a wide-scale Asian rebellion against Emperor of Armenian origin Basil II in 976-979. ...

By the early eighth century, Constantinople remained the largest and the wealthiest city of the Christian world, notwithstanding the shrinking territory of the empire. The population of the imperial capital fluctuated between 200,000 and 500,000 as the emperors undertook measures to restrain its growth. The only other large Christian cities were Rome (50,000) and Salonika (30,000).^[7]. Even before the eighth century was out, the Farmer's Law signalised the resurrection of agricultural technologies in the Greek Empire. As the 2006 Britannica noted, "the technological base of Byzantine society was more advanced than that of contemporary western Europe: iron tools could be found in the villages; water mills dotted the landscape; and field-sown beans provided a diet rich in protein".[1] The White Tower The Arch of Galerius Map showing the Thessaloníki prefecture Thessaloníki (Θεσσαλονίκη) is the second-largest city of Greece and is the principal city and the capital of the Greek region of Macedonia. ... 1913 advertisement for the 11th edition, with the slogan When in doubt - look it up in the Encyclopædia Britannica The Encyclopædia Britannica (properly spelt with æ, the ae-ligature) is the oldest English-language general encyclopedia. ...

The ascension of the Macedonian dynasty in 867 marked the end of the period of political and religious turmoil and introduced a new golden age of the empire. While the talented generals such as Nicephorus Phocas expanded the frontiers, the Macedonian emperors (such as Leo the Wise and Constantine VII) presided over the cultural flowering in Constantinople, known as the Macedonian Renaissance. The enlightened Macedonian rulers scorned the rulers of Western Europe as illiterate barbarians and maintained a nominal claim to rule over the West. Although this fiction had been exploded with the coronation of Charlemagne in Rome (800), the Byzantine rulers did not treat their Western counterparts as equals. Generally, they had little interest in the political and economical developments in the barbarian (from their point of view) West. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (605x1091, 144 KB)A piece of carved ivory from the Pushkin Museum representing Christ blessing Emperor Constantine VII. Dated back to 945, the piece passed from the treasury at Echmiadzin to the collection of Count Sergey Uvarov in the mid-19th... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (605x1091, 144 KB)A piece of carved ivory from the Pushkin Museum representing Christ blessing Emperor Constantine VII. Dated back to 945, the piece passed from the treasury at Echmiadzin to the collection of Count Sergey Uvarov in the mid-19th... Constantine and his mother ZoÃ«. Constantine VII Porphyrogenitos (the Purple-born) (Constantinople, 905 â€“ November 9, 959 in Constantinople) was the son of Byzantine emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife Zoe Karvounopsina. ... Basil I the Macedonian (Î’Î±ÏƒÎ¯Î»ÎµÎ¹Î¿Ï‚ Î‘) (811 - 886, ruled 867 - 886) - married Michael IIIs widow; died in hunting accident Leo VI the Wise (Î›ÎÏ‰Î½ Î£Î¤ Î¿ Î£Î¿Ï†ÏŒÏ‚) (866 - 912, ruled 886 - 912) â€“ likely either son of Basil I or Michael III; Alexander III (Î‘Î»ÎÎ¾Î±Î½Î´ÏÎ¿Ï‚ Î“ Ï„Î¿Ï… Î’Ï…Î¶Î±Î½Ï„Î¯Î¿Ï…) (870 - 913, ruled 912 - 913) â€“ son of Basil I, regent for nephew... Nicephorus II Phocas, Byzantine emperor 963-969, belonged to a Cappadocian family which had produced several distinguished generals. ... The Byzantines considered themselves the true Romans. ... Constantine and his mother ZoÃ«. Constantine VII Porphyrogenitos (the Purple-born) (Constantinople, 905 â€“ November 9, 959 in Constantinople) was the son of Byzantine emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife Zoe Karvounopsina. ... Charlemagne (742 or 747 â€“ 28 January 814) (also Charles the Great[1]; from Latin, Carolus Magnus or Karolus Magnus), son of King Pippin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, was the king of the Franks from 768 to 814 and king of the Lombards from 774 to 814. ...

Against this economical background, the superior culture and the imperial traditions of the Eastern Roman Empire attracted its northern neghbours — Slavs, Bulgars, and Khazars — to Constantinople, either in search of pillage or enlightenment. The movement of the Germanic tribes to the south triggered the great migration of the Slavs, who occupied the vacated territories. In the seventh century, they moved westward to the Elbe, southward to the Danube and eastward to the Dnieper. By the 9th century, the Slavs had expanded into sparsely inhabited territories to the south and east from these natural frontiers, peacefully assimilating the indigenous Illyrian and Finno-Ugric populations. Map of Constantinople. ... The Slavic peoples are the most numerous ethnic and linguistic body of peoples in Europe. ... The River Elbe (Czech Labe , Sorbian/Lusatian Åobjo, German Elbe) is one of the major waterways of Central Europe. ... The Danube bend at VisegrÃ¡d is a popular destination of tourists The Danube (ancient Danuvius) is Europes second-longest river (after the Volga). ... This article is about the river. ... As a means of recording the passage of time the 9th century was that century that lasted from 801 to 900. ... Illyrians has come to refer to a broad, ill-defined group of peoples who inhabited the western Balkans (from northern Epirus to southern Pannonia) and even perhaps parts of Southern Italy in classical times into the Common era, and spoke Illyrian languages. ... Geographical distribution of Finno-Ugric (Finno-Permic in blue, Ugric in green). ...

Rise of Islam (632-750)

Muhammad (c. 570-632), founder of Islam, was brought up by his uncle, a mechant from the Arabian city of Mecca. After managing her business for several years, Muhammad married Khadījah, a wealthy woman. Around 610, Muhammad began to receive frequent revelations, which he interpreted with the help of Waraqah, a Christian cousin of Khadījah. These revelations became the Koran, the holy book of Islam (with later revelations being less Christian-oriented). Muhammad began preaching in 613 and called his new religion Islam, meaning "surrender [to the will of Allāh]." Allāh was the high god of the Meccan pantheon. Opposition forced Muhammad to flee Mecca for Medina (622), an event called the Hijrah and considered the starting point of the Muslim era, abbreviated "AH" (Anno Hegirae). Muhammad's teachings were accepted in Medina and the city soon became an Islamic state. Muhammad's shrewd promotion of pilgramage to Mecca helped win commerce-oriented Meccans over to Islam (630). In 630-32, Muhammad received deputations from many Arabian tribes. But these tribes often had complex internal politics and it cannot be determined how much of Arabia the deputations represented. The eagerness of many Bedouins tribes to ally with Mohammad relates to the seesaw struggle between the Byzantines and the Persians. When the Persians had been in the ascendency, they had attempted to colonize Arabia, which created a nationalist reaction. Once Heraclius (r. 610–641) defeated the Persians (627), the tribes were free to throw off the Persian yoke and select new leaders. Age of the Caliphs The initial Islamic conquests (632-732) began with the death of Muhammad, were followed by a century of rapid Arab and Islamic expansion, and ended with the Battle of Toursâ€”resulting in a vast Islamic empire and area of influence that stretched from India, across the... The Moorish invasion of Iberia (711â€“718) commenced when the Moors, the Muslim inhabitants of North and West Africa, invaded Visigothic Christian Hispania (Portugal and Spain) in the year 711 CE. Under the authority of the caliph at Damascus, and led by the Berber general Tariq ibn Ziyad, they landed... Image File history File links Age_of_Caliphs. ... Image File history File links Age_of_Caliphs. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... For other uses, including people named Islam, see Islam (disambiguation). ... This article is about the city in Saudi Arabia. ... The Quran (Arabic al-qurʾān أَلْقُرآن; also transliterated as Quran, Koran, and less commonly Alcoran) is the holy book of Islam. ... Medina (Arabic: â€Ž or Ø§Ù„Ù…Ø¯ÙŠÙ†Ø© ; also transliterated into English as Madinah) is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia. ... Hijra may refer to: Hijra (Hegira/Hijrah/Hejira) is an Arabic term referring to the migration of the Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622. ... Bedouin resting at Mount Sinai Bedouin, derived from the Arabic badawi بدوي, a generic name for a desert-dweller, is a term generally applied to Sahara via the Western Desert, Sinai, and Negev to the eastern coast of the Arabian desert. ... Heraclius and his sons Heraclius Constantine and Heraclonas. ...

Upon Muhammad's death, Abū Bakr (r. 632-34), Muhammad's father-in-law, became the first khalīfah, or caliph, meaning successor. A caliph is both head of state and supreme religious authority. The early caliphs were chosen by a shūrā, or council of notables, a procedure modeled on the way the head of an Arabian tribe or clan was chosen. Many tribes that had nominally accepted Islam earlier revolted under the leadership of Musaylimah, who claimed to be a prophet with further divine revelation. Abū Bakr responded by proclaiming Muhammad the last prophet and defeated the riddah ("apostasy") in a notoriously boody battle at 'Aqrabā', thereafter called the Garden of Death. For the first time, the fierce nomadic Bedouins were united under a central authority. Caliph is the term or title for the Islamic leader of the Ummah, or community of Islam. ... The Riddah are a group of false prophets appearing right after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. ...

'Umar I (r.634-44), the second caliph, proclaimed himself "commander of the faithful" (amīr al-mu 'minīn). In the 630s, he brought Syria, Jordan, Palestine, and Iraq under Islamic control. Egypt was taken from the Byzantines in 645 by 'Uthmān (r. 644-56), the third caliph. 'Uthman was a member of the Ummayyad clan, a well-connected Meccan family. He issued a version of the Koran which became standard and ordered other versions destroyed. Even when differences were minor, a Koranic variation could be a source of local pride and independence. 'Uthman's asassination marked the beginning of a series of succession disputes. Abū Bakr, 'Umar I, 'Uthmān, and his successor 'Alī (r. 656-61) are remembered by Sunni ("traditionalist") Muslims as the "four rightly guided caliphs," or Rashidun, who presided over a golden age of pure Islam. In contrast, Shi'ites (short for shi'at 'Alī, followers of 'Alī) contend that Alī, as Muhammad's son-in-law and first convert, should have succeeded upon the death of Muhammad. ... The Umayyad Dynasty (Arabic الأمويون / بنو أمية umawiyy; in Turkish, Emevi) was the first dynasty of caliphs of the Prophet Muhammad who were not closely related to Muhammad himself, though they were of the same Meccan tribe, the Quraish. ... Sunni Islam (Arabic سنّة) is the largest denomination of Islam. ... The Four Righteously or Rightly Guided Caliphs or Khulifa Rashidoon in Arabic refers to the first four caliphs in the Sunni tradition of Islam who are seen as being model leaders. ... Shia Islam (Arabic: follower; English has traditionally used Shiite or Shiite) is the second largest Islamic denomination; some 10-15% of all Muslims are said to follow a Shia tradition. ...

'Alī's pius but ineffectual leadership sparked a revolt led by the Ummayyad clan, whose members had been put in powerful positions by 'Uthman. Mu'āwiyah, the governor of Syria, seized Egypt. After 'Alī was assassinated, Mu'āwiyah (r. 661-80) established the Ummayyad dynasty of caliphs (661–750) and moved the capital from Medina to Damascus. He replaced tribal forms of administration with bureaucratic ministries on the Byzantine model. Mu'āwiyah also transformed the caliphate into a hereditary monarchy by naming his son Yazīd successor and gathering pledges of support before he died. 'Alī's son Husayn revolted and was killed in the Battle of Karbala in 680. Although a minor battle from a military point of view, Husayn's martyrdom made it a central event in the worldview of the Shi'ite sect that developed later. Mu'āwiyah is a controversial figure in Islamic history -- condemned by Shi'ites and pius Sunni scholars, but idealized by Arab nationalists. Under 'Abd al-Malik (r. 685–705), the Ummayyads conquered central Asia and coastal North Africa and defeated a revolt in Iraq. al-Malik also Arabized the state by replacing the Greek and Persian civil servants with Arabic speakers. The Umayyad Dynasty (Arabic الأمويون / بنو أمية umawiyy; in Turkish, Emevi) was the first dynasty of caliphs of the Prophet Muhammad who were not closely related to Muhammad himself, though they were of the same Meccan tribe, the Quraish. ... Medina (Arabic: â€Ž or Ø§Ù„Ù…Ø¯ÙŠÙ†Ø© ; also transliterated into English as Madinah) is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia. ... Damascus by night, pictured from Jabal Qasioun; the green spots are minarets Damascus (Arabic: â€Ž translit: Also commonly: Ø§Ù„Ø´Ø§Ù… ash-ShÄm) is the capital and largest city of Syria. ... Husayn ibn Ali ibn Abu Talib (c. ... Combatants Umayyads Forces of Husayn ibn Ali Commanders Yazid I Husayn ibn Ali Strength 4500 or less 72 Casualties unknown 72 The Battle of Karbala was a military engagement that took place on 10 Muharram, 61 AH (October 10, 680) in Karbala, in present day Iraq, between the Islamic prophet... Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (646 - 705) was an Umayyad caliph. ...

The conquest of Iberia commenced when the Moors (mostly Berbers with some Arabs) invaded Visigothic Christian Iberia (711). Under their Berber leader, Tariq ibn Ziyad, they landed at Gibraltar and worked their way northward. During the eight-year campaign most of the Iberian Peninsula was brought under Islamic rule — save for a few small areas in the north. This territory, under the name Al-Andalus, became part of the Umayyad empire. Interior of the Mezquita Mezquita, (from Arabic Ù…Ø³Ø¬Ø¯ Masjid), is Spanish for mosque. This article deals with the one in Cordoba, Spain. ... Copyrighted Image Photo courtesy of Wayne B. Chandler Moorish Ambassador to Queen Elizabeth I The Moors were the medieval Muslim inhabitants of al-Andalus (the Iberian Peninsula including the present day Spain and Portugal) and the Maghreb and western Africa, whose culture is often called Moorish. ... The Berbers (also called Imazighen, free men, singular Amazigh) are an ethnic group indigenous to Northwest Africa, speaking the Berber languages of the Afroasiatic family. ... The Arabs (Arabic: Ø¹Ø±Ø¨ ) are an ethnic group found throughout the Middle East and North Africa. ... Migrations The Visigoths were one of two main branches of the Goths, an East Germanic tribe (the Ostrogoths being the other). ... A Christian is a follower of Jesus, whom they regard as a/the Christ. ... The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe. ... Tariq ibn Ziyad (d. ... The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe. ... Islam (Arabic: ; ( â–¶ (helpÂ· info)), the submission to God) is a monotheistic faith, one of the Abrahamic religions and the worlds second-largest religion. ... Al-Andalus is the Arabic name given the Iberian Peninsula by its Muslim conquerors; it refers to both the Caliphate proper and the general period of Muslim rule (711–1492). ...

The disastrous second seige of Constantinople (717) weakened the Umayyads and reduced their prestige. Their forces marched northeast across the Pyrenees, only to be defeated by the Frankish leader Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours (732). The Umayyads were overthrown by the 'Abbāsids in 750 and most of the Umayyad clan was massacred. The 'Abbasids were known for their promotion of scholarship. See Transmission of learning. Look up Frank, frank in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For the 13th century titular King of Hungary, see Charles Martel dAnjou. ... Combatants Carolingian Franks Umayyad Caliphate Commanders Charles Martel Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi Abd er Rahmanâ€ Strength 15,000-75,000 60,000-400,000 Casualties about 1500 reported in western history, but probably far heavier unknown, but reported massive, notably Emir Abd er Rahman 1. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

Abd-ar-rahman I, a surviving Umayyad prince, escaped to Spain and founded a dynasty there (756). Charles Martel's son, Pippin the Short retook Narbonne, and his grandson Charlemagne established Marca Hispanica across the Pyrenees in part of what today is Catalonia, reconquering Girona in 785 and Barcelona in 801. For the 13th century titular King of Hungary, see Charles Martel dAnjou. ... Pepin III (714 - September 24, 768) more often known as Pepin the Short (French, Pépin le Bref; German, Pippin der Kleine), was a King of the Franks (751 - 768). ... Charlemagne (742 or 747 â€“ 28 January 814) (also Charles the Great[1]; from Latin, Carolus Magnus or Karolus Magnus), son of King Pippin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, was the king of the Franks from 768 to 814 and king of the Lombards from 774 to 814. ... The Marca Hispanica (Spanish Mark or March) was a buffer zone beyond the province of Septimania, first set up by Charlemagne in 795 as a defensive barrier to keep the Muslim Moors out of the Frankish Kingdom. ...

The unified Islamic caliphate disintegrated over the course of the the tenth century. The Shiite Fatimids set up and rival caliphate in Mahdiya, Tunisia (920) and in Spain the Umayyid emirs proclaimed themselves caliphs as well (929). When the Buwayhids (Persian Shiites) gained control of Baghdad in 945, the 'Abbāsids lost their authority. In 972, the Fatimids conquered Egypt and moved their capital to Cairo.

Resurgence of the Latin West (700-850)

Conditions in Western Europe began to improve after 700 as Europe experienced an agricultural boom that would continue until at least 1100^[8]. A study of limestone deposited in the Mediterranean seabed concludes that there was a substantial increase in solar radiation received between 600 and 900^[9]. The first signs of Europe's recovery on the battlefield are the defense of Constantinople in 717 and the victory of the Franks over the Arabs at the Battle of Tours in 732. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1477x1164, 301 KB) Summary Europe 814 From The Public Schools Historical Atlas edited by C. Colbeck, published by Longmans, Green, and Co. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1477x1164, 301 KB) Summary Europe 814 From The Public Schools Historical Atlas edited by C. Colbeck, published by Longmans, Green, and Co. ... Charlemagne (742 or 747 â€“ 28 January 814) (also Charles the Great[1]; from Latin, Carolus Magnus or Karolus Magnus), son of King Pippin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, was the king of the Franks from 768 to 814 and king of the Lombards from 774 to 814. ... Map of Constantinople. ... Combatants Carolingian Franks Umayyad Caliphate Commanders Charles Martel Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi Abd er Rahmanâ€ Strength 15,000-75,000 60,000-400,000 Casualties about 1500 reported in western history, but probably far heavier unknown, but reported massive, notably Emir Abd er Rahman 1. ...

Between the fifth and eighth centuries a political and social infrastructure developed across the lands of the former empire, based upon powerful regional noble families, and the newly established kingdoms of the Ostrogoths in Italy, Visigoths in Spain and Portugal, Franks and Burgundians in Gaul and western Germany, and Saxons in England. These lands remained Christian, and their Arian conquerors were converted (Franks, Visigoths and Lombards) or conquered (Ostrogoths and Vandals). The Franks converted directly from paganism to Catholic Christianity under Clovis I. The interaction between the culture of the newcomers, their warband loyalties, the remnants of classical culture, and Christian influences, produced a new model for society, based in part on feudal obligations. The centralized administrative systems of the Romans did not withstand the changes, and the institutional support for chattel slavery largely disappeared. This article deals with the continental Ostrogoths. ... The Visigoths, originally Tervingi, or Vesi (the noble ones), one of the two main branches of the Goths (of which the Ostrogothi were the other), were one of the loosely-termed Germanic peoples that disturbed the late Roman Empire. ... For other uses, see Franks (disambiguation). ... The Burgundians or Burgundes were an East Germanic tribe which may have emigrated from mainland Scandinavia to the island of Bornholm, whose old form in Old Norse still was Burgundarholmr (the Island of the Burgundians), and from here to mainland Europe. ... Map of Gaul circa 58 BC Gaul (Latin Gallia, Greek Galatia) was the region of Western Europe occupied by present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the Rhine river. ... Map showing the Saxons homeland in traditional region bounded by the three rivers: Weser, Eider, and Elbe Src: Freemans Historical Geographys. The Saxons or Saxon people are (nowadays) part of the German people with its main areas of settlements in the German States of Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, Saxony... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the United Kingdom (light green), with the Republic of Ireland (blue) to its west Languages English Capital London Largest city London Area â€“ Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 kmÂ² Population â€“mid-2004... This article is about theological views like those of Arius. ... Clovis I, King of the Franks. ... Roland pledges his fealty to Charlemagne; from a manuscript of a chanson de geste. ...

Italy

The Lombards (Latin Langobardi, from which the alternative name Longobards found in older English texts), were a Germanic people originally from Scandinavia that entered the late Roman Empire. ... King of Italy is a title adopted by many rulers after the fall of the Roman Empire. ...

Anglo-Saxon England

Frankish Empire

Starting with the Frankish realms at the beginning of the ninth century, Charlemagne united much of modern day France, western Germany and northern Italy into the Carolingian Empire. Scholarship and Classical learning flourished under Charlemagne leading to what twentieth-century historians called the "Carolingian Renaissance". The Frankish Empire was the territory of the Franks, from the 5th to the 10th centuries, from 481 ruled by Clovis I of the Merovingian Dynasty, the first king of all the Franks. ... Map of Carolingian Empire The term Carolingian Empire is sometimes used to refer to the realm of the Franks under the dynasty of the Carolingians. ... Sample of Carolingian minuscule, one of the products of the Carolingian Renaissance. ... Charlemagne (742 or 747 â€“ 28 January 814) (also Charles the Great[1]; from Latin, Carolus Magnus or Karolus Magnus), son of King Pippin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, was the king of the Franks from 768 to 814 and king of the Lombards from 774 to 814. ... Self-Portrait, 1493, Oil on Canvas Albrecht DÃ¼rer (May 21, 1471â€“April 6, 1528) was a German painter, wood carver, engraver, and mathematician of Hungarian ancestry. ... The Frankish Empire was the territory of the Franks, from the 5th to the 10th centuries, from 481 ruled by Clovis I of the Merovingian Dynasty, the first king of all the Franks. ... Charlemagne (742 or 747 â€“ 28 January 814) (also Charles the Great[1]; from Latin, Carolus Magnus or Karolus Magnus), son of King Pippin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, was the king of the Franks from 768 to 814 and king of the Lombards from 774 to 814. ... Map of Carolingian Empire The term Carolingian Empire is sometimes used to refer to the realm of the Franks under the dynasty of the Carolingians. ... Sample of Carolingian minuscule, one of the products of the Carolingian Renaissance. ...

The 840s saw renewed disorder, with the breakup of the Frankish Empire and the beginning of a new cycle of barbarian raids, this time by the Vikings and later the Magyars. The name Viking is a loan from the native Scandinavian term for the Norse seafaring warriors who raided the coasts of Scandinavia, Europe and the British Isles from the late 8th century to the 11th century, the period of European history referred to as the Viking Age. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Feudalism

Around 800, there was a return to systematic agriculture in the form of the open field, or strip, system. A manor would have several fields each subdivided into one-acre strips of land. This was considered to be the amount of land an ox could plow before taking a rest, according to one theory. Another possibility is that the holdings were originally rectangular and were split into strips because of the way land was inherited. In the idealized form of the system, each family got thirty such strips of land. The three-field system of crop rotation was first developed in the ninth century: wheat or rye was planted in one field, the second field had a nitrogen-fixing crop (barley, oats, peas, or beans), and third was fallow[2]. Compared to the earlier two-field system, a three-field system allows for significantly more land to be put under cultivation. Even more important, the system allows for two harvests a year, reducing the risk that a single crop failure will lead to famine. Three-field agriculture creates a suplus of oats that can be used to feed horses ^[10] Because the system required a major rearrangement of real estate and the social order, it took until the eleventh century before it came into general use. The heavy wheeled plow was introduced in the late tenth century. It required greater animal power and promoted the use of teams of oxen. Illuminated manuscripts depict two-wheeled plows with both a moldboard, or curved metal plowshare, and a coulter, a vertical blade in front of the plowshare. The Romans had used, light, wheelless plows with flat iron shares that often proved unequal to the heavy soils of northern Europe. Roland pledges his fealty to Charlemagne; from a manuscript of a chanson de geste. ... The open field system was the prevalent agricultural system in Europe from the Dark Ages to as recently as the 20th century in places. ... For the area of Sheffield, in England, see Manor, Sheffield. ... Crop rotation: grain crop, fallow land, legumes Crop rotation is the practice of growing two (or more) dissimilar type of crops in the same space in sequence. ...

The return to systemic agriculture coincided with the introduction of a new social system called feudalism. This system featured a hierarchy of reciprocal obligations. Feudalism bound each man to serve his superior in return for the latter's protection. This made for confusion of territorial sovereignty since allegiances were subject to change over time, and were sometimes mutually contradictory. Feudalism allowed the state to provide for public safety despite the continued absence of a literate bureaucracy and written records. Even land ownership disputes were decided based solely on oral testimony. Territoriality was reduced to a network of personal allegiances. Roland pledges his fealty to Charlemagne; from a manuscript of a chanson de geste. ...

Christianization of the West

The Roman Catholic Church, the only centralized institution to survive the fall of the Western Roman Empire intact, was the sole unifying cultural influence in the West, preserving its selection from Latin learning, maintaining the art of writing, and preserving a centralized administration through its network of bishops ordained in succession. The Early Middle Ages are characterized by the urban control of bishops and the territorial control exercised by dukes and counts. The rise of urban communes marked the beginning of the High Middle Ages. St Francis Xavier converting the Paravas: a 19th-century image of the docile heathen Ansgar, the 9th century apostle of the North in an 1830 drawing. ... The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... This page (folio 292r) contains the lavishly decorated text that opens the Gospel of John. ... Catholic Church redirects here. ... The Roman Empire is not the Holy Roman Empire (843-1806). ... A bishop is an ordained member of the Christian clergy who, in certain Christian churches, holds a position of authority. ... Defensive towers at San Gimignano, Tuscany, bear witness to the factional strife within communes. ...

The Christianization of Germanic tribes began in the fourth century with the Goths, and continued throughout the Early Middle Ages, in the sixth to seventh centuries led by the Hiberno-Scottish mission, replaced in the eighth to ninth centuries by the Anglo-Saxon mission, with Anglo-Saxons like Alcuin playing an important role in the Carolingian renaissance. By AD 1000, even Iceland became Christian, leaving only more remote parts of Europe (Scandinavia, the Baltic and Finno-Ugric lands) to be Christianized during the High Middle Ages. By Germanic Christianity is that phase in the history of Northern Europe understood, when the Germanic peoples of the Migration period and Viking Age adopted Christianity. ... It has been suggested that SchottenklÃ¶ster be merged into this article or section. ... Anglo-Saxon missionaries were instrumental in the spread of Germanic Christianity in the Frankish Empire during the 8th century, continuing the work of Hiberno-Scottish missionaries which had been spreading Celtic Christianity across the Frankish Empire as well as in Scotland and Anglo-Saxon England itself during the 6th century. ... Rabanus Maurus (left), supported by Alcuin (middle), presents his work to Otgar of Mainz Flaccus Albinus Alcuinus or Ealhwine (c. ... Sample of Carolingian minuscule, one of the products of the Carolingian Renaissance. ... Scandinavia is a region in Northern Europe named after the Scandinavian Peninsula. ... Baltic can refer to: The Baltic Sea Council of the Baltic Sea States - an intergovernmental organization Baltic sea countries - countries with access to the Baltic Sea The Baltic region (Balticum) Baltic States - the independent countries of Estonia Latvia Lithuania Baltic Republics - term refers to the three Baltic states under the... Geographical distribution of Finno-Ugric (Finno-Permic in blue, Ugric in green). ...

Viking Age (793-1066)

The Viking Age spans the period between AD 793 and 1066 in Scandinavia and Britain, following the Germanic Iron Age (and the Vendel Age in Sweden). During this period, the Vikings, Scandinavian warriors and traders, raided and explored most parts of Europe, south-western Asia, northern Africa and north-eastern North America. Apart from exploring Europe by way of its oceans and rivers with the aid of their advanced navigational skills and extending their trading routes across vast parts of the continent, they also engaged in warfare and looted and enslaved numerous Christian communities of Medieval Europe for centuries, contributing to the development of feudal systems in Europe. The Viking Age is the name of the period between 793 and 1066 AD in Scandinavia and Britain, following the Germanic Iron Age (and the Vendel Age in Sweden). ... Events Vikings sack the monastery of Lindisfarne, Northumbria. ... Events January 6 - Harold II is crowned September 20 - Battle of Fulford September 25 - Battle of Stamford Bridge September 29 - William of Normandy lands in England at Pevensey. ... Scandinavia is a region in Northern Europe named after the Scandinavian Peninsula. ... The Germanic Iron Age is the name given to the period 400 CEâ€“800 AD in Northern Europe, and it is part of the continental Age of Migrations. ... The Vendel Age (550-793) was the name of a Swedish part of the Germanic Iron Age (or, more generally, the Age of Migrations). ... The name Viking is a loan from the native Scandinavian term for the Norse seafaring warriors who raided the coasts of Scandinavia, Europe and the British Isles from the late 8th century to the 11th century, the period of European history referred to as the Viking Age. ... World map showing Europe Political map Europe is one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to various perspectives about Europes borders. ... World map showing the location of Asia. ... Africa is the worlds second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ...

Eastern Europe 600-1000

Prior to the rise of the Kievan Rus, the eastern frontier of Europe had been dominated by the Khazars, a Turkic people who had gained independence from the Turkic Empire by the seventh century. Khazaria was a multiethnic commercial state which derived its well-being from control of river trade between Europe and the Orient. They also exacted tribute from the Alani, Magyars, various Slavic tribes, the Goths and Greeks of Crimea. Through a network of Jewish itinerant merchants, or Radhanites, they were in contact with the trade emporiums of India and Spain. Sassanian fortress at Derbent This work is copyrighted. ... Sassanian fortress at Derbent This work is copyrighted. ... The Caspian Gates in Derbant, Russia are identified with the Gates of Alexander. ... The site of the Khazar fortress at Sarkel. ... The word Alani has several meanings: Alani is the Hawaiian name of a number of species of shrubs and trees in the genus Melicope, family Rutaceae. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Motto: ÐŸÑ€Ð¾Ñ†Ð²ÐµÑ‚Ð°Ð½Ð¸Ðµ Ð² ÐµÐ´Ð¸Ð½ÑÑ‚Ð²Ðµ - Prosperity in unity Anthem: ÐÐ¸Ð²Ñ‹ Ð¸ Ð³Ð¾Ñ€Ñ‹ Ñ‚Ð²Ð¾Ð¸ Ð²Ð¾Ð»ÑˆÐµÐ±Ð½Ñ‹, Ð Ð¾Ð´Ð¸Ð½Ð° - Your fields and mounts are wonderful, Motherland Capital Simferopol Largest cities Simferopol, Eupatoria, Kerch, Theodosia, Yalta Official language Ukrainian. ... Radhanites (also Radanites, Arabic al-Radhaniyya) The Radhanites were a medieval group or guild of Jewish merchants. ...

Once they found themselves confronted by Arab expansionism, the Khazars pragmatically allied themselves with Constantinople and clashed with the Califate. Despite initial setbacks, they managed to recover Derbent and eventually penetrated as far south as Caucasian Iberia, Caucasian Albania and Armenia. In doing so, they effectively blocked the northward expansion of Islam into Eastern Europe several decades before Charles Martel achieved the same in Western Europe.^[11] Anglicized/Latinized version of the Arabic word خليفة or Khalifah, is the term or title for the Islamic leader of the Ummah, or community of Islam. ... Darband is built around a Sassanid fortress, the only one preserved in the world. ... Ancient countries of Caucasus: Armenia, Iberia, Colchis and Albania Iberia was a name given by the ancient Greeks and Romans to the ancient Georgian kingdom of Kartli (4th century BC-5th century AD) corresponding roughly to the eastern and southern parts of the present day Georgia. ... Ancient countries of Caucasus: Armenia, Iberia, Colchis and Albania Caucasian Albania (or Aghbania) was an ancient kingdom that covered what is now southern Dagestan and most of todays Azerbaijan of the Caucasus. ... For other uses, including people named Islam, see Islam (disambiguation). ... Current division of Europe into five (or more) regions: one definition of Eastern Europe is marked in orange Eastern Europe is an eastern region of Europe variably defined. ... For the 13th century titular King of Hungary, see Charles Martel dAnjou. ...

In the seventh century, the northern littoral of the Black Sea was hit with a fresh wave of nomadic attacks, led by the Bulgars, who established a powerful khanate of Great Bulgaria under the leadership of Kubrat. The Khazars managed to oust the Bulgars from Southern Ukraine into the middle reaches of the Volga (Volga Bulgaria) and into the lower reaches of the Danube (Danube Bulgaria, or the First Bulgarian Empire). The Danube Bulgars were quickly Slavicized and, despite constant campaigning against Constantinople, accepted the Greek form of Christianity. Through the efforts of two local missionaries, Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius, the first Slavic alphabet came into being and a vernacular dialect, now known as Old Church Slavonic, was established as a language of books and liturgy. Map of the Black Sea. ... This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ... In 632, Khan Kubrat united the Bulgars and formed a confederation of tribes, known as Great Bulgaria, or Bulgaria Magna, with a capital at the ancient city of Fanagoria. ... Khan Kubrat (632 - 651) THE NAME OF KHAN KUBRAT first appeared in Byzantine chronicles about 632 when his tribe, the Unogonduri, threw off the Turkic oppression. ... For other meanings of the word Volga see Volga (disambiguation) Волга Length 3,690 km Elevation of the source 225 m Average discharge ? m³/s Area watershed 1. ... Volga Bulgaria or Volga-Kama Bolghar, is a historic state that existed between the 7th and 13th centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama rivers in what is now the Russian Federation. ... The Danube bend at VisegrÃ¡d is a popular destination of tourists The Danube (ancient Danuvius) is Europes second-longest river (after the Volga). ... The First Bulgarian Empire was founded in 681 AD in the lands near the Danube delta and disintegrated in 1018 AD by annexion to the Byzantine Empire. ... Saint Cyril (Greek: ÎšÏÏÎ¹Î»Î»Î¿Ï‚, Church Slavonic: ÐšÐ¸Ñ€Ð¸Ð»ÑŠ) (827 - February 14, 869) was a Greek (i. ... Saint Methodius (Greek: ÎœÎµÎ¸ÏŒÎ´Î¹Î¿Ï‚; Church Slavonic ÐœÐµÑ„Ð¾Ð´Ð¸Ð¸) (b. ... Old Church Slavonic (also called Old Church Slavic, Old Bulgarian, Old Macedonian, and Old Slavonic) is the first literary Slavic language, developed from the Slavonic dialect of Thessaloniki by 9th century Byzantine Greek missionaries, Saints Cyril and Methodius. ...

To the north from the Byzantine periphery, the first attested Slavic polity was Great Moravia, which emerged under the aegis of the Frankish Empire in the early 9th century. Until its defragmentation in consequence of the conflicts with the East Franks a century later, Moravia was a stage for confrontation between the Christian missionaries from Constantinople and from Rome. Although the West Slavs eventually acknowledged the Roman ecclesiastical authority, the clergy of Constantinople succeeded in converting into the Greek faith the largest state of contemporary Europe, Kievan Rus, towards 990. Led by a Varangian dynasty, the Kievan Rus controlled the routes connecting Northern Europe to Byzantium and the Orient. ... John/Ioannes Skylitzes/Scylitzes (Î™Ï‰Î¬Î½Î½Î·Ï‚ Î£ÎºÏ…Î»Î¯Ï„Î¶Î·Ï‚, 1081) was a Byzantine historian of the late 11th century. ... Great Moravia (Old Church Slavonic approximately Ð’ÐµÐ»ÑŒÑ ÐœÐ¾Ñ€Ð°Ð²Ð°, Czech VelkÃ¡ Morava, Slovak VeÄ¾kÃ¡ Morava, Latin Magna Moravia) was a Slav state existing on the territory of present-day Moravia and Slovakia between 833 and the early 10th century. ... East Franks corresponds with what is now Germany. ... Kievan Rus′ (Ки́евская Ру́сь, Kievskaya Rus in Russian; Київська Русь, Kyivs’ka Rus’ in Ukrainian) was the early, mostly East Slavic¹ state dominated by the city of Kiev (ru: Ки́ев, Kiev; uk: Ки́їв, Kyiv), from about 880 to the middle of the 12th century. ... The Varangians (Russian: Variags, Ð’Ð°Ñ€ÑÐ³Ð¸) were Scandinavians who travelled eastwards, mainly from Jutland and Sweden. ... The Trade Route from the Varangians to the Greeks (ÐŸÑƒÑ‚ÑŒ Â«Ð¸Ð· Ð²Ð°Ñ€ÑÐ³ Ð² Ð³Ñ€ÐµÐºÐ¸Â» in Russian) was a trade route, which connected Scandinavia, Kievan Rus and the Byzantine Empire. ...

Both before and after the Christianisation, the Rus staged predatory raids against Constantinople, some of which resulted in the mutually beneficial trade treaties. The importance of Russo-Byzantine relations is highlighted by the fact that Vladimir I of Kiev was the only foreigner who married a Byzantine princess of the Macedonian dynasty, a singular honour which many rulers of Western Europe sought in vain. The military campaigns of Vladimir's father, Svyatoslav I, had crushed the statehood of two strongest powers of Eastern Europe, namely the Bulgars and the Khazars. Detail of the Millennium of Russia monument in Novgorod (1862) representing St Vladimir and his family. ... ...

Transmission of learning

During the latter part of the period, the Islamic world managed to conserve the cultural achievements of the Greek and Roman antiquity more faithfully than the Western world did. Whereas the Umayyads had allowed only narrowly religious scholarship, the 'Abbāsids promoted Hellenistic and humanist learning, in accordance with the doctrines of the officially favored Mu'tazilah school of Islamic interpretation. This school was founded in Basra by Wasil bin 'Ata and held that the Koran is a created work, a view rejected by the Ash'ariyyah and Athariyyah ("Textualist") schools now considered orthodox. Prophet Isaiah and Nyx, a female figure whose inverted torch and drapery blown over her head follow Hellenistic conventions. ... The Ashâ€™ariyyah are a school of Islamic aqeedah (theology) that is named after Imam Abuâ€™l-Hasan al-Ashâ€™ari (may Allaah have mercy on him). ... Athari ((al-Athariyya), the textualists, from the word Athar, report) is the smallest of the four schools of Sunni Islamic theology. ...

Thus the "gates of ijtihad" were opened, allowing discussion and debate within Islam, supposedly among 135 schools of thought. Philosophers such as al-Kindī (801–873) and al-Fārābī (870–950) translated the works of Aristotle and applied his thinking to Islam. al-Khwarizmi (790-840) developed the zero notation and wrote the first book on algebra. (The world "algorithm" comes from his name.) In 800, Baghdad was the largest city in world, the first to have a population of over 1 million, and the intellectual hub of the Islamic world. Opponents of ijtihad began proclaiming the "closing of the gates of ijtihad" in the tenth century. Open discussion of humanism and other philosophical issues became increasingly dangerous, but was still possible until about 1200. Islamic learning depended on the whim and patronage of the ruler and Islam did not develop a university system or other permanent institution to honor and promote non-Koranic scholarship. Ijtihad (Arabic Ø§Ø¬ØªÙ‡Ø§Ø¯) is a technical term of Islamic law that describes the process of making a legal decision by independent interpretation of the legal sources, the Quran and the Sunnah. ... Portrait of Al-Kindi For the Christian theologian, see Abd al-Masih ibn Ishaq al-Kindi AbÅ«-YÅ«suf Yaâ€™qÅ«b ibn IshÄq al-KindÄ« (c. ... Media:Example. ... Soviet postage stamp commemorating the 1200th anniversary of Muhammad al‑Khwarizmi in 1983. ... Algebra (from Arabic: Ø§Ù„Ø¬Ø¨Ø±, al-ÄŸabr) is a branch of mathematics concerning the study of structure, relation and quantity. ... Location of Baghdad within Iraq Baghdad (Arabic: â€Ž translit: , Kurdish: Bexda, from Persian Baagh-daad or Bag-Da-Du meaning â€œGarden of Godâ€ [1]) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate. ...

The Carolingian Renaissance in Western Europe and the Macedonian Renaissance in Byzantium had shown a renewed interest in Classical Antiquity. In the course of the tenth century, achievements of Islamic science began to reach Western Europe. An important role in this was played by Gerard of Aurillac (later Pope Sylvester II) who introduced the astrolabe. Western scholars were more reluctant to adopt the Arabic numerals, which became only widely known among the learned with Fibonacci around 1200. Sample of Carolingian minuscule, one of the products of the Carolingian Renaissance. ... It has been suggested that Greco-Roman be merged into this article or section. ... A 16th century astrolabe. ... Numerals sans-serif Arabic numerals, known formally as Hindu-Arabic numerals, and also known as Indian numerals, Hindu numerals, European numerals, and Western numerals, are the most common symbolic representation of numbers around the world. ... Leonardo of Pisa (Pisa, c. ...

Urbanization

Urban planner Tertius Chandler made a remarkable survey of city sizes through history which is now accepted as a standard reference^[12]. For the period considered here, the largest cities in the world were: Constantinople (340-570), Ctesiphon of the Sassanians (570-637), Changan in China (637-775), Baghdad (775-935), and Cordoba (935-1013).[3] Ctesiphon, 1932 Ctesiphon (Parthian: Tyspwn as well as Tisfun) is one of the great cities of ancient Mesopotamia and the capital of the Parthian Empire and its successor, the Sassanid Empire, for more than 800 years located in the ancient Iranian province of Khvarvaran. ... Head of king Shapur II (Sasanian dynasty A.D. 4th century). ... Nickname: Changan Motto: {{{motto}}} Official website: http://www. ... Location of Baghdad within Iraq Baghdad (Arabic: â€Ž translit: , Kurdish: Bexda, from Persian Baagh-daad or Bag-Da-Du meaning â€œGarden of Godâ€ [1]) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate. ... Córdoba most commonly means Córdoba, Spain, a famous city in Spain inhabited since the time of ancient Rome, and the seat of the Emir of Córdoba and the Caliph of Córdoba. ...

According to Chandler's estimates, the following cities were the largest in the Europe and Middle East during the first millennium of the Christian era:

•AD 100 Rome (450 thousand people), Seleucia (250), Alexandria (250), Antioch (150), Carthage (100). The name Seleucia may denote any one of several cities in the Seleucid Empire. ... For other uses, see Alexandria (disambiguation). ... Antioch on the Orontes (Greek: Î‘Î½Ï„Î¹ÏŒÏ‡ÎµÎ¹Î± Î· ÎµÏ€Î¯ Î”Î¬Ï†Î½Î·, Î‘Î½Ï„Î¹ÏŒÏ‡ÎµÎ¹Î± Î® ÎµÏ€Î¯ ÎŸÏÏŒÎ½Ï„Î¿Ï… or Î‘Î½Ï„Î¹ÏŒÏ‡ÎµÎ¹Î± Î· ÎœÎµÎ³Î¬Î»Î·; Latin: Antiochia ad Orontem, also Antiochia dei Siri), the Great Antioch or Syrian Antioch was an ancient city located on the eastern side (left bank) of the Orontes River about 30 km from the sea and its port, Seleucia of Pieria (Suedia, now Samanda... Carthaginian settlements in the western Mediterranean in the early 3rd century BC. The term Carthage can refer either to an ancient city in North Africa, located on the eastern side of Lake Tunis across from the center of modern Tunis in Tunisia, or to the civilization within the citys...

•AD 361 Constantinople (300), Ctesiphon (250), Rome (150), Antioch (150), Alexandria (125).

•AD 500 Constantinople (400), Ctesiphon (400), Antioch (150), Carthage (100), Rome (100).

•AD 622 Ctesiphon (500), Constantinople (350), Alexandria (94), Aleppo (72), Rayy (68). Old Town Aleppo viewed from the Citadel Aleppo is also the name of two townships in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. ... Ray, also spelled Rayy or Rages (ری in Persian) is the most historic city in the province of Tehran, Iran. ...

•AD 800 Baghdad (700), Constantinople (250), Cordoba (160), Basra (100), Fostat (100) — cf. Rome (50), Paris (25). Location of Basra Basra (also spelled BaÅŸrah or Basara; historically sometimes written Busra, Busrah, and the early form Bassorah; Arabic: , Al-Basrah) is the second largest city of Iraq with an estimated population of c. ... Fostat (also spelled Fustat; Arabic: ) was the first capital city of Egypt under Arab rule. ...

•AD 900 Baghdad (900), Constantinople (300), Cordoba (200), Alexandria (175), Fostat (150) — cf. Rome (40).

•AD 1000 Cordoba (450), Constantinople (300), Cairo (135), Baghdad (125), Nishapur (125) — cf. Rome (35), Paris (20). Cairo Minarets Cairo (Arabic: â€Ž transliterated: , transl. ... Nishapur (or NeyshÃ¢bÃ»r; Ù†ÛŒØ´Ø§Ø¨ÙˆØ± in Persian) is a town in the province of Khorasan in northeastern Iran, situated in a fertile plain at the foot of the Binalud Mountains, near the regional capital of Mashhad. ...

Chandler’s default assumption is 100 inhabitants/hectare. Islamic cities are thought to have had higher population densities. A city is defined as a continuously inhabited area.

Foundation of the Holy Roman Empire (10th century)

Listless and often ill, Carolingian Emperor Charles the Fat, provoked an uprising led by his nephew Arnulf of Carinthia which resulted in the division of the empire into the kingdoms of France, Germany, and (northern) Italy (887). Taking advantage of the weakness of the German government, the Magyars had established themselves in the Alföld, or Hungarian grasslands, and began raiding across Germany, Italy, and even France. The German nobles elected Henry the Fowler, duke of Saxony, their king at a Reichstag, or national assembly, in Fritzlar in 919. Henry's power was only marginally greater than that of the other leaders of the stem duchies, which were the feudal expression of the former German tribes. Henry's son King Otto I (r. 936-973) was able to defeat a revolt of the dukes supported by French King Louis IV (939). In 951, Otto marched into Italy and married the widowed Queen Adelaide, named himself king of the Lombards, and received homage from Berengar of Ivrea, king of Italy (r. 950-52). Otto named his relatives the new leaders of the stem duchies, but this approach didn't completely solve the problem of disloyalty. His son Liudolf, duke of Swabia, revolted and welcomed the Magyars into Germany (953). At Lechfeld, near Augsburg in Bavaria, Otto caught up the Magyars while they were enjoying a razzia and achieved a signal victory (955). After this, the Magyars ceased to be a nation that lived on plunder and their leaders created a Christian kingdom called Hungary (1000). Otto, his prestige greatly enhanced, marched into Italy again and was crowned emperor (imperator augustus) by Pope John XII in Rome (962). Historians count this event as the founding of the Holy Roman Empire, although the term was not used until much later. The Ottonian state is also considered the first Reich, or German Empire. Otto used the imperial title without attaching it to any territory. He and later emperors thought of themselves as part of a continuous line of emperors that begins with Charlemagne. (Several of these "emperors" were simply local Italian magnates who bullied the pope into coronating them.) Otto deposed John XII for conspiring with Berengar against him and named Pope Leo VIII to replace him (963). Berenger was captured and taken to Germany. John was able to reverse the deposition after Otto left, but died in the arms of his mistress soon afterwards. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1500x1785, 901 KB) Summary La bildo estas kopiita de wikipedia:de. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1500x1785, 901 KB) Summary La bildo estas kopiita de wikipedia:de. ... Emperor Otto I Otto I the Great (November 23, 912 - May 7, 973), son of Henry I the Fowler, king of the Germans, and Matilda of Ringelheim, was Duke of Saxony, King of the Germans and arguably the first Holy Roman Emperor. ... Charles the Fat in the Grandes Chroniques de France. ... Arnulf of Carinthia (German Arnulf von KÃ¤rnten, Slovenian Arnulf KoroÅ¡ki) (850 â€“ December 8, 899) was one of the last ruling members of the Carolingian house in the Eastern part of the Frankish Kingdom, which had been split in the Treaty of Verdun in 843. ... Heinrich I depicted as The Bamberg Knight Henry I, the Fowler (German: Heinrich der Finkler or Heinrich der Vogler) (876 - July 2, 936), was Duke of Saxony from 912 and king of the Germans from 919 until his death in 936. ... Emperor Otto I Otto I the Great (November 23, 912 - May 7, 973), son of Henry I the Fowler, king of the Germans, and Matilda of Ringelheim, was Duke of Saxony, King of the Germans and arguably the first Holy Roman Emperor. ... Louis IV dOutremer: King of France 936 to 954, member of the Carolingian dynasty. ... Saint Adelaide of Italy (931-December 16, 999) was the daughter of Rudolf II of Burgundy, King of Italy. ... Berengar of Ivrea (?-966), sometimes also referred to as Berengar II of Italy was marquess of Ivrea, and later King of Italy. ... Combatants Holy Roman Empire Magyars Commanders Otto the Great harka BulcsÃº; chieftains LÃ©l and SÃºr Strength 10,000 heavy cavalry 50,000 light cavalry Casualties about 3,500 about 30,000 fell in the battle about 5,000 killed by local farmers maybe 5,000 fleeing Magyars killed... John XII (born in Rome circa 937, died May 14, 964), was Pope from 955 to 963, was the son of Alberic II, whom he succeeded as patrician of Rome in 954, being then only eighteen years of age. ... The Holy Roman Empire and from the 16th century on also The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation was a political conglomeration of lands in Central Europe in the Middle Ages and the early modern period. ... Charlemagne (742 or 747 â€“ 28 January 814) (also Charles the Great[1]; from Latin, Carolus Magnus or Karolus Magnus), son of King Pippin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, was the king of the Franks from 768 to 814 and king of the Lombards from 774 to 814. ... Leo VIII (died 965), Pope from 963 to 964, a Roman by birth, held the lay office of protoserinus when he was elected to the papal chair at the instance of Otto the Great, by the Roman synod which deposed John XII in December 963. ...

Aside from founding the German Empire, Otto's achievements include the creation "Ottonian church system," in which the clergy (the only literate section of the population) assumed the duties of an imperial civil service. He raised the papacy out of the muck of Rome's local gangster politics, assured that the position was competently filled, and gave it a dignity that allowed it to assume leadership of an international church.

Europe in AD 1000

Speculation that the world will end in the year 1000 is confined to a few uneasy French monks^[13]. Ordinary clerks use regnal years, i.e. the 4th year of the reign of Robert II (the Pious) of France. The use of the modern "anno domini" system of dating is confined to the Venerable Bede and other chroniclers of universal history. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1536x2048, 611 KB) Summary Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Longship Viking Gokstad ship Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1536x2048, 611 KB) Summary Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Longship Viking Gokstad ship Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... // Events World Population 300 million. ... Regnal year: the year of the reign of a sovereign. ... Bede, commonly known as the Venerable Bede, (c. ...

Europe remains a backwater compared to Islam, with its vast network of caravan trade, or China, at this time the world's most populous and magnificent empire under the Song dynasty. Constantinople has a population of about 300,000, but Rome has a mere 35,000 and Paris 20,000.[4][5] In contrast, Islam has over a dozen major cities stretching from Cordoba, Spain, at this time the world's largest city with 450,000 inhabitants, to central Asia. The Vikings have a trade network in northern Europe, including a route connecting the Baltic to Constantinople through Russia. But it is modest affair compared to the caravan routes that connects the great Islamic cities of Cordoba, Alexandria, Cairo, Baghdad, Basra, and Mecca. A song is a relatively short musical composition for the human voice (possibly accompanied by other musical instruments), which features words (lyrics). ... Córdoba most commonly means Córdoba, Spain, a famous city in Spain inhabited since the time of ancient Rome, and the seat of the Emir of Córdoba and the Caliph of Córdoba. ... The name Viking is a loan from the native Scandinavian term for the Norse seafaring warriors who raided the coasts of Scandinavia, Europe and the British Isles from the late 8th century to the 11th century, the period of European history referred to as the Viking Age. ... The Trade Route from the Varangians to the Greeks (ÐŸÑƒÑ‚ÑŒ Â«Ð¸Ð· Ð²Ð°Ñ€ÑÐ³ Ð² Ð³Ñ€ÐµÐºÐ¸Â» in Russian) was a trade route, which connected Scandinavia, Kievan Rus and the Byzantine Empire. ... Cairo Minarets Cairo (Arabic: â€Ž transliterated: , transl. ... Location of Basra Basra (also spelled BaÅŸrah or Basara; historically sometimes written Busra, Busrah, and the early form Bassorah; Arabic: , Al-Basrah) is the second largest city of Iraq with an estimated population of c. ... This article is about the city in Saudi Arabia. ...

With nearly the entire nation freshly ravaged by the Vikings, England is in a desperate state. Worse is on the way. The long-suffering English will respond with a massacre of Danish settlers in 1002, leading to a round of reprisals and finally to Danish rule (1013). But Christianization is making rapid progress and will prove itself the long-term solution to the problem of barbarian raiding. Scandinavia is recently Christianized and the kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark established. Kievan Rus, recently converted to Orthodox Christianity, flourished as the largest state in Europe. Iceland and Hungary were both declared Christian about AD 1000. Kievan Rus′ (Ки́евская Ру́сь, Kievskaya Rus in Russian; Київська Русь, Kyivs’ka Rus’ in Ukrainian) was the early, mostly East Slavic¹ state dominated by the city of Kiev (ru: Ки́ев, Kiev; uk: Ки́їв, Kyiv), from about 880 to the middle of the 12th century. ...

In Europe, marriage is now established among the nobility^[14]. North of Italy, where masonry construction was never extinguished, stone construction was replacing timber in important structures. Deforestation of the densely wooded continent was under way. The tenth century marked a return of urban life, with the Italian cities doubling in population. London, abandoned for many centuries, was by 1000 once again England's main economic center. By 1000, Bruges and Ghent are holding regular trade fairs behind castle walls, a tentative return of economic life to western Europe. For other uses, see London (disambiguation). ... Sometimes referred to as the Venice of the North, Bruges has many waterways that run through the city. ... Gent at Night Ghent (IPA: ; Gent in Dutch; Gand in French, formerly Gaunt in English) is a city located in Flanders, Belgium. ...

If the balance sheet for Europe is decidedly mixed, it can find solace in the disintegration the Islamic Caliphate, an imposing and unite rival only a century before. Islamic unity is hobbled by the divisions between of Shiite vs. Sunni and Arab vs Persian. There are three caliphs, an Umayyid caliph in Spain, an Abbasid caliph in Baghdad, and a Shiite (Fatimid) caliph in Egypt. The population of Baghdad, the Abbasid capital, has shrunk to 125,000 (compared to 900,000 in AD 900).^[15] The Umayyids are still strong and assertive in 1000, but will decline rapidly after 1002 and disappear entirely by 1031. Shi‘as (the adjective in Arabic is شيعى shi‘i; English has traditionally used Shiite) which mean follower in Arabic make up the second largest sect of believers in Islam, constituting about 30%-35% of all Muslim. ... Sunni Islam (Arabic سنّة) is the largest denomination of Islam. ... The Arabs (Arabic: Ø¹Ø±Ø¨ ) are an ethnic group found throughout the Middle East and North Africa. ...

In the culture of Europe, several features surface soon after 1000 that mark the end of the Early Middle Ages: the rise of the medieval communes, the reawakening of city life, and the appearance of the burgher class, the founding of the first universities, the rediscovery of Roman law, and the beginnings of vernacular literature. Defensive towers at San Gimignano, Tuscany, bear witness to the factional strife within communes. ... Burgher can refer to: A title. ... The first European medieval institutions generally considered to be universities were established in Italy, France, and England in the late 11th and the 12th centuries for the study of arts, law, medicine, and theology. ... Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome. ...

In 1000, the papacy is firmly under the control of German Emperor Otto III, or "emperor of the world" as he styles himself. But the church is about to embark on a series of reforms that would enhance its independence and prestige: the Cluniac movement, the building of the first great Transalpine stone cathedrals and the collation of the mass of accumulated decretals into a formulated canon law. The abbey today The Abbey of Cluny (or Cluni, or Clugny) was founded on 2 September 909 by the Duke of Aquitaine and Count of Auvergne, William I, who placed it under the immediate authority of Pope Sergius III. The Abbey and its constellation of dependencies soon came to exemplify... Decretals (Epistolae decretales) is the name that is given in Canon Law to those letters of the pope which formulate decisions in ecclesiastical law. ... Canon law is the term used for the internal ecclesiastical law which governs various churches, most notably the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Churches and the Anglican Communion of churches. ...

Notes

City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus â€“ SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC (mythical), early 1st millennium BC (archaeological) Region Latium Area - City Proper 1285 kmÂ² Population - City (2004) - Metropolitan - Density (city proper) 2,553,873 almost 4,300,000 1. ... Invasion of the Goths: a late 19th century painting by O. Fritsche portrays the Goths as cavalrymen. ... Roman Emperor is the term historians use to refer to rulers of the Roman Empire, after the epoch conventionally named the Roman Republic. ... The Gothic War, 535â€“552, was the expression of Justinians decision in 535 to reverse the course of events of the past century in the West and win back for the Eastern Roman Empire the provinces of Italy that had been lost, first to Odoacer and then to the... The Holy Roman Empire and from the 16th century on also The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation was a political conglomeration of lands in Central Europe in the Middle Ages and the early modern period. ... Otto I at his victory over Berengar of Friuli Grave of Otto I in Magdeburg Otto I the Great ( November 23, 912 - May 7, 973), son of Henry I the Fowler, king of the Germans, and Matilda of Ringelheim, was Duke of Saxony, King of the Germans and arguably the... The term Great Schism refers to either of two splits in the history of Christianity: Most commonly, it refers to the great East-West Schism, the event that separated Eastern Orthodoxy and Western Roman Catholicism in the eleventh century (1054). ... Bayeux Tapestry depicting events leading to the Battle of Hastings The Norman Conquest of England was the conquest of the Kingdom of England by William the Conqueror (Duke of Normandy), in 1066 at the Battle of Hastings and the subsequent Norman control of England. ... Two horse collars A horse collar is a device used to distribute load around a horses neck, for pulling a wagon or plow. ... Volga Bulgaria or Volga-Kama Bolghar, is a historic state that existed between the 7th and 13th centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama rivers in what is now the Russian Federation. ... Location of Baghdad within Iraq Baghdad (Arabic: â€Ž translit: , Kurdish: Bexda, from Persian Baagh-daad or Bag-Da-Du meaning â€œGarden of Godâ€ [1]) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate. ... Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people with around 15 million followers as of 2006. ...

Contents

Collapse of Rome (372-410)

Migrations (Dark Age) 400-700

Byzantine Empire

Rise of Islam (632-750)

Resurgence of the Latin West (700-850)

Italy

Anglo-Saxon England

Frankish Empire

Feudalism

Christianization of the West

Viking Age (793-1066)

Eastern Europe 600-1000

Transmission of learning

Urbanization

Foundation of the Holy Roman Empire (10th century)

Europe in AD 1000

Notes

See also

Further reading

Contents

Collapse of Rome (372-410) GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Migrations (Dark Age) 400-700

Byzantine Empire

Rise of Islam (632-750)

Resurgence of the Latin West (700-850)

Italy

Anglo-Saxon England

Frankish Empire

Feudalism

Christianization of the West

Viking Age (793-1066)

Eastern Europe 600-1000

Transmission of learning

Urbanization

Foundation of the Holy Roman Empire (10th century)

Europe in AD 1000

Notes

See also

Further reading

Collapse of Rome (372-410)