The Early, High, and Late Middle Ages

Introduction

The European Middle Ages is an epic era that greatly influenced the evolutionary process of core Western values, practices and beliefs. Modern linguistic and political traditions arose during this time (Mortensen, 2006). From the year 700AD to 1300 Ad the European population grew by more than three times leading to the development of novel social institutions such as the medieval university. This research paper seeks to discuss the developments in humanities realized from the early, high and late Middle Ages in Europe.

During the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church rose to universal prominence dominating the religious, political and cultural spheres (Kidner, Bucur, Mathisen, McKee & Weeks, 2013). Doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church served to give purpose to the meaning of life as well as give coherence to the undertakings of everyday life. As such, its doctrines influenced all aspects of medieval life.

Early Middle Ages

The early Middle Ages also referred to as the Dark Ages, Christianity offered an avenue through which man could stand victorious in death. Theories of sin and salvation were taught through Christian teachings making the clergy representatives of God on earth such they had much power over the way the society lived (Boone, 2013). They were the link to God and could accord sinners forgiveness through religious rites which accorded them absolute power and authority.  Pope Innocent III is accredited with the sermon literature titled ‘On the Misery of the human Condition’ (Christianity and the Medieval Mind n.d). This literary work revolved around the denouncing the sinful nature of the human body.

Medieval morality plays were dramatizations of Biblical teachings performed in public squares (Christianity and the Medieval Mind n.d). There were Mystery plays which dramatized the fall of Satan from God’s grace in accordance to the biblical account. Miracle plays on the other hand offered audiences with a vivid understanding of the life of Christ, that of the Virgin Mary and the Saints. The morality plays dramatized the Christian’s constant fighting against evil and aiming to doing good to please God and more so highlighted on the Church teachings of life after death. They were a form of moral instruction, source of religious teachings and a popular mode of entertainment during the ages.

The Literature of Mysticism was well established during this time. It was visionary in nature and writers during were deemed to reflect through their literature a divine connection which was not only intuitive but also portrayed knowledge of God as being a supernatural blessing. The literature of the time also invoked through images ideas of what the supernatural world entailed. Hildegard of Bingen was one such Mystic (Ames, 2012). She lived from 1098 to 1179 AD and produced literary works such as ‘Nature of the universe’, ‘The meaning of Scripture’ and ‘The Destiny of the Soul’ (Christianity and the Medieval Mind n.d). The Church accepted her works and thus allowed the society to adore her literary prowess.

Sermon literature was also common during this time and was ideally meant to reach to the majority of the society who could neither read nor write (Christianity and the Medieval Mind n.d).  Hildegrad addressed the individual while sermons addressed the masses. Literature sermons were orated to church community members offering a description of the Christian teachings of God’s Grace and the message of Salvation.

Medieval morality plays were dramatizations of Biblical teachings performed in public squares (Christianity and the Medieval Mind n.d). There were Mystery plays which dramatized the fall of Satan from God’s grace in accordance to the biblical account. Miracle plays on the other hand offered audiences with a vivid understanding of the life of Christ, that of the Virgin Mary and the Saints. The morality plays dramatized the Christian’s constant fighting against evil and aiming to doing good to please God and more so highlighted on the Church teachings of life after death. They were a form of moral instruction, source of religious teachings and a popular mode of entertainment during the ages. Everyman was one of the famous plays of the Middle Ages.

Dante’s ‘Divine Comedy’ by the poet Dante Alighieri expressed the Christian’s pilgrimage from a sinful life, through a purification process onward to salvation (Christianity and the Medieval Mind n.d). This literary works expresses the medieval perception of the natural world and God’s ultimate plan for man. These works project the common way of life in the political, religious and social spheres of the era.

The High Middle Ages

This was a period where the church exercised absolute authority over all spheres of human culture, including the political sphere. Pope Innocent III incorporated bureaucratic mechanism in to the Church and used his authority to affect political institutions (Christianity and the Medieval Mind n.d). During this period Franciscans founded a monastic movement to redefine the meaning of Christian virtues by practicing absolute poverty and living only by the grace of God, a form of humanitarianism, serving the poor.

The Medieval University rose as a religious enterprise and monopolized learning during this period (Christianity and the Medieval Mind n.d). It was a place for intellectual inquiry as well as debate after the economic prosperity of the time brought about cities, and schools began spreading as did literature. Arithmetic, rhetoric, grammar, music, astronomy and art were taught.

Late Medieval Ages

During the Middle Ages, intellectuals believed that the literary works of the Church and the Scriptures were knowledge repositories. Reason and faith were viewed as being God given. However, Arabs began incorporating Greek tests in their literature which brought questions challenging previous doctrines of the church (Christianity and the Medieval Mind n.d). Scholastics sought to reconcile Greek literature with Christian teachings. One of the greatest Scholastics of the time was Thomas Aquinas, a medieval teacher and theologian. ‘Summa Theologica’ was his greatest literary work which sought to delve on all theological issues of the high Middle Ages (Christianity and the Medieval Mind n.d). He offered questions on how things were and proceeded to offer his informed opinion.   Through this work, he illustrates the core features of cultural expressionism in the Middle Ages.

References

Ames, C. C. (2012). Medieval Religious, Religions, Religion. History Compass, 10(4), 334-352.

Boone, M. (2013). The Origins of Medieval Urban Europe. The Oxford Handbook of Cities in World History, 221.

Christianity and the Medieval Mind. (n.d).Chapter 12: Christianity and the Medieval Mind 1000-1300.

Kidner, F., Bucur, M., Mathisen, R., McKee, S., & Weeks, T. (2013). Making Europe: The Story of the West. Stamford: Cengage Learning.

Mortensen, L. B. (Ed.). (2006). The Making of Christian Myths in the periphery of Latin Christendom (c. 1000-1300). Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press.