The Middle Ages

Starvation also became a serious problem in Europe.  In cities and rural areas food supplies were low and people starved and died.  The sudden decrease in population had an interesting effect on the economy: 

Because the plague destroyed people and not possessions, the drop in population was accompanied by a corresponding increase in per capita wealth. A new type of consumer, who preferred variety and luxury, began to appear in both the towns and the countryside. People who were unsure if they would be alive the next day wanted to spend their money on fine foods and luxuries. Many lords and wealthy merchants built churches and commissioned religious art, partly in thanks for being spared the horrors of the Black Death. Some historians suggest that the Renaissance was financed by people who invested in culture in hard times. (“Middle Ages,” par. 5)

Politically, the Late Middle Ages was a time of change.  As wealth became more available, the citizens expected more accountability.  The end of the Middle Ages set the tone for political change during the Renaissance.  “As Europe grew stronger over the next few centuries, it would take a more prominent role on the global stage” (Ellis 229).

Although the Middle Ages have been subdivided into the Early, High and Late Middle Ages, there is not an exact beginning or clear ending to this one thousand year span in history.  The era was marked with cultural, economic and political achievements. It saw the growth of societies, the Church, cities, art, literature, and education.  It also was a time of conquest, plague and war.  “The Middle Ages is an unfortunate term.  It was not invented until the age was long past.  The dwellers in the middle ages would not have recognized it.  They did not know that they were living in the middle; they thought, quite rightly, that they were time’s latest achievement” (Bishop 7).         

Works Cited

Alchin, Linda K.  “Middle Ages Feudalism.” 20 September 2006.  29 September 2008.     .

Alchin, Linda K.  “The Great Schism.” 20 September 2006.  29 September 2008.   .

Bishop, Morris.  The Middle Ages.  New York:  Mariner Books, 26 Feb. 2001.

Cantor , Norman F.  Inventing the Middle Ages.  New York: William Morrow and

Company, 1991.

–.  The Civilization of the Middle Ages: A Completely Revised and Expanded Edition

of  Medieval History.  New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1993.

Ellis, Elisabeth Gaynor, Anthony Esler, and Burton F. Beers. World History : Connections to Today. New York: Prentice Hall P, 2005.

Harding, Samuel B.  The Story of the Middle Ages.  Chapel Hill, NC: Yesterday’s

Classics, 2006.

“Middle Ages.”  29 September 2008.

<http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761578474_17/middle_ages.html>.

“Middle Ages Introduction.” 29 September 2008.

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Munro, Dana C.  The Middle Ages.  New York: The Century Co., 1924.

“Religion.”   29 September 2008.

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Rosenwein, Barbara H. A Short History of the Middle Ages. New York: Broadview P, 2004.

“The Feudal Structure of the Medieval World.”  29 September 2008. 

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Troutman, Nancy.  “Magna Carta.”  29 September 2008.

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