What is the EARLY Middle Ages and its characteristics

Dating historical ages is a complex issue that varies greatly between different historiographies, being the reason why an English historian and a Spanish historian can denominate the same one differently epoch. This complexity is observed when analyze the Middle Ages, since when talking about the beginning of this the different authors can date differently. To understand how the first stage of the Middle Ages is called in Spanish history, in this lesson from a Professor we must talk about what is the early Middle Ages and characteristics most prominent.

In Spanish historiography, the first period of the Middle Ages It is the so-called early Middle Ages or Middle Antiquity, being a difficult period to locate as it has some dates similar to that of the High Middle Ages, since it can be said that it is a kind of first phase of this concept.

In terms of its extent, the early Middle Ages goes from 476 to 843, reason why it would begin in the Crisis of century III and it would finish in the middle of century VIII with the appearance of the Muslims and the creation of the great

Carolingian empire, being the two great events that marked the birth of the medieval concept.

In general, the early Middle Ages is the period when ancient society became medieval, changing many of your thoughts and creating a new kind of world. Between the big changes They were:

• The establishment of the two predominant religions
• The rise of three great powers
• The transition from the slave system to a feudal system

To understand the Early Middle Ages we must talk about its main characteristics, this being essential to understand the differences between this period and the rest. The characteristics of the early age Average are as follows:

• Emergence of three great powers who control the known world, these being the Christianitycentralized in the Carolingian Empire, the Muslims and the Byzantine Empire.
• The Catholic Church increased his power, making the Pope one of the most powerful people in Europe.
• The feudal system replaced the slavery as a basic economic system, appearing the social class of the servant with greater rights than the slaves.
• The agriculture and livestock they were the economic key of medieval society, being the first on which the serfdom system was based.
• Appeared new social classes, so the society was divided into nobility, clergy and common people.
• The fiefdoms they become the center of medieval society, being large walled centers so that nobles and their servants can be protected from possible attacks.
• The king figure It has power, but this stage is marked by tensions between them and the nobility, which agglutinate a lot of power due to the fiefdom system.
• The barbarian peopless characteristic of the end of the ancient stage occupy the main regions of Europe, being therefore predecessors of medieval European cultures.

To end this lesson from a Professor on what is the early Middle Ages and its characteristics we must talk about the main events that took place at this time, in order to understand why its main features. The main events of this stage are the following:

• 476: Fall of the Western Roman Empire, beginning the Middle Ages. The barbarian peoples overthrew the Emperor of Rome and became kings of the region.
• 537: Justinian I becomes Emperor of Eastern Rome, initiating one of the most important periods in the region, and initiating the reforms that turned the region in the Byzantine Empire, and therefore in one of the main forces of the Europe medieval.
• 570: Muhammad is born, prophet of Islam and founder of the religion. His birth is the origin of one of the religions with the largest number of believers, defending a Holy War that would cause years of wars between Christians and Muslims.
• 632: Rise of the first Muslim Caliphate, achieving great conquests against the Christian regions and the Byzantine Empire, and thus initiating a long period of conflicts.
• 711: The Umayyads conquer areas in the Iberian Peninsula, originating what is known as Al-Andalus. The influence of the Umayyads in Hispania would last for years, and would cause numerous conflicts against Christians during these centuries.
• 732: Battle of Tours, where Carlos Martel stops the advance of the Muslims towards the north, preventing them from crossing the border towards France and therefore both managing to stop his intention to conquer Europe, being the origin of the conversion of the Franks in the Empire Carolingian.
• 750: The Abbasid Caliphate is born, being the most durable caliphate and achieving great power in the traditional Muslim area.
• 768: Start on reign of Charlemagne, being the most important king of the Carolingian Empire and one of the greatest forces in Europe, being especially important as a rival of Islam.
• 793: First known attacks of the vikings against Christians, beginning with it the she was viking.
• 800: Charlemagne is named Holy Roman EmperorThis and that of the Franks being the two great Christian kingdoms for years.
• 843: Division of the Empire of Charlemagne and therefore end of the greater Christian kingdom, arising from its division France and the Holy Germanic Empire.