The 4 differences between the High Middle Ages and the Low Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is one of the longest periods in Western history, going from the fifth century AD. c. until the middle of the XV century and, therefore, having a duration of almost 1000 years.

It is for this reason that, given the length of this historical period, historians have divided it into two sub-periods with different economic, social and cultural characteristics: the Early Middle Ages and the Late Ages Half.

Next we will see more in depth What are the differences between the High and Low Middle Ages?.

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High and Low Middle Ages: what are they?

The Middle Ages is a very long period in the history of Western civilization. It is during this stage of history in which Europe is forming several cultures that, several centuries later, will determine the form and type of society of the states that can be found today in the Old Continent.

Historians consider that The Middle Ages began with the fall of the Roman Empire in AD 467. C., putting an end once and for all to Classical Antiquity

, starring Rome, Greece and Egypt along with other civilizations such as the Carthaginian. With the end of the classical world, the Middle Ages began, which can be differentiated into two sub-periods: the High and the Low Middle Ages.

The High Middle Ages begin in the 5th century AD. c. and will last until the eleventh century AD. C, while its successor, the Late Middle Ages, will begin in the 11th century AD. c. and will end in the XV d. c. These two historical periods present very different characteristics.; then we will see a little more in depth the contexts in which they occurred.

High Middle Ages

The High Middle Ages is the sub-period of European history that spans from the fall of the Western Roman Empire to about the year 1000, moment in which there is an important economic and cultural resurgence in the Old World.

The main protagonist states during the High Middle Ages are three empires that will "share" the European territories, facing each other in wars to take away their lands: the Byzantine Empire, the Umayyad Caliphate and the Carolingian Empire.

The Roman Empire disintegrated due to multiple factors, although the main ones were the siege of the Germanic peoples, the weakening and barbarization of the Roman army and multiple social revolts within the empire motivated by famines and the devaluation of the currency. Faced with this situation, the all-powerful Rome fell like a house of cards, fragmenting into several kingdoms, mostly Catholic with a Romanesque-Germanic base.

In this way the beginning of the High Middle Ages occurs, characterized by being a period of considerable instability. Piracy was practiced, looting by Slavs, Normans, Hungarians and Saracens was something everyday life and people did not feel safe in the cities, so they gradually abandoned them to take refuge in field.

The differences between rich and poor are accentuated and feudalism appears. The richest lords could afford to own land, having others work for them in exchange for providing protection. These landowners were very powerful in their lands, acting almost like tyrants, and they staged the decentralization of power from the newly created Christian kingdoms, something that contrasted with how it was governed in the Ancient Rome.

The nobles gave land to their vassals through a synallagmatic contract, with which both parties were obliged to contribute some service, such as giving protection to the vassal or benefiting the lord economically and politically landowner.

The Catholic Church begins to acquire a very great power, which will increase with the passing of the years. The high clergy is a highly privileged social group, sometimes more so than the nobility itself.. It is also a highly educated group, which means that they will be the ones that contribute and monopolize cultural creation at the beginning of the Middle Ages, building monasteries, abbeys, churches and cathedrals and transforming them into centers of production cultural.

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Middle Ages

The Late Middle Ages succeed the High Middle Ages. This period spans from the beginning of the 11th century AD. c. until the Renaissance, already entered the fifteenth century, with the discovery of America by Columbus in 1492, although the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453 has also been proposed as the final date of this period. Feudalism continues to play an important organizing role in society, and the Catholic Church exercises supreme power over Western Christianity.

During this time new social classes emerge, especially notable the bourgeoisie. The bourgeois are not nobles, but people without privileges within medieval society but who, thanks to their professions being artisans, blacksmiths and others work for hire for themselves, without serving any feudal lord and having some capacity acquisitive

Although there was no freedom of thought, little by little great scientific discoveries are being made. Many disciplines, such as mathematics, history, astronomy and philosophy are developing their body of knowledge, laying the foundations for the Renaissance to occur at the end of the Low Age Half. In addition, the first universities are founded, with around 50 being built throughout Europe between the 13th and 16th centuries.

Differences between the high and low Middle Ages

Looking a bit at what these two sub-periods of the Middle Ages were like, let's see what the main differences between them are.

1. political differences

During the High Middle Ages, the figure of the king or emperor was that of a head of state with limited powers. The power of the monarchy was in the hands not only of the monarch, but also of the high nobility and the clergy who owned lands in which they exercised almost tyrannical power.

However, after the 11th century and into the Late Middle Ages, little by little the figure of the king is reinforced, positioning himself as the highest ruler over all his territories and showing his power over the nobility and the clergy. With the passage of time, great monarchies were formed throughout Europe, emerging parliaments and claiming various nobles, clergy and bourgeois a greater right to self-government, obtaining privileges by way of acquisition of rights vassaltics

Regarding conflicts, In the High Middle Ages the main reason for war was the invasions of peoples such as the Slavs, Normans, Muslims and Germans, putting the power of the new Christian monarchies at risk or changing their ethnic composition.

Instead, During the Late Middle Ages the main conflicts that can be observed are the Reconquest, carried out by several Iberian kingdoms to "recover" the southern territories governed by the Umayyad Caliphate and its successors, in addition to the Hundred Years War.

Among the most notable conflicts during the Late Middle Ages we can highlight the Reconquest carried out in the Iberian Peninsula way to make the Christians recover the lands seized by the Muslims several centuries ago and the Hundred War Years.

2. Economic differences

In the High Middle Ages the economic base was in the rural world, based on subsistence agriculture and livestock. To a lesser extent some manufactures were manufactured. One could not speak of commerce in the strict sense, but rather of barter since coins were rarely used.

The situation changes in the Late Middle Ages. Although the economy remained mainly rural, Little by little, a greater development began in the cities, becoming new economic centers.. In turn, there was an increase in agricultural and livestock production, thanks to the introduction of new farming techniques.

The improvements in the field implied an increase in production, which benefited the creation of a trade that was no longer only at the local level and carried out through barter, but in the long distance. Now commerce was a very lively activity, holding fairs to sell distant products and promoting the creation of banking. Due to this, the currency was gaining prominence as an element to manage transactions.

3. Social differences

During the High Middle Ages, feudalism was of great importance as an organizing system of society.. During this period, society was divided into various estates, among which two held privileges, the nobility and the clergy, while the rest were not so lucky, being the group of peasants, artisans and servants of the gleba.

The nobles and clerics have as their most outstanding right, in addition to many others, the power to own large tracts of land and profit from it. In them they made the non-privileged estates work from sunup to sundown, mainly the serfs of the gleba. Nobles and clerics could be subject to vassal relations with other nobles and clerics, having to respect treaties by which their lord offered them protection in exchange for economic, political and military.

Although feudalism continues to be the organizing system of late medieval society, it began to founder after the 11th century.. This is due to the irruption of the bourgeoisie as a non-privileged but wealthy class. By possessing significant economic resources, they could exercise some power within society, without the need to hold noble titles, although they were still below the nobles and clergy.

Due to improvements in agriculture and livestock there was a population increase. This implied a change in the vassal relations and in the treatment towards the serfs of the land, since the nobles could not have so many people in their lands. The serfs of the gleba were so because an ancestor of his had agreed with a landowner to work on his land in exchange for protection, obligation from which it could never be released unless the landlord renounced it, which was the case at this time due to lack of place.

4. Cultural differences

In the High Middle Ages, Greco-Roman culture remains slightly in force., although little by little it deteriorates and gives rise to several cultures, all of them sharing the Romanesque artistic style. Latin begins to evolve, especially among the lower classes, who could neither read nor writing, creating a transitional language between classical Latin and the Romance languages: Latin medieval.

The European continent is not culturally homogeneous during the early medieval period. In addition to having Christians, both Catholic and Orthodox, there are Muslims who live in the lands conquered by the Umayyad Caliphate. In the Iberian Peninsula, Muslims conquered most of their territory, creating Al-Andalus, which It reached as far as the Cantabrian coast, being the kingdom of Asturias the last Christian redoubt of the peninsula.

The culture was monopolized by the clergy, who in their cathedrals, churches, abbeys and monasteries worked writing books in Latin, the liturgical language. Although the population continued to speak medieval Latin, it was highly mixed with words from languages ​​of the Basques, Slavs, Celts, Muslims and other peoples who had been invading the kingdoms Christians. Although the Romance languages ​​did not yet exist properly speaking, they were in the making.

During the Late Middle Ages, the Christian kingdoms gradually occupied the Muslim territories., "recovering" their lands and expanding not only the Christian faith, but also their languages. Latin evolves so much that, from the X-XI centuries, its speakers no longer understand each other between kingdoms. It is at this time that Romance languages ​​such as Castilian, Galician-Portuguese, Catalan, Navarro-Aragonese, Astur-Leonese, Occitan, French or Italian are considered to have been born.

Although clerics played an important role in the creation and transmission of the culture, among the more secular classes, especially among the bourgeoisie, there is a greater interest in education. It is here when the first universities begin to be founded as new training centers and, although Latin continued to be the cultural language in them, they began to have a greater interest in vernacular languages, both Romance and Germanic. Regarding the artistic, the predominant style was Gothic.

Bibliographic references:

• Anderson, P. (1979). Transitions from Antiquity to Feudalism. Madrid: XXI century. ISBN 84-323-0355-0.
• Dubby, G. (1976). Warriors and Peasants. Early development of the European economy (500-1200). Trotta. ISBN 84-323-0229-5.
• Fourquin, G. (1977). Lordship and feudalism in the Middle Ages. Madrid: EDAF. ISBN 84-7166-347-3.
• LeGoff, J. (2007). The Middle Ages explained to young people. Barcelona: Paidos. ISBN 978-844-93-1988-4.