The Early, High, and Late Middle Ages

Introduction:

During the Early, High, and Late middle Ages, great things occurred, from the fall of the Roman Empire to the Christian Crusades. The middle ages went through many difficult times during the periods of the Early, High, and Late middle Ages, trying to find stability and security; therefore, went through many changes such as, law, rulers, philosophy, religion, and of course war. However, these periods had a great impact and influence on later societies, although they were influence by previous cultures such as Germanic and Christianity.

Early middle Ages

Sometimes called the Dark Ages, sometimes known as Late Antiquity, the early medieval era overlaps the period of time in which the Western Roman Empire as a governmental entity declined and disappeared. Generally considered to last until the end of the first millennium, the Early Middle Ages witnessed the Carolingian Empire, the Iconoclastic Controversy, Viking raids, and the birth and rapid expansion of Islam in Northern Africa and Spain.

The early middle Ages were a period of widespread missionary activity. By spreading Christianity, missionaries aided in the fusion of Germanic and classical cultures. Monasteries served as havens for those seeking a contemplative life, as repositories of learning for scholars, and often as progressive farming centers. The zeal with which the monks approached their faith often extended beyond the monastic walls. One of the earliest Christian missionaries to the Germans was Ulfilas (c.311-383), who spent forty years among the Visigoths and translated most of the Bible into Gothic. Ulfilas and other early missionaries were followers of Arius, and so the Arian form of Christianity was adopted by all the Germanic tribes in the empire except the Franks and Anglo-Saxons. As we saw earlier, the Franks' adoption of Roman Catholicism produced an important alliance between Frankish rulers and the papacy (The Church In The Early Middle Ages 1992)

The Early Middle ages...