ABSTRACT
Traditionally, the Middle Ages has been seen as a darker side of European history. But in recent days scholars argue that the Middle Ages laid the political, cultural, and religious foundation of the European civilisation. The concept of middle age, however, is applied only to Latin-speaking Western Europe, which had to compete with the Greek-speaking Byzantine and the Arabic-speaking Islamic civilisation.
In the sphere of religion, Christianity retained its predominant impact on European culture to the extent that by the ninth century the term ‘Europe’ came to be replaced by Christendom (the land of Rome cantered Christianity). Christianity and Christendom acted as a bridge between ancient and medieval Europe with respect to continuity in religious and cultural aspects. It also acted as a link between Western and Eastern Roman Empires.
The decline of the Western Roman Empire further strengthened the influence of Christianity. The Bishop of Rome (pope) became the de facto heir of imperial Rome and church officials gradually took over the function of state governance. In the provinces, the clergy joined hand with the local feudal lords in the administration. By the tenth century CE, Christianity had covered the whole of Europe. The rapid spread of Christianity in early medieval Europe has been explained in terms of its popular doctrine, a strong community structure, its decentralised and small-scale form of organisation and its doctrinal flexibility.
There were several modes of dissemination of Christianity in early medieval Europe, which included trade and travelling, cross-border raids, enslavement, and warfare. The political hegemony of an overlord over the lesser lord also was an important factor for the spread of Christianity.
Christianity, in the same period, had to face schism in the form of division into Latin Church of the West and Greek Church of the East. This schism also led to the Iconoclastic movement in the East, which opposed the worship of Jesus in the image form as it was considered a pagan practice. The emperors of the East by promoting iconoclastic movement tried to assert their control over the church.
Early medieval Europe also saw the growth of monastic movement that had developed in response to increasing worldliness of the church. Many monks moved to forests and deserts to avoid earthly temptations and to live an ascetic life to achieve the goal of salvation. The monastic movement in the seventh century led to the development of large number of monasteries in the rural areas. These included double monasteries and women-only convents. The convents had special attraction for women of the royal families as it gave them independence to live their life away from the threat of abduction, rape, and forced marriage to improve the dynastic interests of the royal family.
The seventh century in Europe was also a period when the pope tried to secure the independence of the Western Latin Church from the influence of the Eastern Byzantine church. Pope, Gregory I, managed to secure a different identity for and independence of Western Church. He also claimed his control over bishops of the West and popularised monasteries, which followed the teachings of Saint Benedict. Saint Benedict’s rule became the most dominant monastic rule in the West and the Benedictine monks became the most prominent Christian missionaries in early medieval Europe.
The reign of Frankish king Charlemagne is considered significant for the establishment of superiority of the Western Church over the Eastern Church. Charlemagne created a powerful empire and secured divine sanction from Pope Leo III to legitimise his rule. In return, the pope was declared by Charlemagne as religious head of the entire Christendom. His reign also saw the development of new ideals of kingship known as Christian kingship whereby he was designated not only as the ruler of the Franks but of the entire Christian society.
Cultural developments in early medieval Europe were deeply influenced by Christian thoughts. Migration of people from one area to the other also played its role in bringing about synthesis in the fields of art, architecture, and literature. While in the literary field Latin and Greek were the chief mediums of instruction, common masses spoke vernacular language. This dualism was also reflected in visual arts. The difference between Latin Christianity of the West and Greek Christianity of the East became visible in the architectural styles of Western and Eastern Europe.
Carolingian rulers like Pepin and Charlemagne are credited for having played an important role in the growth of a new culture inspired by Christianity. They brought about a renaissance as classical poetry and learning were revived under their rule. The Carolingian court patronised the intellectual and cultural activities of this period. In the field of learning, ecclesiastical schools were revived by these rulers to educate the clergy and bishops were encouraged to open schools in each village and township.
The Carolingian period also witnessed a spurt in architectural construction. Large number of royal residences, cathedrals, and monasteries were built in stone. Carolingian architects borrowed elements from Roman basilicas for such constructions. The Palace of Aachen built by Charlemagne with a royal chapel was the most significant building of this period. The churches were richly decorated with marble and stucco facings, capital, and carved balustrades.
In Eastern Europe, the Byzantine rulers promoted cultural growth in the same manner as Charlemagne did for Western Europe. However, the Byzantines, besides adopting Christian elements, also followed the Greek heritage while promoting culture in general. The Byzantine literature was a continuation of classical ancient Greek literature, which was also the medium of instruction in schools. Women actively participated in literary activities, which was an important feature of Byzantine literary culture.
Churches and forts were the major architectural productions of the Byzantine rulers. However, unlike the West, in the construction of churches in the East, specific functions of the church (monastic or cathedral) were not kept in mind. Most famous church of the east was the church of Saint Sophia at Constantinople built in the eighth century. Changes in the architecture of the church were brought about by the Turks after the downfall of the Byzantine Empire. The churches were modest in size in Eastern Europe as the idea was to construct more small churches than to build a few large ones. Churches were decorated with frescos and mosaics. The iconoclastic controversy also had its role in the decoration of these churches.
Religion in late medieval Europe (11th to 15th century) brought about fundamental changes in European civilisation. During this period Pope emerged as the most dominant organising force in Western Christianity and a permanent schism developed between Western and Eastern Christianity. The high Middle Ages also saw the development of new monastic and religious orders. Moreover, the struggle against the Muslims led to crusades. This was also a period of a bitter conflict between church and the state over superiority.
Weakening of central authority and rise in the power of feudal nobility in late medieval Europe had adversely affected the influence of the church which was also beset with the problem of moral decline of the clergy. This ushered in a period of reform movement within church (known as monastic reforms). Since these reforms were initiated by the abbey of Cluny (France), these are also called Cluniac reforms.
The reforms began from the top, that is, from the bishops. In Germany and England, the rulers placed strict moral conditions while appointing bishops. Major reforms were brought under the leadership of Pope Leo IX and later under Gregory VII. While Leo IX introduced a hierarchical organisation of the church, Gregory VII completely freed the papacy from the control of the rulers. The ‘Gregorian reforms’ as they are called led to what is popularly known as ‘Investiture conflict’ between pope and the king of Germany over the investiture of bishops by secular rulers. This conflict was resolved through a compromise known as ‘Concordant of worms’. The conflict increased the power of the pope and by the thirteenth century, the pope was able to establish monarchical control over the church.
The Arab expansion in the seventh and eighth centuries had threatened both Western and Eastern empires. Conquest of Jerusalem by the Arabs in 650 CE, Spain in 717 CE and attack by Turks on the Byzantines in Asia Minor resulted in a series of armed conflict between Christendom and the Islamic world. Since the conflict began on the issue of control over Jerusalem (a holy place for both Christians and Muslims), it assumed a religious colour and was termed ‘crusades’ by the Christians and ‘ jihad ’ by the Muslims. Between 1095 and 1270 CE, at least seven such crusades are said to have taken place. The impact of the crusades has been debated widely by scholars by considering both positive and negative impacts.
The church reforms led by Gregory VII resulted in a series of religious revivalist movements in the eleventh century. Carthusians and Cistercians were two early examples of the heterodox religious movements that took place in late medieval Europe. While few of these prescribed an austere lifestyle for the clergy, others advocated making Jesus and Virgin Mary the centre of devotion in place of saints. The Virgin Mary cult developed out of activities of Cistercians and new churches and cathedrals (called Notre-Dame) dedicated to Virgin Mary came into existence.
The cultural growth in late medieval Europe has been described as the ‘Renaissance of the twelfth century’. This was facilitated both by the immigration of new works on literature and philosophy from the Islamic world to Europe and by a rethinking on the part of Europeans themselves.
In literature, late medieval Europe saw Latin reaching its high watermark alongside the growth and popularity of vernacular languages particularly in France, Germany, and England. Latin proved to be a unifying force for Europe just as Arabic was for the Islamic world. Revival of Latin Grammar and proliferation of schools and universities made Latin the basic determining factor to distinguish between literati and layman. The growth of vernacular language provided the writers the freedom to express themselves in their mother tongue. Most prominent among the vernacular language was Occitan, which developed in Southern France and inspired the vernacular writings of England as well as Germany. The troubadour poets of France were renowned for their romantic poems. Poems written in Romance language only gained popularity and differed from the troubadour poems particularly in matters of emphasis on a particular nature of love.
Art and architecture of the High Middle Ages continued to revolve around the image of the church. An attempt however was made to attain high level of craftsmanship particularly in the field of art and architecture. The two prominent architectural styles of this period were Romanesque and Gothic. The Romanesque style developed in France in the eleventh century and reached its mature form by the beginning of the twelfth century. Distinguishing features of the Romanesque buildings were round arches, colossal walls, and huge support columns. In the twelfth and particularly in the thirteenth century Romanesque style was replaced by Gothic forms all over Europe. Chief features of Gothic architecture were pointed arches, ribbed vaulting, and flying buttresses. A distinguishing feature of the Gothic sculptural art was the depiction of secular themes as well as natural representation of humans, animals, and plants.
