Changes

The first millennium began with Christ and Pax Romana, then saw the fall of the Roman Empire followed by what historians call the Dark Ages.  There was the founding of Islam and the struggle for control of Europe and the Middle East.  There was the institution of feudalism, both in Christian Europe and non-Christian Japan.

The first millennium began with Christ and Pax Romana, then saw the fall of the Roman Empire followed by what historians call the Dark Ages.  There was the founding of Islam and the struggle for control of Europe and the Middle East.  There was the institution of feudalism, both in Christian Europe and non-Christian Japan.

Most of all, the first millennium was defined by the rapid growth of Christianity, particularly in Eastern and Western Europe.  The growth brought growing pains:  heresies, which were successfully overcome, and then challenge by Islam in Western Europe, which Christianity overcame, and finally a massive split between the Christian Church in the West and East that remains to this day.  

Most of all, the first millennium was defined by the rapid growth of Christianity, particularly in Eastern and Western Europe.  The growth brought growing pains:  heresies, which were successfully overcome, and then challenge by Islam in Western Europe, which Christianity overcame, and finally a massive split ("schism") between the Christian Church in the West and East that remains to this day (this was not the Reformation, which did not occur until much later).  

We are now in the middle of the Middle Ages, which lasted from A.D. 500 to 1500.  Let us begin.

We are now in the middle of the Middle Ages, around A.D. 1000.  Let us begin.

==The First Century of the Second Millennium: A.D. 1001 to 1100==

==The First Century of the Second Millennium: A.D. 1001 to 1100==