Early Middle Ages

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The Early Middle Ages is a period in European and Mediterranean history that falls between the fall of the Roman Empire and the High Middle Ages. However, assigning specific dates to the period is controversial and moreover implies a lack of continuity. For the purposes of this article, we will begin the period with the death of the last Roman Emperor in the West, Romulus Augustulus, even though this event in and of itself did not represent a significant political change. Likewise, defining an end to the Early Middle Ages is problematic, but the date AD 1000 serves as a convenient point.

The period in general may be characterized as generally chaotic and a decline from the achievements of the Roman Empire. Cities dwindled in population, armed bands operated with impunity in many areas throughout much of the period, and culture, learning and civilization almost disappeared completely in many places where the Romans had introduced it. One effect of this is that our written historical sources for the period are extremely few in number, while very few buildings exist that were built in the period.

Nevertheless, there were significant achievements as well, most importantly the spread of Christianity well beyond the borders of the old Roman Empire and indeed to the farthest reaches of Europe. In the East, the Byzantine Empire, the successor to the Roman Empire was still a force to be reckoned with, and also provided the primary defense against the spread of Islam in Europe. In the West, the Church was instrumental in helping preserve education and learning. Influential churchmen and scholars such as Gregory of Tours, the Venerable Bede, and Einhard recorded histories for us, while there were significant early developments in Christian theology from such men as Pope Gregory the Great and Isidore of Seville.

And while the age mostly did not produce the immense architectural monuments of the High Middle Ages and later, beautiful artworks, mostly portable, still survive from the era, including the Book of Kells and the treasures of Sutton Hoo.

Finally, no discussion of the period would be complete without recognition of the enormous impact of the birth and growth of Islam, which swept across the Middle East, North Africa and into Spain. Islamic rule brought many changes to these areas, some for the worse, such as the suppression of the growth of Christianity and unchecked piracy throughout the Mediterranean, but others more positive, including encouraging the flourishing of the important Jewish academies in Sura and Pumbedita in what is now Iraq, as well as important scientific developments in mathematics, medicine, astronomy and philosophy. Muslim scholars also translated many Classical texts into Arabic, thus helping to ensure their survival.

The Time of the Barbarians (476-622)

Aftermath of Empire

During the course of the 5th century, the Western part of the Roman Empire suffered a massive loss of authority, creating an opportunity for a number of Germanic tribes to enter and settle on Roman territory, creating kingdoms that were nominally subservient to Rome, but in fact were independent. The most prominent of these were the Franks in northern Gaul, the Visigoths in southern Gaul and Hispania, the Vandals in North Africa, and the Ostrogoths and (later) Lombards in Italy.

Anglo-Saxon England

In 410 AD, Roman armies in Britannia were recalled to the continent as part of one of the civil wars that plagued the late Empire. As a consequence, the Romans and Celts living in Britannia turned to hiring Anglo-Saxon mercenaries for military protection. The mercenaries, being the primary military force in the province, took control of England themselves and created a number of independent kingdoms, the greatest being Wessex in the south, Mercia in the Midlands and Northumbria in the north. The Anglo-Saxons were originally non-Christian, but were gradually converted to Christianity through the efforts of missionaries from Ireland and Rome.

The Carolingian Empire (751-843)

France and The Holy Roman Empire

Following Frankish custom, Charlemagne had intended to divide his empire between his sons after his death. However, only one of his sons, Louis the Pious survived their father to inherit him. But Louis left three sons when he died, and shortly after his death, they fell into civil war over the question of how to divide the inheritance. At the Treaty of Verdun in 843 AD, it was decided to divide the Empire in three parts. The western part would go to Charles the Bald while the eastern part went to Louis the German. The eldest son, Lothair received the Imperial Crown and a part of land wedged in between the other two. Finally, the son of Lothair received the Kingdom of Italy, consisting of northern Italy down to the Papal States.

This arrangement was never stable, and caused numerous wars in the following years. Eventually, the western part of the Empire became the Kingdom of France, while the eastern part became the Holy Roman Empire. The middle part, called Lotharingia, soon broke up, and was finally absorbed into the Holy Roman Empire in the beginning of the 10th century.