Middle Ages: 18 characteristics, stages and history of this period

The genus Homo, to which we belong, appeared on Earth approximately 2.5 million years ago.

Over time we have been developing and evolving, becoming one of the most prolific animal species on the planet and experiencing different events that have shaped our world and the way we relate to it and to each other.

It is about our history, which begins to be recorded from the invention of writing and the first written records and which is separated into different ages based on key events and changes in the main human civilizations.

One of the most controversial and prolonged (the second that covers the greatest number of years after the Ancient Age if we do not count prehistory) is the Middle Ages , and it is about it that we are going throughout this article. Specifically, we are going to talk about the main and most relevant characteristics of the Middle Ages.

• Recommended article: “What was the Black Death and how did it wipe out the population of Europe?”

What was the Middle Ages (or Middle Ages )?

The Middle Ages is one of the longest, studied and known historical stages or periods , between the 5th and 15th centuries and which is situated between the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and the arrival in America by Christopher Columbus in 1492.

Interestingly, despite being so well known, there are discrepancies regarding when it ended, some authors assessing that the Middle Ages ended with the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453. This historical period is considered based on the events that occurred between Europe, Asia and in North Africa during said temporary period, not existing as such in America (in which other historical stages are considered).

It is divided into High and Low Middle Ages , each with its own characteristics, although one of the main events that separates them is the appearance of feudalism in the 9th century.

It is a time with great war conflicts and in which the known world was characterized by a great focus on faith, in which the political system of autocratic monarchy and feudalism prevailed. It is often considered one of the few stages that have led to a setback or stagnation of the human being, despite the fact that in this stage there were also great advances and in them the mentality and basic beliefs of most of the human beings were shaped to a great extent. modern western peoples.

Main characteristics of the Middle Ages

The Middle Ages was a historical period with a series of characteristics that made it unique in all aspects. Among all of them we can highlight the following as some of the most relevant.

1. Theocentrism: God as the center of everything

Without a doubt, if there is a key characteristic of the Middle Ages, it is the presence of a marked theocentrism that served as the basis for explaining the universe and from which the mentality, the rules of coexistence and even the laws of the time were marked.

The entire universe was understood as a consequence of divine action, finding the sacred scriptures of the different religions (especially the Bible and the Koran, as well as the Torah to a lesser extent) as the fundamental explanation of everything that existed.

2. Religion as the fundamental basis of society

Deeply linked to the previous point, we can find the great value and importance of the religious institution , which had a power comparable to and often even superior to that of the monarchs of the different countries, both formally and informally.

In Europe, the Catholic Church becomes the most powerful institution and the only one with widespread access to all areas of education, so its influence in all social strata also increases.

3. Political organization: monarchy and feudalism

The quintessential political system of the Middle Ages is the monarchy , with the king being the highest authority figure in each country and capable of doing whatever he wants.

He collected taxes and organized society according to his own criteria, often guided or advised by the rest of the nobles and high ecclesiastical officials. In this period some kings also became emperors by expanding their kingdoms to multiple territories, as happened with the Byzantine and Ottoman empires.

Mainly from the eleventh century a new form of political organization began to emerge: feudalism . Although the figure of the king was maintained as the supposed highest authority, he had multiple vassals in the form of feudal lords who ruled his land in his own way, sometimes enjoying greater political and even military power than the monarch himself.

4. The three great social classes

During the vast majority of the Middle Ages a social structure based on three basic social classes prevails: peasants, nobles and clerics . And, of course, at the top of the pyramid of social classes we find the King.

The base of society and the class in which the majority of the population was included was that of the peasants, whose main role was food production and who generally had no access to education or expectations of changing their position. . Below them were only the slaves, considered mere properties lacking any rights.

The nobility and the clergy were the privileged classes, enjoying rights that were denied to the peasants and benefiting from them, which served them. The former barely worked, often limiting their performance to participation in and leadership of the army and the organization of their lands, and occupying the main positions of power. Clerics also had access to positions of power, and their tasks were mainly linked to prayer, study and teaching.

With the passage of time they would also begin to work the land, based on the rule of San Benito.

5. An unalterable position

Another characteristic of the time is found in the fact that the social position that each citizen occupied was marked by birth . As a general rule, most of the population was born and died in the same position and social class, practically the only exception being ecclesiastical ordination (that is, becoming part of the clergy).

6. Dogmatism and strict adherence to the classics

One of the most relevant issues that explain part of the characteristics of the Middle Ages present here is the existence of a dogmatic and persevering mentality , which considered that everything can be explained from what is already established and that the established rules and precepts must be followed all costs, punishing any concept or idea that could deviate from what was marked.

This aspect was very present in the Middle Ages: it is not only that those who did not agree with what was established were persecuted, but that a large part of the population did not consider that there was something to discover that was not already collected by the authors. of the past or the Holy Scriptures, this being one of the reasons why it is considered that there was a great stagnation at this time.

It was considered that it aspired only to repeat and preserve the glory of the past and prevent its degeneration and decline.

7. Education

Education during the Middle Ages was very limited, being a privilege reserved for nobles and especially the ecclesiastical establishment . It was this last estate that was in charge of education, and the subjects taught were limited to languages, theology, law or medicine.

The study of the classics and the strict following of what was already established were encouraged, not expecting innovations and circumscribing the dogmas of the Church. All these subjects were studied by heart, with very few adjustments to the educational needs of minors with special needs. The first universities also appear.

8. Conceptions of the human being

Another remarkable characteristic of the Middle Ages is the existence of great changes in the way of considering the nature of the human being.

One of the best known and relevant is dualism , in which it was considered that the human being is made up of a body (linked to the temporal, to decadence and to sin) and the soul (in which the virtues were found, our immortal and moral part and the main characteristics that today linked to the mind).

9. Limited but existing technical and scientific advances

Despite the fact that the vision of the time was focused on following what was previously established and that the Middle Ages were later considered a regression, the truth is that despite this there were also advances both scientifically and technically . However, this is considered to be one of the main negative points of this historical stage, considering at least five of the centuries that the Middle Ages lasted as the Dark Ages or the Dark Ages.

As far as science is concerned, although it was often hindered and many advances had to be rectified in order for its discoverers to survive (as in the case of Copernicus), thanks to philosophies such as scholasticism advances in science began to be visualized. key elements of science such as logic, epistemology, mechanics or astronomy. Some relevant authors of the time were Roger Bacon or Copernicus himself.

At the end of the Middle Ages, ideological movements would emerge that would end up leading to the Renaissance. It is also necessary to take into account the contributions of other peoples and traditions, highlighting those of the Arabs, the Chinese and the Indians.

Technically, gadgets such as the complex crank, glasses or buttons were invented, as well as compasses, the first watches, metal plows or weapons such as the crossbow and the first firearms. Towards the end of the Middle Ages, the printing press would end up being invented, something that, on the other hand, has also come to be considered one of the events that mark the passage from the Middle Ages to the Modern Age.

10. Culture and art

Throughout the Middle Ages, culture and the arts evolved . Painting, sculpture, architecture, literature or music saw different currents and artistic styles, such as Romanesque and Gothic in the Late Middle Ages.

11. From the countryside to the city

Although most of the population was peasant and during much of the Middle Ages the majority of people were part of the rural world, during the Middle Ages there began to be a growing trend towards the emergence of cities and the transfer of part of the population to them.

12. Emergence of guilds

The Middle Ages is also a time when different trades began to proliferate and groups and associations of professionals from the same sectors began to form: the guilds.

This factor was especially relevant in the cities, where professions such as craftsman, goldsmith, merchant or fisherman became more and more frequent.

13. The bourgeoisie appears

A milestone of great relevance within the Middle Ages can be found in the emergence of what would end up being considered the fourth social class, the bourgeoisie , part of the underprivileged but which was gaining more and more power due to the increasing accumulation of riches and prestige until becoming the predominant social class: the bourgeoisie.

This social class could even change classes and obtain titles of nobility.

14. Women and their social role

During the Middle Ages, the role of women was always subject to that of men . With the exception of a few exceptions among the nobility and the clergy, power was exercised predominantly by men and the female role was to take care of the home and raise children, possessing far fewer rights than men and often with their lives dictated by the masculine designs of husbands or fathers.

In the case of peasant women, they also worked in the fields. Most of them did not have access to education, at least not at a formal level.

Despite this, the consideration of women was changing throughout the Middle Ages: it was considered both a perfidious temptation and associated with weakness and even evil as an example of innocence and virtue and an unattainable object of desire (for example in the times of courtly love).

15. Wars of religion, the Inquisition and religious persecution

Possibly the most negative and dark aspect of the time . Although throughout history there have been social and even war conflicts linked to different religious beliefs, in the Middle Ages there is a great prevalence of them. Among them we find the Crusades, the Spanish Conquest and Reconquest or the Hundred Years War.

In addition to these wars, there were great religious persecutions, among which the work carried out by the Inquisition stands out. Dissidence with the official doctrine, alleged witchcraft and so-called heresies were persecuted and punished (even with the death penalty), sometimes with a collection spirit or in order to maintain the domain of society.

In addition to this, there was a strong tendency towards the segregation, persecution and/or expulsion of Jews from multiple countries, as well as split variants of the predominant religions, such as that of the Protestants or the Cathars.

16. A trivial development of medicine

One of the areas that generated the greatest number of deaths during this time , or rather did not prevent it, was not war but disease.

The knowledge of medicine during much of the Middle Ages was minimal and there were hardly any advances in the Western world, the stripes being based on pseudo-scientific and mystical practices or on the knowledge of the great authors of Antiquity.

Attempts to improve the understanding of diseases or the functioning of the human body were persecuted, and surgery did not exist during most of this stage. The main advances in medicine of this time were contributed by the Arabs, highlighting for example the figure of Avicenna.

Over the centuries, little by little, the most mystical and spiritually focused medicine would be replaced by a more empirical and effective one, with relevant figures beginning to appear among European doctors at the end of the Middle Ages.

17. Time of great plagues

The Middle Ages were a turbulent time full of changes . International trade began to become increasingly relevant, with which products from a large part of the world arrived through ships and trade routes.

However, bacteria and diseases also spread through these means, something that was greatly influenced by the lack of hygiene characteristic of the time and the practically null knowledge of medicine to treat most infections.

All these conditions facilitated the appearance of major diseases and plagues, unfortunately their presence being another of the characteristics of the Middle Ages. The most relevant of all, since it practically wiped out most of the European population, was the Black Death.

18. Sex as sin

Another of the great characteristics of the time was the consideration that sex received. It was considered a taboo subject, often hidden and valued as sinful , and officially regarded primarily as a means of conceiving rather than enjoyment. Female sexuality was not taken into account and its enjoyment was not usually contemplated or used to be considered sinful.

In addition to this, it should be taken into account that orientations other than heterosexual and even practices other than intercourse with penetration (and even simple positions other than the traditional missionary) were persecuted.

Bibliographic references

• Ames, Christine Caldwell (February 2005). “Does Inquisition Belong to Religious History?”. American Historical Review.
• Davis, RHC, ed. (1981). The Writing of History in the Middle Ages: Essays Presented to Richard William Southern.
• Fleischman, Suzanne (October 1983). “On the Representation of History and Fiction in the Middle Ages.” History and Theory.
• Kaufmann, J.E.; Kaufmann, H.W. (2001). The Medieval Fortress: Castles, Forts and Walled Cities of the Middle Ages (2004 ed.). Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press.
• Peters, Ted (2005). “Science and Religion”. In Jones, Lindsay (ed.). Encyclopaedia of Religion. 12 (Second ed.). Detroit, MI: MacMillan Reference.
• Stuart, Susan Mosher (1987). Women in Medieval History and Historiography. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.