World history of the Middle Ages

The Middle Ages are the thousand years from the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 to the end of the 15th century. In this period feudal relations took shape, world religions (Christianity and Islam) spread widely, and Europe saw the rise of towns, universities and parliaments. Exams often ask you to order dates, link cause and effect, and match states with rulers.

§1. Feudalism and early medieval Europe

Feudalism was a system based on landholding. The king granted land as a fief to great nobles, and they in turn to lesser knights, in return for military service. The grantor was the lord (seigneur), the recipient the vassal. In France the rule "the vassal of my vassal is not my vassal" applied, which weakened royal power (feudal fragmentation).
Society had three estates: the clergy ("those who pray"), lords and knights ("those who fight") and peasants ("those who work"). Many peasants were serfs, bound to the land; they performed labour service (corvée) and paid dues in kind or money.

• The Frankish kingdom was founded by Clovis (481–511), who adopted Christianity.

• 962 — the German king Otto I became emperor and founded the Holy Roman Empire.
• Byzantium (the Eastern Roman Empire): under Emperor Justinian (6th century) Roman law was codified and Hagia Sophia was built in Constantinople.

• The Eastern Slavs: Kievan Rus (882, Prince Oleg); Christianity adopted in 988 under Prince Vladimir.

§2. The Arab Caliphate and Islamic civilisation

• After the Prophet's death (632) the Caliphate arose and quickly conquered Iran, Syria, Egypt, North Africa, Spain and Central Asia.
• The Umayyads (661–750) ruled from Damascus; the Abbasids (750–1258) from Baghdad. In 1258 the Mongols took Baghdad.
• Under Caliph al-Ma'mun the House of Wisdom (Bayt al-Hikma) worked in Baghdad, where our compatriots Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi and Ahmad al-Farghani were active. Algebra, astronomy and medicine flourished; Greek works were translated into Arabic and later reached Europe.

§3. The High Middle Ages: towns, crusades, parliaments

Towns grew again from the 11th century: craftsmen joined guilds of their trade, merchants formed merchant guilds; towns bought or won self-government from their lords. Universities appeared: Bologna, Paris, Oxford.
The Crusades (1096–1270):

1. Causes: Pope Urban II's call to free the Holy Sepulchre; in reality, nobles' hunger for land and wealth and the trade interests of Italian cities.
2. Course: the First Crusade took Jerusalem in 1099; Saladin retook the city in 1187; the Fourth Crusade (1204) sacked Constantinople.
3. Results: the goal was not achieved, but Europe met Eastern culture and goods, Mediterranean trade (Venice, Genoa) grew, and Byzantium was weakened.

Centralised states and representative assemblies:

• The Hundred Years' War (1337–1453) between England and France; in 1429 Joan of Arc lifted the siege of Orléans. The war ended with French victory and unification.
• In the mid-14th century the Black Death (plague) killed a large share of Europe's population; labour became scarce and peasant revolts followed: the Jacquerie in France (1358) and Wat Tyler's revolt in England (1381).

§4. Asia, Africa and the Americas

• The Ottoman state conquered the Balkans and Asia Minor in the 14th–15th centuries.
• China: under the Tang and Song dynasties gunpowder, the compass and printing spread; in 1368 the Mongols were expelled and the Ming dynasty founded.
• Japan: from the late 12th century real power lay with the shoguns (military rulers) and the samurai class.
• Africa: Ghana and Mali grew rich on the gold and salt trade.
• The Americas: the Maya (writing, an accurate calendar), the Aztecs (Tenochtitlan), the Inca (a road system in the Andes).

§5. The Mongol Empire and the age of Amir Temur in world history

In the 13th century the history of Eurasia was transformed by the Mongol conquests. This topic links world history with the history of Uzbekistan, which is why it comes up often in exams.

• Causes: the pretext was the massacre of a Mongol trade caravan at Otrar (the Otrar incident); the real cause was the Mongol nobility’s drive for new lands and plunder. Khwarazmshah Muhammad split his army among fortresses, which weakened the defence; his son Jalal ad-Din Manguberdi carried on the fight against the Mongols.
• After Genghis Khan’s death the empire split into uluses: the Ulus of Jochi (the Golden Horde), the Ulus of Chagatai (Central Asia), the Ilkhanate in Iran and the Yuan dynasty in China. In 1240 Batu’s army took Kyiv.
• Consequences: towns and irrigation systems were ruined and the population fell; at the same time, trade along the Great Silk Road became safer under a single power.

The victory at Ankara halted the Ottoman advance into Europe for a time and prolonged the life of Byzantium, which is why European rulers were interested in diplomatic ties with Temur. Under the Timurids, Samarkand and Herat became major cultural centres: in the 1420s Mirzo Ulugbek built an observatory in Samarkand, and his "Zij" is famous for its star tables.

Worked example

"Identify a consequence of the Crusades."

1. First find the goal: holding Jerusalem — not achieved (after 1187 the city was in Muslim hands).
2. Then pick out the real results: trade with the East expanded, Italian cities grew rich, Byzantium was weakened after the 1204 sack.
3. So the correct answer is "growth of Mediterranean trade", not "Jerusalem remained with the crusaders for ever".

Worked example

"Order: the Treaty of Verdun; the founding of the Holy Roman Empire; Charlemagne's coronation; the Church schism."

1. 800 — Charlemagne; 843 — Verdun; 962 — Otto I; 1054 — schism.
2. Answer: Charlemagne → Verdun → Holy Roman Empire → schism.

Worked example

"For how many years did the Abbasids rule before the Mongols took Baghdad?"

1. The Abbasids came to power in 750.
2. The Mongols captured Baghdad in 1258.
3. Both dates are AD, so simple subtraction: 1258 − 750 = 508 years.

Check yourself

1. What did the rule "the vassal of my vassal is not my vassal" lead to?

2. When was the Treaty of Verdun signed and what did it do?

3. In which scholarly centre did al-Khwarizmi work?

4. Which document first limited royal power in England?

5. Which war was Joan of Arc a heroine of?

6. When and by whom was Byzantium destroyed?

7. In which year was Genghis Khan proclaimed great khan?

8. When was the Battle of Ankara and who was defeated?

Common mistakes

• Dating Charlemagne's coronation to 843 (it was 800; 843 is the division).
• Linking the fall of Constantinople to the Crusades (1453 — the Ottomans; 1204 was only a sack).
• Naming Baghdad as the Umayyad capital (Damascus; Baghdad was Abbasid).
• Confusing the 1054 schism with the rise of Protestantism (16th century).
• Mixing up Parliament (England) and the Estates-General (France).