A short history
of the Middle
Ages
,Prelude: The Roman World Transformed (c.300–
c.600).
At the beginning of the third century, the Roman Empire surrounded the
Mediterranean Sea. It extended across present-day Spain, England, Wales,
France, Belgium, the Balkans, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, and
North Africa. By the year 212, all free men within the empire had been
granted Roman citizenship.
Although the 18th-century historian Edward Gibbon became famous for his
thesis on the ‘decline and fall’ of the Roman Empire, this idea was
challenged in the 1960s by Peter Brown. Brown introduced the term ‘Late
Antiquity’ for the period 150–750 and emphasized its cultural and religious
vitality. Today, most historians hold a nuanced view: although some (as
historians Bryan Ward-Perkins and Kyle Harper argue) faced a decline in
living standards, climate change, and pandemics, this did not apply to
everyone. Historian Judith Herren emphasizes precisely the dynamics of a
‘newly Christianized world’. The Roman Empire was not a single block, but
a patchwork of diverse regions; decline for one group often meant
rejuvenation for another.
The Provincialization of the Empire (c.250–c.350)
Around the middle of the third century (c.250–c.350), the Roman Empire
became too large to be governed by a single man from Rome. This led to
the so-called Crisis of the Third Century, in which the empire was
pressured from the outside by the Persians in the east and various
‘barbarian’ peoples along the Rhine and Danube borders. The Roman
government responded to this with sweeping reforms that brought the
provinces more to the forefront.
The army was expanded and reorganized with mobile troops. Cities were
given city walls and new fortifications were built. Because recruitment
from the border settlements faltered (partly due to a smallpox epidemic in
the years 252–267), the army increasingly began to absorb Germanic and
other barbarian soldiers in exchange for land.
Between 235 and 284, the Romans faced a political succession crisis in
which more than twenty men were proclaimed emperor; most of them
,came from the Danube region. This stimulated the rise of “secessionary
empires.” Emperor Diocletian brought the crisis under control and divided
the empire into four parts (the Tetrarchy) for administrative and military
purposes. As a result, Rome lost its central position as capital to cities
closer to army headquarters, such as Trier, Milan, Thessaloniki, and
Nicomedia. Constantine continued this division and founded a new capital:
Constantinople (the former Byzantium).
The entire society militarized. To fund and feed the army, the government
debased the currency, raised taxes, and requisitioned goods and services.
This caused rampant inflation. The state became dependent on forced
labor from artisans and farmers to produce military equipment and food.
Wealth shifted irrevocably from Rome to the provinces.
A New Religion
The reign of Constantine also marked the transformation of the empire in
the religious sphere. Originally, Palestine was a hotbed of radical Jewish
ideas. After the death of Jesus, the Jewish convert Paul spread Christianity
among non-Jews (Gentiles). The core of the faith was that Jesus was the
Son of God and the Messiah, and that faith in him led to salvation and
eternal life.
Initially, elite Romans were indifferent to Christianity, which attracted
mainly lower classes. Traditional polytheism (paganism) was rooted locally
and domestically, with rituals for local gods and spirits of the dead.
However, Christianity also appealed to middle-class urban dwellers and
the educated elite. It replaced the intellectual elite’s “chosen ones” with
‘God’s chosen ones.’
The Roman establishment persecuted Christians during times of crisis,
believing that Christians’ refusal to offer sacrifices to the traditional gods
would provoke the wrath of the gods upon the empire. Major, state-
organized persecutions began in the 250s and culminated in the “Great
Persecution” under Diocletian in 303–304. Despite this, Christianity grew
steadily, particularly in cities and regions such as Edessa and Ethiopia. The
church was tightly organized into a two-tiered system: the laity (laity) and
the clergy (clergy). The clergy was led by a regional bishop (episkopos),
assisted by priests (presbyteroi) and deacons. The bishops of major cities
such as Alexandria, Antioch, Carthage, Jerusalem, and Rome were given a
leading role. In 313, Constantine and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan,
which guaranteed religious tolerance for all religions in the empire,
including Christianity. Constantine be favored the church by returning
possessions, building churches, and granting privileges to priests.
, Constantinople was founded as an explicitly Christian city. At the end of
the fourth century, Emperor Theodosius I declared Christianity the official
state religion of the Roman Empire, after which Christian crowds began
destroying pagan temples.
Doctrine
With the official recognition, major internal theological conflicts also came
to light. One of the greatest doctrinal schisms arose from the priest Arius
of Alexandria, who argued that God the Father was unique and that Jesus
the Son was created by Him and was therefore subordinate to Him. This
clashed with the Orthodox Catholic view of Bishop Athanasius, who held
that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit were three persons in one
being (the Trinity).
To resolve this conflict, Constantine convened the Council of Nicaea in 325.
Here the Arian view was condemned, and it was established that the Son
is of the same substance (homoousios) as the Father. However, Arianism
remained popular for a long time, especially among Germanic peoples
such as the Goths, who had been converted to this form of Christianity
through the missionary Ulfila. Later councils, such as that of Chalcedon
(451), continued to debate the divine and human nature of Christ.
At the same time, other theological disputes arose:
- Donatists: In North Africa, they refused to accept bishops who had
handed over holy books to the Roman authorities during the persecutions.
- Manicheans: They believed in a dualistic universe of good (spirit/light)
and evil (matter/darkness).
- Pelagians: Pelagius argued that man could achieve salvation of his own
free will and through his own effort, which was fiercely contested by
Augustine of Hippo. Augustine emphasized original sin and stated that
man is completely dependent on God's grace for redemption. In his
influential work *The City of God*, he separated the perishable, earthly
cities from the eternal heavenly city.
The Sources of God’s Grace
According to the Church, Christ’s grace was available on earth through
specific channels. First, through apostolic succession: the bishops of Rome
(the popes) claimed to be the successors of Saint Peter, to whom Jesus
of the Middle
Ages
,Prelude: The Roman World Transformed (c.300–
c.600).
At the beginning of the third century, the Roman Empire surrounded the
Mediterranean Sea. It extended across present-day Spain, England, Wales,
France, Belgium, the Balkans, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, and
North Africa. By the year 212, all free men within the empire had been
granted Roman citizenship.
Although the 18th-century historian Edward Gibbon became famous for his
thesis on the ‘decline and fall’ of the Roman Empire, this idea was
challenged in the 1960s by Peter Brown. Brown introduced the term ‘Late
Antiquity’ for the period 150–750 and emphasized its cultural and religious
vitality. Today, most historians hold a nuanced view: although some (as
historians Bryan Ward-Perkins and Kyle Harper argue) faced a decline in
living standards, climate change, and pandemics, this did not apply to
everyone. Historian Judith Herren emphasizes precisely the dynamics of a
‘newly Christianized world’. The Roman Empire was not a single block, but
a patchwork of diverse regions; decline for one group often meant
rejuvenation for another.
The Provincialization of the Empire (c.250–c.350)
Around the middle of the third century (c.250–c.350), the Roman Empire
became too large to be governed by a single man from Rome. This led to
the so-called Crisis of the Third Century, in which the empire was
pressured from the outside by the Persians in the east and various
‘barbarian’ peoples along the Rhine and Danube borders. The Roman
government responded to this with sweeping reforms that brought the
provinces more to the forefront.
The army was expanded and reorganized with mobile troops. Cities were
given city walls and new fortifications were built. Because recruitment
from the border settlements faltered (partly due to a smallpox epidemic in
the years 252–267), the army increasingly began to absorb Germanic and
other barbarian soldiers in exchange for land.
Between 235 and 284, the Romans faced a political succession crisis in
which more than twenty men were proclaimed emperor; most of them
,came from the Danube region. This stimulated the rise of “secessionary
empires.” Emperor Diocletian brought the crisis under control and divided
the empire into four parts (the Tetrarchy) for administrative and military
purposes. As a result, Rome lost its central position as capital to cities
closer to army headquarters, such as Trier, Milan, Thessaloniki, and
Nicomedia. Constantine continued this division and founded a new capital:
Constantinople (the former Byzantium).
The entire society militarized. To fund and feed the army, the government
debased the currency, raised taxes, and requisitioned goods and services.
This caused rampant inflation. The state became dependent on forced
labor from artisans and farmers to produce military equipment and food.
Wealth shifted irrevocably from Rome to the provinces.
A New Religion
The reign of Constantine also marked the transformation of the empire in
the religious sphere. Originally, Palestine was a hotbed of radical Jewish
ideas. After the death of Jesus, the Jewish convert Paul spread Christianity
among non-Jews (Gentiles). The core of the faith was that Jesus was the
Son of God and the Messiah, and that faith in him led to salvation and
eternal life.
Initially, elite Romans were indifferent to Christianity, which attracted
mainly lower classes. Traditional polytheism (paganism) was rooted locally
and domestically, with rituals for local gods and spirits of the dead.
However, Christianity also appealed to middle-class urban dwellers and
the educated elite. It replaced the intellectual elite’s “chosen ones” with
‘God’s chosen ones.’
The Roman establishment persecuted Christians during times of crisis,
believing that Christians’ refusal to offer sacrifices to the traditional gods
would provoke the wrath of the gods upon the empire. Major, state-
organized persecutions began in the 250s and culminated in the “Great
Persecution” under Diocletian in 303–304. Despite this, Christianity grew
steadily, particularly in cities and regions such as Edessa and Ethiopia. The
church was tightly organized into a two-tiered system: the laity (laity) and
the clergy (clergy). The clergy was led by a regional bishop (episkopos),
assisted by priests (presbyteroi) and deacons. The bishops of major cities
such as Alexandria, Antioch, Carthage, Jerusalem, and Rome were given a
leading role. In 313, Constantine and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan,
which guaranteed religious tolerance for all religions in the empire,
including Christianity. Constantine be favored the church by returning
possessions, building churches, and granting privileges to priests.
, Constantinople was founded as an explicitly Christian city. At the end of
the fourth century, Emperor Theodosius I declared Christianity the official
state religion of the Roman Empire, after which Christian crowds began
destroying pagan temples.
Doctrine
With the official recognition, major internal theological conflicts also came
to light. One of the greatest doctrinal schisms arose from the priest Arius
of Alexandria, who argued that God the Father was unique and that Jesus
the Son was created by Him and was therefore subordinate to Him. This
clashed with the Orthodox Catholic view of Bishop Athanasius, who held
that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit were three persons in one
being (the Trinity).
To resolve this conflict, Constantine convened the Council of Nicaea in 325.
Here the Arian view was condemned, and it was established that the Son
is of the same substance (homoousios) as the Father. However, Arianism
remained popular for a long time, especially among Germanic peoples
such as the Goths, who had been converted to this form of Christianity
through the missionary Ulfila. Later councils, such as that of Chalcedon
(451), continued to debate the divine and human nature of Christ.
At the same time, other theological disputes arose:
- Donatists: In North Africa, they refused to accept bishops who had
handed over holy books to the Roman authorities during the persecutions.
- Manicheans: They believed in a dualistic universe of good (spirit/light)
and evil (matter/darkness).
- Pelagians: Pelagius argued that man could achieve salvation of his own
free will and through his own effort, which was fiercely contested by
Augustine of Hippo. Augustine emphasized original sin and stated that
man is completely dependent on God's grace for redemption. In his
influential work *The City of God*, he separated the perishable, earthly
cities from the eternal heavenly city.
The Sources of God’s Grace
According to the Church, Christ’s grace was available on earth through
specific channels. First, through apostolic succession: the bishops of Rome
(the popes) claimed to be the successors of Saint Peter, to whom Jesus
