{{lead too long|date=May 2026}} {{Use British English Oxford spelling|date = April 2020}} {{short description|Period of European history between AD 1000 and 1350}} {{multiple image | direction = vertical | header = High Middle Ages<br />Europe and Mediterranean region | image1 = Europe mediterranean 1190.jpg | width1 = 340 | caption1 = {{plainlist| '''Large map'''<br />Europe and the Mediterranean region, {{circa|lk=no|1190}} {{col-begin}} {{col-break}} ;British Isles * {{color box|#b6d462|border=silver}} Gaelic Kingdoms * {{color box|#aeaaab|border=silver}} Principality of Wales * {{color box|#e0afb2|border=silver}} Kingdom of England * {{color box|#eaccce|border=silver}} Kingdom of Scotland * {{color box|#ddc98a|border=silver}} Earldom of Orkney (Norway) * {{color box|#ddc98a|border=silver}} Kingdom of Mann and the Isles (Norway) ;Northern Europe * {{color box|#ddc98a|border=silver}} Kingdom of Norway * {{color box|#d6bac9|border=silver}} Kingdom of Sweden * {{color box|#ecfe92|border=silver}} Kingdom of Denmark * {{color box|#e8d7ab|border=silver}} Terra Mariana * {{color box|#b6c486|border=silver}} Grand Duchy of Lithuania ;Eastern Europe * {{color box|#b7d08c|border=silver}} Principalities of Polotsk * {{color box|#b7d08c|border=silver}} Territory of Novgorod * {{color box|#c5b091|border=silver}} Kama-Bulgarians * {{color box|#b7d08c|border=silver}} Kievan Rus' * {{color box|#b7d08c|border=silver}} Viatka * {{color box|#f2ced0|border=silver}} Cumans/Cumania or Polovtsians ;Iberian Peninsula * {{color box|#e0e2a1|border=silver}} Kingdom of Portugal * {{color box|#91b88c|border=silver}} Kingdom of León * {{color box|#91b88c|border=silver}} Kingdom of Castile * {{color box|#b4cd68|border=silver}} Kingdom of Navarre * {{color box|#abc9d1|border=silver}} Crown of Aragon ;Central Europe * {{color box|#b3d6d8|border=silver}} Kingdom of Bohemia * {{color box|#c0b9c1|border=silver}} Kingdom of France * {{color box|#b3d6d8|border=silver}} Kingdom of Germany * {{color box|#debca3|border=silver}} Kingdom of Hungary * {{color box|#b3d6d8|border=silver}} Holy Roman Empire * {{color box|#dbe3aa|border=silver}} Kingdom of Poland * {{color box|#b4a784|border=silver}} Prussia {{col-break}} ;Italian Peninsula * {{color box|#b3d6d8|border=silver}} Kingdom of Italy * {{color box|#b3d6d8|border=silver}} Corsica * {{color box|#b3d6d8|border=silver}} Sardinia * {{color box|#deb5b1|border=silver}} Kingdom of Sicily * {{color box|#de979d|border=silver}} Republic of Venice ;Southeast Europe * {{color box|#debca3|border=silver}} Kingdom of Croatia * {{color box|#cedd98|border=silver}} Kingdom of Serbia * {{color box|#bec373|border=silver}} Second Bulgarian Empire * {{color box|#669966|border=silver}} Byzantine Empire ;Caucasia * {{color box|#ecefc0|border=silver}} Khazar Empire * {{color box|#ecefc0|border=silver}} Alania * {{color box|white|border=silver}} Kassogs * {{color box|#dbc7a2|border=silver}} Kingdom of Georgia * {{color box|#c0b9c1|border=silver}} Atabegs of Azerbaijan * {{color box|#dfec7a|border=silver}} Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia ;Near East * {{color box|#b7a98f|border=silver}} Seljuks of Rum * {{color box|#669966|border=silver}} Kingdom of Cyprus * {{color box|#e6c0b7|border=silver}} Dominion of Shaharmen * {{color box|white|border=silver}} Marwanid dynasty * {{color box|#dac198|border=silver}} Ayyubid dynasty * {{color box|#b479a4|border=silver}} Principality of Antioch * {{color box|#67828b|border=silver}} County of Tripoli ;North Africa * {{color box|#e8cecd|border=silver}} Almohad Caliphate {{col-end}} ;The Crusades * {{color box|#c9c6b5|border=silver}} (Solid Line) Second Crusade of Louis VII and Conrad III * {{color box|#a4a192|border=silver}} (Line and dot) Third Crusade of Richard I, Philip II, and Fredrick I }} ---- {{plainlist| ;Small map ''Central Europe<br />Guelf, Hohenstaufen, and Ascanian domains in Germany about 1176'' {{col-begin}} {{col-break}} * {{color box|#93bb5b|border=silver}}{{color box|#c3d6a8|border=silver}} Duchy of Saxony * {{color box|#c4a1a8|border=silver}}{{color box|#c4a1a8|border=silver}} Margravate of Brandenburg * {{color box|#ea8fa0|border=silver}}{{color box|#e8cac8|border=silver}} Duchy of Franconia {{col-break}} * {{color box|#ea8fa0|border=silver}}{{color box|#e8cac8|border=silver}} Duchy of Swabia * {{color box|#93bb5b|border=silver}}{{color box|#c3d6a8|border=silver}} Duchy of Bavaria {{col-end}}}} }}
The '''High Middle Ages''', or '''High Medieval Period''', was the period of European history between {{circa|1000}} and {{cx|1300}}; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended {{cx|1500}} according to historiographical convention.<ref>John H. Mundy, ''Europe in the high Middle Ages, 1150-1309'' (1973) [https://archive.org/details/europeinhighmidd00mund online]</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |date=2024-09-15 |title=Middle Ages |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Middle-Ages |access-date=2024-10-02 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref> Key historical trends of the High Middle Ages include the rapidly increasing population of Europe, which brought about great social and political change from the preceding era, and the Renaissance of the 12th century, including the first developments of the rural exodus and urbanization. By 1350, the robust population increase had greatly benefited the European economy, which had reached levels that would not be seen again in some areas until the 19th century. That trend faltered in the early 14th century, as the result of numerous events which together comprised the crisis of the late Middle Ages—most notable among them being the Black Death, in addition to various regional wars and economic stagnation.
The first universities started operating in Bologna, Oxford, Paris, Salamanca, Cambridge and Modena. The Vikings settled in the British Isles, France and elsewhere, and Norse Christian kingdoms started developing in their Scandinavian homelands. The Magyars ceased their expansion in the 10th century, and by 1000, a Christian Kingdom of Hungary had become a recognized state in Central Europe that was forming alliances with regional powers. With the brief exception of the Mongol invasions in the 13th century, major nomadic incursions ceased. The powerful Byzantine Empire of the Macedonian and Komnenos dynasties gradually gave way to the resurrected Serbia and Bulgaria and to a successor crusader state (1204 to 1261), who continually fought each other until the end of the Latin Empire. The Byzantine Empire was reestablished in 1261 with the recapture of Constantinople from the Latins, though it was no longer a major power and would continue to falter through the 14th century, with remnants lasting until the mid 15th century.
In the 11th century, populations north of the Alps began a more intensive settlement, targeting "new" lands, some areas of which had reverted to wilderness after the end of the Western Roman Empire. In what historian Charles Higounet called the "great clearances",<ref> See for example: {{cite book | last1 = Aberth | first1 = John | chapter = The early medieval woodland | title = An Environmental History of the Middle Ages: The Crucible of Nature | year = 2013 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7a28UnCLPIIC | location = Abingdon | publisher = Routledge | publication-date = 2012 | page = 87 | isbn = 9780415779456 | access-date = 2017-08-17 | quote = The French historian of the early medieval forest, Charles Higounet, produced a map in the 1960s, which has been much reproduced since, that purports to show the distribution of the forest cover in Europe on the eve of the so-called 'great clearances' (''les grands défrichements'') between 1000 and 1300. }} </ref> Europeans cleared and cultivated some of the vast forests and marshes that lay across much of the continent. At the same time, settlers moved beyond the traditional boundaries of the Frankish Empire to new frontiers beyond the Elbe River, which tripled the size of Germany in the process. The Catholic Church, which reached the peak of its political power around then, called armies from across Europe to a series of Crusades against the Seljuk Turks. The crusaders occupied the Holy Land and founded the Crusader States in the Levant. Other wars led to the Northern Crusades. The Christian kingdoms took much of the Iberian Peninsula from Muslim control, and the Normans conquered southern Italy, all part of the major population increases and the resettlement patterns of the era.
The High Middle Ages produced many different forms of intellectual, spiritual and artistic works. The age also saw the rise of ethnocentrism,{{dubious|date=September 2021}} which evolved later into modern national identities in most of Europe, the ascent of the great Italian city-states and the rise{{cn|date=September 2021}} and fall of the Islamic civilization of Al-Andalus. The rediscovery of the works of Aristotle, at first indirectly through medieval Jewish and Islamic philosophy,{{sfn|Taylor|2005|p=181}}{{sfn|Adamson|2016|p=180}}{{sfn|Fakhry|2001|p=3}} led Maimonides, Ibn Sina, Ibn Rushd, Thomas Aquinas and other thinkers of the period to expand Scholasticism, a combination of Judeo-Islamic and Catholic ideologies with the ancient philosophy. For much of this period, Constantinople remained Europe's most populous city, and Byzantine art reached a peak in the 12th century. In architecture, many of the most notable Gothic cathedrals were built or completed around this period.
==Historical events and politics== [[File:Bayeux Tapestry WillelmDux.jpg|thumb|The Bayeux Tapestry depicting the Battle of Hastings during the Norman Conquest of 1066|265x265px]]
===Great Britain and Ireland=== {{Main|England in the High Middle Ages|Scotland in the High Middle Ages|History of Gwynedd during the High Middle Ages|Lordship of Ireland}} In England, the Norman Conquest of 1066 resulted in a kingdom ruled by a Francophone nobility. The Normans invaded Ireland in 1169 and soon established themselves in most of the country, although their stronghold was the southeast. Likewise, Scotland and Wales were subdued into vassal states at about the same time, though Scotland later asserted its independence and Wales remained largely under the rule of independent native princes until the death of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd in 1282.<ref>Davies, Rees (2001-05-01). "Wales: A Culture Preserved". bbc.co.uk/history. p. 3. Retrieved 2008-05-06.</ref> The Exchequer was founded in the 12th century under King Henry I, and the first parliaments were convened. In 1215, after the loss of Normandy, King John signed the Magna Carta into law, limiting the power of English monarchs.
=== Iberia === {{See also|Spain in the Middle Ages|Reconquista}} thumb|Miniature representing the delivery of the fortress of Uclés to the Master of Order of Santiago in 1174|265x265px A key geo-strategic development in the Iberian Peninsula was the Christian conquest of Toledo in 1085.{{Sfn|Clemente Ramos|2018|p=171}} Dominated by war, the societal structures and relations in the northern Christian kingdoms were subordinated to the demands of omnipresent military conflict.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=García Fitz|first=Francisco|title=Battle in the Medieval Iberian Peninsula: 11th to 13th century Castile-Leon. State of the art|journal=Imago Temporis|year=2016|doi=10.21001/itma.2016.10.01|hdl=10459.1/58852|pages=26–27|doi-access=free|hdl-access=free}}</ref> The territorial expansion of the northern Christian kingdoms to the south brought the creation of border societies, where military demands on knights and foot soldiers and the promotion of settlement were prioritized over potential seigneurial income;{{Sfn|Clemente Ramos|2018|p=178}} military orders also played an important role in the borderlands in the southern meseta.{{Sfn|Clemente Ramos|2018|p=179}} Agricultural models in areas with Mediterranean climate were generally based on biennial crop rotation.{{Sfn|Clemente Ramos|2018|pp=185–186}} Despite population growth, agricultural output remained relatively rigid throughout the period; between the 10th and 13th centuries, migration southwards to exposed areas was incentivized by the possibility of enjoying privileges and acquiring properties.{{Sfn|Clemente Ramos|2018|pp=187}} Conversely, the intensive agriculture-prevalent model in Muslim-ruled lands did not require territorial expansion.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Occidente vs. islam. Modelos agrarios, sociedad/frontera y poder militar en la Reconquista peninsular|first=Julián|location=Jaén|publisher=Universidad de Jaén|last=Clemente Ramos|journal=Arqueología y Territorio Medieval|url=https://revistaselectronicas.ujaen.es/index.php/ATM/article/view/3787/3592/14834|issn=1134-3184|issue=25|year=2018|volume=25|pages=169–194|doi=10.17561/aytm.v25.6|s2cid=165549625|doi-access=free|hdl=10662/26581|hdl-access=free}}</ref> While Muslim lands enjoyed a certain demographic and financial edge{{Clarify|date=July 2022|Reason=This sentence seems to be missing words; WHAT did Muslim lands enjoy from a certain demographic and financial edge?}}, Almoravids and Almohads from northern Africa featured volatile state structures;{{Sfn|Clemente Ramos|2018|pp=174–175}} barring (unsuccessful) attempts to take Toledo, they did not stand out for carrying out an expansionist policy.{{Sfn|Clemente Ramos|2018|p=183}}
=== Italy === {{Main|Italy in the Middle Ages}}
In Italy, with the Norman conquest, the first great and powerful state was formed, the Kingdom of Sicily with hereditary monarchy. Subsequently joined to the Holy Roman Empire, it had its moment of maximum splendor with the emperor Frederick II.
In the rest of Italy, independent city states grew affluent on Eastern Mediterranean maritime trade. These were in particular the thalassocracies of Pisa, Amalfi, Genoa and Venice, which played a key role in European trade from then on, making these cities become major financial centers.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Trade in Medieval Europe|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1301/trade-in-medieval-europe/|access-date=2021-06-04|website=World History Encyclopedia|language=en}}</ref>
===Scandinavia=== {{main|History_of_Denmark#Middle_Ages|History_of_Norway#Middle_Ages|Early Swedish history|l1 = Denmark in the Middle Ages|l2 = Norway in the Middle Ages|North Sea Empire}}
From the mid-10th to the mid-11th centuries, the Scandinavian kingdoms were unified and Christianized, resulting in an end of Viking raids, and greater involvement in European politics. King Cnut of Denmark ruled over both England and Norway. After Cnut's death in 1035, England and Norway were both lost, and with the defeat of Valdemar II in 1227, Danish predominance in the region came to an end. Meanwhile, Norway extended its Atlantic possessions, ranging from Greenland to the Isle of Man, while Sweden, under Birger Jarl, built up a power-base in the Baltic Sea. However, the Norwegian influence started to decline already in the same period, marked by the Treaty of Perth of 1266. Also, civil wars raged in Norway between 1130 and 1240.
===France and Germany=== {{main|France in the Middle Ages}}
{{multiple image | align = right | direction = horizontal | header = France and Germany in the middle ages | header_align = left/right/center | footer = Left: France in the 12th century. Right: The Holy Roman Empire between 1200 and 1250 | footer_align = left | image1 = France 1154 Eng.jpg | width1 = 100 | caption1 = | image2 = Holy Roman Empire at its territorial apex (per consensus).svg | width2 = 180 | caption2 = }}
By the time of the High Middle Ages, the Carolingian Empire had been divided and replaced by separate successor kingdoms called France and Germany, although not with their modern boundaries. France pushed to the west. The Angevin Empire controlled much of France in the 12th century and early 13th century until the French retook much of their previous territory.
===Germany=== {{main|Germany in the Middle Ages}}
By the time of the High Middle Ages, the Carolingian Empire had been divided and replaced by separate successor kingdoms called France and Germany, although not with their modern boundaries. Germany was significantly more eastern. Germany was under the banner of the Holy Roman Empire, which reached its high-water mark of unity and political power under Kaiser Frederick Barbarossa.
===Georgia=== {{Main|Georgian Golden Age}}
During the successful reign of King David IV of Georgia (1089–1125), the Kingdom of Georgia grew in strength and expelled the Seljuk Empire from its lands. David's decisive victory in the Battle of Didgori (1121) against the Seljuk Turks, as a result of which Georgia recaptured its lost capital Tbilisi, marked the beginning of the Georgian Golden Age. David's granddaughter Queen Tamar continued the upward rise, successfully neutralizing internal opposition and embarking on an energetic foreign policy aided by further decline of the hostile Seljuk Turks. Relying on a powerful military elite, Tamar was able to build on the successes of her predecessors to consolidate an empire which dominated vast lands spanning from present-day southern Russia on the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea. Georgia remained a leading regional power until its collapse under the Mongol attacks within two decades after Tamar's death.
===Hungary=== {{main|Kingdom of Hungary in the Middle Ages}}
[[File:Istvan-ChroniconPictum.jpg|thumb|King Saint Stephen I of Hungary (''Chronicon Pictum'')]] In the High Middle Ages, Hungary became one of the most powerful medieval states in Europe. The Christian Kingdom of Hungary was established in 1000 under King Saint Stephen I of Hungary, and ruled by the Árpád dynasty for the following centuries. King Saint Ladislaus completed the work of King Saint Stephen. He consolidated the Hungarian state power and strengthened the influence of Christianity. His charismatic personality, strategic leadership and military talents resulted the termination of internal power struggles and foreign military threats. The Kingdom of Hungary expanded to the Adriatic coast and entered a personal union with Croatia in 1102, by establish other vassal states, Hungary became a small empire that extended its control over the Southeast Europe and the Carpathian region. The Hungarian royal Árpád dynasty gave the world the most saints and blessed from a single family.
===Lithuania=== {{main|Grand Duchy of Lithuania}}
During the High Middle Ages Lithuania emerged as a Duchy of Lithuania in the early 13th century, then briefly becoming the Kingdom of Lithuania from 1251 to 1263. After the assassination of its first Christian king Mindaugas Lithuania was known as Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Unconquered during the Lithuanian Crusade, Lithuania itself rapidly expanded to the East due to conquests and became one of the largest states in Europe.
===Poland=== [[File:Polska 960 - 992.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|Poland under the rule of Duke Mieszko I between {{Circa|960}} - 992]] {{main|History of Poland in the Middle Ages|History of Poland during the Piast dynasty}}
In the mid-10th century Poland emerged as a duchy after Mieszko I, the ruler of the Polans, conquered the surrounding Lechitic tribes in the region. Then in 1025 under the rule of Bolesław I the Brave, Poland became a kingdom.
===Southeast Europe=== [[File:Khazarfall1.png|thumb|upright=1.3|The Pontic steppes, {{circa|lk=no|1015}}]] {{Main|Komnenian restoration|Second Bulgarian Empire|Serbian Grand Principality|Principality of Arbanon|Banate of Bosnia|Croatia in the union with Hungary}}
The High Middle Ages saw the height and decline of the Slavic state of Kievan Rus' and emergence of Cumania. Later, the Mongol invasion in the 13th century had a great impact on the east of Europe, as many countries of the region were invaded, pillaged, conquered or vassalized.
During the first half of this period ({{circa|lk=no|1025}}{{mdash}}1185), Byzantine Empire dominated the Southeast Europe, and under the Komnenian emperors there was a revival of prosperity and urbanization; however, their domination of Southeast Europe was coming to an end with a successful Vlach-Bulgarian rebellion in 1185, and henceforth the region was divided between the Byzantines in Greece, some parts of Macedonia, and Thrace, the Bulgarians in Moesia and most of Thrace and Macedonia, and the Serbs to the northwest. Eastern and Western churches had formally split in the 11th century, and despite occasional periods of co-operation during the 12th century, in 1204 the Fourth Crusade treacherously captured Constantinople. This severely damaged the Byzantines, and their power was ultimately weakened by the Seljuks and the rising Ottoman Empire in the 14–15th century. The power of the Latin Empire, however, was short-lived after the Crusader army was routed by Bulgarian Emperor Kaloyan in the Battle of Adrianople (1205).
===Climate and agriculture=== {{Main|Medieval Warm Period}} <!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Highmiddleagesplow.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.15|A farmer using oxen to plow a field]] -->
The Medieval Warm Period, the period from the 10th century to about the 14th century in Europe, was a relatively warm and gentle interval ended by the generally colder Little Ice Age which would continue until the middle of the 19th century. Farmers grew wheat well north into Scandinavia, and wine grapes in northern England, although the maximum expansion of vineyards appeared to occur within the Little Ice Age period. During this time, a high demand for wine and steady volume of alcohol consumption inspired a viticulture revolution of progress.<ref>Jellinek, E. M. 1976. "Drinkers and Alcoholics in Ancient Rome." Edited by Carole D. Yawney andRobert E. Popham. ''Journal of Studies on Alcohol'' 37 (11): 1718–1740.</ref> The relative protection from famine during this time allowed Europe's population to increase, despite the famine in 1315 that killed 1.5 million people. This increased population contributed to the founding of new towns and an increase in industrial and economic activity during the period. They also established trade and a comprehensive production of alcohol. Food production also increased during this time as new ways of farming were introduced, including the use of a heavier plow, horses instead of oxen, and a three-field system that allowed the cultivation of a greater variety of crops than the earlier two-field system—notably legumes, the growth of which prevented the depletion of important nitrogen from the soil.
===The rise of chivalry=== {{Main|Chivalry}}
During the High Middle Ages, the idea of a Christian warrior started to change as Christianity grew more prominent in medieval Europe. The Codes of Chivalry promoted the ideal knight to be selfless, faithful, and fierce against those who threaten the weak.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Saul|first=Nigel|title=Chivalry in Medieval England|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2011|isbn=9780674063693|pages=197}}</ref> Household heavy cavalry (knights) became common in the 11th century across Europe, and tournaments were invented. Tournaments allowed knights to establish their family name while being able to gather vast wealth and renown through victories. In the 12th century, the Cluny monks promoted ethical warfare and inspired the formation of orders of chivalry, such as the Templar Knights. Inherited titles of nobility were established during this period. In 13th-century Germany, knighthood became another inheritable title, although one of the less prestigious, and the trend spread to other countries.
==Religion== ===Christian Church=== {{Main|Christianity in the Middle Ages}}
The East–West Schism of 1054 formally separated the Christian church into two parts: Roman Catholicism in Western Europe and Eastern Orthodoxy in the east. It occurred when Pope Leo IX and Patriarch Michael I excommunicated each other, mainly over disagreement over the filioque, an addition to the creed concerning the origin of the Holy Spirit, as well as disputes as to the existence of papal authority over the four Eastern patriarchs, use of unleavened bread in the liturgy, and fasting days.
===Crusades=== {{Main|Crusades}}
[[File:Godefroi1099.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|After the successful siege of Jerusalem in 1099, Godfrey of Bouillon, leader of the First Crusade, became the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.]] The Catholic Crusades occurred between the 11th and 13th centuries. They were conducted under papal authority, initially with the intent of reestablishing Christian rule in ''The Holy Land'' by taking the area from the Muslim Fatimid Caliphate. The Fatimids had captured Palestine in AD 970, lost it to the Seljuk Turks in 1073 and recaptured it in 1098, just before they lost it again in 1099 as a result of the First Crusade.
====Military orders==== {{Main|Military order (religious society)}}
In the context of the crusades, monastic military orders were founded that would become the template for the late medieval chivalric orders.
The Knights Templar were a Christian military order founded after the First Crusade to help protect Christian pilgrims from hostile locals and highway bandits. The order was deeply involved in banking, and in 1307 Philip the Fair (Philippine le Bel) had the entire order arrested in France and dismantled on charges of alleged heresy.
The Knights Hospitaller were originally a Christian organization founded in Jerusalem in 1080 to provide care for poor, sick, or injured pilgrims to the Holy Land. After Jerusalem was taken in the First Crusade, it became a religious/military order that was charged with the care and defence of the Crusader states. After the Holy Lands were eventually taken by Muslim forces, it moved its operations to Rhodes, and later Malta.
The Teutonic Knights were a German religious order formed in 1190, in the city of Acre, to aid Christian pilgrims on their way to the Holy Lands and to operate hospitals for the sick and injured in Outremer. After Muslim forces captured the Holy Lands, the order moved to Transylvania in 1211 and later, after being expelled, invaded pagan Prussia with the intention of Christianizing the Baltic region. Yet, both before and after the Order's main pagan opponent, Lithuania, converted to Christianity, the Order had already attacked other Christian nations such as Novgorod and Poland. The Teutonic Knights' power hold, which became considerable, was broken in 1410, at the Battle of Grunwald, where the Order suffered a devastating defeat against a joint Polish-Lithuanian army. After Grunwald, the Order declined in power until 1809 when it was officially dissolved. There were ten crusades in total.
===Golden age of monasticism=== * The late 11th century/early-mid 12th century was the height of the golden age of Christian monasticism (8th-12th centuries). ** Benedictine Order – black-robed monks ** Cistercian Order – white-robed monks *** Bernard of Clairvaux
===Mendicant orders=== {{Main|Mendicant orders}}
* The 13th century saw the rise of the Mendicant orders such as the: ** Franciscans (Friars Minor, commonly known as the Grey Friars), founded 1209 ** Carmelites (Hermits of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Carmel, commonly known as the White Friars), founded 1206–1214 ** Dominicans (Order of Preachers, commonly called the Black Friars), founded 1215 ** Augustinians (Hermits of St. Augustine, commonly called the Austin Friars), founded 1256
===Heretical movements=== Christian heresies existed in Europe before the 11th century but only in small numbers and of local character: in most cases, a rogue priest, or a village returning to pagan traditions. However, beginning in the 11th century, mass-movement heresies appeared. The roots of this can be partially sought in the rise of urban cities, free merchants, and a new money-based economy. The rural values of monasticism held little appeal to urban people who began to form sects more in tune with urban culture. The first large-scale heretical movements in Western Europe originated in the newly urbanized areas such as southern France and northern Italy and were probably influenced by the Bogomils and other dualist movements. These heresies were on a scale the Catholic Church had never seen before and as such the response was one of elimination for some (such as the Cathars). Some Catholic monastic leaders, such as Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscans, had to be recognized directly by the Pope so as not to be confused with actual heretical movements such as the Waldensians.
====Cathars==== [[File:Cathars expelled.JPG|thumb|Cathars being expelled from Carcassonne in 1209]]
{{main|Catharism}}
'''Catharism''' was a movement with Gnostic elements that originated around the middle of the 10th century, branded by the contemporary Roman Catholic Church as heretical. It existed throughout much of Western Europe, but its origination was in Languedoc and surrounding areas in southern France.
The name ''Cathar'' stems from Greek ''katharos'', "pure". One of the first recorded uses is Eckbert von Schönau who wrote on heretics from Cologne in 1181: "Hos nostra Germania catharos appellat." ([In] our Germany [one] calls these [people] "Cathars".)
The Cathars are also called '''Albigensians'''. This name originates from the end of the 12th century, and was used by the chronicler Geoffroy du Breuil of Vigeois in 1181. The name refers to the southern town of Albi (the ancient Albiga). The designation is hardly exact, for the centre was at Toulouse and in the neighbouring districts.
The Albigensians were strong in southern France, northern Italy, and the southwestern Holy Roman Empire.
The Bogomils were strong in the Southeastern Europe, and became the official religion supported by the Bosnian kings. * Dualists believed that historical events were the result of struggle between a good (spiritual) force and an evil (material) force and that the world was of the evil force, though it could be controlled or defeated through asceticism and good works. * Albigensian Crusade, Simon de Montfort, Montségur, Château de Quéribus
====Waldensians==== {{Main|Waldensians}}
Peter Waldo of Lyon was a wealthy merchant who gave up his riches around 1175 after a religious experience and became a preacher. He founded the Waldensians which became a Christian sect believing that all religious practices should have strictly scriptural bases. Waldo was denied the right to preach his sermons by the Third Lateran Council in 1179, which he did not obey and continued to speak freely until he was excommunicated in 1184. Waldo was critical of the Christian clergy saying they did not live according to the word. He rejected the practice of selling indulgences (simony), as well as the common saint cult practices of the day.
Waldensians are considered a forerunner to the Protestant Reformation, and they melted into Protestantism with the outbreak of the Reformation and became a part of the wider Reformed tradition after the views of John Calvin and his theological successors in Geneva proved very similar to their own theological thought. Waldensian churches still exist, located on several continents.
==Trade and commerce== [[File:Lübeck - panoramio.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Lübeck, de facto capital of the Hanseatic League]] In Northern Europe, the Hanseatic League, a federation of free cities to advance trade by sea, was founded in the 12th century, with the foundation of the city of Lübeck, which would later dominate the League, in 1158–1159. Many northern cities of the Holy Roman Empire became Hanseatic cities, including Amsterdam, Cologne, Bremen, Hanover and Berlin. Hanseatic cities outside the Holy Roman Empire were, for instance, Bruges and the Polish city of Gdańsk (Danzig), as well as Königsberg, capital of the monastic state of the Teutonic Knights. In Bergen, Norway and Veliky Novgorod, Russia the league had factories and middlemen. In this period the Germans started colonising Europe beyond the Empire, into Prussia and Silesia.
In the late 13th century, a Venetian explorer named Marco Polo became one of the first Europeans to travel the Silk Road to China. Westerners became more aware of the Far East when Polo documented his travels in ''Il Milione''. He was followed by numerous Christian missionaries to the East, such as William of Rubruck, Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, André de Longjumeau, Odoric of Pordenone, Giovanni de' Marignolli, Giovanni di Monte Corvino, and other travellers such as Niccolò de' Conti.
== Natural philosophy == {{main|l1=European science in the High Middle Ages|European_science_in_the_Middle_Ages#High_Middle_Ages_(AD_1000–1300)|Scholasticism|Medieval medicine of Western Europe}}
{{further|l1=Foundation of universities|Science_and_the_Catholic_Church#Foundation_of_universities|List of medieval European scientists}} thumb|270px|A map of medieval universities and major monasteries with library in 1250
The oldest university currently in continuous operation in the world<ref name="Verger Bologna">{{cite book|title=A History of the University in Europe|volume=1, Universities in the Middle Ages|page=35|chapter=Patterns|author=Jacques Verger|editor1=Hilde de Ridder-Symoens|editor2=Walter Rüegg|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=16 October 2003|isbn=9780521541138|quote=It is no doubt true that other civilizations, prior to, or wholly alien to, the medieval West, such as the Roman Empire, Byzantium, Islam, or China, were familiar with forms of higher education which a number of historians, for the sake of convenience, have sometimes described as universities. Yet a closer look makes it plain that the institutional reality was altogether different and, no matter what has been said on the subject, there is no real link such as would justify us in associating them with medieval universities in the West. Until there is definite proof to the contrary, these latter must be regarded as the sole source of the model which gradually spread through the whole of Europe and then to the whole world. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5Z1VBEbF0HAC&pg=PA48}}</ref> appeared in the 11th century in Italy (the University of Bologna<ref>{{cite book | title=The Challenge of Bologna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wyjnHZ1IIlgC&q=the+oldest+university+in+the+world+Bologna&pg=PA18| author=Paul L. Gaston | year=2010 | pages=18 | publisher=Stylus | isbn=978-1-57922-366-3}}</ref>) and two more were established in the 12th century in France (the University of Paris) and England (the University of Oxford).<ref>{{cite book | last= Gal | first = Ofer | year = 2021 | chapter = Medieval learning | title = The Origins of Modern Science | pages = 101–138 | location = New York, New York | publisher = Cambridge University Press | isbn= 978-1316649701}}</ref> The increased contact with the Islamic world in Spain and Sicily during the Reconquista, and the Byzantine world and Muslim Levant during the Crusades, allowed Europeans access to scientific Arabic and Greek texts, including the works of Aristotle, Alhazen, and Averroes. The European universities aided materially in the translation and propagation of these texts, catalyzing the rise of scholasticism during Renaissance of the 12th century and later scientific advances.<ref>"The key event that made the new intellectual life of Western Europe different than anything that had gone before is the emergence of the university as a unique and vital institution. Not only was it unique in the history of Western Europe, but it also was unique in the history of the world." {{cite book | last= Grant| first= Edward |author-link=Edward Grant | year = 2007 | chapter = Natural Philosophy after the Translations | title= A History of Natural Philosophy | pages = 144 | location = New York | publisher = Cambridge University Press | isbn= 978-052-1-68957-1}}</ref>
At the beginning of the 13th century there were reasonably accurate Latin translations of the main works of almost all the intellectually crucial ancient authors,<ref>Franklin, J., [http://web.maths.unsw.edu.au/~jim/renaissance.html "The Renaissance myth"], Quadrant 26 (11) (Nov, 1982), 51-60. (Retrieved on-line at 06-07-2007)</ref> The natural philosophy contained in these texts was assimilated by notable scholastics such as Robert Grosseteste, Roger Bacon, Albertus Magnus and Duns Scotus. Precursors of the modern scientific method can be seen already in Grosseteste's emphasis on mathematics as a way to understand nature, and in the empirical approach admired by Bacon, particularly in his ''Opus Majus''.
{{multiple image | align = right | direction = horizontal | header_align = left/right/center | footer = Left: Albert Magnus. Right: Thomas Aquinas | footer_align = left | image1 = Vicente salvador gomez-san alberto.jpg | width1 = 132 | caption1 = | image2 = St-thomas-aquinas.jpg | width2 = 117 | caption2 = }}
The new Christian method of learning was influenced by Anselm of Canterbury (1033–1109) from the rediscovery of the works of Aristotle, at first indirectly through Medieval Jewish and Muslim Philosophy (Maimonides, Avicenna, and Averroes) and then through Aristotle's own works brought back from Byzantine and Muslim libraries; and those whom he influenced, most notably Albertus Magnus, Bonaventure and Abélard. Many scholastics believed in empiricism and supporting Roman Catholic doctrines through secular study, reason, and logic.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Brooke|editor1-first=John H.|editor-link1=John Hedley Brooke|editor2-last=Numbers|editor2-first=Ronald L.|editor-link2=Ronald Numbers|title=Science and Religion Around the World|date=2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-195-32819-6|pages=77|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W6HPW1TodZwC&pg=PA71 |quote=From the early church fathers to the end of the Middle Ages, we find episodes of conflict, as Christianity and the natural sciences attempted to occupy the same intellectual ground. We also see the efforts of Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas, Roger Bacon, and many more like them, to mediate between the claims of theology and those of the natural sciences. In the end, the protagonists on both sides preferred compromise to conflict, peace to warfare; and in nearly every case found or created the means for peaceful coexistence. It does not follow that they were equals. The sciences were handmaidens to theology, as Augustine had proposed. And so they would remain for several centuries more. But they had become trusted members of the household and had earned the right to pursue tasks outside the household without unduly close supervision and only an occasional reprimand.}}</ref> They opposed Christian mysticism, and the Platonist-Augustinian belief that the mind is an immaterial substance. The most famous of the scholastics was Thomas Aquinas (later declared a "Doctor of the Church"), who led the move away from the Platonic and Augustinian and towards Aristotelianism. Aquinas developed a philosophy of mind by writing that the mind was at birth a ''tabula rasa'' ("blank slate") that was given the ability to think and recognize forms or ideas through a divine spark. Other notable scholastics included Muhammad Averroes, Roscelin, Abélard, Peter Lombard, and Francisco Suárez. One of the main questions during this time was the problem of universals. Prominent opponents of various aspects of the scholastic mainstream included Duns Scotus, William of Ockham, Peter Damian, Bernard of Clairvaux, and the Victorines.
===Technology=== {{main|Medieval technology|Artes mechanicae}}
During the 12th and 13th century in Europe there was a radical change in the rate of new inventions, innovations in the ways of managing traditional means of production, and economic growth. In less than a century there were more inventions developed and applied usefully than in the previous thousand years of human history all over the globe. The period saw major technological advances, including the adoption or invention of windmills, watermills, printing (though not yet with movable type), gunpowder, the astrolabe, glasses, scissors of the modern shape, a better clock, and greatly improved ships. The latter two advances made possible the dawn of the Age of Discovery. These inventions were influenced by foreign culture and society.
Alfred W. Crosby described some of this technological revolution in ''The Measure of Reality: Quantification in Western Europe, 1250-1600'' and other major historians of technology have also noted it. [[File:WorldShips1460.jpg|thumb|Ships of the world in 1460, according to the Fra Mauro map.]] * The earliest written record of a windmill is from Yorkshire, England, dated 1185. * Paper manufacture began in Italy around 1270. * The spinning wheel was brought to Europe (probably from India) in the 13th century. * The magnetic compass aided navigation, first reaching Europe some time in the late 12th century. * Eye glasses were invented in Italy in the late 1280s. * The astrolabe returned to Europe via Islamic Spain. * Fibonacci introduces Hindu-Arabic numerals to Europe with his book ''Liber Abaci'' in 1202. * The West's oldest known depiction of a stern-mounted rudder can be found on church carvings dating to around 1180.
==Arts==
===Visual arts=== [[File:Konstantin i Irina.jpg|upright|thumb|Fresco from the Boyana Church depicting Emperor Constantine Tikh Asen. The murals are among the finest achievements of the Bulgarian culture in the 13th century.]] {{main|Medieval art}}
Art in the High Middle Ages includes these important movements: * Anglo-Saxon art was influential on the British Isles until the Norman Invasion of 1066 * Romanesque art continued traditions from the Classical world (not to be confused with Romanesque architecture) * Gothic art developed a distinct Germanic flavor (not to be confused with Gothic architecture). * Indo-Islamic architecture begins when Muhammad of Ghor made Delhi a Muslim capital * Byzantine art continued earlier Byzantine traditions, influencing much of Eastern Europe. * Illuminated manuscripts gained prominence both in the Catholic and Orthodox churches
===Architecture=== [[File:Paris Notre-Dame cathedral interior nave east 01b.jpg|thumb|upright|Interior of Nôtre Dame de Paris]] {{main|Gothic architecture}}
[[File:Paris Notre-Dame South View 03.JPG|thumb|The cathedral of ''Notre Dame de Paris'', whose construction began in 1163, is one of the finer examples of the High Middle Ages architecture]]
Gothic architecture superseded the Romanesque style by combining flying buttresses, gothic (or pointed) arches and ribbed vaults. It was influenced by the spiritual background of the time, being religious in essence: thin horizontal lines and grates made the building strive towards the sky. Architecture was made to appear light and weightless, as opposed to the dark and bulky forms of the previous Romanesque style. It was commonly thought that light was an expression of God; therefore, architectural techniques were adapted and developed to build churches that reflected this teaching. Colorful glass windows enhanced the spirit of lightness. As color was much rarer at medieval times than today, it can be assumed that these virtuoso works of art had an awe-inspiring impact on the common man from the street. High-rising intricate ribbed, and later fan vaultings demonstrated movement toward heaven. Veneration of God was also expressed by the relatively large size of these buildings. A gothic cathedral therefore not only invited the visitors to elevate themselves spiritually, it was also meant to demonstrate the greatness of God. The floor plan of a gothic cathedral corresponded to the rules of scholasticism: According to Erwin Panofsky's ''Gothic Architecture and Scholasticism'', the plan was divided into sections and uniform subsections. These characteristics are exhibited by the most famous sacral building of the time: Notre Dame de Paris.
===Literature=== {{main|Medieval literature}}
[[File:Apostle John and Marcion of Sinope, from JPM LIbrary MS 748, 11th c.jpg|thumb|upright|John the Apostle and, only according to Robert Eisler's interpretation, Marcion of Sinope in an Italian illuminated manuscript, painting on vellum, 11th century]] A variety of cultures influenced the literature of the High Middle Ages, one of the strongest among them being Christianity. The connection to Christianity was greatest in Latin literature, which influenced the vernacular languages in the literary cycle of the Matter of Rome. Other literary cycles, or interrelated groups of stories, included the Matter of France (stories about Charlemagne and his court), the Acritic songs dealing with the chivalry of Byzantium's frontiersmen, and perhaps the best known cycle, the Matter of Britain, which featured tales about King Arthur, his court, and related stories from Brittany, Cornwall, Wales and Ireland. An anonymous German poet tried to bring the Germanic myths from the Migration Period to the level of the French and British epics, producing the Nibelungenlied. There was also a quantity of poetry and historical writings which were written during this period, such as ''Historia Regum Britanniae'' by Geoffrey of Monmouth.
Despite political decline during the late 12th and much of the 13th centuries, the Byzantine scholarly tradition remained particularly fruitful over the time period. One of the most prominent philosophers of the 11th century, Michael Psellos, reinvigorated Neoplatonism on Christian foundations and bolstered the study of ancient philosophical texts, along with contributing to history, grammar, and rhetorics. His pupil and successor at the head of Philosophy at the University of Constantinople Ioannes Italos continued the Platonic line in Byzantine thought and was criticized by the Church for holding opinions it considered heretical, such as the doctrine of transmigration. Two Orthodox theologians important in the dialogue between the eastern and western churches were Nikephoros Blemmydes and Maximus Planudes. Byzantine historical tradition also flourished with the works of the brothers Niketas and Michael Choniates in the beginning of the 13th century and George Akropolites a generation later. Dating from 12th century Byzantine Empire is also Timarion, an Orthodox Christian anticipation of Divine Comedy. Around the same time the so-called Byzantine novel rose in popularity with its synthesis of ancient pagan and contemporaneous Christian themes.
At the same time southern France gave birth to Occitan literature, which is best known for troubadours who sang of courtly love. It included elements from Latin literature and Arab-influenced Spain and North Africa. Later its influence spread to several cultures in Western Europe, notably in Portugal and the Minnesänger in Germany. Provençal literature also reached Sicily and Northern Italy laying the foundation of the "sweet new style" of Dante and later Petrarca. Indeed, the most important poem of the Late Middle Ages, the allegorical ''Divine Comedy,'' is to a large degree a product of both the theology of Thomas Aquinas and the largely secular Occitan literature.
===Music=== {{main|Medieval music}}
[[File:Vihuela de arco y vihuela de péñola en las Cantigas.jpg|thumb|upright|Musicians playing the Spanish ''vihuela'', one with a bow, the other plucked by hand, in the ''Cantigas de Santa Maria'' of Alfonso X of Castile, 13th century]] [[File:Organistrum Orense 200708.jpg|thumb|upright|Men playing the organistrum, from the Ourense Cathedral, Spain, 12th century]] The surviving music of the High Middle Ages is primarily religious in nature, since music notation developed in religious institutions, and the application of notation to secular music was a later development. Early in the period, Gregorian chant was the dominant form of church music; other forms, beginning with organum, and later including clausulae, conductus, and the motet, developed using the chant as source material.
During the 11th century, Guido of Arezzo was one of the first to develop musical notation, which made it easier for singers to remember Gregorian chants.
It was during the 12th and 13th centuries that Gregorian plainchant gave birth to polyphony, which appeared in the works of French Notre Dame School (Léonin and Pérotin). Later it evolved into the ''ars nova'' (Philippe de Vitry, Guillaume de Machaut) and the musical genres of late Middle Ages. An important composer during the 12th century was the nun Hildegard of Bingen.
The most significant secular movement was that of the troubadours, who arose in Occitania (Southern France) in the late 11th century. The troubadours were often itinerant, came from all classes of society, and wrote songs on a variety of topics, though with a particular focus on courtly love. Their style went on to influence the trouvères of northern France, the minnesingers of Germany, and the composers of secular music of the Trecento in northern Italy.
===Theatre=== {{Main|Medieval theatre}}
Economic and political changes in the High Middle Ages led to the formation of guilds and the growth of towns, and this would lead to significant changes for theatre starting in this time and continuing into the Late Middle Ages. Trade guilds began to perform plays, usually religiously based, and often dealing with a biblical story that referenced their profession. For instance, a baker's guild would perform a reenactment of the Last Supper.<ref>''A History of English literature for Students'', by Robert Huntington Fletcher, 1916: pp. 85–88</ref> In the British Isles, plays were produced in some 127 different towns during the Middle Ages. These vernacular Mystery plays were written in cycles of a large number of plays: York (48 plays), Chester (24), Wakefield (32) and Unknown (42). A larger number of plays survive from France and Germany in this period and some type of religious dramas were performed in nearly every European country in the Late Middle Ages. Many of these plays contained comedy, devils, villains and clowns.<ref>Brockett and Hildy (2003, 86)</ref>
There were also a number of secular performances staged in the Middle Ages, the earliest of which is ''The Play of the Greenwood'' by Adam de la Halle in 1276. It contains satirical scenes and folk material such as faeries and other supernatural occurrences. Farces also rose dramatically in popularity after the 13th century. The majority of these plays come from France and Germany and are similar in tone and form, emphasizing sex and bodily excretions.<ref>Brockett and Hildy (2003, 96)</ref>
==Timeline== {{further|Timeline of the Middle Ages}} {{div col|small=yes}} * 1054 – East–West Schism * 1066 – Battle of Hastings * 1073–1085 – Pope Gregory VII * 1071 – Battle of Manzikert * 1077 – Henry IV's Walk to Canossa * 1086 – Domesday Book * 1086 – Battle of az-Zallaqah * 1088 – University of Bologna founded * 1091 – Battle of Levounion * 1096 – University of Oxford founded * 1096–1099 – First Crusade * 1123 – First Lateran Council * 1139 – Second Lateran Council * 1145–1149 – Second Crusade * 1147 – Wendish Crusade * {{circa|lk=no|1150}} – University of Paris founded * 1155–1190 – Frederick I Barbarossa * 1159 – foundation of the Hanseatic League * 1169 – Norman invasion of Ireland * 1185 – reestablishment of the Bulgarian Empire * 1189–1192 – Third Crusade * 1200–1204 – Fourth Crusade * 1205 – Battle of Adrianople * 1209 – University of Cambridge founded * 1209 – foundation of the Franciscan Order * 1209–1229 – Albigensian Crusade * 1212 – Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa * 1214 - Battle of Bouvines - Medieval France is a rising power * 1215 – Magna Carta * 1216 – recognition of the Dominican Order * 1215 – Fourth Lateran Council * 1217–1221 – Fifth Crusade * 1218 – University of Salamanca founded * 1220–1250 – Frederick II * 1222 – University of Padua founded * 1223 – approval of the Franciscan Rule of Life * 1228–1229 – Sixth Crusade * 1230 – Prussian Crusade * 1230 – Battle of Klokotnitsa * 1237–1242 – Mongol invasion of Europe * 1241 – Battle of Legnica and Battle of Mohi * 1242 – Battle of the Ice * 1248–1254 – Seventh Crusade * 1257 – foundation of the Collège de Sorbonne * 1261 – the Byzantine Empire reconquers Constantinople. * 1274 – death of Thomas Aquinas; ''Summa Theologica'' published * 1277-1280 – Uprising of Ivaylo – Medieval Europe's only successful peasant uprising * 1280 – death of Albertus Magnus * 1291 – Acre, the last European outpost in the Near East, is captured by the Mamluks under Khalil. {{div col end}}
==See also== * Early Middle Ages * Late Middle Ages * Middle Ages * Gothic book illustration
==Notes== {{Reflist}}
===Works cited=== * {{cite book |last=Adamson |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Adamson (academic) |title=Philosophy in the Islamic World: A History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KEpRDAAAQBAJ |year=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-957749-1}} * {{Citation |last=Fakhry |first=Majid |title=Averroes (Ibn Rushd) His Life, Works and Influence |publisher=Oneworld Publications |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-85168-269-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=88bWAAAAMAAJ}} * {{cite encyclopedia |last=Taylor |first=Richard C. |title=Averroes: religious dialectic and Aristotelian philosophical thought |encyclopedia=The Cambridge Companion to Arabic Philosophy |year=2005 |editor=Peter Adamson |editor2=Richard C. Taylor |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=180–200 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xowm255qOzQC&pg=PA180 |isbn=978-0-521-52069-0}}
==Further reading== * Fuhrmann, Horst. ''Germany in the High Middle Ages: c. 1050–1200'' (Cambridge UP, 1986). * Jordan, William C. ''Europe in the High Middle Ages'' (2nd ed. Penguin, 2004). * Mundy, John H. ''Europe in the High Middle Ages, 1150–1309'' (2014) – [https://archive.org/details/europeinhighmidd00mund online] * Power, Daniel, ed. ''The Central Middle Ages: Europe 950–1320'' (Oxford UP, 2006).
==External links== {{commons category|High Middle Ages}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20051122123242/http://campus.northpark.edu/history/WebChron/WestCiv/MedievalMusic.Chron.html Music of the Middle Ages: 475–1500] * [http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0859627.html Middle Ages: The High Middle Ages] in the ''Columbia Encyclopedia'' at Infoplease * [http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/ent/A0840334.html Provençal literature] in the ''Columbia Encyclopedia'' at Infoplease
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