Date of the Middle Ages?

[RamistThomist]

When would you say the middle ages began and ended? Granted, this is a subjective question, but I locate it from the Fall of Rome to the Fall of Constantinople, except that places the beginning rather early.

 

[Peter]

Do the Middle Ages include the Dark Ages (475ff Ostrogoth kingdom to Carolingian Enlightenment)? If not I'd say 800 (Coronation of Karl der Grosse) to 1453.

 

[bookslover]

I think the Middle Ages run from approximately AD 500 (the fall of Rome) to AD 1500 (the rise of Luther and the Reformation) broadly speaking.

They are most definitely, of course, the ages that were in the middle...

 

[Ivan]

I think the Middle Ages run from approximately AD 500 (the fall of Rome) to AD 1500 (the rise of Luther and the Reformation) broadly speaking.

They are most definitely, of course, the ages that were in the middle...

 

[Kevin]

I think the Middle Ages run from approximately AD 500 (the fall of Rome) to AD 1500 (the rise of Luther and the Reformation) broadly speaking.

They are most definitely, of course, the ages that were in the middle...

A good friend of mine is a medievalist (U of TX) I think I will send him an e-mail and ask his "learned" opinion.

 

[VirginiaHuguenot]

My own view is that the Middles Ages began around the time of the fall of Rome but the line of demarcation between the Middle Ages/Renaissance/Reformation is a bit fuzzy. Dante is, I think, generally considered a Renaissance writer and he died in 1321. The fall of Constantinople was a key Renaissance-era event, providentially, in promoting both the Renaissance and Reformation (through the spread of manuscripts). The Reformation clearly officially began in 1517 (490 years ago), at least in Germany, but there were a number of proto-Reformers and humanists such as a Wycliffe (d. 1384), Huss (d. 1415), Lefèvre (d. 1536), Erasmus (d. 1536), who helped pave the way for the Reformation in various capacities.

Of course this World History Lesson has an interesting perspective:

Then came the Middle Ages. King Alfred conquered the Dames, King Arthur lived in the Age of Shivery, King Harlod mustarded his troops before the Battle of Hastings, and Joan of Arc was cannonized by George Bernard Shaw. Finally, the magna Carta provided that no free man should be hanged twice for the same offense.

In midevil times most of the people were alliterate. The greatest writer of the time was Chaucer, who wrote many poems and verse and also wrote literature. Another tale tells of William Tell, who shot an arrow through an apple while standing on his son's head.

The Renaissance was an age in which more individuals felt the value of their human being. Martin Luther was nailed to the church door at Wittenberg for selling papal indulgences. He died a horrible death, being excommunicated by a bull. it was the painter Donatello's interest in the female nude that made him the father of the Renaissance. It was an age of great inventions and discoveries. Gutenberg invented the Bible. Sir Walter Raleigh is a historical figure because he invented cigarette. Another important invention was the circulation of blood. Sir Francis Drake circumcised the world with a 100-foot clipper.

 

[sastark]

I would date the beginning of the Middle ages at 529 AD for this reason: it marked the end of ancient learning, for in that year Justinian closed the Academy at Athens and it also marked the the beginning of medieval culture with St. Benedict founding his monastery at Monte Casino in Italy.

I would end the middle ages around 1400 (though I don't have a hard date for this one) so that one can distinguish between the middle ages, the Renaissances (the 15th century) and the Reformation (which began, of course, in 1517).

BTW- These dates are not something I came up with, they are the dates we are using for my Historical Perspectives in Science and Religion class this semester, and as such the credit goes to Dr. Michael Keas of Biola University.

 

[No Longer A Libertine]

Perhaps its my single-centric 24 year old mind at work but when the thread read "Date of the Middle Ages" I thought you were going to tell us the greatest female prospect the era had to offer.

 

[RamistThomist]

Perhaps its my single-centric 24 year old mind at work but when the thread read "Date of the Middle Ages" I thought you were going to tell us the greatest female prospect the era had to offer.

Then you would like my original title which I changed for precisely the same reason: "Dating the Middle Ages!"

 

[Reformed Covenanter]

A history lectutrer of mine once said that at no point did the people living before the middle ages wake up one day and realise that they were now in the middle ages.

Perhaps Ken Gentry could write a book "Before Luther's Nails: Dating the Middle Ages".

 

[shelly]

If the Middle Ages are the ages in the middle; then what will they be called a thousand years from now?