# data[].attributes.body
Slowly, the Roman Empire perishes, result of the Gothic War, giving place to a new era: The Middle Ages

# data[].attributes.body
This was the exact year in where Rome fell.
This superstate that survived 500 years, but was being collapsing because of different invasion.

# data[].attributes.body
This was the time in where the Byzantine Empire was ruled by Justinian I, a legislator and codified.
He is well remembered because he reorganized the government enacted several reforms to increase accountability and reduce corruption during his reign.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Justinian I, orig. Petrus Sabbatius, (born 483, Tauresium, Dardania-died Nov. 14, 565, Constantinople), Byzantine emperor (527-565). Determined to regain former Roman provinces lost to barbarian invaders, Justinian conquered the Vandals in northern Africa in 534 and enjoyed an initial victory over the Ostrogoths in Italy in 540. War with the Goths, however, lasted another two decades and brought great devastation before Justinian gained control of the whole of Italy in 562 . He was unable to prevent Bulgars, Slavs, Huns, and Avars from carrying out raids along the empire's northern frontier. He also carried on an intermittent war with Persia until 561. He reorganized the imperial government and commissioned the reform and codification of the great body of Roman law known as the Code of Justinian. His efforts to root out corruption triggered a revolt in Constantinople in 532 that nearly toppled his government; his wife, Theodora, helped him put down the revolt. Like all Roman emperors, Justinian was an active builder, and his many public works projects included the reconstruction of cities and the construction of the church of Hagia Sophia, one of the finest and most famous buildings in the world.

# data[].attributes.body
Charlemagne became the king of the francs as well as became Roman Emperor by the Papa León III.
He is considered the father of Europe because he created the first imperial potencial that Europe has seen from the deposition from the last Roman Emperor. He also made the Saxons Christians by integrate is it his kingdom. Most important, he basically united almost all of Europe.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A lo largo de la historia del mundo, hemos visto el nacimiento de grandes reyes y de grandes líderes, así como la caída y resurgir de grandes imperios que cambiaron al mundo para bien o para mal. En ésta oportunidad, nos referimos a la historia de Carlomagno, rey de los francos y fundador del imperio Carolingio. (Ver también: Alexander von Humboldt)

Biografía de Carlomagno

Carlomagno era hijo primogénito del rey Pipino III, a quien le decían el Pipino el Breve; su madre era Bertrada de Laon, a quien le decían Berta, además de Carlomagno, tuvieron un segundo hijo a quien le dieron por nombre Carlomán I.

El nacimiento de Carlomagno es un completo misterio y ha sido foco de múltiples debates a nivel mundial por toda la comunidad de historiadores del mundo, debaste que aun hoy día basados en los datos históricos y arqueológicos, no dan con una respuesta exacta de su fecha de nacimiento.

Por lo que, algunos historiadores afirman que nació en el año 743 en Herstal o Aquisgrán, tomando en cuenta el año de su muerte y los años que vivió, es decir, su muerte sucedió en el año 814 a los 71 años, sacando cuentas, entonces dan por hecho que nació en el año 743.

Sin embargo, otra parte de los historiadores están convencidos que no fue en el año 743, sino que fue el 1 de abril del año 747, fecha que coincide con la pascua, y es por ello que es una teoría rechazada en cuanto al nacimiento de Carlomagno porque consideran que es una farsa para diosificar al dicho emperador.

Además de ello, existe otro grupo de científicos que estan convencidos que no fue en el 1 de abril del año 747, sino que sucedió un año después, es decir, en el año 748. Aunque, no tienen base sólida para afirmar dicha teoría, por lo que no es muy bien aceptada entre los historiadores.

Aún en la actualidad, es imposible definir con exactitud la fecha de nacimiento de Carlomagno, no hay registros, y si los había, éstos se perdieron al pasar el tiempo, pues, sucedió hace cientos de cientos de años; y la información que hoy se tiene no es suficiente para dar por hecho que nació en el año 743.

Realmente se sabe muy poco sobre los primeros años de vida de Carlomagno, no hay muchos registros históricos que puedan decirnos a ciencia cierta cómo fue niñez, pubertad o adolescencia hasta llegar a la edad adulta. Su aventura comienza precisamente cuando llega a la edad adulta y su padre muere.

Después de la muerte del Rey Pipino el Breve, continuaron con la tradición, y divieron el reino franco en dos partes cada una correspondía a sus dos hijos. Carlos tomó toda la parte exterior del reino franco que limitaban con el mar, es decir, las regiones Neusteria, el oeste de Aquitania y el norte de Austrasia fueron tomadas por Carlos.

Por otro lado, su hermano, Carlomán, tomo posesión de la parte interna del reino franco, es decir, el sur de Austrasia, Septimania, el este de Alquitania, Borgoña, Provenza y Suabia; todos estos territorios pasaron a estar bajo controlde Carlomán I, que además limitaban con las frontersa italianas. (Ver también: Julio César)

Justo después de que muere su padre, los dos hijos se fueron de Saint-Denis, para poder obtener la corona como reyes por parte de los nobles y ungidos por los obispos de la época. La investidura de Carlomagno se celebro en la ciudad de Noyon. Mientras que la de Carlomán que sucedió en la ciudad de Soissons.

Carlomagno y su imperio

Luego del nombramiento de rey y la coronación, ambos reyes dirigían sus reinos en paz, no había sucedido algo alarmante durante sus primeros años de gobierno; sin embargo, en el año 769 sucedió algo interesante en el reino dividido de los hermanos.

Sucedió entonces que los aquitanos y gascones se revelaron contra ambos reyes. Algo parecido había sucedido años atrás, cuando el padre de ambos, el rey Pipino el Breve había detenido una rebelión dirigida por el duque de Aquitania, Gaifier.

Sin embargo, quien dirigía en éste caso la rebelión, era un hombre llamado Hunaldo, quien llevó a los aquitanos hacia el norte, hasta la ciudad de Angulema. Debido a la gran amenaza naciente para ambos reinos, Carlos decide convocar a su hermano para que se reunieran a debatir sobre ése problema que afectaba a ambos.

Pese a la realidad que aquejaba a los reinos, en pocas palabras, Carlomán I le dio la espalda a Carlos diciéndole que él no iba a participar en una guerra y regresó a Burgundia. Carlomagno aceptó las palabras de su hermano y se retira de la reunión disponiendo a una ejercito para liderarlos hacia Burdeos, y establecen un campamento en Fronsac.

Durante los intensos combates, Hunaldo se ve obligado a retirarse y huyó a la corte del Lupo II, duque de Gascuña, Hunaldo solicitó protección al duque; sin embargo, Lupo II no quería problemas con Carlomagno, asi que, entrega a Hunaldo para que sea juzgado. Al final, Hunaldo fue desterrado a un monasterio y los francos tomaron control absoluto de Aquitania.

Debido a que Carlomán le dio la espalda a Carlos durante el levantamiento de Hunaldo y los aquitanos, la relación entre ambos reinos y hermanos era crítica, su madre era lo único que evitaba un enfrentamiento. Sin embargo, Carlos firmó un tratado con Tásilo III de Baviera y se casa con una princesa lombarda llamda Desiderata, hija del rey Desiderio.

El objetivo de Carlomagno de casarse con Desiderata, era que junto al ejército del rey Desiderio rodearan a su hermano Carlomán. A pesar de dicho plan, éste no funcionó, al año de matrimonio con Desiderata, Carlos la repudia y éste regresa con su padre enfurecida y Desiderio gustosamente rompe la alianza con Carlos y se une a Carlomán.

Carlos se casa entonces con Hildegarda de Anglachgau, quien tenía apenas 13 años. Por otro lado, Carlomán y el rey Desiderio planeaban el ataque contra Carlomagno, sin embargo, Carlomán muere en el año 771 antes de que iniciara una guerra entre ambos reinos.

En el año 772, sucedió el nombramiento del papa Adriano I, quién demandó que se le devolviernas algunas tierras constituyentes del Exarcado de Rávena, todo ello, a cambio de un tratado respecto a la sucesión del rey Desiderio; sin embargo, Desiderio ya había iniciado una campaña militar y había tomado algunas ciudades papales e invadió Pentápolis.

Ante tal situación, Adriano solicita ayuda a Carlomagno instándole que cumpliera con su apoyo al papado como lo hizo su padre Pipino el Breve, y a su vez, Desiderio envió una diligencia negando las acusaciones del papa. Entonces, Carlomagno decide apoyar al papa y se preparan para la guerra contra los lombardos. (Ver también: Genghis Khan)

En el año 773, Carlos y su tío Bernardo inician una campaña para ir contra los lombardos y cruzaron los Alpes; luego de largas batallas, los lombardos fueron sitiados por los francos en la ciudad de Pavía. Sin embargo, Carlomagno se retira del frente porquue el hijo de Desiderio, estaba reuniendo un ejército en la ciudad de Verona.

Es por ello que Carlomagno se ve obligado a retirarse del frente para reunir un ejército e ir contra el hijo de Desiderio llamado Adelgis. Aunque Adelgis pensó que podía ganar, Carlos le hizo ver que no, y lo persiguió con su ejército hasta el litoral adriático, en donde Adelgis tuvo que huir hasta Constantinopla.

En su paso de regreso a Pavía, Carlomagno hizo un parada en Roma en donde cedió unas tierras y apreció la hermosura de la ciudad, luego regresa a Pavía continuando el asedio a la ciudad hasta 774 cuando los lombardos se rinden y abren las puertas de la ciudad y Carlomagno se consolida como el hombre más poderoso de Italia.

Tras la victoria en Italia, el nombre de Carlomagno cogió fama entre los demás imperios y reinos. Carlomagno entra en contacto con los sarracenos (musulmanes) quienes conquistaban el mediterraneo. Poco a poco Carlo fue tomando Córcega y Cerdeña.

Coronación de Carlomagno

Durante muchos años de carrera militar y de constante expansión del rey franco Carlomagno, su fama era reconocida por toda Europa y a su vez, era temido y respetado. En el año 773, el papa León III había sido atacado por los romanos por lo que pidió protección a Carlos y éste se la dio.

León III reconociendo el poder militar del rey franco, le solicita que tome control de roma y restaura su gobierno, petición a la que accedió Carlomagno y viaja a Roma en el año 800. Entonces, el 25 de diciembre mientras se celebraba una misa Carlomagno se arrodilla para orar en el altar y el papa se le acerca y lo corona Emperador de los romanos.

Tras la grata sorpresa, Carlomagno no se niega y acepta el título de emperador de los romanos, pero, 6 años más tarde, en 806 se llama a sí mismo como Emperador Gobernante del Imperio Romano, asumiento todo el peso y responsabilidad que ameritaba ese cargo. (Ver también: Ramsés II)

Aunque, muchos historiadores estan de acuerdo con que dicha coronación no fue una sorpresa para Carlomagno, dicen que él estaba al tanto de lo que iba a suceder, pues, la gran corona engemada estaba en frente de él y sabía lo que eso significaba, estar al frente de un gran imperio.

Carlomagno y el sacro imperio romano

Cuando el papa decide coroncar a Carlomagno como emperador de los romanos, algunos afirman que lo hizo como motivo de representar a Roma por medio de un emperador poderoso, y Carlomagno era poderoso. Sucede que en aquél entonces, había fuertes conflictos religiosos con la emperatriz Irene, quien gobernaba en Constantinopla en ése momento.

Además de ello, habían fuertes choques étnicos y religiosos por toda roma, por lo que el papa veía que hacía falta orden, y alguien que tomara las riendas de Roma y resolviera los tantos problemas que aquejaban a Roma, problemas internos como externos.

Mientras Carlomagno hacía reformas monetarias y educativas que ayudarían a impulsar la economía y evolución el imperio, los daneses atacaban constantemente territorio imperial, puesto que, el imperio de Carlomagno limitaba con los territorios Escandivanos (región compuesta por Noruega, Dinamarca y Suecia) y ellos habían escuchado el trato que el imperio le daba a los paganos.

El rey Godofredo, basándose en los relatos de lo implacable del ejército de Carlomagno, manda a construir una muralla de más de 30 km de largo, era una muralla defensiva que le brindaba protección ante un ataque imperial, además, la usaban muchos para saquear Frisia y Flandes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pY8rcWv3Ms

Además de ello, el rey Godofrey decide invadir Frisia y lo completa haciéndose con el control de la ciudad, además de ello arremetió contra los veleti (eran aliados de los francos) dominandolos y en oportunidades afirmaba que invadiría Aquisgrán, sin embargo, murió antes de poder hacerlo.

No se sabe si el rey Godofrey murió por manos de uno de sus subditos o por causas de un ataque extranjero. Pese a su muerte, asciende al trono su sobrino Hemming, quien no quería guerras con Carlomagno y firma el Tratado de Heiligen con Carlomagno en el año 811.

Muerte de Carlomagno

Tras una larga carrera militar y de una constante expasión de sus territorio, Carlomagno tampoco pudo escapar de la muerte. Tneiéndo eso muy en cuenta, en el año 813 convoca hasta su corte, a Ludovico Pió (también conocido como Luis I) rey a Aquitania.

Tras una sencilla ceremonia, el mismo Carlomagno lo corona como coemperador y lo envía de regreso a Aquitania. Luego de la ceremonia, el 1 de noviembre Carlomagno regresa a casa, a Aquisgrán donde enfermó de pleuritis quedando en coma y posteriormente muere el 28 de enero del año 814.

A pesar de su muerte, su legado se mantuvo y fue continuado por sus predecesores, la Europa que hoy día conocemos se debe a la gran cantidad de aportes que hizo Carlomagno a la sociedad del Sacro Imperio Romano, sus reformas más allá de sus conquistas, fueron verdaderamente su legado.

Tumba de Carlomagno

Tras su muerte, a Carlomagno lo sepultan el mismo día que muere en la Catedral de Aquisgrán. Durante el gobierno de Otón III (año 996) descubrieron la tumba de Carlomagno y sentaron los restos del emperador en un trono le pusieron una corona y un cetro ostentoso, además, cubrieron sus restos con ropa también ostentosa.

En el año 1165, el emperador Federico I abrió nuevamente la tumba de Carlomagno, sacó su cuerpo y lo llevó a un sarcófago que emplazó debajo del suelo de la catedral. Entonces, Federico II, en 1215 abrió nuevamente el sarcófago donde estaban los restos de Carlomago y mete su cuerpo dentro de una ataúd de oro y plata.

Carlomagno y la iglesia

El padre de Carlomagno, el rey Pipino el Breve, siempre tuvo relaciones buenas con la iglesia romana y con el papado. Luego de su muerte, Carlomagno no rompió dichas relaciones, al contrario, siempre defendió al papado en todos los sentidos y tenía la visión de que el mundo sería mejor si un emperador cristiano de la mano de un papa lo guiaban.

Además, con la llegada de Carlomagno y con su creciente influencia, el papado tuvo una buena creciente dentro del imperio, y además, los papas sabían que ante problemas sociales, Carlos abogaría por ellos, como sucedió con el papa León III, cuando fue acusado de adulterio y perjurio y fue agredido por los romanos, Carlomagno lo defendió en la corte y fue puesto en libertad. (Ver también: William Shakespeare)

En ningún momento de su vida, Carlomagno cambió su fe cristiana, siempre la mantuvo a pesar de momento difícil o del día alegra, siempre mantuvo su fe, y siempre ayudó a que los líderes de su fe fueran mejores personas en todo el sentido de la palabra.

Nieto de Carlomagno

Al morir el emperador del Sacro Imperio Romano, Luis I, sus hijos comienzan una pelea familiar por la repartición de las enormes tierras del imperio de Carlomagno. Esto provocó grandes enfrentamiento entre los nietos de Carlomagno en los que se buscaba una solución violenta.

Luis el Germánico analiza la situación y busca entonces formar una alianza con su hermano Carlos el Calvo para ir contra el primogénito Lotario I del Sacro Imperio Romano. Ambos hermanos reúnen a su ejército y Lotario prepara a sus tropas para hacerle frente a sus dos hermanos juntos.

Sin embargo, durante la batalla de Fontenoy-en-Puisaye, Lotario es vencido por sus hermanos Luis el Germánico y Carlos el Calvo. A pesar de ello, las confrontaciones seguían sucediendo, por lo que Carlos el Calvo pensó en una solución.

La solución llevó por nombre Tratado de Verdún, propuesta por Carlos el Calvo que buscaba acabar con los enfrentamientos, pero, que igual todos los herederos recibieran sus partes del imperio en iguales condiciones. Luis el Germánico y Lotario I estuvieron de acuerdo y firman el tratado el 10 de agosto del año 843 diviendo entonces el imperio de Carlomagno.

Lotario se quedó con Italia, los valles de Ródano, el mosela, el mosa, el soana y el curso bajo del río Rin. Además de ello conservaba el título de emperador y tenía bajo su control a dos ciudades imperiales: Aquisgrán y Roma.

Carlos el Calvo se queda con la Francia occidental, las cuencas de Escalda, del Sena, del Loira y del Garona. A éste acuerdo llegó cuando firmó el tratado.

Por su parte, Luis el Germánico se quedó con la Francia oriental, acutalmente Alemania, la parte del derecha el Rin y la ciudad de Maguncia.

Película de Carlomagno

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_Ie2_Lbg-c

Carlomagno y la educación

Carlomagno estuvo fervientemente interesado en el aprendizaje. Algunos historiadores dicen que las victorias de Carlomagno se deben a su admiración por el aprendizaje, puesto que, era alguien que aprendía rápido, y aplicaba en la vida real lo que aprendí y los transmitía a otras personas.

Durante sus conquistas, tuvo la oportunidad de conocer otras culturas, como la de España, Inglaterra e Italia, todas bajo su control. Además, era un visionario al respecto, consideraba que el futuro del imperio dependía de la buena educación, por lo que dio la orden de que todos sus descendientes tuvieran la mejor educación.

Además de ello, no sólo dio ordenes para miembros de su familia, sino que creó políticas que ayudaban a los estudiantes a culminar sus estudios o investigaciones, dichas ayudas se conocen hoy día como becas. Durante su reinado, dio la orden de crear cientos de escuelas por todo el imperio que favorecieran a la educación y desarrollo del individuo. (Ver también: Cristóbal Colón)

Según los historiadores Carlomagno arepndió gramática, con Pablo el diácono, retórica, dicción y astronomía con Alcuino; con Eginardo aprendió aritmética, aunque Eginardo afirmaba que lo único que Carlomagno no pudo aprender fue a escribir bien, aun en su lecho de muerte, él trataba de hacerlo usando una tablilla que escondía bajo su almohada.

Carlomagno en España

En el año 777, la asamblea de Paderborn recibió a los representantes de de las ciudades Zaragoza, Herona, Barcelona y Huesca, quienes acudían pidiendo ayuda porque sus señores estaban arrinconado en la Península Ibérica a causa de una persecusión por parte del emir de Córdoba Abderramán I.

Dichos representantes, rindieron homenaje al rey de los francos, Carlomagno a cambio de que éste los ayudara militarmente, y él accede a la petición de ayuda. En el año 778 dirige sus ejércitos por los Pirineos Occidentales, mientras que los lombaros burgundios cruzaban los Pirineos Orientales para reunirse en Zaragoza junto al otro ejército.

A pesar del gran ataque, Zaragoza no caía ante los grandes ejércitos que lo asediaban, por lo que Carlomagno tuvo la decisión de retirarse a casa, no confiaba en la otra parte del ejército compuesto por los representantes musulmanes. Retirándose entonces por el paso de Roncesvalles. Además, habían llegado informes que los sajones habían organizado una rebelión. (ver: Carl Lewis)

Mientras pasaban por Roncesvalles, los vascones lanzaron una emboscada, disparando dardos con veneno, rocas grandes y hacían rodar rocas gigantes por el estrecho camino y verdes bosques, por lo que los francos dirigidos por Roldan, cayeron sobre la retaguardia de Carlomagno destruyendo sus carros de cargas.

¿Por qué fue importante Carlomagno?

La importancia de Carlomagno trasciende más allá de sus conquistas en su carrera militar. Sus reformas en cuanto a la educación, la cultura y la economía fue lo que realmente lo hicieron poderosamente importante por sus visiones en que el futuro del imperio dependía del aprendizaje.

Fue un fiel defensor de la iglesia cristiana, quien tenía buena relación el papa, y fomentó que el sistema educativo naciente fuera de la mano con las enseñanzas cristianas desde muy temprana edad, además, recopiló información para reestructurar el sistema judicial de la época. Sus aportes a la sociedad del naciente Sacro Imperio Romano fueron admirables, muy distintas al Imperio Romano. (ver: Vera Brittain)

Carlomagno y los doce pares de Francia

Según la historia, los doce pares de Francia eran la élite guerrera de Carlomagno y sus protectores a la vez, estaban conformados por sus sobrinos, y la palabra "pares" hacía referencia a que había un respeto y admiración mutua entre los doce caballeros y Carlomagno.

También se le llamaba Paladines de Carlomagno, y aunque eran poderosos, la mayoría de ellos murió en la batalla de Roncesvalles, en agosto del año 778, quienes estaban al mando de Roldan, uno de los pares de Carlomagno y uno de sus sobrinos preferidos, quien también murió en dicha batalla.

Carlomagno y el cristianismo

A lo largo de su vida, la historia nos deja ver que Carlomagno fue un fiel cristiano ferviente en su fe cristiana, que además usaba su gran poder para defender a la iglesia ante cualquier ataque y además influía en ella para hacer reformas justas para el pueblo.(ver: Sophie Scholl)

Sus amistades con las altas eminencias de la iglesia siempre fue notoria y para nada un secreto que de que mantenía una estrecha relación de amistad con el papa Adriano I y con el papa León III, a quienes ayudó cuando éstos les solicitó ayuda.

Su padre, el rey Pipino el Breve también mantenía una estrecha relación con la iglesia y era ferviente en su fe cristiana, dicho sentimiento los transmitió a sus hijos para que siempre estuvieran dispuestos a ayudar a la iglesia en cuanto fuera necesario. Después de su muerte, Carlomagno continuó con dicha tarea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPIyu5tH4j4

Carlomagno como precursor de la unidad europea excepcional ánimo combativo

Técnicamente se la adjudica a Carlomagno la creación del Sacro Imperio Romano, que contenía dentro de sí a una buena parte de las naciones Europeas. Tales naciones se unirían al imperio de Carlomagno luego de que éste saliera de Francia a conquistar nuevas tierras.

Durante su larga vida de incontables batallas y peleas por el control del territorio, Carlomagno conseguía el control absoluto de varias naciones: España, Francia, Alemania, Dinamarca, Austria, Italia, entre otras. Por lo que, cuando comenzó a hacer sus reformas sociales, Carlomagno ya había logrado lo que ninguno en la historia pudo hacer, unir a Europa.

Cuando aplicó sus reformas, las mismas debían aplicarse a lo largo y ancho del territorio imperial, por lo que las naciones incluidas en él debían también someterse a tales reformas, aunque, no era algo malo; las reformas de Carlomagno técnicamente fueron las bases para crear la Europa que hoy día conocemos. (ver: Genghis Khan)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Carlomagno: biografía, imperio, muerte, película y más

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A lo largo de la historia del mundo, hemos visto el nacimiento de grandes reyes y de grandes líderes, así como la caída y resurgir de grandes imperios que cambiaron al mundo para bien o para mal. En ésta oportunidad, nos referimos a la historia de Carlomagno, rey de los francos y fundador del imperio Carolingio.

# data[].attributes.body
The Migration period, High Middle Ages or Late Antiquity (among others), is the name we give the period in where large-scale migration occurred, so some of the post-Roman kingdoms were establish. This was a human migration period.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The 'Migration Period' In European History - What Was It?

# data[].attributes.body
This is the start of the High Middle Ages, when things take a turn up, with the start of the Rennaissance

# data[].attributes.body
This was the time that the Encyclopedia of Medicine was finally completed by the Persian scholar Ibn Sīnā. This helped later on until the 18th century for the basics of medicine. In The Canon of Medicine several lists of drugs are mentioned, as well as medical knowledge in Europe and some recipes for curing illnesses, all clearly organized in a summary.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Ibn Sina (or Avicenna) is the first physician to introduce psychotherapy to the world of medicine, and his book The Canon of Medicine remained, for seven centuries, European universities' main reference in medical science until the mid-17th century. In the Middle Ages, Westerners called him the "Prince of Doctors" and the "Father of Modern Medicine." He is Ibn Sina (or Avicenna, as he is known in the West), the Muslim polymath, physician and philosopher, one of the greatest figures of the Islamic Golden Age, whose works have been a testimony to the significant contributions of Islam to the development of European civilization, and indeed of all human civilization.

Abu Ali Al-Hussein bin Abdullah bin Al-Hassan bin Ali bin Sina Al-Balkhi, then Al-Bukhari, known as Ibn Sina, was born in 370 AH/980 CE in a village near Bukhara (in present-day Uzbekistan) to a father from the city of Balkh (in present-day Afghanistan). He died in Hamadan (in present-day Iran) 427 AH/1037 CE. He wrote about 200 books on various knowledge disciplines but focused on philosophy and medicine. Of the 450 works he is believed to have written, around 240 have survived, including 150 on philosophy and 40 on medicine.

Some sources mentioned that Ibn Sina became a doctor at the age of 18, having started studying medicine at 13. He had a distinguished reputation in medicine in his country and its neighbors. Ibn Sina's fame reached Europe after his works were translated into Latin and Hebrew.

Ibn Sina was able to introduce to mankind some of the most important medical discoveries, such as infectious diseases and how infections are transmitted. He wrote that water and air may contain very small animals that are not visible to the naked eye and cause some diseases. This was proven by scientists several centuries later, when the microscope, that was not available to him at the time, was invented.

Ibn Sina wrote about the importance of environment and the diseases caused by environmental pollution. Surprisingly, he practiced experimental medicine in its modern form in a time when that was very unusual. He tested the medicines he developed on animals first and if they proved effective, he would treat his patients. He was the first to describe meningitis, strokes and paralysis caused by an internal cause in the body. Among his meticulous medical observations that were ahead of his time, are his studies of the mental disorders, in which he treated his patients by means of psychoanalysis. In examination, diagnosis and treatment, Ibn Sina followed the same methods used in our modern age, such as feeling the pulse, percussion (tapping with the fingers over the patient's body to identify some internal diseases) and studying urine and feces for symptoms. Unfortunately, he was never given the credit for many of his methods, as they were attributed to physicians who came centuries after him.

Ibn Sina showed great ingenuity in the science of surgery. He explained several ways to stop bleeding, such as cauterization with fire, ligation, and caustic drugs, citing the importance of extracting arrows from the body without injuring nerves or arteries. Ibn Sina is considered the first to describe the inner eye muscles and the optic nerve, explaining that it, not the crystalline body in the eye, is the center of sight, as was previously believed. Ibn Sina was a skilled surgeon who performed many delicate surgical operations with great skill, such as excision of cancerous tumors, incision of the trachea, extraction of kidney stones-some of his surgical methods for treating diseases are still used today. It is also worth noting that Ibn Sina was the first to attribute fetal gender to the father and not to the mother, which has recently been confirmed by modern science.

The Canon of Medicine: An Enduring Encyclopedia
The Canon of Medicine is a comprehensive encyclopedia of medical information and knowledge in which Ibn Sina expounded on the diseases that affect all parts of humans. He presented some of the most important medical discoveries that transcended that era's capacities and capabilities. Ibn Sina is credited with discovering several diseases that still exist today. The Canon of Medicine was originally written in Arabic in the 8th century AH/14th century CE and was translated into several languages, including Persian, Latin and Hebrew, and parts of it were later printed in Milan, Padua and Venice. The Canon of Medicine enjoyed enormous prestige in the West and was so popular in Europe that some scholars in the West considered it the "Medical Bible." It was the main reference for medicine and was taught in universities in France, Italy, Belgium and other European countries.

A Polymath Scholar
His distinction and brilliance in medicine, surgery and pharmacology brought Ibn Sina worldwide fame and marked him as the founder of modern medicine. He was a true polymath. Besides being a philosopher, poet and medical pioneer, Ibn Sina was a great scholar in physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, geology and mathematics, as well as botany, music, logic and psychology. He was ahead of his time in many areas of thought, and many of his analyses and conclusions were proven correct several centuries later. Ibn Sina received recognition from scholars and students throughout the centuries and was considered an unparalleled intellectual phenomenon. He is considered by many as one of the greatest scholars of humanity in all of history.

Journey with Editions of The Canon of Medicine in Our Heritage Library
Our Heritage Library includes rare historical versions of The Canon of Medicine and its various translations, including:

1. Original manuscript in Arabic
This was written in 416 AH/1025 CE in five volumes. It includes medical principles, medical materials and tools, diseases affecting one part of the body, diseases affecting multiple parts or the whole body, and prescriptions for combination drugs.
Call Number: HC.MS.2017.0033: (i24555332)

2. Gilded Latin edition
This edition was produced in Strasbourg, France around 1473 CE by the famous publisher Adolphe Roche. The gilded decorations on the pages of this copy reflect the high and fine status of The Canon of Medicine in the West at the time.
Call Number: HC.FB.01923(i10069641)

3. A complete illustrated manuscript from the Latin translation
This translation was made by Gerard of Cremona, a famous Italian translator of Arabic works of epistemology, and it remained the standard version throughout the medieval and Renaissance period. This version, which was produced in the Kingdom of Lyon in 1498 CE, dates back to the time when the University of Paris was attracting scholars from all over Europe, and where The Canon of Medicine was the most important medical textbook.
Call Number: HC.MS.LAT.01922 (i10069653)

4. First printed edition in Arabic
This rare edition of The Canon was printed by the Medici Oriental Press, Rome, in 1002 AH/1593 CE. The printed version was owned by a Syriac doctor who added his own comments in the margins of the book in the Syriac language, which reflects the civilized communication and intellectual cross-fertilization between cultures at that time.
Call Number: HC.AB.2014.0219 (i21371982)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Ibn Sina and "The Canon of Medicine" in Our Heritage Library

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Ibn Sina (or Avicenna) is the first physician to introduce psychotherapy to the world of medicine, and his book The Canon of Medicine remained, for seven centuries, European universities' main reference in medical science until the mid-17th century. In the Middle Ages, Westerners called him the "Prince of Doctors" and the "Father of Modern Medicine."

# data[].attributes.body
The great Schism was a huge conflict. In one side, Rome believed that the pope—the religious leader of the western church—should have authority over the patriarch. In the other side, the Byzantine Empire disagreed.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
On July 16, 1054, Patriarch of Constantinople Michael Cerularius was excommunicated, starting the “Great Schism” that created the two largest denominations in Christianity—the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox faiths.

# data[].attributes.body
The Islamic Empire was an Empire based on the Islam ideas, in the top of them, “There is no more God than Ala and Mahoma”.  The Islamic Empire started to spread along trade routes throughout the Fertile Crescent, North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia after the death of Muhammed died.

# data[].attributes.body
The Sack of Constantinople
The Fourth Crusade manages to breach the city of Constatinople, destroying, robbing, and looting most parts of the city.
After the city was captured, Emperor Baldwin l of Constantinople took the Throne.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Sack of Constantinople: A summary of the Sack of Constantinople in April 1204.

# data[].attributes.body
There Crusades were military expeditions that were made in order to recupere the places that were taken by Turkish and to take Jerusalem. This were organized by the pope and the Christian poser cause this places were sacred for them.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Las Cruzadas fueron una serie de campañas militares organizadas por los papas y las potencias cristianas occidentales para retomar Jerusalén y la Tierra Santa del control musulmán y después defender esas conquistas. Hubo ocho grandes cruzadas oficiales entre 1095 y 1270 y muchas más no oficiales.

Aunque hubo muchas cruzadas, ninguna sería tan exitosa como la primera, y para el año 1291 los Estados Cruzados creados en el Medio Oriente fueron absorbidos en el Sultanato mameluco. La idea de las cruzadas fue aplicada más exitosamente (para los cristianos) en otras regiones, notablemente en el Báltico contra los paganos europeos y en la península ibérica contra los moros musulmanes.

Involucrando emperadores, reyes y la nobleza europea, así como a miles de caballeros y guerreros más humildes, las guerras tendrían consecuencias tremendas para todos los involucrados. Los efectos, aparte de las obvias muertes, vidas arruinadas, recursos destruidos y gastados, variaron desde el colapso del Imperio bizantino a un agriamiento de las relaciones e intolerancia entre las religiones y personas en el Este y Oeste que aún afecta a gobiernos y sociedades hoy en día.

Las causas de las Cruzadas

La Primera Cruzada (1095-1102) estableció un precedente para la confusa mezcla de política, religión y violencia que condujeron todas las campañas futuras. El emperador bizantino Alejo I Comneno (r. 1081 - 1118) vio una oportunidad en obtener ayuda militar occidental para derrotar a los selyúcidas musulmanes que estaban comiéndose su imperio en Asia Menor. Cuando los selyúcidas tomaron Jerusalén (de sus compañeros musulmanes, no los cristianos que habían perdido la ciudad siglos antes) en el año 1087, provocó el catalizador para movilizar a los cristianos occidentales en acción. El papa Urbano II (r. 1088 - 1099) respondió a esta llamada de ayuda, motivado por el deseo de fortalecer el papado y aprovechar el prestigio de convertirse en la cabeza indiscutida de toda la Iglesia cristiana, incluida la ortodoxa del Este. Retomando Jerusalén y sitios como el Santo Sepulcro, considerada la tumba de Jesucristo, después de siglos de control musulmán sería un golpe real. Consecuentemente, el Papa puso en marcha una campaña de predicación a través de Europa, que apelaba a los nobles y caballeros occidentales a afilar sus espadas, alistarse e irse a la Tierra Sienta a defender los sitios más preciados de la cristiandad y cualquier cristiano en peligro ahí.

la defensa de los cristianos y la fe, los guerreros eran prometidos por el papa, traía una remisión de los pecados y una vía rápida hacia el cielo.

Los guerreros que 'tomaron la cruz', como el juramento a la cruzada fue conocido; e hicieron el increíblemente arduo viaje para pelear en una tierra extranjera eran motivados por cualquier número de cosas. Primero y más importante era el aspecto religioso - la defensa de los cristianos y la fe, prometido por el papa, traía una remisión de los pecados y una vía rápida hacia el cielo. También había ideas caballerosidad y realizar el acto correcto (aunque la idea de caballerosidad estaba en su infancia en el tiempo de la Primera Cruzada), presión de iguales y de familia, la oportunidad de conseguir riqueza material, incluso tierra y títulos, y el deseo de viajar y ver los grandes sitios sagrados en persona. Muchos guerreros tenían menos ambiciones glamorosas y fueron simplemente obligados a seguir a sus señores, algunos buscaron escapar deudas y justicia, otros solamente buscaron una vida digna con comidas regulares incluidas. Estas motivaciones continuarían en garantizar un gran número de reclutas durante todas las campañas posteriores.

La Primera Cruzada

Contra toda posibilidad, el ejército internacional de la Primera Cruzada sobrellevó las dificultades de logística y las habilidades del enemigo para recapturar primero Antioquía en junio del 1098 y luego la grande, Jerusalén en el 15 de julio del año 1099. Con su caballería pesada, armadura brillante, tecnología de asedio, y conocimiento militar, los caballeros occidentales dieron una sorpresa a los musulmanes que no se volvería a repetir. La masacre de musulmanes después de la caída de Jerusalén no sería olvidada tampoco. Habían sucedido algunas complicaciones, como la aniquilación de la Cruzada Popular, una banda de plebe no profesional, y una buena cantidad de muertes debido a plagas, enfermedades y hambrunas, pero el éxito general de la Primera Cruzada sorprendió incluso a los propios organizadores. La guerra cooperativa multinacional podría cosechar dividendos, al parecer, y este era el momento cuando los comerciantes empezaron a también mostrar un interés en las cruzadas.

Los Estados Cruzados

Para defender el territorio ahora en manos cristianas, cuatro Estados Cruzados fueron creados: el Reino de Jerusalén, el Condado de Edesa, el Condado de Trípoli, y el Principado de Antioquía. Colectivamente, estos fueron conocidos como el Este Latino u Outremer ("ultramar" en francés). El comercio entre Este y Oeste, que pasaba a través de estos Estados, y los contratos lucrativos para embarcar cruzados al Levante atrajo a los comerciantes de ciudades como Venecia, Pisa, Génova y Marsella. Órdenes militares surgieron en los Estados Cruzados, como los Caballeros Templarios y los Caballeros Hospitalarios, que eran cuerpos capaces de caballeros profesionales que vivían como monjes y eran dados el trabajo de defender castillos clave y peregrinos pasando. Desafortunadamente para la cristiandad, los Estados Cruzados siempre sufrieron de una falta de mano de obra y disputas entre nobles que se asentaron en ellos. La existencia de ellos no fue fácil a través del siguiente siglo.

En el año 1144 la ciudad de Edesa en Mesopotamia Superior fue capturada por el líder selyúcida musulmán Imad ad-Din Zangi (r. 1127 - 1146), el gobernante independiente de Mosul (en Irak) y Alepo (en Siria), y muchos cristianos fueron asesinados o esclavizados. Esto encendería una nueva cruzada para tomarla nuevamente. El rey germano Conrado III (r. 1138 - 1152) y Luis VII, el rey de Francia (r. 1137 - 1180), dirigieron la Segunda Cruzada de 1147 - 1149, pero este sello real de aprobación no trajo éxito. La muerte de Zangi solo trajo a un más determinado personaje a la escena, su sucesor Nur ad-Din (algunas veces llamado Nur al-Din, r. 1146 - 1174), quien buscaba unir al mundo musulmán en una guerra santa contra los cristianos del Levante. Dos grandes derrotas a menos de los selyúcidas en los años 1147 y 1148 golpeó el relleno del ejército cruzado, y su desesperado intento de salvar algo honorable de la campaña, el asedio a Damasco en junio del año 1148, fue otro miserable fracaso. El siguiente año Nur ad-Din capturó Antioquía, y el Condado de Edesa dejó de existir para el año 1150.

En el año 1147, los cruzados de la Segunda Cruzada se habían detenido en Lisboa en ruta al Este para asistir al rey Alfonso Enríquez de Portugal (r. 1139 - 1185) en capturar esa ciudad de los musulmanes. Esto era parte del crecimiento continuo de los pequeños reinos cristianos al norte de Iberia quienes estaban ansiosos de empujar a los moros musulmanes fuera del sur de España, la llamada Reconquista (a pesar de que los musulmanes habían estado desde el inicio del siglo VII). Los papas estaban más que felices de incluir a los moros como otro enemigo del Oeste. Los mismos beneficios espirituales fueron ofrecidos a aquellos que pelearan en el Medio Oriente o Iberia. La nobleza española y portuguesa también estaba entusiasmada de obtener el respaldo de una autoridad mayor y la mano de obra y recursos financieros que prometía. Nuevas órdenes militares locales surgieron, y las campañas fueron notablemente exitosas que solo Granada quedó en manos musulmanas después de la mitad del siglo XIII.

Las campañas bálticas involucraron un nuevo aspecto de las cruzadas: la conversión activa de no cristianos contrapuesto a la liberación de territorio mantenido por infieles.

Las Cruzadas bálticas

Una tercera arena para las cruzadas, de nuevo respaldadas por los papas y la infraestructura más amplia de la Iglesia, fue en el Báltico y aquellas áreas limítrofes de territorio germano que continuaban siendo paganas. Las Cruzadas Bálticas de los siglos XII al XV fueron primero conducidas por un ejército sajón liderado por los nobles germanos y daneses que seleccionaron a los vendos paganos (también conocidos como eslavos occidentales) como su objetivo en el año 1147. Esta fue toda una nueva faceta de las cruzadas: la conversión activa de no cristianos contrapuesto a la liberación de territorio mantenido por infieles. Los cruzados continuarían después de eso, ampliamente conducidos por la orden militar de los Caballeros Teutónicos que llamaron a caballeros a través de Europa para ayudarlos. La orden, en efecto, labró su propio estado en Prusia y después se mudó a lo que hoy es Lituania y Estonia. Muy seguido convirtiendo brutalmente a paganos y, probablemente, más motivado por la adquisición de terrenos y riquezas que otra cosa, las cruzadas fueron tan exitosas en sus objetivos que los Caballeros Teutónicos se quedaron sin trabajo para el final del siglo XIV, y en lugar tuvieron que enfocarse, con resultados mucho más pobres, contra los polacos, turcos otomanos y rusos.

De regreso en el Medio Oriente, el destino de los tres Estados Cruzados restantes se estaba convirtiendo cada vez más precaria. La nueva estrella musulmana, Saladino, el sultán de Egipto y Siria (r. 1174 - 1193) ganó una gran victoria contra el ejército del Este Latino en la batalla de Hattin en el año 1187, e inmediatamente después tomó Jerusalén. Estos eventos traerían la Tercera Cruzada (1189 - 1192). Tal vez la más glamorosa de todas las campañas, esta vez había dos reyes occidentales y un emperador al mando, por ello el nombre de 'la Cruzada de los Reyes'. Los tres grandes nombres fueron: Federico I Barbarroja, rey de Alemania y emperador del Sacro Imperio Romano (r. 1152 - 1190), Felipe II de Francia (r. 1180 - 1223) y Ricardo I "Corazón de León" de Inglaterra (r. 1189 - 1199).

A pesar del pedigrí real, las cosas empezaron de la peor manera para los cruzados cuando Federico se ahogó en un río en su trayecto hacia la Tierra Santa en junio de 1190. La presencia de Ricardo finalmente terminó el asedio de Acre a favor de los cristianos en julio de 1191, después de que el rey inglés había causado ya un revuelo al capturar Chipre en el camino. Marchando hacia Jaffa, el ejército cristiano anotó otra victoria en la batalla de Arsuf en septiembre de 1191, pero al tiempo que las fuerzas llegaron a Jerusalén, sintieron que no podrían tomar la ciudad, e incluso si lo lograban, el ejército, relativamente intacto, de Saladino podría tomarla de vuelta inmediatamente. El resultado final de la Tercera Cruzada fue un mero premio de consolación: un tratado que permitía a los peregrinos cristianos viajar a la Tierra Santa sin molestias y una franja de tierra alrededor de Acre. Aun así, era un soporte vital y uno que inspiró muchas cruzadas futuras a expandirlo a algo mejor.

Cruzadas posteriores

Las cruzadas posteriores fueron más bien una historia de los cristianos disparando sus ballestas a sus propios pies. La Cuarta Cruzada (1202 - 1204) de alguna manera logró identificar a Constantinopla, la más grande ciudad cristiana en el mundo, como su principal objetivo. Ambiciones papales, la avaricia financiera de los venecianos, y un siglo de sospechas mutuas entre las partes orientales y occidentales del antiguo Imperio romano crearon una tormenta de agresión que resultó en el saqueo de la capital del Imperio bizantino en el año 1204. El imperio fue dividido entre Venecia y sus aliados, sus riquezas y reliquias desaparecieron de vuelta a Europa.

La Quinta Cruzada (1217 - 1221) vio un cambio de estrategia debido a que las potencias occidentales identificaron que la mejor manera de recapturar la Tierra Santa de los musulmanes - ahora dominada por la dinastía ayubí (1174 - 1250) - era atacar primero el vientre suave del enemigo en Egipto. A pesar del éxito, después de un arduo asedio, de tomar Damieta en el Nilo en noviembre de 1219, la falta de consideración de los occidentales por las condiciones locales y soporte lógico adecuado, deletreó su condena en la batalla de El Mansurá en agosto del año 1221.

La Sexta Cruzada (1228 - 1229) vio la negociación lograr lo que la guerra no pudo. El sacro emperador romano Federico II (r. 1220 - 1250), quien había sido criticado por no participar en la Quinta Cruzada, logró llegar a un acuerdo con al-Kamil, el entonces sultán de Egipto y Siria (r. 1218 - 1238), y Jerusalén fue entregada a control cristiano con la condición de que los peregrinos musulmanes podrían entrar libremente a la ciudad. Al-Kamil tenía sus propios problemas en controlar su gran imperio, especialmente la rebelde Damasco, y Jerusalén no tenía valor militar o económico al momento, solo una significancia religiosa, haciéndola una ficha de negociación barata para evitar una guerra distractora con el ejército de Federico.

¿Te gusta la historia?

¡Suscríbete a nuestro boletín electrónico semanal gratuito!

La Séptima Cruzada (1248 - 1254) fue lanzada después de que un ejército cristiano fuera derrotado en la batalla de La Forbie en octubre de 1244. Liderados por el rey francés Luis IX (r. 1226 - 1270), los cruzados repitieron la estrategia de la Quinta Cruzada y lograron solo los mismos miserables resultados: la adquisición de Damieta y la derrota total en El Mansurá. Luis incluso fue capturado, aunque fue rescatado después. El rey francés tendría otra oportunidad en la Octava Cruzada en el año 1270.

En el año 1250 el Sultanato mameluco había tomado el control de la dinastía ayubí, y tenían un líder formidable en el dotado ex general Baibars (r. 1260 - 1277). Luis IX atacó una vez más el norte de África, pero moriría de disentería atacando Túnez en el año 1270, y con él moría también la cruzada. Los mamelucos, mientras tanto, extendían su dominio en el Medio Oriente y capturaron Acre en el año 1291, eliminando definitivamente a los Estados Cruzados.

Las consecuencias de las Cruzadas

Las Cruzadas tuvieron consecuencias enormes para todos aquellos involucrados. Aparte de la obvia muerte, destrucción y dificultades que las guerras causaron, también tuvieron efectos políticos y sociales significativos. El Imperio bizantino dejó de existir, los papas se convirtieron en los líderes de facto de la Iglesia Cristiana, las Estados marítimos italianos arrinconaron el mercado mediterráneo en el comercio de Este - Oeste, los Balcanes fueron cristianizados, y la península ibérica vio a los moros ser expulsados al norte de África. La idea de las cruzadas fue expandida aún más para proporcionar una justificación religiosa de la conquista del Nuevo Mundo en los siglos XV y XVI. El puro costo de las cruzadas vio a las familias reales de Europa crecer en poder así como el de los nobles y barones declinaba. Las personas viajaron un poco más, especialmente en peregrinajes, y leyeron y cantaban canciones sobre las cruzadas, abriendo un poco más su visión del mundo, incluso si resultó ser prejuicioso para muchos.

A largo plazo, se tuvo el desarrollo de las órdenes militares, que eventualmente se ataron a la caballerosidad, varias de las cuales existen ahora de una forma u otra. Los europeos desarrollaron un mayor sentido de su mutua cultura e identidad común, que también resultó en grado más profundo de xenofobia contra los no cristianos - judíos y herejes, en particular. La literatura y el arte perpetuaron leyendas cruzadas en ambas partes - cristianos y musulmanes, creando héroes y tragedias en una compleja red de mitos, imágenes, y lenguaje que serían aplicadas, muy seguido de manera inexacta, a los problemas y conflictos del siglo XXI.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Las Cruzadas fueron una serie de campañas militares organizadas por los papas y las potencias cristianas occidentales para retomar Jerusalén y la Tierra Santa del control musulmán y después defender...

# data[].attributes.body
This period of time has also come to be known as the Quattrocento, and can be mostly referred to as a cultural re-birth.
New styles of art, focusing on details, proportion and perspective arose. This is the start of the Renaissance, which comes to flourish in Florence, and spreading to the rest of Europe till the 17th century.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Summary of Early Renaissance

At the beginning of the 15 th century, Italy experienced a cultural rebirth, a renaissance that would massively affect all sectors of society. Turning away from the preceding Gothic and Romanesque periods' iconography, Florentine artists spurred a rejuvenation of the glories of classical art in line with a more humanistic and individualistic emerging contemporary era. Based in this flourishing new environment that empowered people to fully immerse themselves in studies of the humanities, Early Renaissance artists began to create work intensified by knowledge of architecture, philosophy, theology, mathematics, science, and design. The innovations that emerged in art during this period would go on to cause reverberations, which continue to influence creative and cultural arenas today.

This Early Renaissance is also known as the Quattrocento, derived from the Italian mille quattrocento, meaning 1400, and refers primarily to the period dominating the 15 th century in Italian art. It was the forebear to the following High Renaissance, North European Renaissance, Mannerism, and Baroque periods that followed.

Key Ideas & Accomplishments

An evolution of radically fresh artistic techniques came into practice, departing from the flat-planed and two-dimensional icon artworks that were popular prior. This included the introduction of revolutionary methods such as one point linear perspective, derived from an understanding of math and architecture, relieve schiacciato, a new style of shallow carving to create atmospheric effect, foreshortening, naturalistic and anatomical detail, proportion, and the use of chiaroscuro and trompe l'oeil to create illusionary realities.

New subject matter evolved beyond the traditional religious stories that had historically dominated art. This included battle scenes, portraits, and depictions of ordinary people. Art was no longer a way to solely elevate the devotional, but became a way to document the people and events of contemporary times, alongside the historical.

Early Renaissance artists were highly influenced by the Humanist philosophy that emphasized that man's relationship with the world, the universe, and God was no longer the exclusive province of the Church. This resulted in work that emphasized the emotionally expressive and individualistic characteristics of its subjects in fresh new ways, leading to a more intimate way for viewers to experience art.

A new standard of patronage in the arts arose during this time, separate from the church or monarchy, the most notable of which was supported by the prominent Medici family. Artists were suddenly in demand to produce work that expressed historical, and often religious, narratives in bold new ways for a community that fostered the arts and nurtured its artists like never before.

Overview of Early Renaissance

Artworks and Artists of Early Renaissance

Artist: Donatello

Artist: Andrea Mantegna

Artist: Pietro Perugino

Fresco - Vatican City

Artist: Sandro Botticelli

Artist: Domenico Ghirlandaio

Beginnings of Early Renaissance

The Proto-Renaissance of the 1300s

The term Proto-Renaissance refers to artists of the 14 th century who developed the naturalistic approach that came to fruition in the Early Renaissance. The early art historian and painter Giorgio Vasari felt that during the Middle Ages the artists Cimabue and Giotto had kept alive the aesthetic principles of classical art with works, which laid the groundwork for the following Renaissance.

Like most artists of his time, Cenna di Peppi, known as Cimabue, created primarily religious works. Byzantine iconography and stylization dominated the era, depicting human figures in two-dimensional form on flat pictorial planes. Yet in bold contrast, Cimabue's works emphasized naturalistic elements, such as is seen in his Santa Croce Crucifixion (1287-1288). Still placed within Byzantine iconography, the work innovatively drew upon anatomical observation to create a sense of Christ's physical and emotional suffering.

Artists of this period received their training in a master's workshop, and Cimabue's most famous assistant was Giotto de Bendone, known simply as Giotto. A popular anecdote related how Cimabue discovered Giotto as a young boy, while he was drawing and watching his family's sheep.

Giotto was a pioneering figure, his importance acknowledged by his being named Magnus Magister (Great Master) of Florence in 1334. Discarding Byzantine stylization, Giotto's Scrovegni Chapel Frescoes (c.1303-10) in Padua were ground breaking due to their sculptural figurative treatment. Depicted naturalistically, his figures began to take on a three dimensionality, inhabiting real space, and conveying real emotion. This was a radical departure from the Byzantine styles still practiced by many of his contemporaries, and his became a singular influence upon not only his contemporaries like Taddeo Gaddi, Bernardo Daddi, and the noted Masolino, but the painters of the Early Renaissance, including Fra Angelico, Piero della Francesca, and Masaccio.

Defining the Term: The Renaissance

Giorgi Vasari, in his The Lives of the Artists (1550), first coined the term rinascita, meaning rebirth. However, the French-derived term "Renaissance" only became widely used to refer to the historical period later during the mid 19 th century following the historian Jules Michelet's Histoire de France (1855). Subsequently Jacob Burckhardt's model of the period, beginning with Giotto and ending with Michelangelo, defined in his The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (1860), became widely adopted.

Contemporary scholarship has reconsidered these definitions, as in the 1980s historian Randolph Starn, described the overall Renaissance as, "...a network of diverse, sometimes converging, sometimes conflicting cultures, not a single, time-bound culture," and Stephen Greenblatt defined it as "early modern," when describing the period as a transition from the Middle Ages.

The Early Renaissance, informed by Humanism and Classical Roman and Greek art and architecture, was led by Brunelleschi whose works in architecture and the discovery of linear perspective informed the era, as well as the pioneering work of Donatello in sculpture and Masaccio in painting. Together, the three have been dubbed "the triumvirate of the Early Renaissance," centered in the Republic of Florence, as the rising power of Florence, and the patronage of wealthy families like the Medici, created a welcoming environment for the movement.

The Republic of Florence and the Medicis

The Early Renaissance flourished in the Republic of Florence, which dubbed itself "The New Athens," indicating that the city-state identified itself as heir to the classical tradition. The city was ruled by the merchant class and noble families, primarily the Medici family which was to become a ruling dynasty that lasted until 1737. The Medici family had made their fortune primarily in the textile trade governed by the Arte della Lana, the wool guild in Florence, and in 1377 Giovanni di Bicci di Medici founded the Medici Bank in Florence. His son, Cosimo di Medici, never occupied office, but used his wealth and political alliances to become, in effect, the ruler of Florence. He was an exceptional patron of the arts, spending a good part of his fortune commissioning art works, collecting classical texts, and supporting cultural projects, like founding the first public library. As he said, "All those things have given me the greatest satisfaction and contentment because they are not only for the honor of God but are likewise for my own remembrance. For fifty years, I have done nothing else but earn money and spend money; and it became clear that spending money gives me greater pleasure than earning it." Subsequently private patronage by wealthy families became an important driver of artistic creation, allowing for subjects and treatments that were off limits for religious and civic commissions.

The Baptistery Competition

It has been argued that the Early Renaissance began in 1401 with a competition held by the city of Florence to award a commission for new bronze doors for the Baptistery of St. John, and the consequences of the feud that followed. The doors would contain panels representing scenes from the Old Testament, and seven sculptors were selected to design a single panel showing the Sacrifice of Isaac for the competition. Only Lorenzo Ghiberti's and Filippo Brunelleschi's designs have survived, and both works reflect a humanistic and naturalistic Renaissance style. Admiring both works, the judges declared a tie between Ghiberti and Brunelleschi and suggested the two artists collaborate on the project. However, stung by the loss, Brunelleschi withdrew and Ghiberti alone took on the project, which made him famous. Nonetheless, it was Brunelleschi's subsequent work that became the foundation of the Early Renaissance, as, bitterly disappointed when his design did not win the competition, he abandoned sculpture and turned his attention to architecture.

Filippo Brunelleschi

The path that led to Brunelleschi's discovery of linear perspective, in which the relative size, shape, and position of objects are determined by drawn or imagined lines converging at a point on the horizon, began after his crushing defeat for the Baptistery project, and radically change art and architecture. He sold his small family farm and used the proceeds to go on a self-imposed exile to Rome, accompanied by his friend, the artist Donatello. For several years, often camping in the ruins until the locals mistook them for treasure hunters, the two artists measured buildings, took extensive notes, and researched classical design principles. Abandoning his focus on sculpture for architecture, Brunelleschi developed his theory and practice of perspective and the mathematical principles of design.

Upon returning to Florence, he entered a 1418 competition held by the wool merchant guild to build a dome for the cathedral. A number of previous architects had worked on the cathedral, including Giotto who had designed the bell tower in the 1330s, and by 1418 the building was almost complete, save for a gaping hole awaiting a dome, which no one knew how to build. Once again, Brunelleschi's primary competitor was Ghiberti, who, while a leading artist of the day, had little architectural experience. The competition required that each architect try to stand an egg upright on a marble surface.

Brunelleschi's solution became legendary, as Vasari wrote, "giving one end a blow on the flat piece of marble, [he] made it stand upright ...The architects protested that they could have done the same; but Filippo answered, laughing, that they could have made the dome, if they had seen his design." For in fact, Brunelleschi had already fashioned a technically accomplished model of the dome. To create his design, he conducted further experiments in perspective, and created several devices, involving the use of mirrors and painted panels. He shared his discoveries only with friends like Donatello and Masaccio, as he felt, "To disclose too much of one's intentions and achievements is...to give up the fruits of one's ingenuity." Accordingly, it was Leon Battista Alberti who wrote the early definitive works on perspective and technique, though he acknowledged Brunelleschi's leadership in all arts by dedicating On Painting (1435) to him.

Donatello

Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, known simply as Donatello, also competed for the commission of the Baptistery Doors, though, at the time, he was only 15 and training in Ghiberti's workshop. His close friendship with Brunelleschi began around the same time. They had much in common, both sculptors having first been trained as goldsmiths, and they were to remain close throughout their lives, described as "inseparable" by contemporaries. In Rome, Donatello studied Roman sculpture and the lost wax casting process used to create classical bronzes. Returning to Florence, his works became the first artworks to use linear perspective, as seen in his marble St. George and the Dragon (c. 1416) where he used perspective and pioneered relieve schiacciato, a new style of shallow carving, to create atmospheric effect. His bronze relief the Feast of Herod (1423-27) combined emotional expressiveness and classical form with a perspective system based upon orthogonal diagonals and transversals to draw the viewer's eye into the empty space between the two groups at either ends of the table, thus creating a sense of tension.

Masaccio

Masaccio, an artist whose career lasted only seven years because he died of the plague at age 27, has also been dubbed "a father of the Renaissance." His work employed linear perspective and naturalistic figurative treatments in a new way that revolutionized painting. Little is known of his life or his art training, though by 1426 he was friends with Donatello and Brunelleschi. Brunelleschi's work on perspective influenced Masaccio, as he consulted the older artist on his The Holy Trinity (c.1424-27), considered to be one of the earliest examples of perspective in painting. Masaccio's painting innovations included the use of one point perspective, a trompe l'oeil approach, naturalistic modeling of the human figure, and a single consistent light source casting accurate shadows. He also pioneered the use of chiaroscuro, thus creating the illusion of depth and portrayed his figures with emotional expressiveness, conveying their individuality. As art historian Mark Michael Astarita wrote Masaccio's, "hallmark oeuvre d'art embodied the shift away from the dreary Gothic...and the gradual shift towards paintings that embodied the rebirth, or Renaissance, of classical art and architecture."

Leon Battista Alberti

Leon Battista Alberti was the most important intellectual theorist of the Early Renaissance due to his three volumes, De Statua ( On Sculpture) (1435), Della Pittura ( On Painting) (1435), and De Re Aedificatoria ( On Architecture) (1452). On Sculpture marked the first use of the terms additive sculpture, in which material is added to create a work, and subtractive sculpture, in which material is carved away or removed to reveal a work, while also emphasizing naturalistic treatments and classical proportions.

His On Painting, which consisted of three volumes, described painting "as a projection of lines and colors onto a surface." He codified Brunelleschi's one-point linear perspective, as well as the concepts of composition, proportion, and the use of disegno, design or line, and colorito, coloring, in creating pictorial harmony. He drew upon the contemporary practices of artists like Donatello, Ghiberti, Luca della Robbia, and Masaccio, though positing them within a theoretical basis that drew upon humanist literature and the classical works of the Romans and Greeks.

Early Renaissance: Concepts, Styles, and Trends

Renaissance Humanism

The Renaissance was philosophically driven by Humanism, a belief that placed human life at the center of the universe. The widespread cultural movement, which began in 14 th century Italy advocated for studying and learning the humanities, as seen in works of classical Rome and Greece. Many humanists were priests or church leaders, who felt that enthusiasm for science and its rational discoveries, an interest in geometry and mathematics, understanding of classical ethics and logic, and an aesthetic appreciation of the art and architecture of the classical period would enrich Christian understanding. As a result, a new sophisticated society would emerge, expansive in scope and knowledge.

An early leader of Humanism was the great 14 th century poet Francesco Petrarca, called Petrarch in English, who has been called "the founder of Humanism," as well as a "founder of the Renaissance." A noted scholar and collector of classical texts, he rediscovered the works of classical authors, like the Roman Cicero. His poetry was also revolutionary in that he wrote in Italian, rather than the Latin of medieval Europe, a period for which he coined the term "the Dark Ages." Reviving classical texts became key to Humanist thought. Poggio Bracciolini, whose findings included the rediscovery of Lucretius's De rerum natura ( On the Nature of Things) in 1417, was a papal advisor, working under seven popes in his lifetime. In Florence, Niccolò de' Niccoli became a leader of Humanist thought primarily due to his extensive library of Latin and Greek classical texts, which became noted fodder for Florentine intellectual life. He was closely associated with Cosimo di Medici.

Architecture

Brunelleschi's buildings and designs were widely employed by later architects. His innovations included the use of round columns with classical capitals, circular arches, and segmented domes, all constructed through mathematical ratios. His early Ospedale degli Innocenti (1419-27), or Hospital of the Innocents, featured a decorative motif that combined white stone walls with grey architectural features, becoming known as the pietra serena, or serene stone, style. His designs for the Florentine churches of San Lorenzo (c. 1425) and Santo Spirito (c. 1428) launched the use of modular design and a church configured in the shape of a Latin cross. For Santa Maria degli Angeli (1434), he pioneered the design of a centrally planned church, which was widely adopted throughout the Renaissance.

Other noted architects were Leon Battista Alberti and Michelozzo di Bartolomeo Michelozzi. Cosimo di Medici commissioned Michelozzi to design his palace, the Palazzo Medici (1444-84) in Florence. Michelozzi used a tripartite division to give the massive building a vertical lift and to reflect a classical sense of harmony and order. The resulting style became known as the Palazzo Style and continued to be popular into the 19 th and 20 th centuries.

In the 1440s, Alberti turned extensively toward the practice of architecture. His De Re Aedificatoria ( On Architecture) was derived from Brunelleschi and the Roman architect Vitruvius's De Architectura, which advocated proportional harmony based upon the golden mean. In 1450 he undertook his first architectural project, redesigning San Francesco church in Rimini, and subsequently was commissioned to design and complete the façade of Santa Maria Novella (1456-70) in Florence. As an architect, Alberti has been described as a "ghost architect," preferring to focus on design, while seldom engaged in the practical construction matters. Two of his most noted sites, the San Sebastiano church in Mantua and Santa Andrea church in Florence, were completed after his death, and his designs, and particularly his writing, influenced subsequent architecture.

Painting

Many of the great works of the Early Renaissance were religious frescos, beginning with Masaccio's Brancacci Chapel frescoes, which were studied by subsequent Renaissance masters. Many of the noted fresco masters, including Fra Lippi, Fra Angelico, Pierro della Francesca, Alessandro Botticelli, and Andrea Mantegna, focused on religious subject matter, while employing the new techniques of perspective, foreshortening, the Florentine emphasis on the fluid line, naturalistic and anatomical detail, and trompe l'oeil.

Oil painting was also introduced, as seen in Antonello da Messina's Sibiu Crucifixion (1454-55). Other artists like Pierro della Francesca in his Flagellation of Christ, (c. 1455) experimentally combined oil with tempera on panels. And some artists brought an innovative emphasis on color and texture to tempera painting, as seen in the pastel pink and green palette of Domenico Veneziano's St. Lucy Altarpiece (1445-47), influenced by the Venetian School.

New subject matter was also introduced. Andrea del Castagno's commissioned fresco Cycle of Famous Men and Women (c.1449-51) depicted portraits of three Tuscan poets, three famous women from antiquity, and three military commanders from Florence. His treatment was also novel, as he painted them within architectural niches to create the illusion of sculpture. Portraits of noble families were much in demand, as seen in Piero della Francesca's Portraits of the Duke and Duchess of Urbino (1465-72), while Domenico Ghirlandaio pioneered the portrait focusing on deeply individualized but ordinary people as seen in his Portrait of an Old Man with His Grandson (1490).

The painter Paolo Uccello pioneered battle painting with his renowned Battle of Romano (1435-60) depicting the 1432 battle between Florence and Siena. Uccello was a noted mathematician who created an idiosyncratic style that combined a pioneering use of perspective with elements of the Late Gothic style. His Funerary Monument (or Equestrian Monument) to Sir John Hawkwood (1436), like many other works, was a fresco that appeared almost sculptural.

Sculpture

The most noted sculptors of the Early Renaissance were Donatello, Ghiberti, and later in the period, Andrea del Verrocchio. The naturalism and classical proportions of Roman and Greek sculpture inspired their works, though interpreted through the era's emphasis on individuality and Humanism. The period's most noted sculptures were created using the lost wax process, also revived from the Roman era.

Ghiberti was to design two sets of doors for the Baptistery in Florence of which the second, depicting ten panels of scenes from the Old Testament, completed in 1452, became the most famous. In them, Ghiberti perfected his use of perspective and figurative modeling to create works that were admired both for their classical beauty and their emotive individuality. Michelangelo dubbed them "The Gates of Paradise," the name by which the doors, 17 feet tall and gilded in gold, have been called since.

Donatello's Gattamelata (1453), a piece of realistic grandeur, was influenced by the bronze Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius (c. 173-76 C.E). However, Donatello's version revitalized the subject by emphasizing Aurelius' individuality, the anatomical musculature of the horse, and incorporating symbolic elements such as the horse's hoof resting upon a cannon ball. Evoking Venice's military power, it became a signature reflection of the Renaissance.

Donatello was considered to be the greatest sculptor of the Early Renaissance, in part due to his range of subject matter and his capacity for individualistic expression of each. This can be seen in his innovatively eroticized statue of David, or his powerfully expressive later work Penitent Magdalene (1453-55), Andrea del Verrocchio was notably influenced by Donatello's work, as seen in his own bronze David (1473-75) and his Equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni (1480-88).

Later Developments - After Early Renaissance

The impact of the Early Renaissance cannot be overestimated, as rather than ending in the late 1400s, its innovations spread from Florence throughout Italy and Europe. The works of the Early Renaissance artists became foundational to the High Renaissance, North European Renaissance, Mannerism, and Baroque periods that followed. Florence itself continued to be an inspiring artistic environment for the generation that followed, as Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Raphael lived and studied there. Michelangelo was particularly influenced by Masaccio, his teacher Ghirlandaio, and his training in the workshops of the Medici family. Leonardo da Vinci was trained by Andrea del Verrocchio. Masaccio's fresco Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, 1426-1427 influenced him, and his studies of Alberti's On Painting (1435), as well as Pierro del Francesca's study of perspective, informed his thought and work.

The designs of Alberti, Michelozzi, Brunelleschi, and Mantegna's trompe l'oeil ceiling painting were to inform various architectural styles and designs into the 19th and 20 th centuries. Botticelli's paintings, rediscovered in the 19 th century, became a noted influence on the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and, subsequently among the most popular and artistically revisited works of the 20 th century.

The concept of Humanism that so heavily defined the Early Renaissance period remains an important model for thriving community and a timeless lesson about the benefits of intellectual and creative pursuits informed by a deep knowledge of the arts and sciences within a particular society.

Useful Resources on Early Renaissance

Similar Art

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
At the beginning of the 15 th century, Italy experienced a cultural rebirth, a renaissance that would massively affect all sectors of society. Turning away from the preceding Gothic and Romanesque periods' iconography, Florentine artists spurred a rejuvenation of the glories of classical art in line with a more humanistic and individualistic emerging contemporary era.

# data[].attributes.body
Late Middle Ages, the last stage of a whole era, which led itself to The Italian Rennaissance

# data[].attributes.body
In the early 15th century, European nations begin exploring the world, which led to the dicovery of new routes to India and Asia, and the discovery of America.
This period of time ocurred parallel to the Rennaissance, and is known as the Age of Discovery, or Age of Exploration.

Some of its effects were acquisition of knowledge, wealth, and new varieties in merchandise and trading routes.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The era known as the Age of Exploration, sometimes called the Age of Discovery, officially began in the early 15th century and lasted through the 17th century. The period is characterized as a time when Europeans began exploring the world by sea in search of new trading routes, wealth, and knowledge. The impact of the Age of Exploration would permanently alter the world and transform geography into the modern science it is today.

Impact of the Age of Exploration

The Birth of the Age of Exploration

Many nations were looking for goods such as silver and gold, but one of the biggest reasons for exploration was the desire to find a new route for the spice and silk trades.

When the Ottoman Empire took control of Constantinople in 1453, it blocked European access to the area, severely limiting trade. In addition, it also blocked access to North Africa and the Red Sea, two very important trade routes to the Far East.

The first of the journeys associated with the Age of Discovery were conducted by the Portuguese. Although the Portuguese, Spanish, Italians, and others had been plying the Mediterranean for generations, most sailors kept well within sight of land or traveled known routes between ports. Prince Henry the Navigator changed that, encouraging explorers to sail beyond the mapped routes and discover new trade routes to West Africa.

Portuguese explorers discovered the Madeira Islands in 1419 and the Azores in 1427. Over the coming decades, they would push farther south along the African coast, reaching the coast of present-day Senegal by the 1440s and the Cape of Good Hope by 1490. Less than a decade later, in 1498, Vasco da Gama would follow this route all the way to India.

The Discovery of the New World

While the Portuguese were opening new sea routes along Africa, the Spanish also dreamed of finding new trade routes to the Far East. Christopher Columbus, an Italian working for the Spanish monarchy, made his first journey in 1492. Instead of reaching India, Columbus found the island of San Salvador in what is known today as the Bahamas. He also explored the island of Hispaniola, home of modern-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Columbus would lead three more voyages to the Caribbean, exploring parts of Cuba and the Central American coast. The Portuguese also reached the New World when explorer Pedro Alvares Cabral explored Brazil, setting off a conflict between Spain and Portugal over the newly claimed lands. As a result, the Treaty of Tordesillas officially divided the world in half in 1494.

Columbus' journeys opened the door for the Spanish conquest of the Americas. During the next century, men such as Hernan Cortes and Francisco Pizarro would decimate the Aztecs of Mexico, the Incas of Peru, and other indigenous peoples of the Americas. By the end of the Age of Exploration, Spain would rule from the Southwestern United States to the southernmost reaches of Chile and Argentina.

Opening the Americas

Great Britain and France also began seeking new trade routes and lands across the ocean. In 1497, John Cabot, an Italian explorer working for the English, reached what is believed to be the coast of Newfoundland. A number of French and English explorers followed, including Giovanni da Verrazano, who discovered the entrance to the Hudson River in 1524, and Henry Hudson, who mapped the island of Manhattan first in 1609.

Over the next decades, the French, Dutch, and British would all vie for dominance. England established the first permanent colony in North America at Jamestown, Va., in 1607. Samuel du Champlain founded Quebec City in 1608, and Holland established a trading outpost in present-day New York City in 1624.

Other important voyages of exploration during this era included Ferdinand Magellan's attempted circumnavigation of the globe, the search for a trade route to Asia through the Northwest Passage, and Captain James Cook's voyages that allowed him to map various areas and travel as far as Alaska.

The End of the Era

The Age of Exploration ended in the early 17th century after technological advancements and increased knowledge of the world allowed Europeans to travel easily across the globe by sea. The creation of permanent settlements and colonies created a network of communication and trade, therefore ending the need to search for new routes.

It is important to note that exploration did not cease entirely at this time. Eastern Australia was not officially claimed for Britain by Capt. James Cook until 1770, while much of the Arctic and Antarctic were not explored until the 20th century. Much of Africa also was unexplored by Westerners until the late 19th century and early 20th century.

Contributions to Science

The Age of Exploration had a significant impact on geography. By traveling to different regions around the globe, explorers were able to learn more about areas such as Africa and the Americas and bring that knowledge back to Europe.

Methods of navigation and mapping improved as a result of the travels of people such as Prince Henry the Navigator. Prior to his expeditions, navigators had used traditional portolan charts, which were based on coastlines and ports of call, keeping sailors close to shore.

The Spanish and Portuguese explorers who journeyed into the unknown created the world's first nautical maps, delineating not just the geography of the lands they found but also the seaward routes and ocean currents that led them there. As technology advanced and known territory expanded, maps and mapmaking became more and more sophisticated.

These explorations also introduced a whole new world of flora and fauna to Europeans. Corn, now a staple of much of the world's diet, was unknown to Westerners until the time of the Spanish conquest, as were sweet potatoes and peanuts. Likewise, Europeans had never seen turkeys, llamas, or squirrels before setting foot in the Americas.

The Age of Exploration served as a stepping stone for geographic knowledge. It allowed more people to see and study various areas around the world, which increased geographic study, giving us the basis for much of the knowledge we have today.

Long-Term Impact

The effects of colonization still persist as well, with many of the world's former colonies still considered the "developing" world and the colonizers the First World countries, holding a majority of the world's wealth and receiving a majority of its annual income.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Discover the history and impact of the Age of Exploration, which lasted from the early 15th century to the end of the 17th century.

# data[].attributes.body
116 years it lasted, but 100 Years' War's the name it bores. A series of intermitent struggle between France and England over several issues, amongst them the occupation of France's Throne have given name to a major event in the Middle Ages.
Starting by convention in 1337, with the confiscation of the English-held duchy of Guyenne, France being the richest and most populous kingdom at the time, in Western Europe.
However, disputes over territories trace back to the 12th century, which technically says that some problems can take more than 300 years to be solved.

Its long duration was due to problems over English land in France, and disagreements regarding the French's Throne succession. Several treaties were made, but all of them had flaws and generations to come would just ignore them. Hence, it took 116 years for it all to be over.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Hundred Years’ War | Summary, Causes, Effects, Combatants, Timeline, & Facts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Hundred Years’ War, intermittent struggle between England and France in the 14th–15th century over a series of disputes, including the question of the legitimate succession to the French crown. By convention it is said to have lasted from 1337 to 1453, but there had been periodic fighting since the…

# data[].attributes.body
After 12 ships arrive at at a Sicilian port, with nearly averyone on board dead, a bubonic plague, known as the Black Plague, or Black Death, killed nearly half of Europe's population, and is one of hystory's most brutal epidemics.

It originated by the thought of killing cats, believing them to be witches, which allowed rats to transmit their deseases to humans. Commerce eased its transmition, and it spread to Europe, Syria, Egypt, India, Persia and China.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
How Did the Black Plague Start?

Even before the "death ships" pulled into port at Messina, many Europeans had heard rumors about a "Great Pestilence" that was carving a deadly path across the trade routes of the Near and Far East. Indeed, in the early 1340s, the disease had struck China, India, Persia, Syria and Egypt.

The plague is thought to have originated in Asia over 2,000 years ago and was likely spread by trading ships, though recent research has indicated the pathogen responsible for the Black Death may have existed in Europe as early as 3000 B.C.

Symptoms of the Black Plague

Europeans were scarcely equipped for the horrible reality of the Black Death. "In men and women alike," the Italian poet Giovanni Boccaccio wrote, "at the beginning of the malady, certain swellings, either on the groin or under the armpits...waxed to the bigness of a common apple, others to the size of an egg, some more and some less, and these the vulgar named plague-boils."

Blood and pus seeped out of these strange swellings, which were followed by a host of other unpleasant symptoms-fever, chills, vomiting, diarrhea, terrible aches and pains-and then, in short order, death.

The Bubonic Plague attacks the lymphatic system, causing swelling in the lymph nodes. If untreated, the infection can spread to the blood or lungs.

How Did the Black Death Spread?

The Black Death was terrifyingly, indiscriminately contagious: "the mere touching of the clothes," wrote Boccaccio, "appeared to itself to communicate the malady to the toucher." The disease was also terrifyingly efficient. People who were perfectly healthy when they went to bed at night could be dead by morning.

Did you know? Many scholars think that the nursery rhyme "Ring around the Rosy" was written about the symptoms of the Black Death.

Understanding the Black Death

Today, scientists understand that the Black Death, now known as the plague, is spread by a bacillus called Yersinia pestis. (The French biologist Alexandre Yersin discovered this germ at the end of the 19th century.)

They know that the bacillus travels from person to person through the air, as well as through the bite of infected fleas and rats. Both of these pests could be found almost everywhere in medieval Europe, but they were particularly at home aboard ships of all kinds-which is how the deadly plague made its way through one European port city after another.

Not long after it struck Messina, the Black Death spread to the port of Marseilles in France and the port of Tunis in North Africa. Then it reached Rome and Florence, two cities at the center of an elaborate web of trade routes. By the middle of 1348, the Black Death had struck Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon and London.

Today, this grim sequence of events is terrifying but comprehensible. In the middle of the 14th century, however, there seemed to be no rational explanation for it.

No one knew exactly how the Black Death was transmitted from one patient to another, and no one knew how to prevent or treat it. According to one doctor, for example, "instantaneous death occurs when the aerial spirit escaping from the eyes of the sick man strikes the healthy person standing near and looking at the sick."

How Do You Treat the Black Death?

Physicians relied on crude and unsophisticated techniques such as bloodletting and boil-lancing (practices that were dangerous as well as unsanitary) and superstitious practices such as burning aromatic herbs and bathing in rosewater or vinegar.

Meanwhile, in a panic, healthy people did all they could to avoid the sick. Doctors refused to see patients; priests refused to administer last rites; and shopkeepers closed their stores. Many people fled the cities for the countryside, but even there they could not escape the disease: It affected cows, sheep, goats, pigs and chickens as well as people.

In fact, so many sheep died that one of the consequences of the Black Death was a European wool shortage. And many people, desperate to save themselves, even abandoned their sick and dying loved ones. "Thus doing," Boccaccio wrote, "each thought to secure immunity for himself."

Black Plague: God's Punishment?

Because they did not understand the biology of the disease, many people believed that the Black Death was a kind of divine punishment-retribution for sins against God such as greed, blasphemy, heresy, fornication and worldliness.

By this logic, the only way to overcome the plague was to win God's forgiveness. Some people believed that the way to do this was to purge their communities of heretics and other troublemakers-so, for example, many thousands of Jews were massacred in 1348 and 1349. (Thousands more fled to the sparsely populated regions of Eastern Europe, where they could be relatively safe from the rampaging mobs in the cities.)

Some people coped with the terror and uncertainty of the Black Death epidemic by lashing out at their neighbors; others coped by turning inward and fretting about the condition of their own souls.

Flagellants

Some upper-class men joined processions of flagellants that traveled from town to town and engaged in public displays of penance and punishment: They would beat themselves and one another with heavy leather straps studded with sharp pieces of metal while the townspeople looked on. For 33 1/2 days, the flagellants repeated this ritual three times a day. Then they would move on to the next town and begin the process over again.

Though the flagellant movement did provide some comfort to people who felt powerless in the face of inexplicable tragedy, it soon began to worry the Pope, whose authority the flagellants had begun to usurp. In the face of this papal resistance, the movement disintegrated.

How Did the Black Death End?

The plague never really ended and it returned with a vengeance years later. But officials in the port city of Ragusa were able to slow its spread by keeping arriving sailors in isolation until it was clear they were not carrying the disease-creating social distancing that relied on isolation to slow the spread of the disease.

The sailors were initially held on their ships for 30 days (a trentino), a period that was later increased to 40 days, or a quarantine- the origin of the term "quarantine" and a practice still used today.

Does the Black Plague Still Exist?

The Black Death epidemic had run its course by the early 1350s, but the plague reappeared every few generations for centuries. Modern sanitation and public-health practices have greatly mitigated the impact of the disease but have not eliminated it. While antibiotics are available to treat the Black Death, according to The World Health Organization, there are still 1,000 to 3,000 cases of plague every year.
Gallery: Pandemics That Changed History

Fact Check

We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Black Death was a devastating global epidemic of bubonic plague that struck Europe and Asia in the mid-1300s. Explore the facts of the plague, the symptoms it caused and how millions died from it.

# data[].attributes.body
Ottomans breach Constantinople's walls, by command of Sultan Mehmed ll, of the Empire.
After 55 days of besieging the city, the Ottomans were finally able to lay waste to the Byzantine Empire.
Constantinople had been a major defense for Christianity against the Muslims, and its fall led to the rise of the Islam.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Fall of Constantinople, (May 29, 1453), conquest of Constantinople by Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire. The dwindling Byzantine Empire came to an end when the Ottomans breached Constantinople's ancient land wall after besieging the city for 55 days. Mehmed surrounded Constantinople from land and sea while employing cannon to maintain a constant barrage of the city's formidable walls. The fall of the city removed what was once a powerful defense for Christian Europe against Muslim invasion, allowing for uninterrupted Ottoman expansion into eastern Europe.

Context

By the mid-15th century, constant struggles for dominance with its Balkan neighbours and Roman Catholic rivals had diminished Byzantine imperial holdings to Constantinople and the land immediately west of it. Furthermore, with Constantinople having suffered through several devastating sieges, the city's population had dropped from roughly 400,000 in the 12th century to between 40,000 and 50,000 by the 1450s. Vast open fields constituted much of the land within the walls. Byzantine relations with the rest of Europe had soured over the last several centuries as well: the Schism of 1054 and the 13th-century Latin occupation of Constantinople entrenched a mutual hatred between the Orthodox Byzantines and Roman Catholic Europe. Nevertheless, just as deeply entrenched was the understanding that Byzantine control of Constantinople was a necessary bastion against Muslim control of land and sea in the eastern Mediterranean.

In contrast to the Byzantines, the Ottoman Turks had extended their control over virtually all of the Balkans and most of Anatolia, having conquered several Byzantine cities west of Constantinople in the latter half of the 14th century. Constantinople itself became an Ottoman vassal during this period. Hungary was the primary European threat to the Ottomans on land, and Venice and Genoa controlled much of the Aegean and Black seas. Sultan Murad II laid siege to Constantinople in 1422, but he was forced to lift it in order to suppress a rebellion elsewhere in the empire. In 1444 he lost an important battle to a Christian alliance in the Balkans and abdicated the throne to his son, Mehmed II. However, he returned to power two years later after defeating the Christians and remained sultan until his death in 1451.

Now sultan for the second time, Mehmed II intended to complete his father's mission and conquer Constantinople for the Ottomans. In 1452 he reached peace treaties with Hungary and Venice. He also began the construction of the Boğazkesen (later called the Rumelihisarı), a fortress at the narrowest point of the Bosporus, in order to restrict passage between the Black and Mediterranean seas. Mehmed then tasked the Hungarian gunsmith Urban with both arming Rumelihisarı and building cannon powerful enough to bring down the walls of Constantinople. By March 1453 Urban's cannon had been transported from the Ottoman capital of Edirne to the outskirts of Constantinople. In April, having quickly seized Byzantine coastal settlements along the Black Sea and Sea of Marmara, Ottoman regiments in Rumelia and Anatolia assembled outside the Byzantine capital. Their fleet moved from Gallipoli to nearby Diplokionion, and the sultan himself set out to meet his army.

In the meantime, Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI Palaeologus entreated major powers in Christendom to aid him in the impending siege. Hungary refused to assist, and, instead of sending men, Pope Nicholas V saw the precarious situation as an opportunity to push for the reunification of the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, a priority of the papacy since 1054. Orthodox leaders voted in favour of union, but the people of Constantinople were adamantly against it and rioted in response. Military support came from Venice and Genoa. An Ottoman attack on a Venetian ship in the Bosporus prompted the Venetian Senate to send 800 troops and 15 galleys to the Byzantine capital, and many Venetians presently in Constantinople also chose to support the war effort, but the bulk of the Venetian forces were delayed for too long to be of any help. For Genoa's part, the city-state sent 700 soldiers to Constantinople, all of whom arrived in January 1453 with Giovanni Giustiniani Longo at their head. Emperor Constantine XI named Giustiniani commander of his land defenses and spent the rest of the winter strengthening the city for a siege.

Battle

In the 15th century, Constantinople's walls were widely recognized as the most formidable in all of Europe. The land walls spanned 4 miles (6.5 km) and consisted of a double line of ramparts with a moat on the outside; the higher of the two stood as high as 40 feet (12 metres) with a base as much as 16 feet (5 metres) thick. These walls had never been breached in the thousand years since their construction. An adjoining sea wall ran along the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara, the latter section being 20 feet (6 metres) high and 5 miles (8 km) long. When combined with a large metal chain that had been drawn across the Golden Horn, Constantine was confident that the city's defenses could repel a naval assault and withstand Mehmed's land forces until relief came from Christian Europe. However, Constantine's capacity to defend his city was hampered by his small fighting force. Eyewitness Jacopo Tedaldi estimates a presence of 30,000 to 35,000 armed civilians and only 6,000 to 7,000 trained soldiers. Giustiniani intended to concentrate most of these men at the land walls to the north and west, the centre of which he observed to be the most vulnerable section of the city. A small fleet of naval and armed merchant vessels were also stationed in the Golden Horn to defend the chain. However, without outside support, Constantinople's defenders would be spread thin.

The Ottoman besiegers vastly outnumbered the Byzantines and their allies. Between 60,000 and 80,000 soldiers fought on land, accompanied by 69 cannon. Baltaoğlu Süleyman Bey commanded a fleet stationed at Diplokionion with an estimated 31 large and midsize warships alongside nearly 100 smaller boats and transports. Mehmed's strategy was straightforward: he would use his fleet and siege lines to blockade Constantinople on all sides while relentlessly battering the walls of the city with cannon. He hoped to breach them or otherwise force a surrender before a Christian relief force could arrive.

On April 6 the Ottomans began their artillery barrage and brought down a section of the wall. They mounted a frontal assault of the land walls on April 7, but the Byzantines repelled them and were able to repair the defenses. After pausing to reposition his cannon, Mehmed reopened fire and thereafter maintained daily bombardment.

On April 12 the sultan dispatched a contingent of troops to subdue two nearby Byzantine forts and ordered Baltaoğlu to rush the chain. The fleet was twice driven back, and Baltaoğlu retreated to Diplokionion until the night of the 17th, when he moved to capture the Princes Islands southeast of the city at the same time that Mehmed's land regiments assaulted the Mesoteichon section of the wall. Constantinople's defenders once again held their ground, however, and Baltaoğlu's success at the islands was irreparably marred by the revelation that three relief ships from the pope and one large Byzantine vessel had nearly reached the city unhindered. The Ottoman galleys were too short to capture the tall European warships, and, with the help of the Golden Horn fleet, the warships safely sailed past the chain. Upon hearing of his navy's defeat, Mehmed stripped Baltaoğlu of his rank and arranged for his replacement.

Mehmed was determined to take the Golden Horn and pressure the Byzantines into submission. He angled one of his cannons such that it could strike the defenders of the chain and then began to construct an oiled wooden ramp upon which he intended to portage his smaller vessels from the Bosporus to the Golden Horn. By April 22 the ships had circumvented the chain in this way and, barring the chain itself, seized control of all the waters surrounding the city. The defenders attempted to attack the remainder of the Ottoman fleet in the Bosporus, but they were defeated.

Having encircled Constantinople in full, Mehmed continued his artillery barrage of the land walls through May 29. The Ottoman cannon created several breaches, but most were too narrow to send troops through. The city's defenders continued to repair the walls at night and reinforced areas at the damaged Gate of St. Romanus and the Blachernae sector. In the early hours of May 29, Ottoman labourers filled the moat surrounding the city. Just before dawn, the sultan launched a coordinated artillery, infantry, and naval assault on Constantinople. Two attempts to rush the Gate of St. Romanus and the Blachernae walls were met with fierce resistance, and the Ottoman soldiers were forced to fall back. Mehmed ordered a third attack on the gate, this time with one of his own palace regiments of 3,000 Janissaries. A small group reached the top of a tower through another gate but were nearly eliminated by the defenders until Giustiniani was mortally wounded by Ottoman gunfire while on the ramparts. He was carried to the rear, and his absence sowed confusion and lowered morale among the ranks. This allowed the sultan to send in another Janissary regiment and take the inner wall at the Gate of St. Romanus.

A rout of the defenders ensued, with many of the Venetian and Genoese fighters retreating to their ships in the Golden Horn. Emperor Constantine XI is reported to have been killed while either fighting near the breach or fleeing to an escape boat. Although the sultan attempted to prevent a total sack of the city, he permitted an initial period of looting that saw the destruction of many Orthodox churches. When most of Constantinople was secure, Mehmed himself rode through the streets of the city to the great cathedral of Hagia Sophia, the largest in all of Christendom, and converted it into the mosque Ayasofya. He stopped to pray and then demanded that all further looting cease immediately. The sultan thus completed his conquest of the Byzantine capital.

Aftermath

Mehmed II and his army were remarkably restrained in their handling of affairs after the fall of Constantinople. They largely refrained from slaughtering commoners and nobility, instead choosing to ransom them to their home states and primarily executing only those who fought after the surrender. Mehmed repopulated the city with people from a multitude of backgrounds and faiths and relocated his capital from Edirne to Constantinople, ensuring a multicultural seat of power for a multicultural empire. He also began to view himself as Kayser-i Rûm ("Caesar of Rome"), the inheritor of the Roman Empire and all its historical lands. He asserted this claim with a series of campaigns that thoroughly subjugated both the Balkans and Greece by the late 15th century.

For Christendom, Mehmed's victory at Constantinople represented a serious shift in its dealings with the East. Now devoid of both a long-standing buffer against the Ottomans and access to the Black Sea, Christian kingdoms relied on Hungary to halt any further westward expansion. Many modern scholars also agree that the exodus of Greeks to Italy as a result of this event marked the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Renaissance.
Myles Hudson

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Fall of Constantinople | Facts, Summary, & Significance

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Fall of Constantinople (May 29, 1453), conquest of Constantinople by Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire. The Byzantine Empire came to an end when the Ottomans breached Constantinople's ancient land wall after besieging the city for 55 days. The fall of the city allowed for Ottoman expansion into eastern Europe.

# data[].attributes.body
The Fall of Constantinople marks the end of the Byzantine Empire, as to the Middle Ages. Officialy, the period of time to follow is known as the Rennassance, but cultural movements and changes of this period had previously begun.

# data[].attributes.body
Rennaissance comes from the French word for "rebirth", for this period of time was a fresh start for all aspects of society, now based on humanism. Ideologies and politics, as arts and architecture, had a major change.

Following the downfall of the Middle Ages, The Rennaissance was marked by inventions such as Gutenberg's printing press, and Da Vinci's contributions to most branches of science.
Great characters of the time include Michaelangelo, Galileo Galilei, Copernicus, Shakespeare, and countless more.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
From Darkness to Light: The Renaissance Begins

During the Middle Ages, a period that took place between the fall of ancient Rome in 476 A.D. and the beginning of the 14th century, Europeans made few advances in science and art.

Also known as the "Dark Ages," the era is often branded as a time of war, ignorance, famine and pandemics such as the Black Death.

Some historians, however, believe that such grim depictions of the Middle Ages were greatly exaggerated, though many agree that there was relatively little regard for ancient Greek and Roman philosophies and learning at the time.

Humanism

During the 14th century, a cultural movement called humanism began to gain momentum in Italy. Among its many principles, humanism promoted the idea that man was the center of his own universe, and people should embrace human achievements in education, classical arts, literature and science.

In 1450, the invention of the Gutenberg printing press allowed for improved communication throughout Europe and for ideas to spread more quickly.

As a result of this advance in communication, little-known texts from early humanist authors such as those by Francesco Petrarch and Giovanni Boccaccio, which promoted the renewal of traditional Greek and Roman culture and values, were printed and distributed to the masses.

Additionally, many scholars believe advances in international finance and trade impacted culture in Europe and set the stage for the Renaissance.

Medici Family

The Renaissance started in Florence, Italy, a place with a rich cultural history where wealthy citizens could afford to support budding artists.

Members of the powerful Medici family, which ruled Florence for more than 60 years, were famous backers of the movement.

Great Italian writers, artists, politicians and others declared that they were participating in an intellectual and artistic revolution that would be much different from what they experienced during the Dark Ages.

The movement first expanded to other Italian city-states, such as Venice, Milan, Bologna, Ferrara and Rome. Then, during the 15th century, Renaissance ideas spread from Italy to France and then throughout western and northern Europe.

Although other European countries experienced their Renaissance later than Italy, the impacts were still revolutionary.

Renaissance Geniuses

Some of the most famous and groundbreaking Renaissance intellectuals, artists, scientists and writers include the likes of:

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519): Italian painter, architect, inventor and "Renaissance man" responsible for painting "The Mona Lisa" and "The Last Supper.

Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536): Scholar from Holland who defined the humanist movement in Northern Europe. Translator of the New Testament into Greek.

Rene Descartes (1596-1650): French philosopher and mathematician regarded as the father of modern philosophy. Famous for stating, "I think; therefore I am."

Galileo (1564-1642): Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer whose pioneering work with telescopes enabled him to describes the moons of Jupiter and rings of Saturn. Placed under house arrest for his views of a heliocentric universe.

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543): Mathematician and astronomer who made first modern scientific argument for the concept of a heliocentric solar system.

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679): English philosopher and author of "Leviathan."

Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400): English poet and author of "The Canterbury Tales."

Giotto (1266-1337): Italian painter and architect whose more realistic depictions of human emotions influenced generations of artists. Best known for his frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua.

Dante (1265-1321): Italian philosopher, poet, writer and political thinker who authored "The Divine Comedy."

Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527): Italian diplomat and philosopher famous for writing "The Prince" and "The Discourses on Livy."

Titian (1488-1576): Italian painter celebrated for his portraits of Pope Paul III and Charles I and his later religious and mythical paintings like "Venus and Adonis" and "Metamorphoses."

William Tyndale (1494-1536): English biblical translator, humanist and scholar burned at the stake for translating the Bible into English.

William Byrd (1539/40-1623): English composer known for his development of the English madrigal and his religious organ music.

John Milton (1608-1674): English poet and historian who wrote the epic poem "Paradise Lost."

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): England's "national poet" and the most famous playwright of all time, celebrated for his sonnets and plays like "Romeo and Juliet."

Donatello (1386-1466): Italian sculptor celebrated for lifelike sculptures like "David," commissioned by the Medici family.

Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510): Italian painter of "Birth of Venus."

Raphael (1483-1520): Italian painter who learned from da Vinci and Michelangelo. Best known for his paintings of the Madonna and "The School of Athens."

Michelangelo (1475-1564): Italian sculptor, painter and architect who carved "David" and painted The Sistine Chapel in Rome.

Renaissance Impact on Art, Architecture and Science

Art, architecture and science were closely linked during the Renaissance. In fact, it was a unique time when these fields of study fused together seamlessly.

For instance, artists like da Vinci incorporated scientific principles, such as anatomy into their work, so they could recreate the human body with extraordinary precision.

Architects such as Filippo Brunelleschi studied mathematics to accurately engineer and design immense buildings with expansive domes.

Scientific discoveries led to major shifts in thinking: Galileo and Descartes presented a new view of astronomy and mathematics, while Copernicus proposed that the Sun, not the Earth, was the center of the solar system.

Renaissance art was characterized by realism and naturalism. Artists strived to depict people and objects in a true-to-life way.

They used techniques, such as perspective, shadows and light to add depth to their work. Emotion was another quality that artists tried to infuse into their pieces.

Some of the most famous artistic works that were produced during the Renaissance include:

The Mona Lisa (Da Vinci)

The Last Supper (Da Vinci)

Statue of David (Michelangelo)

The Birth of Venus (Botticelli)

The Creation of Adam (Michelangelo)

Renaissance Exploration

While many artists and thinkers used their talents to express new ideas, some Europeans took to the seas to learn more about the world around them. In a period known as the Age of Discovery, several important explorations were made.

Voyagers launched expeditions to travel the entire globe. They discovered new shipping routes to the Americas, India and the Far East and explorers trekked across areas that weren't fully mapped.

Famous journeys were taken by Ferdinand Magellan, Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci (after whom America is named), Marco Polo, Ponce de Leon, Vasco Núñez de Balboa, Hernando De Soto and other explorers.

Renaissance Religion

Humanism encouraged Europeans to question the role of the Roman Catholic church during the Renaissance.

As more people learned how to read, write and interpret ideas, they began to closely examine and critique religion as they knew it. Also, the printing press allowed for texts, including the Bible, to be easily reproduced and widely read by the people, themselves, for the first time.

In the 16th century, Martin Luther, a German monk, led the Protestant Reformation - a revolutionary movement that caused a split in the Catholic church. Luther questioned many of the practices of the church and whether they aligned with the teachings of the Bible.

As a result, a new form of Christianity, known as Protestantism, was created.

End of the Renaissance

Scholars believe the demise of the Renaissance was the result of several compounding factors.

By the end of the 15th century, numerous wars had plagued the Italian peninsula. Spanish, French and German invaders battling for Italian territories caused disruption and instability in the region.

Also, changing trade routes led to a period of economic decline and limited the amount of money that wealthy contributors could spend on the arts.

Later, in a movement known as the Counter-Reformation, the Catholic church censored artists and writers in response to the Protestant Reformation. Many Renaissance thinkers feared being too bold, which stifled creativity.

Furthermore, in 1545, the Council of Trent established the Roman Inquisition, which made humanism and any views that challenged the Catholic church an act of heresy punishable by death.

By the early 17th century, the Renaissance movement had died out, giving way to the Age of Enlightenment.

Debate Over the Renaissance

While many scholars view the Renaissance as a unique and exciting time in European history, others argue that the period wasn't much different from the Middle Ages and that both eras overlapped more than traditional accounts suggest.

Also, some modern historians believe that the Middle Ages had a cultural identity that's been downplayed throughout history and overshadowed by the Renaissance era.

While the exact timing and overall impact of the Renaissance is sometimes debated, there's little dispute that the events of the period ultimately led to advances that changed the way people understood and interpreted the world around them.

HISTORY Vault: World History

Sources

The Renaissance, History World International.
The Renaissance - Why it Changed the World, The Telegraph.
Facts About the Renaissance, Biography Online.
Facts About the Renaissance Period, Interestingfacts.org.
What is Humanism? International Humanist and Ethical Union.
Why Did the Italian Renaissance End? Dailyhistory.org.
The Myth of the Renaissance in Europe, BBC.

HISTORY Vault

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Renaissance Period: Timeline, Art & Facts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Renaissance was a fervent period of European cultural, artistic, political and economic "rebirth" following the Middle Ages.

# data[].attributes.body
Amanda, B. (2020, 23 January). ThoughtCo. Consulted the 20 of February 2023. https://www.thoughtco.com/age-of-exploration-1435006

Britannica. (2023, 6 January). Hundred Years’ War. Consulted the 20 of February 2023.

https://www.britannica.com/event/Hundred-Years-War

Britannica. (w.d). Justinian I summary. Consulted the 17 of February 2023. https://www.britannica.com/summary/Justinian-I

Hadia, H. Abolhaggag, B. (2022, 2 February). Qatar National Library. Consulted the 18 of February 2023. https://www.qnl.qa/en/blogs/12492

HISTORY. (2023, 13 January). Renaissance. Consulted the 21 of February 2023. https://www.history.com/topics/renaissance/renaissance

HISTORY. (2021, 23 November). Black Death. Consulted the 21 of February 2023. https://www.history.com/topics/middle-ages/black-death

Mark, C. (2018, 12 de octubre). World History. Cruzadas. Consultado el 19 de febrero de 2023. https://www.worldhistory.org/trans/es/1-15951/cruzadas/

Myles, H. (2022, 22 May). Fall of Constantinople. Consulted the 21 ofFebruary 2023. https://www.britannica.com/event/Fall-of-Constantinople-1453

National Geographic. (w.d). Jul 16, 1054 CE: Great Schism. Consulted the 18 of February 2023.  https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/great-schism/

Personajes Históricos. (2023). Carlomagno: biografía, imperio, muerte y más. Consultado el 17 de febrero de 2023. https://personajeshistoricos.com/c-emperador/carlomagno/

Rupert, M. (2023, February 10). Sack of Constantinople. Britannica. Consulted the 19 of February 2023. https://www.britannica.com/event/Sack-of-Constantinople-1204

scholagladiaoria. (2019, 7 de mayo). Consultado el 17 de febrero de 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3jkJLFZx_I&embeds_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fpadlet.com%2F&feature=emb_logo

Study.com. (w.d). The Arab-Islamic Empire. Consulted the 19 of February 2023. https://study.com/learn/lesson/arab-islamic-empire-expansion-establishment-impact.html

The Art History. (w.d). Early Renaissance. Consulted the 20 of February 2023. https://www.theartstory.org/movement/early-renaissance/