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The High Middle Ages is a period of European history that historians conventionally place between approximately 1000 and 1300 CE, but the exact boundaries are debated. Different scholars have proposed different dates for the beginning and the end of the period, and the choice of dates depends on the criteria used to define the period. The chronology of the High Middle Ages is closely tied to the major political, economic, religious, and cultural transformations of the period, and the dates chosen reflect the relative importance assigned to these different transformations.
The dates c. 1000 and c. 1300 are working tools, not lines on the ground. R. I. Moore (“The First European Revolution,” 2000) makes the strongest case for moving the start of the period back to c. 970; Thomas Bisson (“The Crisis of the Twelfth Century,” 2009) makes the strongest case for moving the end back into the twelfth century itself. The page below uses the conventional dates and flags the alternatives.
The Beginning of the High Middle Ages
The most commonly cited beginning date for the High Middle Ages is around the year 1000, with the precise date depending on the criteria used. Some historians place the beginning in the late tenth century, with the Ottonian revival of the Holy Roman Empire, the Christianization of Scandinavia, and the gradual decline of the Viking, Magyar, and Saracen invasions. Others place the beginning in the mid-eleventh century, with the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, the Gregorian Reform of the papacy, and the First Crusade in 1095. Still others place the beginning in the late eleventh or early twelfth century, with the rise of the medieval university, the development of the Gothic style in architecture, and the emergence of the troubadour tradition in southern France.
The choice of a beginning date depends on the criteria used to define the period. If the criterion is political stability, the late tenth or early eleventh century is a natural starting point, with the gradual decline of the Viking, Magyar, and Saracen invasions and the consolidation of the major European kingdoms. If the criterion is religious reform, the mid-eleventh century is more appropriate, with the Gregorian Reform of the papacy and the Investiture Controversy as major turning points. If the criterion is demographic and economic expansion, the late tenth or early eleventh century is again a natural starting point, with the gradual recovery of population after the early medieval lows. If the criterion is cultural flowering, the late eleventh or early twelfth century is more appropriate, with the Gothic style, the medieval university, and the troubadour tradition as major markers.
The End of the High Middle Ages
The most commonly cited ending date for the High Middle Ages is around 1300, with the precise date depending on the criteria used. Some historians place the end at the Great Famine of 1315–1317, which marked the end of a period of generally abundant harvests and the beginning of a period of demographic and economic crisis. Others place the end at the Black Death of 1347, which killed perhaps a third of Europe’s population and inaugurated the demographic, economic, and social crisis of the Late Middle Ages. Still others place the end at the Hundred Years’ War between England and France (begun in 1337), the Babylonian Captivity of the papacy at Avignon (begun in 1309), or the Great Schism of the Western Church (begun in 1378).
The choice of an ending date depends on the criteria used to define the period. If the criterion is demographic and economic expansion, the early fourteenth century is a natural ending point, with the gradual slowing of population growth and the beginning of the demographic and economic crisis of the Late Middle Ages. If the criterion is cultural flowering, the late thirteenth or early fourteenth century is more appropriate, with the mature Gothic style, the scholastic philosophy of Aquinas and his contemporaries, and the literary traditions of the troubadours and trouvères reaching their highest point. If the criterion is papal power, the early fourteenth century is again a natural ending point, with the confrontation between Pope Boniface VIII and King Philip IV of France marking the beginning of the decline of the papal monarchy.
The Long-Tail Perspective
The High Middle Ages is a periodization — a scholarly construct that helps organize the study of European history. The periodization was developed by Renaissance and Enlightenment historians, who saw the medieval period as a distinct epoch between the classical past and the modern present. The periodization is useful for organizing historical inquiry, but it should not obscure the continuity of European history across the medieval and early modern periods.
The people who lived during the High Middle Ages did not think of themselves as living in a distinct period between the ancient and modern worlds. They thought of themselves as living in the present, often with a strong sense of being at a particular point in salvation history. The medieval sense of time was dominated by the Christian calendar, with the events of the Bible, the lives of the saints, and the liturgical year providing the framework for understanding historical time.
The chronology of the High Middle Ages is closely tied to the major transformations of the period. The demographic expansion of the eleventh and twelfth centuries created the preconditions for the commercial revolution, the urban growth, and the cultural flowering of the period. The religious reform of the eleventh and twelfth centuries created the institutional framework for the papal monarchy and the Crusades. The cultural flowering of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries created the intellectual and artistic achievements that remained influential for centuries. The demographic crisis of the fourteenth century marked the end of the expansion and the beginning of the Late Middle Ages.
Sources
Principal sources used in this article:
- R. I. Moore, The First European Revolution, c. 970–1215 (Blackwell, 2000).
Further reading:
- Pierre Riché, Les Carolingiens (PUF, 1983).
For a recent single-volume synthesis with full scholarly apparatus, see the relevant chapter of Barbara H. Rosenwein, A Short History of the Middle Ages (University of Toronto Press, 2014).