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Key Events of the Medieval Era

We've already touched on the spread of Christianity, a medieval movement that would have dramatic
consequences for centuries to come. Here are some other noteworthy events that prove there was
certainly plenty of activity during the "Dark Ages."

The Migration Period

Beginning around the 3rd century, huge groups of Germanic and Slavic peoples moved about Europe.
One of these groups, the Visigoths, was responsible for the coup de grace of the western Roman Empire
(476). These peoples settled in what was once the western half of the Roman Empire. Another phase of
the migration period brought more Slavic people into what is now eastern Europe.

The Norman Conquest

In 1066, England was conquered by the Duke of Normandy, William the Conqueror at the Battle of
Hastings. When Edward the Confessor died with no heir, the resulting power vacuum brought war to
England. William used skillful recruiting to assemble a massive army and overwhelmed his rivals Harold
Godwinson and and Harald III of Norway.

Renaissance Through Enlightenment

Lesson Objectives

In the upcoming pages, we'll continue our tour through world history by examining the timeframe between
the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, an era that encompassed some important artistic and intellectual
movements and also gave the world some of its most important thinkers and writers.

Previously Covered

In the previous lessons, we touched on a few events of the Middle Ages, and also reviewed some of the
major events in Christianity's rise to dominance in western Europe.

Ideas of the Renaissance and the Reformation

The Renaissance

The Renaissance marked a shift in thinking about humans’ relationship with
God. In medieval times, humans were thought of as debased and removed
from God; however, Renaissance thinkers saw humans and their activity as
reflections of God’s greatness. This major shift inspired much of the
intellectual activity of the era.

St. Peter's Basilica
In turn, this shift sparked a renewed interest in the literary works of the
ancient Greeks and Romans, which were no longer widely read. Some scholars mark the beginning of the
Renaissance with the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. The Ottoman Turks take over
of that city brought many Byzantine-Greek scholars west to Italy.

Renaissance Timeline
c. 1440s Donatello depicts ancient king David, victorious from his biblical battle, in bronze; the bodily
proportions are designed to be symbolic rather than realistic.