500–1500 CE
The Middle Ages
A thousand years of kingdoms, migrations, faith, warfare, trade and cultural change. Discover medieval rulers, ordinary lives and the events that transformed Europe and the wider world.
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Stories from this period
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Vikings Were in North America in the Year 1021
Tree-ring and radiocarbon evidence has established that Norse people were active at L’Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland in exactly 1021 CE.
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In 897, a Dead Pope Was Put on Trial
In one of medieval Europe’s strangest political episodes, the corpse of Pope Formosus was exhumed, dressed in papal robes and placed on trial in Rome.
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Oxford University Is Older Than the Aztec Empire
Teaching existed at Oxford by 1096, centuries before the Aztec Triple Alliance created the empire that dominated central Mexico.
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👑 The Forgotten Queens of the Middle Ages
🏰 Introduction: Power Behind the Throne When we think of medieval queens, we often picture fairy tale brides or tragic consorts in the shadows of powerful kings. But history tells a more fascinating truth. Many queens of the Middle Ages ruled with intelligence, courage, and ambition — influencing politics, leading armies, and even seizing power…
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The barbarian invasions: chronology, battles and protagonists
The barbarian invasions: chronology of the raids that led to the fall of the Western Roman Empire. History, battles and protagonists By the expression barbarian invasions, historians mean the series of raids that peoples united by the fact that they were not Romans and defined as barbarians carried out within the borders of the Roman…
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Middle Ages: meaning, history and chronology
Middle Ages: the history and characteristics of this important era. Chronology, most important events and when the high and late Middle Ages begin The term “Middle Ages” refers to the age between the fall of the Western Roman Empire, which occurred in 476 AD, and the discovery of America, in 1492. By convention, historians divide…
