Smarthistory – Beginner’s guide:Medieval Europe + Byzantium

The visual arts prospered during Middles Ages, which created its own aesthetic values.

c. 330 - 1300 C.E.

This was a period that heralded the formation and rise of universities, the establishment of the rule of law, numerous periods of ecclesiastical reform and the birth of the tourism industry. Many works of medieval literature, such as the Canterbury Tales, the Divine Comedy, and The Song of Roland, are widely read and studied today.

Introduction to the Middle Ages

By Dr. Nancy Ross

The dark ages? So much of what the average person knows, or thinks they know, about the Middle Ages comes from film and tv. When I polled a group of well-educated friends on Facebook, they told me that the word “medieval” called to mind Monty Python and the Holy...

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A new pictorial language: the image in early medieval art

By Dr. Nancy Ross

An illusion of reality Classical art, or the art of ancient Greece and Rome, sought to create a convincing illusion for the viewer. Artists sculpting the images of gods and goddesses tried to make their statues appear like an idealized human figure. Some of these...

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The medieval calendar

By The British Museum

Kalends, nones, ides—the medieval month took its three fixed points from ancient Rome. But what about red days?

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Chivalry in the Middle Ages

By The J. Paul Getty Museum

From love to hunting, a code of honor dictated medieval social norms and facilitated social mobility.

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Medieval goldsmiths

By The British Museum

Medieval craftsmen decorated metal by hammering from behind, a technique called repoussé. Watch it here!

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