Middle Ages   What You Should Know

1. Late Antiquity (ca. 500-700)

   1. Barbarian Invasions: main groups and their effects and why "invasion" is not a very useful term

   2. Economic changes, especially in agriculture

2. Carolingian Era

   1. Important people and key events

   2. Cultural achievements

3. Rise of Islam

   1. Important people and key events

   2. Cultural achievements

4. Second Era of Invasions (ca. 800-1000)

   1. Vikings, Muslims, Khazars and Magyars

   2. Effects of these, and again why "invasion" is a misleading word

5. National histories, 1000-1500

   1. England

      1. Development of the monarchy and constitution

      2. Development of Parliament

   2. France

      1. Development of the monarchy, territorially and constitutionally

      2. The conflict with England

   3. Germany

      1. The strong emperors

      2. Germany of the Princes

   4. Jews

      1. Jews in the East: Abbasidian Caliphate, Khazaria, Byzantium 

      2. Sephardim in the Western Caliphate, Spain, Ottoman Empire

      3. Western Jews in Italy, England, France and the Rhine

      4. Ashkenazi out of Khazaria - migration to Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Russia and Ukraine

6. Cultural Developments, 1000-1500

   1. Scholasticism and Nominalism

   2. Gothic Art; Renaissance Art

   3. Rise of Vernacular Literature

7. Developments in Religion, 1000-1500

   1. Church reform and the investiture struggle

   2. Height of papal authority (ca. 1150-1250)

   3. Crisis: the papacy at Avignon and the Great Schism

   4. Conciliar Movement and the Renaissance Popes

8. Economic History, 1000-1500

   1. Towns and Trade

   2. Banking and Business

   3. Social effects of these developments

9. Overall Medieval Themes

   1. From slavery to serfdom to freedom

   2. Re-inventing the foundations of government

   3. Inventing a new economic and social order