Middle Ages. The Middle Ages lasted nearly a thousand years, from the fall of Rome around 500 A.D. to the Renaissance in the 1400s. During the Middle Ages, most modern countries did not yet exist. Instead, large areas of land were owned by lords. Most people were peasants who farmed the land in exchange for protection from the lord. This system was called feudalism.
The Roman Catholic Church was the main cultural and political force. Though fragmented in the early Middle Ages, it became an energetic force for art, government, and philosophy after 1000 A.D. Romanesque and Gothic art flourished. Universities were established. The Crusades sought to claim Jerusalem and other holy places from the Moslems. Cities grew and trade increased.
Turmoil rose near the end of the Middle Ages, as towns and cities sought independence and a secular (non-religious) movement reduced the centrality of the Church to everyday life. These movements led to the Renaissance and the birth of the modern world.
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