what do you feel is the best date for the beginning and the end of the middle ages?

[philippe]

What do you think is the best proper date to start the middle ages and end the middle ages?

would you go for 313 with the concilie of Milan, 410 with the sacking of Rome, 476 with the fall of the West Roman Empire or 632 with the founding of Islam as starting point, and would you go either for 1453 with the fall of the eastern roman empire, 1492 with the discovery of america,1517 with Luther's 95 stands or the invention of book printing? Do you have any other dates you think mark the beginning and the end of the middle ages?

 

[knez]

What do you think is the best proper date to start the middle ages and end the middle ages?

would you go for 313 with the concilie of Milan, 410 with the sacking of Rome, 476 with the fall of the West Roman Empire or 632 with the founding of Islam as starting point, and would you go either for 1453 with the fall of the eastern roman empire, 1492 with the discovery of america,1517 with Luther's 95 stands or the invention of book printing? Do you have any other dates you think mark the beginning and the end of the middle ages?

not exactly dates, but…

start: arab conqueror of Mediterranean shores (and European isolation from world trade)

end: sovereign states and overall social and economical changes (14./15./16. century)

 

[Sofista]

476-1492.

Ages ending, ages beginning.

 

[mr_lewington]

476-1492.

Ages ending, ages beginning.

I agree with those dates, although I could also go for 1453 as the end.

 

[North King]

It really depends on what your other ages are, actually. Medieval times could begin as early as 378 or as late as 800. It could end anywhere from 1453 to 1517...

 

[Sofista]

I agree with those dates, although I could also go for 1453 as the end.

1453 is a good one, but while it saw the end of a state that had been lasting for a millennium, 1492 also had the seeds of a totally different world order (boom! I said it): just think of the re-thinking of Medieval beliefs and the change in the trade routes fulcrum from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic.

 

[Dachs]

I like 610 for the start and 1453 for the end. 1453 not merely for the end of the Roman Empire but also for the end of the Hundred Years' War with the actions around Castillon.

 

[CCRunner]

My history class uses 600-1450 meaning 632-1453. I would probably push the start back to 476 but the end seems good where my class defines it.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

The Renaissance is generally agreed to have begun with Cimabue in the 1280s, or Giotto in the following decade.

Since the "Middle Ages" are a rather arbitrary period of time, it's hard to define them. Since the name refers to the "middle period" between the fall of Rome, the last Classical Empire, and the loss of its culture, technologies, and philosophy, and the beginnings of their rediscovery in the 14th Century or so, I would give a rough time from of the end of the 4th Century (several key events, including the Battle of Hadrianopolis, a decisive Gothic victory, and the death of Theodosius the Great, the last ruler of a unified Empire), to perhaps 1435, when Alberti published "On Painting," which for the first time codified many of the principles of the artistic Renaissance, including Illusionism and One-Point Perspective.

 

[Agent327]

What do you think is the best proper date to start the middle ages and end the middle ages?

would you go for 313 with the concilie of Milan, 410 with the sacking of Rome, 476 with the fall of the West Roman Empire or 632 with the founding of Islam as starting point, and would you go either for 1453 with the fall of the eastern roman empire, 1492 with the discovery of america,1517 with Luther's 95 stands or the invention of book printing? Do you have any other dates you think mark the beginning and the end of the middle ages?

In world history 632 would be a good start point and 1500 a good end point, because Islam has a worldwide impact and so does the era of colonization. The fall of the Western Roman Empire only very indirectly had any impact on world history, and the same can be said of issues having to do with Christianity (like conciles or Protestantism), the essence of which are lost on a non-believer. Book printing is directly related to the invention of paper, which was done in China, but on another level might be a candidate, though on the long term, as its impact was quite slow globally. The Renaissance and the connected flowering of the Arts is just too Eurocentric, IMHO.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

In world history 632 would be a good start point and 1500 a good end point, because Islam has a worldwide impact and so does the era of colonization. The fall of the Western Roman Empire only very indirectly had any impact on world history, and the same can be said of issues having to do with Christianity (like conciles or Protestantism), the essence of which are lost on a non-believer. Book printing is directly related to the invention of paper, which was done in China, but on another level might be a candidate, though on the long term, as its impact was quite slow globally. The Renaissance and the connected flowering of the Arts is just too Eurocentric, IMHO.

Is the term "Middle Ages" not a European-centered one?

 

[plarq]

Is the term "Middle Ages" not a European-centered one?

And untranslatable to other cultural groups--mesoamerica never experienced a period similar to that; East and South Asia was threw into modern society within a different structure of governance (As Marx said, oriental despotism, which is very un-PC and inaccurate); Middle East stays in Middle Age-like mentality until late 19th century.

 

[Tee Kay]

There's no clear cut dates for me, although as far as Europe is concerned 476 (formal end of Western Roman Empire) - 1492 (Columbus + Fall of Granada) sounds good.

 

[Dachs]

Clarification on choice of the year 610: the ascension of Herakleios, the first really Greek Emperor in the Roman Empire, signified a shift in the structure and to an extent the culture of the Roman Empire. For many, it ceased to be 'Roman' and began to be labeled the 'Byzantine' state in this year. The end of a Latin Roman Empire, for me, marks the final dividing line better than a temporary viceroyalty establishment in the western provinces of the Roman Empire does.

 

[Plotinus]

The term is vague, so you can't specify particular dates. Moreover, it was different in different places. For example, the Renaissance began earlier in Italy than it did in England.

I would say that around AD 500 is a fairly good starting point for the Middle Ages simply from a literary point of view. European authors at that time were displaying attitudes and styles more typical of the Middle Ages than of antiquity. AD 800 would be a good alternative starting point. The High Middle Ages are generally thought to have begun in around AD 1000, which is when things started getting better in Europe. But the High Middle Ages are not identical with the Middle Ages, at least not usually.

As for the end date, dates such as 1492 are far too late. Those are in the middle of the Renaissance, and I don't think the Renaissance should count as the Middle Ages. It was characterised by - in many ways - quite different attitudes and beliefs. Indeed it was during the Renaissance that people started talking about "the Middle Ages" as a period which had ended. Personally I would put the end of the Middle Ages at around 1400; the Renaissance had begun before then in some areas but I think that after this point Renaissance ideas and attitudes were more general throughout Europe.

 

[frekk]

This depends on whether one regards the Early Middle Ages or Dark Age as a distinct period from the medieval age, or not. I would argue that they were fundamentally different periods and should be classed differently; one running from 500 to about 1000, the other running from 1000 to about 1450.

 

[Mirc]

476-1453 for most of europe.

For my country, 271-late 1700s.
271 with the abandoning of Dacia when the place fell into a chaotic mess up to the late 1700s when French/German ideas started gaining ground here.

 

[dutchfire]

500 - 1500

Keeps it simple

 

[Arwon]

410 and 1945.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Many people name the date of 1453, I don't see anything particularly monumental about the fall of Constantinople, the Empire had ceased to be important centuries before.