suzeraintyRelated word or term.
Fall of the Western Roman EmpireThe fall of the Western Roman Empire, also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Rome, was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rule, and its vast territory was divided among several successor polities. The Roman Empire lost the strengths that had allowed it to exercise effective control over its Western provinces; modern historians posit factors including the effectiveness and numbers of the army, the health and numbe...
High Middle AgesThe High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the period of European history between c. 1000 and c. 1300; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended c. 1500 according to historiographical convention. Key historical trends of the High Middle Ages include the ascent of the great Italian city-states, the rapidly increasing population of Europe, which brought about great social and political change from the preceding era, and the Renaissance of the 12th century, i...
History of EuropeThe history of Europe can be traced back to the appearance of the first modern humans identified as ancestors of contemporary Europeans about 37,000 years ago during the Paleolithic. Early European Farmers migrating from Anatolia spread agriculture across the continent during the Neolithic (7000–2000 BC), a period that also included early metallurgy. Starting around 4000 BC, westward migrations of steppe pastoralists spread Indo-European languages. The rise of the city-states of ancient Greece defines the begi...
Late Middle AgesThe late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the period of European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded Early modern Europe (and in much of Europe, the Renaissance). Around 1350, centuries of prosperity and growth in Europe came to a halt. A series of famines and plagues, including the Great Famine of 1315–1317 and the Black Death, reduced the population to around half of what it had been before the calamities. Along with depopulation came s...
Early Middle AgesThe Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Middle Ages of European history, following the decline of the Western Roman Empire, and preceding the High Middle Ages (c. 11th to 14th centuries). The alternative term late antiquity, for the early part of the period, emphasizes elements of continuity with the Roman Empire, while Early Middle A...
Modern eraCurrent period of history Part of a series onHuman history ↑ Prehistory (Stone Age) (Pleistocene epoch) Holocene TimelinesNeolithic – Contemporary(11,650 BP – present) Age of the human race Recorded history (Common Era) Earliest records Protohistory Proto-writing Ancient Copper Age Bronze Age Iron Age Axial Age Classical antiquity Late antiquity Africa North America South America Oceania East Asia South Asia Southeast Asia West Asia Europe Postclassical Timeline Africa Americas Oceania East Asia South Asia...
ReformationThe Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and the authority of the Catholic Church hierarchy. Towards the end of the Renaissance, the Reformation marked the beginning of Protestantism. It is considered one of the events that signified the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the early modern period in Europe. The Reformati...
RenaissanceThe Renaissance (UK: rin-AY-sənss, US: REN-ə-sahnss) was a European period of history and cultural movement taking place at the end of the Late Middle Ages and the beginning of the early modern era. It is variously defined as covering the 15th and 16th centuries or, more broadly, as lasting from the 14th century to the 17th. It was characterized by the European rediscovery and revival of the literary, philosophical, and artistic achievements of classical antiquity. Associated with great change in art, architec...
Classical antiquityPericles Gives the Funeral Speech (Perikles hält die Leichenrede), by painter Philipp von Foltz (1852)LocationKey eventsGreek colonizationPeloponnesian WarWars of the DiadochiRoman RepublicPunic WarsRoman Empire
World history (field)Study of history from a global perspective World history or global history as a field of historical study examines history from a global perspective. It emerged centuries ago; some leading practitioners have included Voltaire (1694–1778), Hegel (1770–1831), Karl Marx (1818–1883), Oswald Spengler (1880–1936), and Arnold J. Toynbee (1889–1975). The field became much more active (in terms of university teaching, textbooks, scholarly journals, and academic associations) in the late 20th century. It is not ...
Post-classical historyIn world history, post-classical history refers to the period from about 500 CE to about 1450 or 1500 CE, roughly corresponding to the European Middle Ages following the decline of the western Roman Empire. The post-classical period is characterized by the expansion of certain civilizations geographically, by ongoing wars fought over land, resources and religion, and by the development of trade networks between often-distant civilizations. This period is also called—with various implications and emphases—the...*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.