When Were The Middle Ages?

The Middle Ages are often referred to as the Medieval Period in history, but in fact they span from around the third Century AD until the end of the 13th Century AD.
They can often be sub-divided into the early, late and high periods.
Christiantiy was not prevalent in Europe in the 3rd Century AD and the Middle Ages saw Christainity taking a great hold over Europe and the Crusades took place during the late middle ages, where the Christians strove to take hold of Islamic territory, particularly within the Holy Land.
The Middle Ages saw little in the sense of culture and art.  Life was generally a struggle for people, with wars constantly being raged, no democracy and once the Church was established, people had to slavishly obey the rulings of the Church.  So it was a period of little in the sense of culture and enlightenment or even thinking and it was only with the Renaissance that art and culture began to be valued.

European history is typically divided into three ages. The Middle Ages is deemed to refer to a time period that separates Antiquity from Modern Times. The term Middle Ages is attributed to both Petrarch and Flavio Biondo to separate their own period from the earlier classical period (Antiquity). Specifically to suggest that events in the 15trh century represented a great revival of culture net seen since the 5th century. The entire period of the Middle Ages is said to extend from the fifth century to the sixteenth century when the Modern Age is said to begin.

This tendency to break history into great blocks is called periodisation and it can easily lead to misconceptions. For example the Middle Ages are also referred to the medieval period or the dark ages. Both of these terms now have negative connotations despite the fact the include the great civilizations, the emergences of new religions, worldwide exploration and the foundations of our modern arts and sciences.