History Main / TheLowMiddleAges

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: The early feudalism was based on warlordism rather than legitimacy
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Ditto.

Finally, the Khazars, who unlike the other states of the time were Jewish instead of Christian or Muslim, had been a dominant power in the Pontic steppe as a buffer state against the invasion of the islamic caliphates through the Caucasus mountains. Their control of the crossroads between Europe and Asia made them powerful through commerce between the Black and Caspian seas, yet their Khanate would later decline in the face of the ascension of the Kievan Rus and the invasion of the Alans and Pechenegs later on.

The Vikings would later on become christians as their age began to end, the kingdoms of Denmark, Sweden and Norway would embrace Catholic Christianity while their Kievan Rus cousins would embrace Orthodox Christianity and further intertwine with their slavic subjects. The Slavs themselves were divided between embracing Catholic Christianity or Orthodox Christianity: the Kingdoms of Poland and Croatia and the Duchy of Bohemia would adopt the former while the Despoty of Serbia, Bulgaria, and the aforementioned Kievan Rus states would choose the later.

* AnAxeToGrind: Probably the most frequent non-spear weapon, as an axe is fairly easy for a relatively unskilled smith to make, and peasants tended to have these around anyway for firewood.
** In a case of RealityIsUnrealistic, battleaxes were generally lighter than wood-working axes (especially felling axes) on the basis that it takes a lot less axe to bring down a man than a tree, and being able to swing it around very quickly is very important especially if you don't have a shield. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boioSxBIkfk Lindybeige explains]] on Website/YouTube.

* ''Series/{{Cadfael}}''

The Western Roman Empire itself didn't collapse entirely, as some of its institutions survived and evolved. The power of the Emperor was largely preserved with the Papacy, as the Pope still held central authority over the kings of Europe and, as head of the Bishops, technically held control over the cities scattered across the continent. Although the secular kingdoms still fought each other and retained ''de facto'' independence, the Pope could still manipulate them and command them in some way, acting as an incredibly marginalized Emperor. This power however would not truly emerge until after a couple of centuries after a particular issue was settled: the Arian Christians. Although the Franks were what we can call today Catholic, the Visigoths and Ostrogoths remained faithful to the Arian heresy until the latter's fall to the resurgent Eastern Roman Empire and by the conversion of King Reccared to Catholicism in the year 587 AD.

The raiding wasn't just restricted to the Vikings. The Magyars, Bulgars, and Khazars, all of whom came from the East, started raiding territory, usually Eastern Roman but also that of the West. The first of these to invade were the Bulgars, a people that at the height of its power managed to conquer part of the Eastern Roman Empire and form the First Bulgarian Empire, namely parts of Thracia and Greece and parts of modern day Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Moldavia. The Byzantines would later on manage to expel them from their territory and lock them out from the Macedonian region while the Magyars would take from them the territory of modern day Hungary. The Bulgars would still manage to carve out their own state and even enter into the sphere of influence of Constantinople later on as Orthodox christians, becoming a centre of learning and culture for the Slavs as the Bulgars left their old language behind and adopted what is known as old church slavonic, eventually giving rise to the famed Cyrillic alphabet.

* BladeOnAStick: What most fighters actually had to settle for, when they weren't stuck with [[SinisterScythe farming implements]] or just [[MartialArtsStaff the stick]].

* BladeOnAStick: What most fighters actually had to settle for, when they weren't stuck with [[SinisterScythe farming implements]] or just [[SimpleStaff the stick]].

* For that matter, ''all'' the many movie and literary versions of ''Myth/KingArthur'' are supposed to take place in this period, but you wouldn't know it because of the typical AnachronismStew which makes everything look like it's centuries later. The [[Film/KingArthur2004 2004 movie]] is a notable exception that tries for a late Roman/early medieval feel, making him a half-Celtic Roman officer, but it also takes a lot of license with history.

* The Myth/KingArthur legend had its roots during this period, though the more familiar forms of it were written down during TheHighMiddleAges.

* DeathOfTheOldGods: Christianity is becoming the dominant faith of Europe with the old [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greco-Roman]] and [[Myth/CelticMythology Celtic]] pagan religions dying out. The only non-Christian Europeans that you will see during this time period are the [[Myth/NorseMythology Norse]] Vikings (largely Christianized by the end of this period) and the pagans of Eastern Europe, i.e. the [[Myth/SlavicMythology Slavs]] (also largely Christianized by 1066), Finns (mostly Christianized by the end of the 13th century) and Balts (would not be completely Christianized until [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianization_of_Lithuania 1387]]).

* DeathOfTheOldGods: Christianity is becoming the dominant faith of Europe with the old [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greco-Roman]] and [[Myth/CelticMythology Celtic]] pagan religions dying out. The only non-Christian Europeans that you will see during this time period are the [[Myth/NorseMythology Norse]] Vikings and the pagans of Eastern Europe (i.e. [[Myth/SlavicMythology Slavs]] and Finns).

* For that matter, ''all'' the many movie and literary versions of ''Myth/KingArthur'' are supposed to take place in this period, but you wouldn't know it because of the typical AnachronismStew which makes everything look like it's centuries later. The [[Film/KingArthur 2004 movie]] is a notable exception that tries for a late Roman/early medieval feel, making him a half-Celtic Roman officer, but it also takes a lot of license with history.

* ''VideoGame/ThronesOfBritanniaATotalWarSaga'' is set in the late 9th century British Isles where Vikings have begun to later settle and clash after periods of raidings on Saxon and Irish settlements.

* VestigialEmpire: The Byzantine Empire. Although, at that time, it was more powerful and vaster than what's usually associated with this trope. Before the Muslim conquests in the 7th century, it was even controlling all the eastern half of the Mediterranean Sea.

* ''Film/TheWarLord'' (1965) is set right after the Norman conquest of England, and so also fits in the early [[TheHighMiddleAges High middle Ages]].

'''The Second Wave: The Slavs, the Vikings and the Magyars'''

It should be noted that the Middle Ages are characterized by the movement of peoples from one area to another to settle, with chiefs and kings rising and falling in the span of a lifetime. Although the Germanic successors were the most prominent amongst the Barbarian peoples, there were others who also followed and settled in what we call Central and Eastern Europe. The most notable of these peoples were the Slavs, who settled the land left behind by the migrating Germanic tribes. The three most prominent groups were the Wends, the Sclavenians and the Ruthenians, with the former settling in the area east of the Elbe river, in the territories that would later on become Poland, Czechia and Slovakia; the Sclavenians on the other hand took residence in the Balkans, taking over the land of Illyria and Thracia from the Byzantine Empire; finally, the Ruthenians settled in the area between the Baltic and Black Sea, neighboring the Turkic Khazar Khaganate to the east and with their Wendian cousins to the southwest.

Yes, their boats. The Viking longship was perfectly suited for traversing both deep and shallow waters, allowing them to sail to anywhere within reach of a body of water. That just happened to include the vast majority of major cities, villages, and monasteries in Europe. The Vikings used their ships to sail as far as Vinland, being the first known Europeans to reach American shores. They also used it to conquer parts of Britain and Ireland. Vikings may have even been responsible for the founding of the UsefulNotes/KievanRus. All in all, the Vikings had a lasting legacy on Europe, and their frequent raids are ingrained in European culture to this very day.

And as many historians are keen to point out, the Vikings did more than just [[Main/RapePillageAndBurn pillage and rape]] their way across Europe. They had a genuine interest in settling in foreign lands, indicating perhaps a food shortage or a power struggle back in Scandinavia. Whatever the case, the Vikings would settle throughout Europe. First they came to the British Isles, where they successfully set up several independent fiefdoms, the most famous being the Danelaw. They would rule these lands for a while before being forced out by the dominant Kingdom of Wessex. They also invaded Ireland and came to settle in what is now France[[note]]after an attempt to take Paris[[/note]], in the province of Normandy. This province -whose name obviously derives from the term "Norseman" for its Scandinavian settlers- would go on to be highly influential. Despite being subjects of the Carolingian crown, the Normans would continue to conquer and settle across Europe.

The raiding wasn't just restricted to the West. The Magyars, Bulgars, and Khazars all started raiding territory, usually Eastern Roman, although the Khazars would later help them fight the Muslims. The Bulgars would later carve out their own state. Most contemporary historians use term "Byzantine" to distinguish the Medieval Eastern Roman Empire from the Classical Western one. Although, this term was not used during the time period, and was created in order to separate the Eastern Roman Empire from the Classical one. The gap between the Eastern Romans and the West had widened significantly. Rome and Constantinople were constantly in religious squabbles over whether or not the Pope or the Emperor had more authority. Culturally, the Eastern Romans continued many Greek and Classical Roman customs, and for many years their military and bureaucracy greatly resembled that of the earlier Roman Empire. Likewise, they continued to carry on the old Roman legal system. This would change over time as they adapted to new challenges and influences, as all things do.

By 1066, The Norman conquest of England marked the end of the Low Middle Ages. Although the conflict was minor at the time, it would have major ramifications in the future, as the English gradually came to be a dominant power in world affairs many centuries later. The gist of the conflict is that Harold, the King of England, had to fight two pretenders to his throne: the Norwegian Harald Hadrada (whose claim largely came from the aforementioned Danelaw) and the Norman William, now known as ''the Conqueror'' after he won the war at the Battle of Hastings.

It was a transitory period for Europe, where kingdoms rose and fell in mere lifetimes and the social order shifted into a rigid class system. Although there was a serious lull in technological advancement, and indeed the medieval world was just a bit smaller than the Classical one, the Low Middle Ages were not as bad as they are often said to be. Our lack of first hand sources makes the time period seem dark and mysterious, but we know that only holds partially true for Western Europe, since the Muslim world was flourishing in a new age of prosperity.

* ''Film/TheWarLord'' (1965)

[{AC:Fan Works]]
* ''Fanfic/AThingOfVikings'' reimagines the characters of ''Franchise/HowToTrainYourDragon'' as if they existed in the actual Middle Ages. The emergence of dragons from Berk cause numerous changes to world history from thereon.

Also known as the Early Middle Ages. [[HollywoodHistory Hollywood Historians]] like to lump all of the Middle Ages into one indistinct era, but a study of real history will show that the period of the fall of Western Rome and the rise of Monasticism in Europe was more of a prelude to the true [[TheHighMiddleAges Middle Ages]]. It began with [[DarkAgeEurope an alleged dark age]], when people were supposedly too busy staying alive to write histories, had a few peaceful years in the middle, [[UsefulNotes/TheVikingAge and ended with Vikings]] ravaging the coasts, and horsemen storming out of the east. Although Western Europe did unarguably decline in the markers of civilization such as decreased stability, technological progress, urban decline, and literacy in comparison with the fading Age of the Roman Empire, the East (and the Iberian peninsula) was flourishing under the Islamic Golden Age and the Macedonian Renaissance in the surviving territories of the Eastern Roman Empire.

If the Fall of Rome could be considered the end of what remained of Classical Antiquity, then the Rise of Islam would be the end of Antiquity itself, for the events of the Arab Conquest would mean the break of the shared history of the Mediterranean that had been seen ever since the days of the Bronze Age. Instead, three areas of influence would be created in the aftermath: the Islamic East, which would assimilate the culture of Persia under the Abbassid Caliphate; the Greek East, which was centered around Byzantium and would expand later on to the slavic peoples; and the Germanic West, now under the hegemony of the Frankish Realm after Charles Martel's victory.

But, contrary to popular belief, the Low Middle Ages was not a period of immense stupidity or total collapse of all that is good in the world. In fact, some things improved. Generally speaking, you were less likely to go to war and get killed in the Low Middle Ages than in Roman times, and previous knowledge was still preserved by monks and scholars. The nutritional situation improved. Taxes were ''far'' lower than in the Roman age. The Roman chattel slavery gradually disappeared and was superseded by serfdom, which was a ''vast'' improvement. Yes, things were certainly ''worse'' when compared to the Pax Romana, but it wasn't the abysmal time most history teachers love to paint it as. And from what sources we have, it appears very little actually changed between the Roman Empire's collapse and the conquest by the Germanic Kingdoms as far as living standards.

At the time of the rise of the Carolingian dynasty to the Frankish throne, the Merovingian kings and their vassals had attained territory beyond the borders of what used to be Roman territory into what is southwestern German territory. Under their leader Charlemagne, the Franks achieved their highest extent, taking over the Kingdoms of Bavaria, overthrowing the Lombards, making headway into Northern Spain and even conquering the territory of Old Saxony. A cultural revolution was sparked, there was a key revival in literature, art, architecture, and other things that Charlemagne loved, there were previous revivals in the last centuries in the Visigothic realm and then in the newly converted Anglo-Saxon realms but the Frankish push was the most influential overall. Charlemagne himself is most remembered for being the king that "held the post-Roman world together". He also spread Christianity "by the cross and sword", meaning he forced his enemies to convert or to die with their gods. This coincided with better harvests and a string of military victories as the ideas of feudalism, knights, and a warrior caste began to take root in the Medieval world. By the end of Charlemagne's rule, and as thanks for saving the Papacy from being attacked by the Lombards years ago, the Pope crowned Charlemagne as Roman Emperor, thus beginning a new era that would see Western Europe grow out of the shadow of the Eastern Roman Empire.

Meanwhile in the Eastern Roman Empire, which we will call the Byzantine Empire at this point, things were still in turmoil after the rise of Islam, although the Byzantines had managed to secure the region of Anatolia, new invaders in the form of the Slavs kept challenging their authority in the Balkans, moreover, the Iconoclasm controversy, which had plagued the Isaurian dynasty, had lead to a divided society that would only begin to recover with the ascension of the Macedonian dynasty in the middle of the Ninth Century AD. Nevertheless, the Byzantine Empire proved to be resilient enough to not break in the face of so many loses and setbacks.

It should be noted that the Middle Ages are characterized by the movement of peoples from one area to another to settle, with chiefs and kings rising and falling in the span of a lifetime. Although the Germanic Successors were the most prominent amongst the Barbarian peoples, there were others who also followed and settled in what we call Central and Eastern Europe. The most notable of these peoples were the Slavs, who settled the land left behind by the migrating Germanics. The three most prominent groups were the Wends, the Sclavenians and the Ruthenians, with the former settling in the area east of the Elbe river, in the territories that would later on become Poland, Czechia and Slovakia; the Sclavenians on the other hand took residence in the Balkans, taking over the land of Illyria and Thracia from the Byzantine Empire; finally, the Ruthenians settled in the area between the Baltic and Black Sea, neighbouring the Turkic Khazar Khaganate to the east and with their Wendian cousins to the southwest.

The raiding wasn't just restricted to the West. The Magyars, Bulgars, and Khazars all started raiding territory, usually Eastern Roman, although the Khazars would later help them fight the Muslims. The Bulgars would later carve out their own state. Most contemporary historians use term "Byzantine" to distinguish the Medieval Eastern Roman Empire from the Classical Western one. Although, this term was not used during the time period, and was created in order to separate the Eastern Roman Empire from the Classical one. The gap between the Eastern Romans and the West had widened significantly. Rome and Constantinople were constantly in religious squabbles over whether or not the Pope or the Caesar had more authority. Culturally, the Eastern Romans continued many Greek and Classical Roman customs, and for many years their military and bureaucracy greatly resembled that of the earlier Roman Empire. Likewise they continued to carry on the old Roman legal system. This would change over time as they adapted to new challenges and influences, as all things do.

By 1066, The Norman Conquests marked the end of the Low Middle Ages. Although the conflict was minor at the time, it would have major ramifications in the future, as the English gradually came to be a dominant power in world affairs many centuries later. The gist of the conflict is that Harold, the King of England, had to fight two pretenders to his throne: the Norwegian Harald Hadrada (whose claim largely came from the aforementioned Danelaw) and the Norman William, now known as ''the Conqueror'' after he won the war at the Battle of Hastings.

!!Tropes Associated with this era include

The raiding wasn't just restricted to the West. The Magyars, Bulgars, and Khazars all started raiding territory, usually Eastern Roman, although the Khazars would later help them fight the Muslims. The Bulgars would later carve out their own state. Most contemporary historians use term "Byzantine" to distinguish the Medieval Eastern Roman Empire from the Classical Western one. Although, this term was not used during the time period, and was created in order to separate the Eastern Roman Empire from the Classical one. The gap between the Estern Romans and the West had widened significantly. Rome and Constantinople were constantly in religious squabbles over whether or not the Pope or the Caesar had more authority. Culturally, the Eastern Romans continued many Greek and Classical Roman customs, and for many years their military and bureaucracy greatly resembled that of the earlier Roman Empire. Likewise they continued to carry on the old Roman legal system. This would change over time as they adapted to new challenges and influences, as all things do.

* The historical portion of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedValhalla'' takes place in 9th Century England and Norway, the bulk of it from 872-878, shortly before the establishment of the Danelaw.

* The ''[[http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/board,189.0.html Brytenwalda]]'' mod for ''VideoGame/MountAndBlade: Warband'' is set in the 7th century British Isles. Its developpers then worked on the official DLC ''Viking Conquest'', which has the same setting.

* TheEmpire: The Western and Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empires. The Caliphate. The Sassanid Persian Empire.

* FeudalOverlord: The fall of the Western Roman Empire saw the rise of Feudalism in Europe.

* HornyVikings: Norse Vikings were a very frequent sight for much of Europe from the Rus to the Emerald Isle.

* MedievalMorons: TruthInTelevision, but only to an extent. The literacy rate dropped precipitously, most of the empire's libraries dropped into disrepair, no one could remember how to make concrete or maintain the roads to their prior standards, and the one group actually hanging on to any academic knowledge (the Catholic Church) had a tendency to cherry pick parts that supported the religion and/or allowed a more comprehensive study of areas such as logic and philosophy, and destroyed, distorted and/or censored the rest. How bad it got varied a lot with location and the specific time, but in general people on both sides of the time period would have considered their low middle ages counterparts tragically uneducated at best.

* TheRemnant: The Byzantine Empire. Although, at that time, it was more powerful and vaster than what's usually associated with this trope. Before the Muslim conquests in the 7th century, it was even controlling all the eastern half of the Mediterranean Sea.

* ''Manga/VinlandSaga'', set right towards the end of the dark ages.

* HornyVikings

* TheTimeOfMyths: Many "semi-historical" [[HistoricalDomainCharacter Historical Domain Characters]] figures existed during this time, such as King Arthur and Ragnar Lothbrok to name a few. While the historical consensus seems to agree that they are based on real people who existed at this time, the details surrounding them have been lost or exaggerated in the centuries since.

* TheTimeOfMyths: Many "semi-historical" [[HistoricalDomainCharacter Historical Domain Characters]] figures existed during this time, such as King Arthur and Ragnar Lothbrok to name a few. While the historical consensus seems to agree that they existed, the details surrounding them have been lost or exaggerated in the centuries since.

* DeathOfTheOldGods: Christianity is becoming the dominant faith of Europe with the old [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greco-Roman]] and [[Myth/CelticPaganism Celtic]] pagan religions dying out. The only non-Christian Europeans that you will see during this time period are the [[Myth/NorseMythology Norse]] Vikings and the pagans of Eastern Europe (i.e. [[Myth/SlavicMythology Slavs]] and [[Myth/FinnishMythology Finns]]).

* TheEmpire: Western and Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empires. The Caliphate. The Sassanid Persian Empire.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Though, except for KingArthur (and possibly UsefulNotes/AttilaTheHun, {{UsefulNotes/Charlemagne}}, and UsefulNotes/AlfredTheGreat), most people will never have heard of them. (Gunthaharius of Burgundy is not exactly a household name.)

* The historical portion of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedValhalla'' takes place in 9th Century Norway and England, the bulk of it from 872-878, shortly before the establishment of the Danelaw.

* The historical portion of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedValhalla'' takes place in the 9th Century, the bulk of it from 872-878, shortly before the establishment of the Danelaw.

* The later expansions of ''VideoGame/TotalWarAttila'' takes place after the death of Attila, and fall of the Western Roman Empire. ''The Last Roman'' segment shows the Byzantine Empire(which calls itself the Roman Empire) struggling against the newly established Barbarian Kingdoms. The second expansion ''Age of Charlemagne'' is set at the dawn of the Middle-ages.