Partly because of the increasing influence of important women, feudalism began to give way to the more civilized code of chivalry. Running parallel to this was the cult of the virgin, in whose honor hundreds of magnificent churches were erected.

The tenets of Scholasticism, the dominant mode of Christian thought, were challen

The period of balance in the High Middle Ages was glorious, an era of magnificent achievements in art, architecture, literature, music, and philosophy. Although Christian doctrine remained central, there was a discernible shift in attitudes and values in the ever-growing educated class. Church teachings that had been accepted for centuries were increasingly questioned. The issue was not just the faith of the hierarchy. This is not to say that there was widespread unrest, but the Avignon papacy (Babylonian Captivity) and Great Schism had exposed an all too fallible power structure. The church preached obedience to authority, but what if that authority were corrupt?

In looking back on the volatile fourteenth century, one can perceive the beginning of the restless stirring that would eventually lead to the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the modern world. Call it 20-20 hindsight, but t

Some topics in this essay:
Renaissance Reformation, Middle Ages, Greece Islamic, Divine Comedy, Ages Cities, Battle Universals, Captivity Schism, Middle East, , middle ages, Thomas Aquinas, marked beginning, rise science, modern world,