The Middle Ages is the period of history located between the Ancient Age and

the Modern Age. comprised between the 5th and 15th centuries, its beginning is
in the year 476 with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and its end in 1492
with the discovery of America or in 1453 with the fall of the Byzantine Empire, a
date that has the uniqueness of coinciding with the invention of the printing
press, publication of the Gutenberg Bible and, with the end of the Hundred
Years War. It is usually divided into two large periods: Early or High Middle
Ages (ss. VX, without a clear differentiation with Late Antiquity); and Late
Middle Ages (ss. XI-XV), which in turn can be divided into a period of plenitude,
the Middle Ages (ss. XI-XIII), and the last two centuries that witnessed the crisis
of the 14th century.

The Middle Ages were characterized by numerous territorial invasions, frequent

wars and the extensive influence of the Church. With the appearance of the
Renaissance, in the 16th century, the last period was known as the Dark Ages
or the Age of Faith. The term Middle Ages comes from the Latin term aevo.
During the 15th century, humanism divided Latin into three categories: classical
Latin, barbarian Latin, and humanist Latin. Between classical Latin and its
rediscovery, there was a variant of Latin that fled from other patterns of
Classical Antiquity, known as middle Latinites. The expression medieval arose
from this Latin. In the 16th century some thinkers have theorized the Middle
Ages as a period of decline. A phase in history in which, because of religious
interference, ignorance prevails. In the following century, the Middle Ages
began to have its value recognized.

Christianity was the religion that predominated above the others during the
Middle Ages. It was named the official Religion of the Roman Empire in the 4th
century. It was the only institution that managed to maintain its power
throughout a politically fragmented Europe.

They were characterized by having a feudal political system, which is

understood as a system based on a series of ties and obligations that support
generally military commitments, between a free man, the vassal, and another
superior free man, the lord. The vassal swore fidelity to the lord and agreed to
comply with certain servitudes, mainly military assistance and political advice.
His society was based on a King/monarch; who was above any class, that is, a
fixed hierarchical social structure whose structure was in classes. They were
those who governed and received taxes from other social groups. Clergy (High
clergy, high nobility). They represented the layer related to the sacred and
spiritual, that is, those who strengthened the Catholic religion (Popes, Bishops,
Cardinals, Monks, Abbots and Priests). Nobility (lower clergy, small nobility) In
addition to the nobles (who included feudal lords, owners of land and wealth),
this category included warriors, that is, those who intervened in wars.
The feudal economy was based mainly on agriculture. There were coins in the
Middle Ages, but they were little used. The exchange of products and goods
were common in the feudal economy. The fief was the economic basis of this
period, since the land had more power than any other possession. Crafts were
also practiced in the Middle Ages. Production was low, since agricultural work
techniques were extremely rudimentary. The plow pushed by oxen was very
widespread in agriculture. The guild was a type of economic association of
European origin, also implemented in the colonies, which brought together
artisans of the same trade, appeared in medieval cities and extended until the
end of the Modern Age, when they were abolished. Its objective was to achieve
a balance between the demand for works and the number of active workshops,
guaranteeing work for its associates, their economic well-being and learning
systems. It has been argued that the guild was a precedent for the modern
union.

Banking During the Middle Ages, goldsmiths and artisans were the initiators of
what we now know as banking. Since at the present time different communities
kept the gold and silver deposited by individuals in order to store them or as an
intermediary for payment. Realizing that people store silver for long periods and
that it did not exist in its entirety, they chose to lend a certain amount to those
who requested, in exchange for which they would have to return it over time
with an additional percentage in charge. Types of teaching. To appreciate
what education was in the Middle Ages, it is worth keeping in mind that during
these long centuries there were numerous types of education. Chronologically,
the first form is that taught by an original educational body: the monastery. Then
follows the episcopal or cathedral school, so called because it functioned
alongside the bishop's chair. It was a teaching given to young aspirants to the
priesthood who, gathered around the bishop, began clerical life as readers of
texts intended for divine offices.

Liberal Arts Eran, Trivium: grammar, rhetoric and logic. Quadrivium: artmetics,
geometry, music and astronomy. Little by little, professorships are raised and
specialized schools, studium generale, are opened in convents, which promote
philosophical concern and which give rise, due to their multiple opinions,
systems of thought whose set we know as scholasticism.

Simultaneously, the demands of social life give rise to two new educational
institutions without school forms: chivalry, or the training of the warrior, and the
learning of trades or crafts taught by guilds. At this time, studies reached their
highest degree of organization with the establishment of the most notable and
enduring of the educational institutions of the Middle Ages: the university.