Page:A general history for colleges and high schools (Myers, 1890).djvu/420



INTRODUCTION.

Divisions of the Subject.—As we have already noted, the fourteen centuries since the fall of the Roman empire in the West (A.D. 476) are usually divided into two periods,—the Middle Ages, or the period lying between the fall of Rome and the discovery of America by Columbus in 1492, and the Modern Age, which extends from the latter event to the present time. The Middle Ages, again, naturally subdivide into two periods,—the Dark Ages, and the Age of Revival; while the Modern Age also falls into two divisions,—the Era of the Protestant Reformation, and the Era of the Political Revolution.

Chief Characteristics of the Four Periods.—The so-called Dark Ages embrace the years intervening between the fall of Rome and the opening of the eleventh century. The period was one of origins,—of the beginnings of peoples and languages and institutions. During this time arose the Papacy and Feudalism, the two great institutions of the Mediæval Ages.

The Age of Revival begins with the opening of the eleventh century, and ends with the discovery of America by Columbus in 1492. During all this time civilization was making slow but sure advances. The last century of the period, especially, was marked by a great revival of classical learning (known as the Renaissance, or New Birth), by improvements, inventions, and discoveries, which greatly stirred men's minds, and awakened them as from a sleep. The Crusades, or Holy Wars, were the most remarkable undertakings of the age.