Mediaeval Kid's Space

When was the Middle Ages?

The Middle Ages is a period of time in Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire (in 476) and before the beginning of the Renaissance (in about 1450). During the final years of the Western Roman Empire, there was really no central government and most people only stayed in their own town. So, to make it easy to remember, let's say the Middle Ages in Europe (also called the Mediaeval Period) began in 450 and ended in 1450. So it lasted for one thousand years.
The first 500 years, from 450 to about 950, is sometimes called The Dark Ages. It wasn't really dark, there was sunshine during the day, the same as now, but later people called it "dark" because there was not very much new science or learning and there were not many new inventions. Most people stayed in their own villages and because not many people knew how to read, no one could remember how the Romans had built all the roads and bridges and cities.
After 950, the people began to pay attention to what was going on outside Europe. The Spanish began to push the Muslim people (known as the Moors) out of southern Spain. The Muslims had invaded in 711 and moved through Spain and into France until they were turned back in 732. After that, those who stayed in Spain became known as Moors. The Moors were not finally pushed out of Spain until 1492.
Even though they were fighting over the land in Spain (and in other places), the people in Europe discovered that the Muslim people knew a lot of things and that they had translated most of the old Greek and Roman books into their language (Arabic). This contact with the Muslim people helped to end the Dark Ages and people in Europe began to learn new things again.

Here are some web sites where you can learn more.

• Timeline - When things happened Important events during the Early, High and Late Middle Ages.



• Some stories Some of the information on this page is locked, but the rest has some good information and stories.



• The Middle Ages - History for Kids! Information in many catagories like sports and games, food, science and environment.



• CyberSleuth Kids A page with links to information about knights, castles, music, clothes and more!



• Kids' Castle Explore a castle by clicking on the front gate and looking inside at all the different rooms. There is a lot to learn about the people who lived and worked in the castle, and even a way to get to DRAGONSVILLE, if you can find it.



• History of Dragons Even though Dragon's aren't real, some people used to think they were. The stories they told became so big that people started to write whole histories about Dragons.



• Fairy Tales Many of the Fairy Tales you heard as a kid were first written during the Middle Ages. Here are some of them, Tales Collected by the Brothers Grimm.

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