MIDDLE AGES, the designation applied to the great historic period between the times of classic antiquity and modern times. The beginning and close of this period are not very definite. It is usual, however, t,o regard the middle ages as beginning with the overthrow of the western Roman empire in the year 476; and there is a pretty general concurrence in fixing on the reformation as the great event which brought this period to a close. It began with the rise of the Frankish upon the ruins of the ancient Roman empire, and with the commencement of civilization among the barbarous tribes which had taken posses.sion of the former Roman provinces. In course of it the different nations of modern Europe were formed, and their political and social systems developed. It was a period of much superstition, in connection with which much religious enthusi ,asm very extensively prevailed, manifested in many great religious endowments, in magnificent ecclesiastical building, in pilgrimages, and, above all, in the crusades. In
the earlier parts of this period the church was much occupied in the extension of its bounds in the north of Europe, where heathenism still subsisted, and the means employed were not always consistent with the spirit of Christianity. During the middle ages the, hierarchy acquired enormous power and wealth, and the papacy rose from compara tively small beginnings to its utmost greatness. During the middle ages chivalry had its rise and decline, modifying and in many respects tending to refine the feelings and usages of society. Towards the close of the middle ages the revival of letters, the increase of knowledge, and the formation of a wealthy and influential class in society, distinct alike from the aristocracy and the peasantry, tended, even before the reforma tion, both to the diminution of the power of the hierarchy and the decay of the feudal system. . See Guizot's llistoire de la ; Handbuch der Geseltichte des Mit telalters ; and Hallam's History of the Middle Ages.