\[ **BT: [[history]]** ] --- # history of Europe The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), [[#classical antiquity (800 BCE – 500 CE)]], [[#the Middle Ages (500–1500 CE)]], and[[#history of modern Europe (1500–present)| the modern era (since1500 CE)]].[^1] Note: [[It can be unhelpful to think of history as being divided into set 'eras'; the past was active and fluid.]][^2] - see also: [[Pleistocene]] --- ## classical antiquity (800 BCE – 500 CE) ### classical Greece [[When Herodotus stated that weaving was woman’s work in Greece, but that in Egypt the men did it, his goal was to paint the Egyptians in a poor light.]][^3] - ↬ [Greco-Roman collection](https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/collection?collection=Perseus:collection:Greco-Roman) - ↬ [Germanic collection](https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/collection?collection=Perseus:collection:Germanic) --- ## the Middle Ages (500–1500 CE) In Europe, the Middle Ages (also known as the *medieval period*) ranged from roughly the 5th to late 15th centuries.[^4] - ↬ [Medieval Family Life: The Paston, Cely, Plumpton, Stonor and Armburgh Papers](https://www.medievalfamilylife.amdigital.co.uk/) 🔒 ### early medieval period The early medieval period is c. 500 – c. 1000 CE.[^5] - Also known as the **Dark Ages** - Collapse of [[#Rome]] - ‘Barbarian invasions’. [[Thursday, during the early medieval period in Europe, was a (pagan) holy day of rest; at least, it was for women, who would refuse to spin and weave on Thursdays.]][^6] - see also: - [[Thursday]]; [[technology#spinning and weaving|spinning and weaving]] + ↬ [Collection of Germanic documents on the Perseus Digital Library](https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/collection?collection=Perseus:collection:Germanic) - see also: [[#Gaelic Ireland]] (which goes all the way from prehistory to the 1700s) #### Germany > [[‘Early medieval German society had a bilateral kinship system that traced descent through both the male and the female lines and emphasized the equality of all members of the sibling group.’]][^7] #### the Saxons The Saxons, sometimes called the **Old Saxons** or **Continental Saxons**, were a Germanic people of early medieval ‘Old’ Saxony (Latin: *Antiqua Saxonia*) which became a Carolingian ‘stem duchy’ in 804, in what is now northern Germany, between the lower Rhine and Elbe rivers. Many of their neighbours were, like them, speakers of West Germanic dialects, including both the Franks and Thuringians to the south, and the coastal Frisians and Angles to the north who were among the peoples who were originally referred to as “Saxons” in the context of early raiding and settlements in Roman Britain and Gaul. To their east were Obotrites and other Slavic-speaking peoples.[^8] ##### Saxon religious beliefs ###### weirding: a form of Saxon divination ‘Weirding’ was a sacred act in pagan Saxon culture.[^9] It could involve [[fortune|divination]], as well as devotions at sacred trees and wells.[^10] As well as at springs, stones, and crossroads.[^11] ‘Well-weirding’ was making offerings to water/wells.[^12] #### Anglo-Saxon England Otherwise known as **early medieval England**. From the end of Roman rule in Britain (410 CE) to the end of the 5th century (and the Norman conquest).[^13] Compared to modern England, the territory of the Anglo-Saxons stretched north to present day Lothian in south-eastern Scotland; on the other hand, it did not not initially include western areas of England such as Cornwall, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Cheshire, Lancashire, and Cumbria.[^14] - ↬ [Chrestomathy of Gothic and Anglo-Saxon Written Records](https://germanic.ge/en/ang/) - ↬ [Ða Engliscan Gesiðas (The English Companions)](https://www.tha-engliscan-gesithas.org.uk/) ##### Anglo-Saxon religious beliefs [[Female supernatural beings who mark or select the dead may have played an important role in Anglo-Saxon religious belief.]][^15] ##### Anglo-Saxon life and culture [[Women were closer in equality to their husbands and brothers in Anglo-Saxon society than at any other period in history prior to the modern era.]][^16] ### high medieval period The High Middle Ages was a period of tremendous population expansion. The estimated population of Europe grew from 35 to 80 million between 1000 and 1347, although the exact causes remain unclear: improved agricultural techniques, the decline of slaveholding, a more clement climate and the lack of invasion have all been suggested.[^17] #### Iceland [[The Prose Edda (also known as the Younger Edda, and Snorri’s Edda) is an Old Norse textbook written in Iceland during the 1200s.]][^18] [[In the Scandinavian Prose Eda, we find the tail-eating snake as Midgardsom—the snake lying in the oceans, and which surrounds the entire world.]][^19] #### Germany [[In the wake of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, no one dynasty was able to establish a claim to absolute power. The provisons of the Golden Bull (1356) accorded a ‘defined group of electors’ the right to elect the new German King.]][^20] [[During the high medieval period, German society was divided into different states (‘each with defined rights and privileges’). At the top sat the king… while at the bottom were peasants, who were often considered to be ‘part of the landed estate’.]][^21] ##### German inheritance practices [[In high medieval Germany, ‘increasing emphasis was placed on descent in the male line; women were forced to renounce their claims … and accept dowries at the time of marriage’; nevertheless, the the ideal of ‘equality among brothers’ remained.]][^22] #### the Kingdom of England and its continental dependencies (1066–1307) ##### Norman invasion of England (1066) [[The Norman Conquest dramatically decreased the status of Anglo-Saxon women. Teachings of the contemporary Church likewise emphasized the 'natural' status of women's subjugation.]][^23] [[In the Middle Ages, the Church banned the wearing of amber necklaces by women.]][^24] - ↬ [Chrestomathy of Gothic and Anglo-Saxon Written Records](https://germanic.ge/en/ang/) ### late medieval period - c. 1300–1500 CE - War, famine, plague - [[Black Death]] + ↬ [Getting Dressed in the 14th Century]([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ibj7GsfsCpI&list=PLx0IRLJNwjho-6Pkv8hR0yiFIEe_HmG_j) #### late medieval law and legislation ##### criminal law [[Despite the separation of humans from animals in Christian thought, during the medieval period, and up to the 19th century, Christianity held non-human animals ‘morally responsible for “crimes” such as thefts, chattering in church, and even murder’.]][^25] ##### inheritance [[John P. Cooper (1989) writes, ‘If there is any trend discernible in the centuries after 1300 … it would seem to be … towards emphasis on a narrow definition of lineage, in turn fortified by policies of restrictive marriage.’]][^26] #### specific countries ##### late medieval Germany [[Late medieval ‘Southwest German nobles practiced a highly restrictive marriage policy … Barely half of the sons and daughters born in the fifteenth century who survived to adulthood ever married.’]][^27] [[‘In the fifteenth century the majority of unmarried sons, as well as virtually all of the unmarried daughters, entered the church. Ecclesiastical careers were most common among the lower-ranking families …’]][^28] ##### late medieval Scotland ###### trial marriages in late medieval Scotland [[According to the Old Statistical Account of Scotland, the annual Lammas Festival was the loci for trial marriages.]][^29] [[According to Thomas Pennant (1772), unmarried men and women met annually at the Lammas Festival; they would be 'handfasted' for a year and a day in the format a trial marriage.]][^30] ---- #### Gaelic Ireland Gaelic Ireland (Irish: Éire Ghaelach) was the Gaelic political and social order, and associated culture, that existed in Ireland from the late prehistoric era until the 17th century. It comprised the whole island before Anglo-Normans conquered parts of Ireland in the 1170s.[^31] ##### Brehon law Also known as **early Irish law**.[^32] [[In ancient Ireland (prior to English rule), a woman could divorce her husband for a number of reasons.]][^33] --- ## history of modern Europe (1500–present) ### early modern Europe The Early Modern period spans the centuries between the Middle Ages and the Industrial Revolution, roughly from 1500 to 1800, or from the discovery of the New World in 1492 to the French Revolution in 1789.[^34] #### specific countries ##### Germany [[By the 1500s, the practice of primogeniture had become common among the aristocracy in England, France, Castile, and Italy. German nobles, however, were ‘conspicuous among Western European landed elites in their reluctance to adopt primogeniture’.]][^35] [[Until the mid-1500s, German fathers leaving estates to only one son ‘exercised their traditional right to choose the “best-qualified” … The eldest son was the most common choice, but between 1400 and 1550 he was chosen in only 10 out of I9 cases.’]][^36] #### Renaissance #### Age of Discovery #### Reformation #### mercantilism and colonial expansion #### crisis of the 17th century The 17th century is typically framed as an era of crisis.[^37] More wars took place around the world in the mid-17th century than in almost any other period of recorded history. Across the Northern Hemisphere, the mid-17th century experienced almost unprecedented death rates.[^38] ##### England: Stuart period [[In 1640, the King's herbalist in London 'described the use of moulds to treat wounds.']][^39] --- #### the Englightenment The Enlightenment was a powerful, widespread cultural movement of intellectuals beginning in late 17th-century Europe emphasizing the power of reason rather than tradition; it was especially favourable to science (especially Isaac Newton’s physics) and hostile to religious orthodoxy (especially of the Catholic Church). It sought to analyse and reform society using reason, to challenge ideas grounded in tradition and faith, and to advance knowledge through the scientific method. It promoted scientific thought, scepticism, and intellectual interchange. The Enlightenment was a revolution in human thought. This new way of thinking was that rational thought begins with clearly stated principles, uses correct logic to arrive at conclusions, tests the conclusions against evidence, and then revises the principles in light of the evidence.[^40] --- ### revolutions and imperialism The “long 19th century”, from 1789 to 1914 saw the drastic social, political and economic changes initiated by [[#the Industrial Revolution]], the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars.[^41] #### the Industrial Revolution The “long 19th century”, from 1789 to 1914 saw the drastic social, political and economic changes initiated by the Industrial Revolution, the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars.[^41] --- ### world wars (1914–1945) #### World War I (1914-18) - ↬ [1914–1918-Online: International Encyclopedia of the First World War](https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/) - ↬ [Common British Army acronyms and abbreviations of the First World War](https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/a-soldiers-life-1914-1918/common-british-army-acronyms-and-abbreviations-of-the-first-world-war/) - ↬ [Digitised First World War records](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/first-world-war/centenary-digitised-records/) - ↬ [IMW Collections](https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections) - ↬ [Lives of the First World War](https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/) - ↬ [Operation War Diary](https://www.operationwardiary.org) - ↬ [The Guards Museum](https://theguardsmuseum.com/resources/archives-and-research/) - ↬ [The National Archives: British Army officers of the First World War](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/british-army-officers-after-1913/) [[In 1928, Alexander Fleming discovered a mould that produced a bacteria-killing chemical. Penicillin became the first modern antibiotic.]][^42] #### World War II (1939–1945) [[Once Britain declared war against Germany in August 1914, Australia was automatically also at war.|Once Britain declared war against Germany in August 1914, Australia was automatically also at war.]][^43] [[The discovery of penicillin arguably helped shift the balance of power during World War II.]][^44] - see also: [[Darmstadt#Brandnacht|Darmstadt’s Brandnacht]] --- ## ↬ external resources - [Chrestomathy of Gothic and Anglo-Saxon Written Records](https://germanic.ge/en/ang/) - [Collection of Germanic documents on the Perseus Digital Library](https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/collection?collection=Perseus:collection:Germanic) - [Ða Engliscan Gesiðas (The English Companions)](https://www.tha-engliscan-gesithas.org.uk/) - [Getting Dressed in the 14th Century]([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ibj7GsfsCpI&list=PLx0IRLJNwjho-6Pkv8hR0yiFIEe_HmG_j) - [1914–1918-Online: International Encyclopedia of the First World War](https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/) - [Common British Army acronyms and abbreviations of the First World War](https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/a-soldiers-life-1914-1918/common-british-army-acronyms-and-abbreviations-of-the-first-world-war/) - [Digitised First World War records](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/first-world-war/centenary-digitised-records/) - [IMW Collections](https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections) - [Lives of the First World War](https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/) - [Operation War Diary](https://www.operationwardiary.org) - [The Guards Museum](https://theguardsmuseum.com/resources/archives-and-research/) - [The National Archives: British Army officers of the First World War](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/british-army-officers-after-1913/) + [Opposing War: Women’s Protest in World War I](https://labourhistorymelbourne.org/2016/12/06/opposing-war-womens-protest-in-world-war-i/) --- ## endnotes [^1]: ‘History of Europe’, Wikipedia, last edited 24 March 2026, 16:18 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Europe. [^2]: John Moreland, quoted in Alexandra Lester-Makin, *[[Lester-Makin, Lost Art of the Anglo-Saxon World, 2019|The Lost Art of the Anglo-Saxon World: The Sacred and Secular Power of Embroidery]]* (Osbow Books, 2019), chapter 1. EPUB. [^3]: Robert Wardy, *[[Wardy, Doing Greek Philosophy, 2006|Doing Greek Philosophy]]* (Routledge, 2006), p. 59. [^4]: ‘Middle Ages’, Wikipedia, last edited 29 May 2025, 07:03 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ages. [^5]: ‘Middle Ages’, Wikipedia, last edited 29 May 2025, 07:03 (UTC), <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ages>. [^6]: Max Dashu, *[[Dashu, Witches and Pagans, 2016|Witches and Pagans: Women in European Folk Religion, 700–1100]]* (Veleda Press, 2016), p. 36. [^7]: Judith Hurwich, ‘[[Hurwich, ‘Inheritance Practices in Early Modern Germany’, 1993|Inheritance Practices in Early Modern Germany]]’, *The Journal of Interdisciplinary History*, vol. 23, no. 4 (1993), pp. 700–701, [https://doi.org/10.2307/206280](https://doi.org/10.2307/206280). [^8]: ‘Saxons’, Wikipedia, last edited 11 February 2026, 04:55 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxons. [^9]: Max Dashu, *[[Dashu, Witches and Pagans, 2016|Witches and Pagans: Women in European Folk Religion, 700–1100]]* (Veleda Press, 2016), p. 24. [^10]: Max Dashu, *[[Dashu, Witches and Pagans, 2016|Witches and Pagans: Women in European Folk Religion, 700–1100]]* (Veleda Press, 2016), pp. 24–25. [^11]: Max Dashu, *[[Dashu, Witches and Pagans, 2016|Witches and Pagans: Women in European Folk Religion, 700–1100]]* (Veleda Press, 2016), pp. 24–25. [^12]: Max Dashu, *[[Dashu, Witches and Pagans, 2016|Witches and Pagans: Women in European Folk Religion, 700–1100]]* (Veleda Press, 2016), pp. 24–25. [^13]: ‘History of Anglo-Saxon England’, Wikipedia, 30 March 2026, 11:33 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Anglo-Saxon_England; ‘Roman Britain’, Wikipedia, last edited 13 March 2026, 21:07 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Britain. [^14]: ‘History of Anglo-Saxon England’, Wikipedia, 30 March 2026, 11:33 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Anglo-Saxon_England. [^15]: Noel Williams, in Max Dashu, *[[Dashu, Witches and Pagans, 2016|Witches and Pagans: Women in European Folk Religion, 700–1100]]* (Veleda Press, 2016), p. 12. [^16]: Doris Strenton (1956), in Christine Fell, *[[Fell, Women in Anglo-Saxon England and the Impact of 1066, 1984|Women in Anglo-Saxon England and the Impact of 1066]]* (Colonnade, 1984), p. 13. Internet Archive, <https://archive.org/embed/womeninanglosaxo0000fell>. [^17]: ‘Middle Ages’, Wikipedia, last edited 29 May 2025, 07:03 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ages. [^18]: ‘*Prose Edda*’, Wikipedia, last edited 12 January 2026, 20:49 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prose_Edda. [^19]: Denise Chao, ‘[[Chao, ‘The Snake in Chinese Belief’, 1979|The Snake in Chinese Belief]]’, *Folklore*, vol. 90, no. 2 (1979), p. 193, [https://doi.org/10.1080/0015587X.1979.9716142](https://doi.org/10.1080/0015587X.1979.9716142). [^20]: ‘The High and Late Middle Ages’, Deutschland Museum, n.d., accessed 7 April 2026, https://www.deutschlandmuseum.de/en/history/the-high-and-late-middle-ages/. [^21]: ‘The High and Late Middle Ages’, Deutschland Museum, n.d., accessed 7 April 2026, https://www.deutschlandmuseum.de/en/history/the-high-and-late-middle-ages/. [^22]: Judith Hurwich, ‘[[Hurwich, ‘Inheritance Practices in Early Modern Germany’, 1993|Inheritance Practices in Early Modern Germany]]’, *The Journal of Interdisciplinary History*, vol. 23, no. 4 (1993), pp. 700–701, [https://doi.org/10.2307/206280](https://doi.org/10.2307/206280). [^23]: Doris Strenton (1956), in Christine Fell, *[[Fell, Women in Anglo-Saxon England and the Impact of 1066, 1984|Women in Anglo-Saxon England and the Impact of 1066]]* (Colonnade, 1984), p. 13. Internet Archive, <https://archive.org/embed/womeninanglosaxo0000fell>. [^24]: Max Dashu, *[[Dashu, Witches and Pagans, 2016|Witches and Pagans: Women in European Folk Religion, 700–1100]]* (Veleda Press, 2017) p. 35. [^25]: Consuelo Rivera-Fuentes, ‘[[Rivera-Fuentes, ‘Gender and Hybridity’, 2000|Gender and Hybridity: The Significance of Human/Animal Characters in Magic Realist Fiction]]’, *Animal Issues*, vol. 4, no. 1 (2000), p. 32, [https://hdl.handle.net/10779/uow.27825465.v1](https://hdl.handle.net/10779/uow.27825465.v1). [^26]: Judith Hurwich, ‘[[Hurwich, ‘Inheritance Practices in Early Modern Germany’, 1993|Inheritance Practices in Early Modern Germany]]’, *The Journal of Interdisciplinary History*, vol. 23, no. 4 (1993), pp. 699-700, [https://doi.org/10.2307/206280](https://doi.org/10.2307/206280). [^27]: Judith Hurwich, ‘[[Hurwich, ‘Inheritance Practices in Early Modern Germany’, 1993|Inheritance Practices in Early Modern Germany]]’, *The Journal of Interdisciplinary History*, vol. 23, no. 4 (1993), p. 707, [https://doi.org/10.2307/206280](https://doi.org/10.2307/206280). [^28]: Judith Hurwich, ‘[[Hurwich, ‘Inheritance Practices in Early Modern Germany’, 1993|Inheritance Practices in Early Modern Germany]]’, *The Journal of Interdisciplinary History*, vol. 23, no. 4 (1993), p. 707, [https://doi.org/10.2307/206280](https://doi.org/10.2307/206280). [^29]: Lynda Pinney Domino, ‘[[Domino, ‘He Kept Her The Space of a Year’, 2003|He Kept Her The Space of a Year: Celtic Secular Marriage in Late Medieval Scotland]]’, Master’s thesis (Iowa State University, 2003), p. 28, <https://dr.lib.iastate.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/2703c3a5-758e-42d4-b854-bcdc3a8cb0a5/content>. [^30]: Lynda Pinney Domino, ‘[[Domino, ‘He Kept Her The Space of a Year’, 2003|He Kept Her The Space of a Year: Celtic Secular Marriage in Late Medieval Scotland]]’, Master’s thesis (Iowa State University, 2003), p. 27, <https://dr.lib.iastate.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/2703c3a5-758e-42d4-b854-bcdc3a8cb0a5/content>. [^31]: ‘Gaelic Ireland’, Wikipedia, 1 April 2026, 22:57 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaelic_Ireland. [^32]: ‘Early Irish law’, Wikipedia, last edited 1 April 2026, 22:49 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Irish_law. [^33]: Philip Carr-Gomm, *[[Carr-Gomm, Druid Mysteries, 2002|Druid Mysteries: Ancient Wisdom for the 21st Century]]* (Rider, 2002), chap. 6. EPUB. [^34]: ‘History of Europe’, Wikipedia, last edited 24 March 2026, 16:18 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Europe. [^35]: Judith Hurwich, ‘[[Hurwich, ‘Inheritance Practices in Early Modern Germany’, 1993|Inheritance Practices in Early Modern Germany]]’, *The Journal of Interdisciplinary History*, vol. 23, no. 4 (1993), p. 709, [https://doi.org/10.2307/206280](https://doi.org/10.2307/206280). [^36]: Judith Hurwich, ‘[[Hurwich, ‘Inheritance Practices in Early Modern Germany’, 1993|Inheritance Practices in Early Modern Germany]]’, *The Journal of Interdisciplinary History*, vol. 23, no. 4 (1993), p. 715, [https://doi.org/10.2307/206280](https://doi.org/10.2307/206280). [^37]: ‘History of Europe’, Wikipedia, last edited 24 March 2026, 16:18 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Europe. [^38]: ‘History of Europe’, Wikipedia, last edited 24 March 2026, 16:18 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Europe. [^39]: Merlin Sheldrake, *[[Sheldrake, Entangled Life, 2021|Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, and Shape Our Futures]]* (Vintage, 2021), p. 9. [^40]: ‘History of Europe’, Wikipedia, last edited 24 March 2026, 16:18 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Europe. [^41]: History of Europe’, Wikipedia, last edited 24 March 2026, 16:18 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Europe. [^42]: Merlin Sheldrake, *[[Sheldrake, Entangled Life, 2021|Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, and Shape Our Futures]]* (Vintage, 2021), p. 10. [^43]: ‘First World War 1914–18’, *Australian War Memorial*, 2 June 2021, <https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/atwar/first-world-war>. [^44]: Merlin Sheldrake, *[[Sheldrake, Entangled Life, 2021|Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, and Shape Our Futures]]* (Vintage, 2021), p. 7.