During the Middle Ages, spirituality was more important to the arts than beauty. Artists thought of their creations as divine offerings to God, and their main objective was to spread the Christian faith and to demonstrate the authority of the Church. 1. The Middle Ages 1. SAY the role of these social groups in this period. clergy nobility common people 2. EXPLAIN the differences between these pieces of music. Which one of them do you think is medieval? Why? ➔ Adorate Deum, anonymous. ➔ Nocturne No. 3 by Frédéric Chopin. The fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 marks the star t of the Middle Ages . The fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1 453 marks the end , although some scholars ex tend it until the ar r ival of Columbus in Amer ica in 1 492 . At this time, Christianity was the main unif y ing element of the Western world , and it had a decisive inf luence on social , scientific and ar tistic development . The year 105 4 saw the East–West Schism, which div ided Chr istians between the Catholic and the Or thodox Church. The Roman Catholic Church was , together with the nobilit y, the most impor tant institution in Europe. The monasteries and cathedrals had schools that taught the monks to read and wr ite, so that they could copy the manuscr ipts of the great authors on all t y pes of subjects . In the 11th centur y, universities star ted to appear. Medieval art ➔ Early in the Middle Ages, Romanesque art (11th and 12th centuries) emerged. It had a sober style and subject matter. ➔ Later, Gothic art (from the 13th to the 16th century) was developed. It was more elaborate and ornate. They ruled and defended the territor y. They worked in agriculture, livestock farming, craf ts, trades and commerce. They guided people in spiritual matters. 8 I The Middle Ages
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