The Flowering of the Middle Ages

1150–1215

Rowdy students, brave knights, pious women, and powerful kings were just a few of the people who infused medieval government, culture, and religion with new vitality and confidence in the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. Some of the documents in this chapter illuminate how the vigor of the period found expression in new approaches to learning (Documents 1 and 2), literary styles (Document 3), and religious movements (Document 4). Despite the diversity of these sources, they reflect a heightened concern for regulating an individual’s conduct as part of a larger group. The drive to codify and control behavior and beliefs served a variety of purposes—from enhancing political authority and social prestige to gaining salvation. As the lines delineating who fit into certain groups became sharper, so too did those delineating who was to be excluded. Prejudice combined with religious zeal fueled violence and intolerance against an ever-widening array of enemies, including the Byzantine Greeks (Document 5).