In today’s article we share a simple, close and complete summary of the Middle Ages for children, the beginning, the kingdoms and the main battles that characterize this historical period. You know that there is a lot to say about this period but we have summarized it as much as possible in order to offer you something brief but well organized.
The Middle Ages for children: summary
The Middle Ages is a historical period that begins in the 5th to 15th century. If we want the specific years, we have to say that the Middle Ages are considered to begin in the year 476 after the death of Romulus Augustulus – he was the last sovereign of the Western Roman Empire, who is defeated and Rome is conquered leading to the end of the empire– and ends in the year 1492 with the discovery of America.
- Rome and the Germanic Peoples
To give you an idea of how Spain was at that time, we have to go back a few years before the beginning of the Middle Ages. Around the year 409 Hispania -which was how the Romans called Spain- was invaded by many peoples from central and northern Europe, known as the germanic peoples (for the Romans they were the barbarian peoples) that were the Alans, Vandals, Sueves and Visigoths.
With the fall of Rome, the visigoths who were already established in the peninsula maintained the Roman cities, occupying almost the entire Iberian peninsula and part of southern France. The capital they chose for their kingdom was the city of Toledo, in the year 507. Some characteristics to highlight are that they adopted Latin and the Catholic religion as their language, they applied Roman laws, some of their constructions were made in the Romanesque style, they promoted agriculture, livestock and the rural environment. Stay with these three kings, as they are considered the most important of this era: Recaredo, Recesvinto and Leovigildo.
Years later, after the year 700, a political conflict began between two Visigoth factions over the succession to the throne. One of these two sides asked for help from the Muslims and they went to the peninsula with the army that they had established in North Africa, which finally led to the invasion and conquest of the Visigothic kingdom. The confrontation that changed everything was the Battle of Guadelete In the year 711, the Muslims defeated the King Rodrigo and Toledo fell, which was like the fall of dominoes, since in a short time almost the entire Peninsula was under his control, including the Balearic Islands.
The peninsular territory occupied by the Muslims was renamed as Al Andalus, so its inhabitants were the Andalusians. At first, the capital was established in the dependent emirate of Cordovawhich was under the command of the caliph (maximum political and religious leader) of Damascus.
They assassinated the caliph of Damascus and his family, but Abderraman I he managed to survive and fled to al-Andalus, declaring himself politically independent emir, but maintained his religious dependence on Damascus. This dependency would not change until Abderraman IIIalready in the year 929, when he proclaimed himself caliph and inaugurated the Caliphate of Córdoba, which resulted in this city becoming one of the most famous and largest, as well as a very important cultural flourishing.
As an aside, to give you an idea of the great kingdom that the Muslims built, in the year 613 the prophet Muhammad began to preach Islam and in the year 750 the empire already extended through Africa, northern Egypt to Spain, and through Persia and Arabia.
In the north of the Peninsula a rebellion against the Muslims began to arise and they managed to defeat them in the year 722, in the Battle of Covadonga. One of the notable figures was Pelayo, a Christian nobleman who founded the kingdom of Asturias and began the expansion to other nearby areas, resulting in the creation of new kingdoms and counties under Christian influence. All these battles and conquests was what led to the well-known Reconquest, which lasted for many years, for example, around 1200 the kingdoms of Navarre, Aragon, Castile and Portugal already existed.
In the 11th century, the caliphate disappeared and al-Andalus was divided into taifas, which were small independent kingdoms that were in conflict with each other, which made them weaker against the enemy. The Christian kingdoms, being aware of this opportunity, joined forces to fight against them and despite the fact that the Almoravids and Almohads went to meet the Muslims to stop the Reconquest, in the Battle of Navas de Tolosa of 1212 they lost to the Christians. Shortly after, almost all that remained of al-Andalus had already been conquered by the King Alfonso X and Ferdinand IIIthe only thing that persisted was Nasrid Kingdom of Granadawhich would not fall until the year 1492 before the Catholic kings.
The middle ages for children: activities to download
We are going to share some ideas for reinforcement activities that may be useful to consolidate knowledge and resolve doubts.
Indicates the correct answer:
- In what year did the Middle Ages begin?
- In what year does the Middle Ages end?
- What historical event coincides with the end of the Middle Ages?
- The discovery of America
- The fall of the Roman Empire
- The Battle of Covadonga
- The territory occupied in the Peninsula by the Muslims, what was it called?
- Al Andalus
- Mayrit
- Cordova
- What was the last kingdom the Christians conquered?
- Kingdom of Castile
- Kingdom of Grenada
- Kingdom of Asturias
Complete the text with the appropriate words
The Visigothic kingdom established its capital in…
In the year 613 the prophet Mohammed began to preach the doctrine of ……
The Catholic Monarchs conquered the last Muslim kingdom of the Peninsula called…
The towns that were settled in the Peninsula before the fall of the Roman Empire were called…
He was… the Christian nobleman who began the Reconquest of the Peninsula.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, the…..created kingdoms that endured over time and spoke…..
The Muslims defeated King Rodrigo in the battle of….. in the year….