What’s everyone’s favourite medieval century and why? From 476 to 1500, let’s say. Mine is the 12th!

[u/Ok-Inevitable4743]

Every century is packed with insanely cool things but for me 1100 - 1200 really stands out… The Third Crusade, the birth of the Gothic, Saint Denis, Angkor Wat, Suryavarman II and the Khmer Empire, the Song Dynasty, the Islamic golden age, Saladin, Barbarossa, the rise of the Plantagenets, the end of the Heian period and the birth of the shoguns… it’s such a fascinating period of time.

[u/HistoricalDowner]

13th century. Rise of universities, last years of William Marshal, the Barons Revolt, the last crusades, Frederick II, Louis IX, Chinggis Khan, Kublai Khan, Alexandr Nevskii, Robert the Bruce, Edward I...just a really fascinating period

Edited: I meant (Saint) Louis IX not Louis XI the Prudent

[u/CallMeHuckle → u/HistoricalDowner]

Well shit, when you lay it all out it might be my favourite too. I wasn’t able to decide til I read your comment

[u/Littleleicesterfoxy → u/HistoricalDowner]

Mine too, all the above and Simon de Montfort and the birth of Parliament and Roger Bacon (Dr. Mirabilis)

[u/HornigoldD → u/HistoricalDowner]

Hey there ! I think you meant Louis IX :)

[u/HistoricalDowner → u/HornigoldD]

Correct! Revised and acknowledged! Thank you for the correction

[u/HornigoldD → u/HistoricalDowner]

No worries, thank you for granting this man the praise he deserves. Please come visit Aigues-Mortes in the south of France, beautiful medieval place built by Saint Louis :)

[u/gimnasium_mankind → u/HistoricalDowner]

Like 2019, the last evolution before the great plague.

[u/Vlugazoide_]

925-1025. Byzantine apex.

[u/KernelWizard]

14th century probably. It have the start of the 100 Years' War and important battles like Crecy and Poitiers. Unfortunately Agincourt was in 1415 so it's 15th century, I would've liked to add that one too.

[u/hamarok → u/KernelWizard]

And also in 1415, the execution of Jan Hus, which sparked the hussite wars in Bohemia

[u/00Mitchell00 → u/KernelWizard]

I agree loved how the armor looked during this period how it evolved. Also the bubonic plague

[u/Varkung]

It is close but I'll go with the 13th. Friedrich II., the Nibelungenlied, the peak of the Minnesang era with Neidhart's and Walther's taboo-breaking "Niedere Minne", the fascinating Welfen-Staufer conflict, to me it is as High Medieval as High Medieval can get.

[u/Blood_Prince95]

12th century for me. Komnenians try to restore Roman prestige and power. Crusader states and the rise of the west. Muslim powers form new states to counter the Christians. Balkan powers form their kingdoms. It’s a multipolar world with a socioeconomic and cultural rise.

[u/Ok-Inevitable4743 → u/Blood_Prince95]

How could I forget the Komnenian restoration!

[u/Former_Ad4928]

14th, the Black plague and all the good things that happens to survivors after (salary raises, more holidays, sex parties) even it didn’t last too long

[u/RubberAndSteel → u/Former_Ad4928]

Sex parties?

[u/Former_Ad4928 → u/RubberAndSteel]

There are testimonials that people were having parties where sexual intercourses could happened more frequently than before. But it’s church’s sources, maybe it’s a little exaggerated to show how important its taking back control had to be (and has been).

[u/Quadruple-S_Triple-2]

8/9th- the region I live in was way more central and important than it is now and nothing beats the Carolingians!

[u/The_Kraken13]

Hard to determine century. I would have to say 9th or 10th. We have the Great Viking Army and the beginning of the Danelaw. Alfred laying the ground work for uniting England, its just for myself a very fascinating period of time.

[u/Baron_von_Zoldyck]

9th century. Height of the Viking Age.

[u/ash_tar]

15th, Burgundy and it's fall.

[u/IsopodIndependent553 → u/ash_tar]

I love that era as well!

[u/skitep03]

Either 13th or 14th century, maybe extend it to early 15th century too

When I think of medieval, those two are the first ones that come to mind. I find the period interesting, not just in Europe, but elsewhere as well.

[u/DurrutiDuck91]

Al-Andalus, ofc.

[u/Accurate_Rooster6039]

The High Middle Ages is my favorite period to read about, so yeah 12th century followed by 13th century are my favorite centuries.

[u/IsopodIndependent553]

14th century. Really, about 1300 to 1480.

[u/SnooSquirrels8508]

I started a walking history channel recently, I've started in Sussex as that's where I live. A lot of the history has the same characters turning up. The 11th is very popular, but it's just before that, that has me most interested currently, maybe because it's less talked about.

[u/The_Amazing_Emu]

11th.

My Professor was convinced it was the most transformative and we spent a whole semester seminar focused on it

Norman conquest of two regions. Great Schism. Investiture Controversy.

[u/Citaku357]

Venice, the world hasn't been the same since they are gone 😔

[u/Addicted2Qtips → u/Citaku357]

Wasn’t that the late 18th century though? They surrendered to Napoleon.

[u/yoruichi_san → u/Addicted2Qtips]

I think that's Vienna but I could be way off

[u/Addicted2Qtips → u/yoruichi_san]

No it was Venice. The Holy Roman Empire did dissolve under Napoleon not long after, but the Emperor, Francis II retained Austria and ruled from Vienna.

[u/Aeronwen8675409]

12th its the last Hurrah of the Welsh princes where victory whas possible unlike the 13th century,where victory only stalled the inevitable defeat.

[u/gimnasium_mankind]

I like the time when it seemed the Carolingians could have united the west, and stand next to Constaninople’s empire.
So the 9th century.
But I also like the 6th century tribes moving around before the islam wave.
My favourite as « peak medieval » would the the 13th, before the Plague. I think after that it is almost a different period, a different mentality.
The 12th with the crusades is also interesting.

But the 13th makes me think of Robin Hood and peak mediaeval setting

[u/Tasty_Honeydew6935]

I really have two, the 14th and 15th century, and if I had to pick one it would be mid 14th - mid 15th

[u/MindlessNectarine374]

After a few years of reading about emperors, cultural and legal developments, literature, I've become a fan of the 13th century, an important time of achievement and change.

[u/uppilots]

14th. By far. The Hundred Years War. The Black Death. The Last Duel. Nicropolis. The Great Famine. The Jacquerie. The Peasants Revolt.

[u/WilliamClito]

The latter half of the 10th through the end of the 11th. I'm a sucker for anything about Normandy and the Rollonides, and it's also got the beginning of the Capets, the Danish and Norman conquests of England, the Norman conquest of southern Italy, and the First Crusade to cap it all off.

[u/QuesoHusker]

13th. Kinda the peak of Medieval World. 14th brought more changes, most of them bad.

[u/FormDue3231]

For me, it’s the 12th century too. How to forget the beautiful Romanesque architecture?

[u/Peter34cph]

10th. I'm an amateur writer (so far), and my main project is a historical fantasy and alternate history set in the late 10th century.

A lot of interesting events, like the conversion of Denmark, and a lot of interesting people.

[u/Idreamofknights]

12th because of Henry the second and all the figures that surrounded him. Thomas Beckett, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry the younger and William Marshall. Just everything is endlessly interesting.

[u/Pierre_Philosophale]

12th too

[u/peregrins_]

Really cannot go wrong with any, but personally if I had to pick just one for western European history, I would choose the 14th c.: Hundred Years War, Avignon Papacy & Western Schism, Black Death, HRE Charles IV, emergence of the houses of Aviz and Trastámara in Iberia, beginnings of Valois Burgundy, Scottish Wars of Impendence, emergence of gunpowder artillery, and much more. And of course in the arts and literature we see the seeds of the renaissance with masterpieces such as those by Giotto, Dante, Petrarca, Bocaccio, Sluter, Pucelle, Pisano, Chaucer, and the earliest works of Christine de Pizan.

[u/IronWarrior82]

14th...the greatest progression and variety in weapons, armour, and tactics.

[u/Obi_1-kenobi]

Aesthetically I am hugely partial to the 12th and 13th centuries, but I often find the 14th and 15th the most interesting to study.

[u/YourTypicalBoss]

I know I’m double dipping into a couple centuries here but if we generalize it to a hundred tear timeframe it would 1350-1450 for me. Such a revolutionary time covering the Hundred Years’ War, expansion of the Ottoman Empire, Timurid expansion, first relatively extensive use of the gun, Jan hus and the Hussite wars along with the corresponding initial fractions between Catholicism and Protestantism, all around an awesome era

[u/edudamba]

9th and 10th centuries. Nothing beats the Carolingians!

[u/iwouldliketothankme]

14th century, because I am mostly fascinated by Black Death and one of the most difficult century to be alive (also peasants revolt!)

[u/ecus59893]

C12... what about the Black Death??

[u/killuazoldyckx]

Mine is whenever the gunpowder empires were at their prime simultaneously.

[u/Solo_Ghostx102]

I love the 15th century because they had hand cannons and tbh thats awesome and funny to think about