Period: the High Middle Ages

Period makeups: The High Middle Ages

The High Middle Ages or High Medieval Period was the period of European history around the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries; by convention for the UK the period begins with the Norman Conquest and probably runs to the death of Edward Longshanks in 1307.

The period was dominated by the Crusades including the beginning of the Reconquista, the rise and fall of the Plantagenet Empire, the struggle to achieve a stable power balance between monarchy, nobility and church, and the struggles against heresy including the Albigensian Crusade. While to the East Constaninople was sacked by the Fourth Crusade in 1204, and the Holy Roman Empire was threatened by the Mongols who advanced as far as Vienna in 1241.