Medieval Europe

Uncover the artistic heritage of medieval Europe, where illuminated manuscripts, towering cathedrals, and intricate objects reflect a world shaped by faith, power, and craftsmanship

Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal)
Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal)
France
France
Italy
Italy
Germany
Germany
The Northern Seas
The Northern Seas

The Iberian Peninsula

(Spain and Portugal)

The Iberian Peninsula in the Middle Ages was home to Christians, Jews, and Muslims

The Visigoths

The Visigoths, a Germanic people who shaped the late Roman Empire and early medieval Europe, migrated across Europe to establish of the Visigothic Kingdom in Spain.

Anglo-Saxon metal brooch shaped like a bird, featuring inlaid red stones and intricate designs.

VIDEO: Visigothic fibulae of eagles

Important terms and concepts

Fibulae

Cloisonné

Germanic Tribes

Iberian Peninsula

Al-Andalus

ivory container covered in decoration

Al-Andalus, the Muslim-ruled region of the Iberian Peninsula from the 8th to the 15th century, is celebrated for its flourishing art, architecture, science, and cultural exchanges that shaped both Europe and the Islamic world.

VIDEO: Explaining the term pyxis using the Pyxis of al-Mughira

Important terms and concepts

Pyxis

Al-Andalus

SEE MORE MATERIALS ABOUT THE ISLAMIC WORLD

France

A beautiful circular stained glass window from Chartres cathedral

When we think of soaring Gothic cathedrals, we tend to imagine those in France

VIDEO: What is a rose window in Gothic architecture? | Chartres Cathedral

stained glass windows in a space lit by candles

VIDEO: What is a fleur-de-lis? | Sainte-Chapelle

Important terms and concepts

Cathedral

Stained Glass

Rose window

Fleur-de-lis

Calendar Pages in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry

Painted mainly by the Limbourg Brothers, the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry is an illuminated manuscript that was created between c. 1412 and 1416. It is one of the most famous medieval manuscripts in the world.

The September page in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry shows peasants harvesting grapes, donkeys hauling baskets, and the Château de Saumur in the background

September Calendar Page in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry

Learn about September
Learn about September
A medieval illuminated manuscript featuring a colorful illustration of a castle and countryside scene on the left page, with a decorated calendar and text on the right page.

October Calendar Page in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry

Learn about October
Learn about October
A medieval illustration divided into three sections: the top shows a starry sky with an astrological chart and zodiac signs; the middle depicts a castle with a blue sky background; the bottom features hunters with dogs in a forest, actively hunting, with the castle in the background.

December Calendar Page in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry

Learn about December
Learn about December

Important terms and concepts

Book of Hours

Illuminated Manuscript

Calendar Page

Zodiac

The Limbourg Brothers

Two pages are open in a manuscript with one showing a colorful scene of a forest with a pig farmer tending to a group of pigs eating acorns

November Calendar Page in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry

Learn about November
Learn about November
A medieval illustration showing men celebrating at a banquet

January Calendar Page in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry

Learn about January
Learn about January
A snowy landscape and farmstead are visible in a painted medieval manuscript

February Calendar Page in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry

Learn about February
Learn about February
Peasants work in the fields below a castle in a medieval manuscript illumination

March Calendar Page in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry

Learn about March
Learn about March
In a scene from the medieval illuminated manuscript known as Très Riches Heures of Jean, Duke of Berry, nobles gather for a wedding and to pick wildflowers.

April Calendar Page in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry

Learn about April
Learn about April

Italy

Powerful city-states emerged in this period

An angel kneels before a woman in a bright blue mantle

VIDEO: What is an angel? | Simone Martini's Annunciation

Important terms and concepts

Angel

Altarpiece

The Northern Seas

The seas of Northern Europe connected places like Ireland, England, Scotland, and Wales with Scandinavia and beyond

A medieval bell made of brone and silver with lots of surface decoration and rock crystal

VIDEO: The Bell-Shrine of Saint Mura

An illuminated manuscript page with intricate interlaced patterns and elaborate border designs, featuring a central cross shape divided into sections with decorative Celtic knotwork in shades of red, blue, gold, and green.

COMING SOON: What is a carpet page?

An ornate medieval illuminated manuscript with intricate decorative initials, floral patterns, and text in Latin.

COMING SOON: What is a Chi Rho?

Shoulder-Clasp, late 6th–early 7th century CE, gold, garnet, millefiori glass, Sutton Hoo, Ship-burial Mound 1, Suffolk, England, 12.7 x 5.4 cm. The British Museum

VIDEO: Cloisonné and a Shoulder-Clasp from Sutton Hoo

Germany

Skeletons dance in a graveyard in an image of the medieval danse macabre (dance of death)

Feudal principalities, the Holy Roman Empire, and more characterized medieval Germany

What is the medieval Dance of Death (danse macabre)?

Learn more
Learn more

Important terms and concepts

Danse macabre

Woodcut

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