Posted: February 07, 2000 at 06:10:57: by Martin Read
: Re this never ending Medieval Middle-earth debate. Before any judgements can be made one way or the other I would like to see a clear definition of what "medieval" means. What are the defining characteristics of medievalism? Is it sensible to call anywhere but Europe "medieval" at any stage in its history? China? the Pre-Columbian America's? The Arab World? Middle-earth?: Stephen Geard
: Tasmania
In the sense that mediaeval is a term which was coined to fill the perceived gap between the classical civilisations of Europe and the Middle East and the early modern period (which in many ways was spawned by Western Christendom) the term may only be accurately applied to those civilisations which looked back to classical Greek and Roman thought as exemplars of a lost "Golden Age." In this sense the Middle Ages only happened to the peoples of Latin, Orthodox or Monophysite Christian culture and to the Arab/Muslim culture who were also, in part, heirs to Graeco-Roman thought.
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