Catholic Dictionary

Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

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MIDDLE AGES

The period preceding the Renaissance. Once taken to date from A.D. 476, the fall of the Roman Empire, it is now more correctly held to begin about 1100 and extend to the end of the fifteenth century. Also once viewed as a sterile period, it has come to be recognized as one of the most cultivated and productive eras of human history. It was the age that reached the highest realization of Christendom as a cultural unity built on a common faith.