History of Europe
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The history of Europe can be traced back to the appearance of the first modern humans identified as ancestors of contemporary Europeans about 37,000 years ago during the Paleolithic. Early European Fa
Detail of a portrait of Cardinal Hugh of Saint-Cher (wearing spectacles), painted by Tommaso da Modena in 1352. Tommaso trained in Venice and worked mostly in Northern Italy.
Neolithic settlement of Sesklo, Greece, c. 5900 BC
Varna necropolis artefacts, Bulgaria, c. 4500 BC
Menga Dolmen, Spain, c. 3700 BC
Middle Ages
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In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to late 15th centuries, comparable with the post-classical period of global history. The medieval period
History of Europe
…Period of the Germanic peoples began in the late 4th century AD. The fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 traditionally marks the beginning of the Middle Ages (c. 500–1500). While the Eastern Roman ("Byzantine") Empire with its capital in Constantinople continued for another 1000 years, the former lands of…
A medieval stained glass panel from Canterbury Cathedral, c. 1175 – c. 1180, depicting the Parable of the Sower, a biblical narrative
A late Roman sculpture depicting the four Tetrarchs, now in Venice, Italy
A coin of the Ostrogothic leader Theoderic the Great, struck in Milan, Italy, c. AD 491–501
A mosaic showing Justinian with the bishop of Ravenna (Italy), bodyguards, and courtiers.