Abstract
With the fall of the Roman Empire, its territory became broken down into smaller areas all isolated from one another. The Empire and its universal strivings did indeed survive in the east, but the rise of Islam and the migration of the Slavic peoples to the Balkan peninsula severed both the sea and the overland links between Constantinople and the western parts of the empire. As Geoffrey Barraclough so aptly put it, the barbarians of Western Europe were excluded from the centres of civilization in the East (Barraclough, 1963:8).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Copyright information
© 1998 Heikki Mikkeli
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mikkeli, H. (1998). Christendom and Europe in the Middle Ages. In: Campling, J. (eds) Europe as an Idea and an Identity. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780333995419_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780333995419_2
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-39895-9
Online ISBN: 978-0-333-99541-9
eBook Packages: Palgrave Social & Cultural Studies CollectionSocial Sciences (R0)