1. Periods in European History
Ms. Andrawis, AP Euro

2. Antiquity
Ancient Greece
Ancient Rome

3. Middle Ages Early Middle Ages High Middle Ages Late Middle Ages
C.E
“Dark Ages” (4th c. through 900)
High Middle Ages
Age of Feudalism
Late Middle Ages
The Renaissance

4. Early Modern Period 1500-1700 Includes: Age of Discovery
Protestant Reformation
The Enlightenment

5. Modern Era 1700-2000 Includes: Industrial Revolution Napoleonic Era
Romantic Era
WWI/WWII
Cold War

6. Why periodization? Periodization helps us to
organize events to aid in memorization
group events according to general similarities

7. Problems Periods do not have exact starting and end dates
We may disagree with each other about where to place events that occur “on the cusp”
Not all events/people within a period “fit”
“behind the times”/“before their time”
every pattern has an exception

8. B.C. v. B.C.E.
The AP exam and current historical scholarship use B.C.E. (before common era) instead of B.C (before Christ)
Likewise, C.E. (common era) has replaced A.D. (Anno Domini, the year of our lord)
The use of B.C.E. and C.E. dates back to the early 1700s.

9. Circa Circa, abbreviated ca. or c. means “around”
You may use it when you do not know the exact date:
“He was born circa 1600.”