Try To Talk About The Medieval Europe

The European Idea, considered as the spiritual tie of Europe, is one of the key words of the European Union and when did it come into being is still an open question. However, it is of great significance to compare the European Idea of the Middle Ages with that of today, and to analyze the changes in different historical periods as well as the factors affecting the forming of the idea.The European Idea does not only involve a common history and a shared cultural identity, but also an identity in geographic sense. It can hardly be separated from its ideological origin and various civilizations. Culture and religion served as two key factors in the forming of the idea, and external elements were also noteworthy. This paper tries to explain the clash between the strong power of monarchy in the Middle Ages and the European Idea so as to better understand the history of Europe.This dissertation is mainly divided into four parts. The introduction section is a literature review. The rudiments and origin concepts of the European Idea are introduced in the preface. The second chapter is about Christianity, the most important factor. In this part, the role that Christianity that had played is presented. The third chapter focuses on the external factors which had an influence on the European Idea. The clash between Christianity and Islam and Buddhism did give an impetus to the forming of the idea instead of diluting it. The fourth part is about the contradiction between national identity and European identity, which is a controversial issue. This paper traces the issue back to the Middle Ages, which many scholars may not agree with, since in the Middle Ages there were ethnic nations rather than modern nations. Nonetheless, modern nations in their early form had emerged in that period, and had an effect on the development of the European Idea.