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Representations of the Middle Ages in Enlightenment Historiography

Afdeling Geschiedenis, Faculteit der Letteren, 6500 HD Nijmegen, The Netherlands

In the eighteenth century the image of the medieval past of Europe changed from an utterly negative representation to a more positive one. First, the increasing knowledge of non-European cultures and the difference in their development from savage to commercial led to a reconstruction of history as a progressive process of civilisation. So, the Middle Ages could no longer be dismissed as a barbaric interval between Rome and the Renaissance. Historians, such as Robertson and Voltaire, although they never liked the Middle Ages, saw it as a time of commercial growth and the rise of the bourgeoisie. Second, German philosophers, such as Herder, developed a notion that all cultures were equal and unique: therefore, medieval culture had to be considered on its own merits, despite its barbaric character. Con clusion : from 1750 onwards the Middle Ages were seen as integral to the European past, though not much liked. It was the romantic era that represented the medieval past as the height of civilisation.

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