England in the Middle Ages England in the Middle Ages England in the Middle Ages concerns the history of England during the medieval period, from the end of the 5th century through to the start of the Early Modern period in 1485. When England emerged from the collapse of the Roman Empire, the economy was in tatters and many of the towns abandoned. After several centuries of Germanic immigration, new identities and cultures began to emerge, developing into kingdoms that competed for power. A rich artistic culture flourished under the Anglo-Saxons, producing epic poems such as "Beowulf" and sophisticated metalwork. The Anglo-Saxons converted to Christianity
Crisis of the Late Middle Ages Some question whether "crisis" is the right expression for the period at the end of the Middle Ages and the transition to Modernity. In his 1981 article "The End of the Middle Ages: Decline, Crisis or Transformation?" Donald Sullivan addresses this question, claiming that scholarship has neglected the period and viewed it largely as a precursor to subsequent climactic events such as the Renaissance and Reformation. In his "Introduction to the History of the Middle Ages in Europe", Mitre Fernández wrote in 2004 that "[t]o talk about a general crisis of the Late Middle Ages is already a commonplace in