England in the Late Middle Ages Edward III, armies were smaller, but the troops were better equipped and uniformed. Medieval England produced art in the form of paintings, carvings, books, fabrics and many functional but beautiful objects. Literature was produced in Latin and French and from the reign of Richard II there was an upsurge in the use of Middle English in poetry. Music and singing were important and were used in religious ceremonies, court occasions and to accompany theatrical works. During the twelfth century the Anglo-Norman architectural style became more ornate, with pointed arches derived from France, termed Early English Gothic. Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of
History of European Jews in the Middle Ages History of European Jews in the Middle Ages Jewish history in the Middle Ages covers the period from the 5th to the 15th century. During the course of this period, the Jewish population gradually shifted from the Mediterranean Basin to Eastern Europe. Jewish tradition traces the origins of Jews to the Israelite tribes of Palestine in the late 2nd -early Ist millennium BCE. As early as the Babylonian exile Jews, through exile under military constraint or otherwise, came to live in many other Middle Eastern countries, and later formed communities throughout the eastern Mediterranean lands, constituting collectively a Jewish diaspora.