Middle Ages Almanac | The Eleventh Century

• Europe on the eve of the Crusades
• Words to Know: The Eleventh Century
• Chickens, Churches, and Normans
• The recovery of the church
• Transubstantiation: Body and Blood
• The First Crusade (1095–99)
• Punishment, Prison, and Pilgrimage
• For More Information

Acentral theme of the eleventh century (the 1000s) in Europe was the struggle between church and state, or between popes and kings. From the mid-800s to the early eleventh century, a series of corrupt popes succeeded in nearly destroying the reputation of the papacy, just as emperors such as Otto the...