• The end of the Crusades
• Words to Know: The Thirteenth Century
• The new Europe
• The Positive Side of the Crusades
• Romantic Love—A Matter of Economics?
• For More Information

If the twelfth century was the peak of the Middle Ages in Western Europe, the thirteenth century (or the 1200s) offered clear signs that the medieval period was drawing to a close. The Crusades continued, but the crusading spirit lost force; and though the church reached the pinnacle of its powers in the mid-1200s, other elements were gaining influence. Among these competing forces were kings and emerging nation-states such as France and England. But kings and popes were far from the only...