Middle Ages
Further information: Latin Rite and Western ChristianityAfter the fall of the Roman Empire, many Europeans clung to the Latin identity, more specifically, in the sense of the Romans, as members of the Empire.
In the Byzantine Empire or East Roman Empire, and the broader Greek-Orthodox world, Latins was a synonym for all people who followed Roman Catholic Christianity. It was generally a negative characterization, especially after the 1054 schism. Latins is still used by the Orthodox church communities, but only in a theological context.
The Holy Roman Empire was founded after the fall of Rome but brandished the name of the Roman people and honoured the king with the title "King of the Romans". Despite this, the Holy Roman Empire was largely a Germanic affair with German kings, although its territory was considerably greater than present day Germany. At times, the Holy Roman Empire did not even include the city of Rome.
The term was later borrowed, in various variants, by several languages of the Middle East and southern Asia, sometimes referring to any European.
Read more about this topic: Latins
Famous quotes containing the words middle ages, middle and/or ages:
“The trouble with us is that the ghetto of the Middle Ages and the children of the twentieth century have to live under one roof.”
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“Unfortunately, life may sometimes seem unfair to middle children, some of whom feel like an afterthought to a brilliant older sibling and unable to captivate the family’s attention like the darling baby. Yet the middle position offers great training for the real world of lowered expectations, negotiation, and compromise. Middle children who often must break the mold set by an older sibling may thereby learn to challenge family values and seek their own identity.”
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“Doubtless, we are as slow to conceive of Paradise as of Heaven, of a perfect natural as of a perfect spiritual world. We see how past ages have loitered and erred. “Is perhaps our generation free from irrationality and error? Have we perhaps reached now the summit of human wisdom, and need no more to look out for mental or physical improvement?” Undoubtedly, we are never so visionary as to be prepared for what the next hour may bring forth.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)