RUSSIAN EMPIRE

Gradually, because of the Viking trading, the new country of

Russia got to be more and more friendly with the Byzantine
Empire. Naturally the Byzantine emperors wanted the
Russians to become Christians. Around the year 1000, the
Russians did become Christians, and began to build churches
like those in Constantinople.
In 1067 AD, the Russians moved their capital from Novgorod
to Kiev (KEY-ev). Russia was the biggest country in Europe,
and the Russian people did very well, trading between
the Holy Roman Empireand the Byzantine Empireand
the Islamic caliphateand Central Asia.

Russian empire wasnt the mos powerull during middle age, it

was one of the weakest, but when Ivan the terrible take Russia
control it started Russia territorial expansin of the empire,
after that in 1190 Moscu became the capital of the Russian
empire, before moscu it was a city called San Petersburgo

SPAIN
Spain, from the Battle of Vouill (507), left his presence in
Gaul and focused on the ancient Roman provinces of Hispania.
Failed attempt to build a dual society in which Spain minority
is kept rigidly separate from the Hispano-Roman majority,
from the Third Council of Toledo (589) the construction of a
society and common culture was promoted, with a large
weight of ecclesiastical institutions, well adapted to the prefeudal structures that had been gradually established since
the late Roman period. Internal weaknesses did not disappear,
allowing the rapid success of the Arab invasion of 711, which
inaugurated a long Muslim presence in Spain, renamed as alAndalus. In the period of the Caliphate of Crdoba (929-1031)
reached its peak, becoming an economic and military power
and initiating a true "golden age" culture that lasted well
beyond their demise as a political entity.

The emergence, consolidation and growth of Hispanic

Christian kingdoms became that period of eight centuries,
from their point of view, a "Reconquista" and "Reforestation"
around the peninsular space, which as "Spain" was called in
emerging languages romances.4 segregated communities in
defined ethnic-religious way (Christians, Moors and Jews in
expression of Amrico Castro) society was built; and heavily
militarized (like the landscape that filled castles); for which
the term "feudalism" is the subject of discussion
historiogrfico.6 In that there is a general consensus is to
highlight the fact that, for the configuration of its historical
personality, was decisive boundary condition changing all
areas lived in either ocasin.7 However, relations were not
always violent: they ranged from confrontation and tolerance,
allowing demographic, economic and cultural exchanges
assets. Too often, Christian hosts were used by Muslims and

vice versa. Only in some cases decisive confrontations

between large coalitions that responded sharply to the
religious split occurred.

England
In December 1154, the young and vigorous Henry II became king
of England following the anarchy and civil war of Stephen's reign.
Stephen had acknowledged Henry, grandson of Henry I of England,
as his heir-designate. His eldest son, Eustace, had died in 1153,
but his younger son, who might have succeeded, lived on as count
of Mortain. Primogeniture was not then established in England.
The Britain of Henry II, and of his sons Richard I and John, was
experiencing rapid population growth, clearance of forest for fields,
establishment of new towns and outward-looking crusading zeal.
The families of Balliol, Bruce and Wallace, dominant in Scottish
medieval history, all derived from French origins - a minority
overlaying the population of Scots.
The country also witnessed the cultural feast of the '12th-century
renaissance' in the arts, exemplified by the Winchester Bible of c.
1160, created from the skins of over 300 calves and lavishly
decorated with lapis lazuli and gold applied by a team of
manuscript illuminators from continental Europe.
Legacies of the Norman invasion of 1066 remained. The
aristocracy spoke French until after 1350, so saxon 'ox' and
'swine', for example, came to the table as French boeuf andporc.
North of 'sassenach' (Saxon) England, Normanised lowland
Scotland (which shared a common vernacular dialect with England
North of the Humber) remained distinct from the Highlands where
Gaelic flourished.

The families of Balliol, Bruce and Wallace, dominant in Scottish

medieval history, all derived from French origins - a minority
overlaying the population of Scots.
Ireland was less dominated by Normans. However, much of the
regional indigenous culture survived despite Norman monarchy
and aristocracy.

France
was marked by the expansion of royal control by the House of
Capet (9871328); their struggles with the virtually
independent principalities (duchies and counties, such as the
Norman and Angevin regions) that had developed following
the Viking invasions and through the piecemeal dismantling of
the Carolingian Empire and West Francia (843987); the
creation and extension of administrative/state control (notably
under Philip II Augustus and Louis IX) in the 13th century; the
rise of the House of Valois (13281589) and the protracted
dynastic crisis of the Hundred Years' War with the Kingdom of
England (13371453) compounded by the catastrophic Black
Death epidemic (1348), which laid the seeds for a more
centralized and expanded state in the early modern period
and the creation of a sense of French identity.

Up to the 12th century, the period saw the elaboration and

extension of the seigneurial economic system (including the
attachment of peasants to the land through serfdom); the
extension of the feudal system of rights and obligations
between lords and vassals; the so-called "feudal revolution" of
the 11th century during which ever smaller lords took control
of local lands in many regions; and the appropriation by
regional/local seigneurs of various administrative, fiscal and

judicial rights for themselves. From the 13th century on, the
state slowly regained control of a number of these lost
powers. The crises of the 13th and 14th century led to the
convening an advisory assembly, the Estates General, and
also to an effective end to serfdom.