Editing History of Europe (section)

===Early Middle Ages===
{{Main|Early Middle Ages|Early Muslim conquests}}
The Early Middle Ages span roughly five centuries from 500 to 1000.<ref>Events used to mark the period's beginning include the sack of Rome by the [[Goths]] (410), the deposition of the last western [[Roman emperor]] (476), the [[Battle of Tolbiac]] (496) and the [[Gothic War (535–554)|Gothic War]] (535–552). Particular events taken to mark its end include the founding of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] by [[Otto I the Great]] (962), the [[East–West Schism|Great Schism]] (1054) and the [[Norman conquest of England]] (1066).</ref>
[[File:Europe 814.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|Europe in the [[Early Middle Ages]]]]
In the East and [[Southeast Europe|Southeast]] of Europe new dominant states formed: the [[Avar Khaganate]] (567–after 822), [[Old Great Bulgaria]] (632–668), the [[Khazars|Khazar Khaganate]] (c. 650–969) and [[First Bulgarian Empire|Danube Bulgaria]] (founded by [[Asparuh of Bulgaria|Asparuh]] in 680) were constantly rivaling the hegemony of the Byzantine Empire.

From the 7th century Byzantine history was greatly affected by the rise of Islam and the [[Caliphates]]. Muslim [[Arabs]] first invaded historically Roman territory under [[Abū Bakr]], first Caliph of the [[Rashidun Caliphate]], who entered [[Roman Syria]] and [[Roman Mesopotamia]]. As the Byzantines and neighboring [[Sasanids]] were severely weakened by the time, amongst the most important reason(s) being the protracted, centuries-lasting and frequent [[Byzantine–Sasanian wars]], which included the climactic [[Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628]], under [[Umar]], the second Caliph, the Muslims entirely toppled the [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanid Persian Empire]], and decisively conquered Syria and Mesopotamia, as well as [[Roman Palestine]], [[Roman Egypt]], and parts of [[Asia Minor]] and [[Africa Province|Roman North Africa]]. In the mid 7th century AD, following the [[Muslim conquest of Persia]], Islam penetrated into the [[Caucasus]] region, of which parts [[Russo-Persian Wars|would later]] permanently become part of Russia.<ref>{{cite book|quote=(..) It is difficult to establish exactly when Islam first appeared in Russia because the lands that Islam penetrated early in its expansion were not part of Russia at the time, but were later incorporated into the expanding Russian Empire. Islam reached the Caucasus region in the middle of the seventh century as part of the Arab [[Muslim conquest of Persia|conquest]] of the Iranian Sassanian Empire.|title=Islam in Russia: The Politics of Identity and Security|first=Shireen|last=Hunter|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|date=2004|page=3|display-authors=etal}}</ref> This trend, which included the conquests by the invading Muslim forces and by that the spread of Islam as well continued under Umar's successors and under the [[Umayyad Caliphate]], which conquered the rest of Mediterranean North Africa and most of the [[Visigothic Kingdom|Iberian Peninsula]]. Over the next centuries Muslim forces were able to take further European territory, including [[Cyprus in the Middle Ages|Cyprus]], Malta, [[Emirate of Crete|Crete]], and [[history of Islam in southern Italy|Sicily and parts of southern Italy]].<ref>Kennedy, Hugh (1995). "The Muslims in Europe". In McKitterick, Rosamund, ''The New Cambridge Medieval History: c. 500 – c. 700'', pp. 249–72. Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0-521-36292-X}}.</ref>

The Muslim conquest of Hispania began when the [[Moors]] invaded the Christian [[Visigoths|Visigothic]] kingdom of [[Iberian peninsula|Hispania]] in 711, under the Berber general [[Tariq ibn Ziyad]]. They landed at [[Gibraltar]] on 30 April and worked their way northward. Tariq's forces were joined the next year by those of his Arab superior, [[Musa ibn Nusair]]. During the eight-year campaign most of the [[Iberian Peninsula]] was brought under Muslim rule – save for small areas in the northwest ([[Asturias]]) and largely [[Basque people|Basque]] regions in the [[Pyrenees]]. In 711, [[Visigothic]] [[Hispania]] was weakened because it was immersed in a serious internal crisis caused by a war of succession to the throne. The Muslims took advantage of the crisis within the [[Hispania|Hispano]]-[[Visigothic]] society to carry out their conquests. This territory, under the Arab name [[Al-Andalus]], became part of the expanding [[Umayyad]] empire.

The [[Siege of Constantinople (717–718)|second siege of Constantinople]] (717) ended unsuccessfully after the intervention of [[Tervel of Bulgaria]] and weakened the [[Umayyad]] dynasty and reduced their prestige. In 722 [[Don Pelayo]] formed an army of 300 [[Astures|Astur]] soldiers, to confront Munuza's Muslim troops. In the [[battle of Covadonga]], the Astures defeated the Arab-Moors, who decided to retire. The Christian victory marked the beginning of the [[Reconquista]] and the establishment of the [[Kingdom of Asturias]], whose first sovereign was Don Pelayo. The conquerors intended to continue their expansion in Europe and move northeast across the Pyrenees, but were defeated by the [[Frankish Empire|Frankish]] leader [[Charles Martel]] at the [[Battle of Tours|Battle of Poitiers]] in 732. The Umayyads were overthrown in 750 by the '[[Abbāsids]],<ref>Joseph F. O´Callaghan, ''Reconquest and crusade in Medieval Spain'' (2002)</ref> and, in 756, the Umayyads established an [[Emirate of Córdoba|independent emirate]] in the Iberian Peninsula.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Oxford Illustrated History of Medieval Europe|editor=George Holmes|isbn=978-0-19-820073-4|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordillustrate00holm/page/371 371]|year=1988|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordillustrate00holm/page/371}}</ref>

====Feudal Christendom====
{{Main|Holy Roman Empire|Charlemagne|Christendom|Caliphate of Córdoba|First Bulgarian Empire|Medieval England|Medieval Hungary|Medieval Poland|Kievan Rus'}}
[[File:Europe 1000.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Europe in 1000, with most European states already formed]]The [[Holy Roman Empire]] emerged around 800, as Charlemagne, King of the [[Franks]] and part of the [[Carolingian dynasty]], was crowned by the pope as emperor. His empire based in modern France, the [[Low Countries]] and Germany expanded into modern Hungary, Italy, [[Bohemia]], Lower Saxony and Spain. He and his father received substantial help from an alliance with the Pope, who wanted help against the [[Lombards]].<ref>Michael Frassetto, ''Early Medieval World, The: From the Fall of Rome to the Time of Charlemagne'' (2013)</ref> His death marked the beginning of the end of the dynasty, which collapsed entirely by 888. The fragmentation of power led to semi-autonomy in the region, and has been defined as a critical starting point for the formation of [[state (polity)|states]] in Europe.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1146/annurev-polisci-050718-032628|title=Beyond War and Contracts: The Medieval and Religious Roots of the European State|year=2020|last1=Grzymala-Busse|first1=Anna|journal=Annual Review of Political Science|volume=23|pages=19–36|doi-access=free}}</ref>

To the east, [[Bulgaria]] was established in 681 and became the first [[Slavic peoples|Slavic]] country.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}} The powerful Bulgarian Empire was the main rival of Byzantium for control of the Balkans for centuries and from the 9th century became the cultural centre of Slavic Europe. The [[First Bulgarian Empire|Empire]] created the [[Cyrillic script]] during the 9th century AD, at the [[Preslav Literary School]], and experienced the [[Golden Age of medieval Bulgarian culture|Golden Age]] of Bulgarian cultural prosperity during the reign of emperor [[Simeon I of Bulgaria|Simeon I the Great]] (893–927). Two states, [[Great Moravia]] and [[Kievan Rus']], emerged among the Slavic peoples respectively in the 9th century. In the late 9th and 10th centuries, northern and western Europe felt the burgeoning power and influence of the [[Viking]]s who raided, traded, conquered and settled swiftly and efficiently with their advanced seagoing vessels such as the [[longship]]s. The [[Viking]]s had left a [[Culture|cultural]] influence on the [[Anglo-Saxons]] and [[Franks]] as well as the [[Scottish people|Scots]].<ref>Michael G. Lamoureux, "The influence of Vikings on European culture".</ref> The [[Invasion#Magyar invasions of Europe|Hungarians]] pillaged mainland Europe, the [[Pechenegs]] raided Bulgaria, Rus States and the [[Arab]] states. In the 10th century independent kingdoms were established in Central Europe including Poland and the newly settled [[Kingdom of Hungary]]. The [[Kingdom of Croatia (925–1102)|Kingdom of Croatia]] also appeared in the Balkans. The subsequent period, ending around 1000, saw the further growth of [[feudalism]], which weakened the Holy Roman Empire.

In eastern Europe, [[Volga Bulgaria]] became an Islamic state in 921, after [[Almış I]] converted to Islam under the missionary efforts of [[Ahmad ibn Fadlan]].<ref>Gerald Mako, "The Islamization of the Volga Bulghars: A Question Reconsidered", Archivum Eurasiae Medii Aevi 18, 2011, 199–223.</ref>

[[Slavery in medieval Europe|Slavery in the early medieval period]] had mostly died out in western Europe by about the year 1000 AD, replaced by [[serfdom]]. It lingered longer in England and in peripheral areas linked to the Muslim world, where slavery continued to flourish. Church rules suppressed slavery of Christians. Most historians argue the transition was quite abrupt around 1000, but some see a gradual transition from about 300 to 1000.<ref>[[Seymour Drescher]] and Stanley L. Engerman, eds. ''A Historical Guide to World Slavery'' (1998) pp. 197–200</ref>