<P> The Middle Ages is one of the three major periods in the most enduring scheme for analysing European history: classical civilisation, or Antiquity; the Middle Ages; and the Modern Period . </P> <P> Medieval writers divided history into periods such as the "Six Ages" or the "Four Empires", and considered their time to be the last before the end of the world . When referring to their own times, they spoke of them as being "modern". In the 1330s, the humanist and poet Petrarch referred to pre-Christian times as antiqua (or "ancient") and to the Christian period as nova (or "new"). Leonardo Bruni was the first historian to use tripartite periodisation in his History of the Florentine People (1442). Bruni and later historians argued that Italy had recovered since Petrarch's time, and therefore added a third period to Petrarch's two . The "Middle Ages" first appears in Latin in 1469 as media tempestas or "middle season". In early usage, there were many variants, including medium aevum, or "middle age", first recorded in 1604, and media saecula, or "middle ages", first recorded in 1625 . The alternative term "medieval" (or occasionally "mediaeval" or "mediæval") derives from medium aevum . Tripartite periodisation became standard after the German 17th - century historian Christoph Cellarius divided history into three periods: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern . </P> <P> The most commonly given starting point for the Middle Ages is 476, first used by Bruni . For Europe as a whole, 1500 is often considered to be the end of the Middle Ages, but there is no universally agreed upon end date . Depending on the context, events such as Christopher Columbus's first voyage to the Americas in 1492, the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453, or the Protestant Reformation in 1517 are sometimes used . English historians often use the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 to mark the end of the period . For Spain, dates commonly used are the death of King Ferdinand II in 1516, the death of Queen Isabella I of Castile in 1504, or the conquest of Granada in 1492 . Historians from Romance - speaking countries tend to divide the Middle Ages into two parts: an earlier "High" and later "Low" period . English - speaking historians, following their German counterparts, generally subdivide the Middle Ages into three intervals: "Early", "High", and "Late". In the 19th century, the entire Middle Ages were often referred to as the "Dark Ages", but with the adoption of these subdivisions, use of this term was restricted to the Early Middle Ages, at least among historians . </P> <P> The Roman Empire reached its greatest territorial extent during the second century AD; the following two centuries witnessed the slow decline of Roman control over its outlying territories . Economic issues, including inflation, and external pressure on the frontiers combined to create the Crisis of the Third Century, with emperors coming to the throne only to be rapidly replaced by new usurpers . Military expenses increased steadily during the third century, mainly in response to the war with the Sasanian Empire, which revived in the middle of the third century . The army doubled in size, and cavalry and smaller units replaced the Roman legion as the main tactical unit . The need for revenue led to increased taxes and a decline in numbers of the curial, or landowning, class, and decreasing numbers of them willing to shoulder the burdens of holding office in their native towns . More bureaucrats were needed in the central administration to deal with the needs of the army, which led to complaints from civilians that there were more tax - collectors in the empire than tax - payers . </P>

The middle ages took place in western europe during the years
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