A number of very important inventions were made in medieval times such as the Spinning Wheel, Stirrups, Astrolabe, Eyeglasses, Compass, Tidal Mills, Gunpowder and Printing Press. A large number of inventions came to be during the medieval period.

The period saw major technological advances, including the adoption of gunpowder, the invention of vertical windmills, spectacles, mechanical clocks, and greatly improved water mills, building techniques (Gothic architecture, medieval castles), and agriculture in general (three-field crop rotation).

7 ingenious inventions of the Middle Ages

• Getting defensive. Castles are probably the most famous invention of the Middle Ages.
• Knights in shining armour.
• Weapons of mass production.
• Toilet talk.
• Fortunes in Fleece.
• Creating a spectacle.
• Hold the press.

• The Printing press was revolutionary.
• The Coffee House was ahead of its time.
• The heavy plow led to the Agricultural Revolution.
• Verge escapement/mechanical clocks replaced hourglasses.
• Paper ‘money’ is older than you think.
• The hourglass was a great way of keeping time.
• Gunpowder changed the world.

There was no money system, so land was the most valuable thing a chief could offer.

Clocks

King Charlemagne

The Roman Catholic Church and the Pope had the most power in the middle ages.

During the beginning of the 13th Century, the Pope Innocent III was the highest ranking person in Europe (as the representative on Earth of God Himself, he was above kings and emperors), considered the most powerful man alive, “Vicar of Christ” and master of the World.

Dark Economy Another common characteristic associated with the Dark Ages is the relative lack of monumental architecture. Towns and cities no longer built large new stone structures. And the slow deterioration of Roman infrastructure such as aqueducts likely had an effect on quality of life in cities, Gautier says.

Migration period, also called Dark Ages or Early Middle Ages, the early medieval period of western European history—specifically, the time (476–800 ce) when there was no Roman (or Holy Roman) emperor in the West or, more generally, the period between about 500 and 1000, which was marked by frequent warfare and a …

Not for nothing is the Medieval period often referred to as the ‘Dark Ages’. Not only was it incredibly gloomy, it was also quite a miserable time to be alive. Sure, some kings and nobles lived in relative splendor, but for most people, everyday life was dirty, boring and treacherous.