Long Middle Ages or appropriations of the medieval?

Abstract

We present an overview of the studies on the Middle Ages that exceeds the traditional chronological milestones of the period. Initially, we present the historiography on the Long Middle Ages, a construct that postulates the idea of a medieval world found in the present and thus, beyond the 15th century and the European continent. In contrast, we seek to present the theory of Medievalism which emphasizes the relationship between the contemporary world and the discursive appropriations of the medieval period. This theory is not quite familiar in the Brazilian academic context, but it offers great possibilities to approach the Middle Ages from a more autonomous perspective, rather than the European historiography, on which, historically, medieval studies have been grounded.

Keywords

• medievalism
• long middle ages
• historiography