Top 10 most influential medieval Europeans

[Rufus]

Sorry if this has been done before, but how about a top 10 list of the most influential individuals of medieval Europe? Let's say "medieval" is - at the most - between the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and Columbus' discovery of America in 1492. But the individual has to be associated with the medieval era, which began and ended at different times in different places. So, Giotto, for example, lived during the "Middle Ages" but is seen as more of a Renaissance figure since the Renaissance started earlier in Italy than in most other places.

Here are my nominations - just off the top of my head - how about yours?

10. Emperor Otto I the Great - helped pioneer the development of the Holy Roman Empire; one of the first powerful Holy Roman Emperors since Charlemagne
9. King Louis IX of France - seen as the "beau ideal" of a Christian prince in medieval Europe, although his Crusades were failures
8. Roger Bacon - English scientist and philosopher
7. Alfred the Great - virtually founded the medieval English kingdom
6. Pope Urban II - issued the call for the First Crusade
5. Emperor Justinian - famous for his legal code as Byzantine Emperor
4. William the Conqueror - responsible for introducing Norman-French language, customs and culture to England, tying England to the Continent and establishing the English crown as a strong power in Europe
3. St. Thomas Aquinas - perhaps the greatest medieval European theologian and philosopher
2. St. Gregory the Great - largely responsible for the Church's efforts to Christianize northern Europe
1. Charlemagne - His empire established the basic political geography of Europe that persists today, and saw a cultural renaissance the likes of which would not arise again until the end of the Middle Ages

[Kaiser of Arabia]

Macchiavelli
Macchiavelli
Macchiavelli
Macchiavelli
Macchiavelli
Otto the Great
Francis of Assissi
Urban II
William the Conqurer
Macchiavelli

[Alexanderofmacedon]

1. Charlemagne - His empire established the basic political geography of Europe that persists today, and saw a cultural renaissance the likes of which would not arise again until the end of the Middle Ages

I'd agree...

[Mount Suribachi]

Can't believe no-ones mentioned Martin Luther yet.

John Wycliffe

the bloke who invented the printing press (name escapes me, too early)

the Venentian Doge who took Constantinople with the 4th crusade (Enrico Dandolo?)

[Advo-san]

1) Jesus Christ. By far the most important European.
2) Aristotle. If Jesus taught us how to love, Aristotle taught us how to think.
3,4) Miltiades and Themistocles. They stood fast in Marathon and Salamina and prevented the Asian demolishion of Europe right in its craddle.
5) Alexander. Because he was the Nemessis of Europe vs Asia, the counterstrike following the Midic Wars. The balance of power between Europe and Asia following his conquests lasted until Mazikert, 1073.
6) Augustus. One day, when Europe will be united (not homogenized, united) he will be considered the first man ever to have tried this union under one Authority.
7) Charles Martel. Like Miltiades and Themistokles he stood fast and stopped Asia from taking over Europe.
8) Enricco Dandolo, because he set in motion the events that led to the loss of Outremere and of Byzantium, thus to the de-europization of 1/4 of Europe.
9) Christofer Colombus. His achievement led Europe's glory and influence around the globe.
10) Napoleon. His unique achievements set the geographical and political map of Europe, and led to a status quo that slowly but inevitably gave birth to 2 World Wars.

[Knight Templar]

Advo-san, topic is about most influental medieval people.



Here are my nominations - just off the top of my head - how about yours?

10. Emperor Otto I the Great - helped pioneer the development of the Holy Roman Empire; one of the first powerful Holy Roman Emperors since Charlemagne
9. King Louis IX of France - seen as the "beau ideal" of a Christian prince in medieval Europe, although his Crusades were failures
8. Roger Bacon - English scientist and philosopher
7. Alfred the Great - virtually founded the medieval English kingdom
6. Pope Urban II - issued the call for the First Crusade
5. Emperor Justinian - famous for his legal code as Byzantine Emperor
4. William the Conqueror - responsible for introducing Norman-French language, customs and culture to England, tying England to the Continent and establishing the English crown as a strong power in Europe
3. St. Thomas Aquinas - perhaps the greatest medieval European theologian and philosopher
2. St. Gregory the Great - largely responsible for the Church's efforts to Christianize northern Europe
1. Charlemagne - His empire established the basic political geography of Europe that persists today, and saw a cultural renaissance the likes of which would not arise again until the end of the Middle Ages

I mostly agree with your list, but why are only English, French, Germans and popes on the list (no Spain, Slavic countries at all, Scandinavian states) ?

[Advo-san]

Advo-san, topic is about most influental medieval people.




Oooops!!!! That was embarassing.... :embarassed:

[Advo-san]

Ok, let's give it another shot:

1) Charles Martel.
2) Enrico Dandolo.
3) Justinianus.
3) Great Constantine.
4) William the Conqueror.
5) Urbanus II.
6) Wittenberg.
7) Martin Luther.
8) Maciabelli
9) Balduin of Bouillon.
10)Charlemagne.

[caesar44]

1) Jesus Christ. By far the most important European.
2) Aristotle. If Jesus taught us how to love, Aristotle taught us how to think.
3,4) Miltiades and Themistocles. They stood fast in Marathon and Salamina and prevented the Asian demolishion of Europe right in its craddle.
5) Alexander. Because he was the Nemessis of Europe vs Asia, the counterstrike following the Midic Wars. The balance of power between Europe and Asia following his conquests lasted until Mazikert, 1073.
6) Augustus. One day, when Europe will be united (not homogenized, united) he will be considered the first man ever to have tried this union under one Authority.
7) Charles Martel. Like Miltiades and Themistokles he stood fast and stopped Asia from taking over Europe.
8) Enricco Dandolo, because he set in motion the events that led to the loss of Outremere and of Byzantium, thus to the de-europization of 1/4 of Europe.
9) Christofer Colombus. His achievement led Europe's glory and influence around the globe.
10) Napoleon. His unique achievements set the geographical and political map of Europe, and led to a status quo that slowly but inevitably gave birth to 2 World Wars.


Advo-san , Jesus was European ???

[caesar44]

Macchiavelli
Macchiavelli
Macchiavelli
Macchiavelli
Macchiavelli
Otto the Great
Francis of Assissi
Urban II
William the Conqurer
Macchiavelli


Don't you think the guy was a Renaissance's guy ? he wrote his famous book in 1512-1518 , deep in to the new era .

[Kralizec]

Far too many to name, and my knowledge of medieval times is incomplete. Still, here's my list (in no particular order)

Charlemagne
Charles Martel
Otto I
Justinian
Mehmed II
Saladin
Pope Gregorius VII
Barbarossa
Basil II

[Advo-san]

Advo-san , Jesus was European ???
Well..... Aren't Jews europeans? I m not really sure, to be honest. I think he was more European than he was Asian though....

[Advo-san]

Don't you think the guy was a Renaissance's guy ? he wrote his famous book in 1512-1518 , deep in to the new era .
He was a true medieval spirit who accidentally was born in the Renaissance....

[Kralizec]

Advo-San: Israel (the land) is located in what we consider Asia. Culturally, todays Israelites may be more "European" then "Asian". But I don't think we can label a jew from the first century AD as a European ;)

[Aenlic]

What's this? No one mentions ibn Rushd (Averroës) or Jakob Anatoli who translated his works from Arabic to Hebrew? Without those two scholars of medieval Andalusia, we wouldn't have Aristotle affecting European thought as it did. If Aristotle's works hadn't made their way to Europe via Hebrew translations from Averroës Arabic texts, then they would have been largely lost to Europe. Without Averroës, we would have no copy of Aristotle's Politica at all. Without Averroës, Thomas Aquinas wouldn't have had a body of Aristotle's works and Averroës commentaries on them to formulate his own scholastic approach. Aquinas' effect on the entire history of medieval Europe, from the Catholic Church to science to philosophy can't be overstated. ~D

For that matter, where is Thomas Aquinas in the lists?

[Gregoshi]

For that matter, where is Thomas Aquinas in the lists?
Aenlic, I think the idea is that each of us makes our own personal list, so Thomas Aquinas can be on your list.

[King Henry V]

There's a problem with a few lists here. How on earth are Saladin, Mehmet II and ibn Rushd European?

[Kralizec]

Shoot :embarassed:

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

1) Pope Urban II (initiated the Crusade chain)
2) Otto the Great (began the HRE, Europe's longest lasting Empire after Rome)
3) Saladin
4) William I (England as we know it)
5) Justinian
6) Frederick Barbarossa
7) Frederick II (extended the HRE to Italy and Sicily)
8) King Henry V
9) Mehmed II
10) That French King...I forgot his name now, wasn't it St. Louis?

[Aenlic]

There's a problem with a few lists here. How on earth are Saladin, Mehmet II and ibn Rushd European?

ibn Rushd was born in Andalusia. Last time I checked, Iberia was still part of Europe, unless there has been a recent catastrophe and it broke off and floated out into the Atlantic. I might have missed that, living in the U.S. and thus subject to the U.S. media's idea of newsworthy - generally anything which involves missing blond rich teenage girls or Hollywood scandals.

[Rufus]

Thanks for the replies.

I would consider Machiavelli, Gutenburg and Luther more representative of the Renaissance than the Middle Ages.


I mostly agree with your list, but why are only English, French, Germans and popes on the list (no Spain, Slavic countries at all, Scandinavian states) ?

Mainly because of my limited knowledge of those other areas. I'd love to learn more and hear some names from other parts of Europe. Averroes was a good addition.


For that matter, where is Thomas Aquinas in the lists?

I had him at #3 in mine.

[Hurin_Rules]

All good choices in the original top 10.

A couple others to consider:

Pope Gregory VII: Began the great struggles between church and state that eventually saw the beginnings of the papacy as a pan-European political force and the fragmentation of Europe: the rise of the city-states of Italy (that would later give rise to the Renaissance), and the breakup of Germany and Italy down to the 19th century.

Pope Innocent III: most powerful pope of all time. Launched the most crusades of any pope (The Fourth, the Albigensian, smaller eastern crusades, and helped begin the preparations for the fifth); passed sweeping legislation that affected all levels of medieval society at the Fourth Lateran Council (1215); dealt with kings and emperors as if they were his lackeys.

[Aenlic]

I had him at #3 in mine.

Sorry about that Rufus. I missed that. You did indeed.

[Kralizec]

Hurin_Rules: I had Gregory VII in my list ~;)
You forgot to mention he's the Pope who let the Holy Roman Emperor himself kneel to him in the snow at Canossa, begging to lift the excommunication on him.

Reworked list (only Europeans)

Charlemagne
Charles Martel
Clovis
Otto I
Justinian
Pope Gregorius VII
Barbarossa
Basil II
Enrico Dandolo

(Enrico Dandolo is the Venetian Duke who was directly responsible for the attack on constantinople 1204. Didn't remember his name but I had to add a tenth person so I looked it up)

[Mount Suribachi]

Someone asked for people from slavic countries, so how about Jan Hus?

Church reformer, and along with William Tyndale and John Wycliffe one of the forefathers of the Reformation. He is also credited with the development of a sense of Czech nationalism. He was burnt at the stake despite being given a promise of safety ~:(

[Kralizec]

Jan Hus is an excellent choice, especially since there don't seem to be many slavic picks.

But since he's a close forefather of the reformation, I'd still say he's more of a renaissance figure, rather then a medieval one.

[King Henry V]

ibn Rushd was born in Andalusia. Last time I checked, Iberia was still part of Europe, unless there has been a recent catastrophe and it broke off and floated out into the Atlantic. I might have missed that, living in the U.S. and thus subject to the U.S. media's idea of newsworthy - generally anything which involves missing blond rich teenage girls or Hollywood scandals.
He was an Arab or Berber or whatever. That in my mind is not European.

[Meneldil]

Yeah, it's well known that Europe history is based on christian facts :help:

[Aenlic]

Wow. Just wow. (Checks to make sure a virus didn't redirect him to a Stormfront forum)

[Rufus]

He was an Arab or Berber or whatever. That in my mind is not European.

Is this a religious distinction, or an ethnic one? One might make a case for "Holy" Roman Emperor Frederick II being included in a list such as this, yet he was a well-known skeptic of any religion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_II%2C_Holy_Roman_Emperor

Should a non-Christian or non-religious individual be considered non-European, at least in the Middle Ages? I was defining European as a geographic, not a cultural, concept, so Averroes or Frederick II would be eligible by my criteria, since they lived in Europe in this timeframe, even though they were not Christian (definitely in Averroes' case, apparently in Frederick's).

Having said that, the nature of the "Age of Faith" (this timeframe) in medieval Europe was such that a perceived hostility to Christianity, in most cases, would severely limit an individual's potential influence on his or her contemporaries in most of Europe and, by extension, his or her influence on history. Of course, "hostility to Christianity," in the Middle Ages, was quite a subjective term ...

[PanzerJaeger]

Wow. Just wow. (Checks to make sure a virus didn't redirect him to a Stormfront forum)

*Checks to make sure he doesnt have the "Exagerated Rhetoric" option turned on. ~:rolleyes:

[Afonso I of Portugal]

Sorry if this has been done before, but how about a top 10 list of the most influential individuals of medieval Europe? Let's say "medieval" is - at the most - between the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and Columbus' discovery of America in 1492. But the individual has to be associated with the medieval era, which began and ended at different times in different places. So, Giotto, for example, lived during the "Middle Ages" but is seen as more of a Renaissance figure since the Renaissance started earlier in Italy than in most other places.

Here are my nominations - just off the top of my head - how about yours?

10. Emperor Otto I the Great - helped pioneer the development of the Holy Roman Empire; one of the first powerful Holy Roman Emperors since Charlemagne
9. King Louis IX of France - seen as the "beau ideal" of a Christian prince in medieval Europe, although his Crusades were failures
8. Roger Bacon - English scientist and philosopher
7. Alfred the Great - virtually founded the medieval English kingdom
6. Pope Urban II - issued the call for the First Crusade
5. Emperor Justinian - famous for his legal code as Byzantine Emperor
4. William the Conqueror - responsible for introducing Norman-French language, customs and culture to England, tying England to the Continent and establishing the English crown as a strong power in Europe
3. St. Thomas Aquinas - perhaps the greatest medieval European theologian and philosopher
2. St. Gregory the Great - largely responsible for the Church's efforts to Christianize northern Europe
1. Charlemagne - His empire established the basic political geography of Europe that persists today, and saw a cultural renaissance the likes of which would not arise again until the end of the Middle Ages

I Vote for:

1. Charlemagne
2. Emperor Justinian
3. Pope Urban II
4. Emperor Otto I
5. Henry II Plantagenet
6. Louis IX King Of France
7. Abd-Al-Rhaman Caliph of Corboba
8. The Catholic Kings of Spain, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabela of Castile-Leon
9. William the Conqueror
10. St. Thomas Aquinas/ Francis of Assissi/ Marco Polo

[AntiochusIII]

My list, in no particular order:

1. Urban II - the initiator of the Crusades - one of the most important events in Medieval history.

2. Charlemagne - laid the foundation of the "High" Middle Ages. Restored temporary literacy and order to a broken continent, the first to take the honour of the "Holy Roman Emperor", spread Catholic Christianity across Europe.

3. Charles Martel - his role in stopping the Muslim advance into Europe alone makes him a man who, without him, Europe would've been completely different.

4. Pope Gregory VII - managed to establish the papacy as a supreme power in Europe, and the Papal States survived until modern times.

5. Otto the Great - founded the Holy Roman Empire, one of the most important states in Medieval history, and lasted until Napolean's times.

6. Justinian - codified the Roman law; a basis of modern laws, defeated the Ostrogoths, Vandals, and others; also spent the empire's resources and allowed for Italy to become "host" of many powers, including the Papacy, Venice, Sicily, and the Lombard League.

7. William the Conqueror - practically pushed England into the Medieval stage with Norman feudalism; reformed and established England as a powerful Medieval country, which will, through the Hundred Years' War, established both France and England as national identities.

8. Frederick II - the most interesting monarch that Medieval Europe would see. Incredibly blasphemous(!), tolerant(holy cow!), learned(for a Medieval monarch he was astonishingly multi-cultural ~D ), and certainly competent Holy Roman Emperor; he created the first centralized state of Medieval Europe in Sicily, turned it into a haven of knowledge-without-religious-disturbance (at least, by Medieval standards), his lack of presence in Germany, and the laws he issued about it, also left Germany in the decentralized state it would remain until the rise of Prussia. His neglect of Germany, IMO, also saw, later on, the downfall of his dynasty, and the greatest rivals of the Papacy in the Middle Ages came to an end.

9. St. Thomas Aquinas - in my opinion was the man contribued for the large part of what would later become the Catholic doctrine, in other words, he helped define what is now Christianity.

10. Enrico Dandolo - the ultimate decline of Byzantium is blamed in a large part, quite reasonably, to the Fourth Crusade. Enrico, as the Venetian Duke, was responsible for directing the crusaders to Constantinople. The Ottoman empire that took over what was once Byzantium held sovereignty over much of Islam for many centuries, and the effects of that empire's fall and the resulting confusion in the Middle East is still felt today. Also, the decline of the Byzantine empire pushed the knowledge West, into Italy, and contributed to the Renaissance.

[caesar44]

Charles the great :charge:
otto I :duel:
Lion hart :party:
Barsarosa :crown:
Justinian :crowngrin:
Theoderich :knight:
William I :medievalcheers:
Thomas Aquinas :book:
Leo III :santa:
And Bobo

[King Henry V]

Is this a religious distinction, or an ethnic one? One might make a case for "Holy" Roman Emperor Frederick II being included in a list such as this, yet he was a well-known skeptic of any religion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_II%2C_Holy_Roman_Emperor

Should a non-Christian or non-religious individual be considered non-European, at least in the Middle Ages? I was defining European as a geographic, not a cultural, concept, so Averroes or Frederick II would be eligible by my criteria, since they lived in Europe in this timeframe, even though they were not Christian (definitely in Averroes' case, apparently in Frederick's).

Having said that, the nature of the "Age of Faith" (this timeframe) in medieval Europe was such that a perceived hostility to Christianity, in most cases, would severely limit an individual's potential influence on his or her contemporaries in most of Europe and, by extension, his or her influence on history. Of course, "hostility to Christianity," in the Middle Ages, was quite a subjective term ...
I am speaking ethnically European. I would not consider someone say of English origin put whose family had lived in India for a long time to be Indian, nor the Turkish who live in the ancient Propontis to be European either.