Between the fall of the Roman Empire and the beginning of the Reformation lay some 1,000 years, during which realms rose and fell. Emperors and kings came and went, and the papacy quarrelled with nearly every secular ruler. It was a long and turbulent stretch of time meant to bridge antiquity and the modern age — which is why we call it the Middle Ages. Strictly speaking, though, the term only applies to Europe and its history. The scholar Christoph Cellarius of Halle was the first to coin the name in 1688, using it for the period from the beginning of Emperor Constantine's reign in 306 to the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453. Depending on who you ask, the era is dated from either 313 (Constantine's Edict of Toleration) or 476 (the fall of the Western Roman Empire) through to 1492 (the discovery of America) or 1517 (the year of the Reformation). In broad terms, the Middle Ages fall somewhere between 500 and 1500 — and even the further split into Early, High, and Late Middle Ages can't be pinned down with total precision.

Despite religious and secular power struggles, humanity's relentless progress could not be stopped over those 1,000 years — and that's exactly what gives our medieval market events their wonderful variety. From Vikings to Landsknecht mercenaries, alongside jesters, craftsmen, and market traders, you'll find every walk of human life represented. That makes a medieval event a living spectacle for visitors — especially for young people, who may be discovering for the first time where they come from, and to whom they owe all of our achievements: our ancestors.