The Middle Ages were a period in Europe dating from the
collapse of the Roman Empire in the West, around the 5th century.
However, the fixing of dates for the beginning and end of the Middle
Ages is arbitrary. According to the Norton Anthology, "Medieval
social theory held that society was made up of three 'estates': the
nobility, composed of a small hereditary aristocracy,...,the church,
whose duty was to look after the spiritual welfare of that body, and
everyone else
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