Late Antiquity & Medieval
400 – 1400 ADA millennium of synthesis: the Church Fathers reconciled Athens and Jerusalem, monks preserved classical learning, and the great cathedrals rose as theology in stone. Dante crowned the era by weaving Virgil, Aristotle, and Christian revelation into a single poem.
Literature & Philosophy
Visual Arts & Architecture
Music & Performing Arts
400–800
LiteratureJerome~342 – 420Vulgate Bible — translator, scholar, polemicistLiteratureJohn Chrysostom~347 – 407Golden Mouth — the greatest Christian preacherLiteratureAugustine of Hippo354 – 430Confessions, City of GodLiteratureJohn Cassian~360 – ~435Conferences, Institutes — transmitter of desert wisdom to the WestLiteratureBoethius477 – 524Consolation of PhilosophyLiteratureBenedict of Nursia~480 – ~547Rule of St Benedict — father of Western monasticismLiteraturePseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite~late 5th c. – ~early 6th c.Mystical Theology, Celestial Hierarchy — apophatic mysticismMusicRomanos the Melodist~490 – ~556Kontakia — greatest Byzantine hymnographerLiteratureProcopius~500 – ~565Wars, Secret History — Justinian's historianLiteratureGregory the Great~540 – 604Moralia in Job, Gregorian chant — pope and Doctor of the ChurchLiteratureMaximus the Confessor~580 – 662Ambigua, Mystagogia — the greatest Byzantine theologianLiteratureJohn of Damascus~675 – ~749Fount of Knowledge — defender of icons, organizer of chant
800–1200
MusicIshaq al-Mawsili767 – 850Court musician to Harun al-Rashid — oud virtuoso and theoristLiteratureAl-Jahiz~776 – 868Book of Animals, Book of Misers — Abbasid essayistLiteratureAl-Farabi~872 – 950The Second Teacher — Aristotle's Islamic heirVisualIbn Muqla886 – 940Father of Arabic calligraphy — proportional scriptsLiteratureAl-Mutanabbi915 – 965The greatest Arabic poet — panegyric and prideLiteratureFerdowsi~940 – ~1020Shahnameh — the Persian national epicVisualIbn al-Bawwab~961 – 1022Master calligrapher — perfector of Arabic scriptsLiteratureIbn Sina (Avicenna)980 – 1037Canon of Medicine, Book of Healing — the great polymathLiteratureMichael Psellos1018 – ~1078Chronographia — Byzantine polymath and court philosopherLiteratureAnselm of Canterbury1033 – 1109Proslogion — the ontological argumentLiteratureOmar Khayyam1048 – 1131Rubaiyat — mathematician, astronomer, poetLiteratureBernard of Clairvaux1090 – 1153Sermons on the Song of Songs — mystic, preacher, power brokerMusicHildegard of Bingen1098 – 1179Liturgical chant, Ordo Virtutum
1200–1400
LiteratureIbn Rushd (Averroes)1126 – 1198The Commentator — Aristotle's greatest interpreterLiteratureFrancis of Assisi~1181 – 1226Canticle of the Sun — radical poverty, cosmic praiseVisualYahya al-Wasiti~1200 – ~1260Maqamat illustrations — Baghdad School masterLiteratureRumi1207 – 1273Masnavi, Divan-e Shams — Sufi mystic poetMusicSafiyy al-Din al-Urmawi1216 – 1294Kitab al-Adwar — systematizer of Islamic music theoryLiteratureThomas Aquinas1225 – 1274Summa TheologiaeVisualCimabue~1240 – ~1302Maestà — dawn of Italian paintingVisualArnolfo di Cambio~1240 – ~1310Florence Cathedral, Santa CroceVisualDuccio~1255 – ~1319Maesta — Sienese painting's founderLiteratureMeister Eckhart~1260 – ~1328German sermons — radical mysticLiteratureDante Alighieri1265 – 1321Divine ComedyVisualGiotto1267 – 1337Arena Chapel frescoesVisualManuel Panselinos~1270 – ~1310Protaton frescoes — Macedonian School masterMusicJoannes Koukouzeles~1280 – ~1360Master of kalophonic chant — the 'Maistor'VisualSimone Martini~1284 – 1344Annunciation — Gothic eleganceLiteratureGregory Palamas1296 – 1359Triads — theology of divine light, defender of hesychasmMusicGuillaume de Machaut1300 – 1377Messe de Nostre DameLiteraturePetrarch1304 – 1374Canzoniere — father of humanismVisualOrcagna~1308 – ~1368Tabernacle of OrsanmicheleLiteratureBoccaccio1313 – 1375DecameronLiteratureHafiz~1315 – ~1390Divan — supreme master of the Persian ghazalLiteratureIbn Khaldun1332 – 1406Muqaddimah — father of sociology and historiographyVisualTheophanes the Greek~1340 – ~1410Byzantine master in Russia — icons and frescoesLiteratureGeoffrey Chaucer~1343 – 1400The Canterbury Tales — father of English poetryVisualAndrei Rublev~1360 – ~1430Trinity icon — Russia's greatest painter