沉睡在黑暗時代的歐洲被新的教會危機所震動。1054年一場不可調解的宗教分裂在羅馬和君士坦丁堡這兩個尚存的基督教派別之間産生。
在11、12和13世紀的中世紀鼎盛時期，歐洲人口大量增長，帶來了與前一時期相比巨大的社會着政治變革。至1250年強健的人口增長極大地刺激了經濟，使其達到了19世紀之前再未重現的高度。
從約1000年開始，西歐經歷了最後的野蠻人入侵，政治上更為穩定。維京人在英倫三島、法國和其他地區定居，北歐基督教王國在他們的斯堪的納維亞故鄉也發展了起來。馬紮爾人在10世紀停止了擴張，至1000年，信仰基督教的中歐匈牙利王國被承認。除了短時期的蒙古人入侵之外，主要的野蠻人入侵都停止了。
在11世紀，阿爾卑斯山北部的人口開始移居至新的土地，某些在羅馬帝國末期回歸到野蠻狀態。在被稱為“大清除”的時期中，歐洲大量森林和沼澤被開闢為耕地。在同一時期移民也越過了傳統的法蘭剋帝國邊界，到達了新的東歐前沿，越過易北河，在此過程中將德意志疆域擴大了三倍。十字軍在纍範特建立了歐洲殖民地，伊比利亞半島的大部分被摩爾人徵服，諾曼人在意大利南部殖民，這些都是主要的人口增長和移居模式。
中世紀鼎盛時期産生了許多不同形式的學術、宗教和藝術傑作。這個時期經歷了西歐現代民族國傢的崛起，意大利城市國傢的興盛。仍然有強大實力的羅馬天主教會號召全歐洲的軍隊參加一係列的對占領聖地的塞爾柱突厥人進行的十字軍東徵。對亞裏士多德作品的重新發現啓發了托馬斯·阿奎那和其他思想傢發展起經院哲學。在建築學上，很多最著名的哥特式教堂在這一時期建造或完成建造。
The slumber of the Dark Ages was shaken by renewed crisis in the Church. In 1054, a schism, an insoluble split, between the two remaining Christian seats in Rome and Constantinople.
The High Middle Ages of the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries show a rapidly increasing population of Europe, which brought about great social and political change from the preceding era. By 1250, the robust population increase greatly benefited the economy, reaching levels it would not see again in some areas until the 19th century. From about the year 1000 onwards, Western Europe saw the last of the barbarian invasions and became more politically organized. The Vikings had settled in the British Isles, France and elsewhere, whilst Norse Christian kingdoms were developing in their Scandinavian homelands. The Magyars had ceased their expansion in the 10th century, and by the year 1000, a Christian Kingdom of Hungary was recognized in central Europe. With the brief exception of the Mongol invasions, major barbarian incursions ceased.
In the 11th century, populations north of the Alps began to settle new lands, some of which had reverted to wilderness after the end of the Roman Empire. In what is known as the "great clearances," vast forests and marshes of Europe were cleared and cultivated. At the same time settlements moved beyond the traditional boundaries of the Frankish Empire to new frontiers in eastern Europe, beyond the Elbe River, tripling the size of Germany in the process. Crusaders founded European colonies in the Levant, the majority of the Iberian Peninsula was conquered from the Moors, and the Normans colonized southern Italy, all part of the major population increase and resettlement pattern.
The High Middle Ages produced many different forms of intellectual, spiritual and artistic works. This age saw the rise of modern nation-states in Western Europe and the ascent of the great Italian city-states. The still-powerful Roman Church called armies from across Europe to a series of Crusades against the Seljuk Turks, who occupied the Holy Land. The rediscovery of the works of Aristotle led Thomas Aquinas and other thinkers to develop the philosophy of Scholasticism. In architecture, many of the most notable Gothic cathedrals were built or completed during this era.