High Middle Ages

===Literature===
{{main|Medieval literature}}
[[File:Apostle John and Marcion of Sinope, from JPM LIbrary MS 748, 11th c.jpg|thumb|upright|[[John the Apostle]] and [[Marcion of Sinope]] in an Italian [[illuminated manuscript]], painting on [[vellum]], 11th century]]
A variety of cultures influenced the literature of the High Middle Ages, one of the strongest among them being Christianity. The connection to Christianity was greatest in [[Latin literature]], which influenced the [[vernacular]] languages in the [[Literature cycle|literary cycle]] of the [[Matter of Rome]]. Other [[literary]] cycles, or interrelated groups of stories, included the [[Matter of France]] (stories about [[Charlemagne]] and his court), the [[Acritic songs]] dealing with the chivalry of [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantium's]] frontiersmen, and perhaps the best known cycle, the [[Matter of Britain]], which featured tales about [[King Arthur]], his court, and related stories from [[Brittany]], [[Cornwall]], [[Wales]] and Ireland. An anonymous German poet tried to bring the Germanic myths from the [[Migration Period]] to the level of the French and British epics, producing the [[Nibelungenlied]]. There was also a quantity of poetry and historical writings which were written during this period, such as ''[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]'' by [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]].

Despite political decline during the late 12th and much of the 13th centuries, the Byzantine scholarly tradition remained particularly fruitful over the time period. One of the most prominent philosophers of the 11th century, [[Michael Psellos]], reinvigorated [[Neoplatonism]] on Christian foundations and bolstered the study of [[Ancient Greek philosophy|ancient philosophical texts]], along with contributing to history, grammar, and rhetorics. His pupil and successor at the head of Philosophy at the [[University of Constantinople]] [[John Italus|Ioannes Italos]] continued the Platonic line in Byzantine thought and was criticized by the Church for holding opinions it considered heretical, such as the doctrine of [[Reincarnation|transmigration]]. Two Orthodox theologians important in the dialogue between the eastern and western churches were [[Nikephoros Blemmydes]] and [[Maximus Planudes]]. Byzantine historical tradition also flourished with the works of the brothers [[Niketas Choniates|Niketas]] and [[Michael Choniates]] in the beginning of the 13th century and [[George Akropolites]] a generation later. Dating from 12th century Byzantine Empire is also [[Timarion]], an Orthodox Christian anticipation of [[Divine Comedy]]. Around the same time the so-called [[Byzantine novel]] rose in popularity with its synthesis of ancient pagan and contemporaneous Christian themes.

At the same time southern France gave birth to [[Occitan literature]], which is best known for [[troubadour]]s who sang of [[courtly love]]. It included elements from Latin literature and Arab-influenced Spain and North Africa. Later its influence spread to several cultures in Western Europe, notably in Portugal and the Minnesänger in Germany. Provençal literature also reached Sicily and Northern Italy laying the foundation of the [[Dolce Stil Nuovo|"sweet new style"]] of [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]] and later [[Petrarch|Petrarca]]. Indeed, the most important poem of the [[Late Middle Ages]], the allegorical ''[[Divine Comedy]],'' is to a large degree a product of both the [[Summa Theologica|theology of Thomas Aquinas]] and the largely secular Occitan literature.