Although there were substantial changes in society and political structures, the break with classical antiquity was not complete. In the 7th century, North Africa and the Middle East-once part of the Byzantine Empire-came under the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate, an Islamic empire, after conquest by Muhammad's successors.
The large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. Population decline, counterurbanisation, the collapse of centralized authority, invasions, and mass migrations of tribes, which had begun in Late Antiquity, continued into the Early Middle Ages. The medieval period is itself subdivided into the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages. The Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history: classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and transitioned into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the Post-classical period of global history. Probably made in Cologne or Essen, the cross demonstrates several medieval techniques: cast figurative sculpture, filigree, enamelling, gem polishing and setting, and the reuse of Classical cameos and engraved gems. The Cross of Mathilde, a crux gemmata made for Mathilde, Abbess of Essen (973–1011), who is shown kneeling before the Virgin and Child in the enamel plaque.
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