The Early Middle Ages, also known as the "Dark Ages", lasted until the 12th century, the western Roman Empire faced invasions from Germanic tribes, causing its civilization to collapse. Despite the challenges, a new Christian culture gradually developed in western Europe. Philosophy during this difficult time was upheld by late Roman thinkers like St. Augustine and Boethius (c. 470–524), and later by monks such as St. Anselm of Canterbury (c. 1033–1109). Monasteries played a crucial role as primary centers for learning and education, maintaining their importance until the establishment of cathedral schools and universities in the 11th and 12th centuries.

During this period, Christianity had spread throughout Europe, and feudalism was well established. Feudalism was a system in which people were given land and protection by those of higher rank in exchange for working and fighting for them. Old philosophical ideas remained and evolved into various schools of thought in the later Middle Ages. Within the Dominican order, Thomism, St. Thomas Aquinas's theological and philosophical system, became the official teaching, even though Dominicans didn't always strictly follow it. Averroism, championed by philosophers like John of Jandun (c. 1286–1328), remained influential but didn't produce significant developments into the Renaissance. In the Franciscan order, John Duns Scotus (c. 1266–1308) and William of Ockham (c. 1285–c. 1347) introduced new approaches to theology and philosophy, competing with Thomism throughout the later Middle Ages.