Europe is not eternal. It took shape in a long process of contact between diverse societies and cultures. How was the heritage of antiquity passed on to nomads and settlers of the north? Were the Middle Ages a time in which every person knew his/her place? Were they the Age of Faith? Were peasants truly conservative and city dwellers prone to adopt innovations? Were women powerless and had to wait patiently for modernity to gain agency? Were families extended, and individuals nearly non-existent? These are some of the questions to be dealt with in this introductory lecture