keskiaikaiset

Keskiaikaiset is a Finnish adjective in plural form derived from keskiaika, meaning "the Middle Ages". As an adjective it translates to "medieval" or "mediaeval" in English and is used to describe people, objects, buildings, texts and cultural phenomena associated with the medieval period. Grammatically, keskiaikaiset is the nominative plural form of keskiaikainen and commonly modifies plural nouns (for example keskiaikaiset kirkot — medieval churches). It can also function substantively to refer collectively to medieval people or things.

The term situates subjects within a broad historical era that in European historiography is conventionally placed between the late Antiquity and the early modern period, roughly the 5th to the 15th centuries, though regional chronologies vary. In Finnish and Scandinavian contexts the medieval era is often discussed with reference to the Christianization of the region, the development of medieval parishes and fortifications, and economic and social changes up to the early modern period.

Keskiaikaiset appears in academic, museum and popular contexts when classifying architecture, artifacts, manuscripts, legal texts and customs. Related Finnish terms include keskiaikainen (singular), keskiaika (the Middle Ages) and keskiaikaisuus (medievality). Use of the word in contemporary discourse generally signals historical periodization rather than a value judgment.