Monday -
Tuesday -
Wednesday -
Thursday - Germanic Kingdoms Unite Under Charlemagne
Essential Questions:
What were the Dark Ages/Middle Ages/Medieval Times?
What problems did the collapse of the Roman Empire create in Europe?
What was Europe like after Rome fell? Who controlled it?
What role did the Roman Catholic Church play in providing stability to Europe after the fall of Rome?
What role did Clovis, Charles Martel, Charlemagne and Pope Gregory I play in helping to shape Middle Ages Europe?
Middle Ages—Medieval Times—Dark Ages
- What is the difference?
- The Middle Ages lasted roughly 500 CE-1500 CE
- The term medieval simply means “of or relating to the Middle Ages”
- The Dark Ages was the period in Western Europe between 500(the fall of Rome) and 1000 CE
The Dark Ages
- Why is the time period known as the Dark Ages?
- Why church monasteries?
- -See next slide
- Magyars and Vikings raided western European church monasteries
- Due to this, Europe was thrown backwards in time where science, culture, and learning were not focused on as much as they had been with Ancient Rome and Greece
The invasions and fall of the Roman Empire caused the following problems in Europe:
Disruption of Trade
- Centralized Roman authority broke down and with it went the protection of trade
- Without Roman power and protection, roads and trade routes were no longer safe
- Without trade and commerce, the economy tanked
- Money became scarce
Downfall of Cities
- With the disruption of trade, cities were no longer the vital economic centers they once were
- With the breakdown of central Roman authority, cities were no longer needed as centers of government
- People moved to the countryside
- London, Paris, Rome, Florence, Milan, among other cities were still around but played a less important role
Population Shifts
- With the cities no longer the important places they once were, people started migrating to the country
- Why?
- They could grow their own food and felt safer there
Decline of Learning
- The Germanic “barbarians” could not read or write
- The Germanic languages started becoming important, but they lacked a writing system
- Important info was all in Latin or Greek
- The science and philosophy of ancients Greece/Rome got ignored/lost as the Germanic people didn’t have much use for it
- Church leaders were the only people that remained educated
Loss of Common Language
- As the Roman Empire was divided among the different Germanic tribes, the Latin language started evolving/changing throughout Europe(see next slide)—Why?
- The changes came from the separation among the peoples as well as the influence of the Germanic peoples living in the particular areas
- These dialects became the Romance languages(see slide 16)
Decline of Infrastructure
- All the great public works of Rome started falling apart: the aqueducts, the public baths, libraries, arenas, etc.—Why?
- The Germanic leaders didn’t really destroy them, they just didn’t see the need to maintain them or spend $ to do so
- As stated before, cities played a less vital role and so money just wasn’t spent on these things
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