Download Dark Ages Video Guide - Coach J`s History Class

Name _____________________________________________
Date _______________
Period _______
The Dark Ages
1. What are two reasons why someone might say that the current decade is the Dark Ages of America?
I.
_________________________________________________________________________________
II.
_________________________________________________________________________________
2. What year did Rome fall? __________________________________
3. Who conquered Rome? __________________________________
4. What is one example of how bad life was in Rome when it was surrounded by the Visigoths?
5. What characterized the period between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance known as the Dark Ages?
6. What happened to the great architecture, aqueducts and The Coliseum of Rome when the empire fell?
7. Who slowly became the new emperor of the dark ages? _______________________________
8. What Roman emperor made the Roman Empire a Christian empire? ____________________________
9. During the Dark Ages the practice of ‘the ordeal’ was common. Give an example of ‘the ordeal’ and
explain how the example illustrates how rampant superstitious thought was during the dark ages.
10. What are two things Clovis I is known for in history?
I.
_________________________________________________________________________________
II.
_________________________________________________________________________________
11. Describe the general attitude of people in the Eastern Roman Empire at the start of the Dark Ages.
12. Describe the general attitude of people in the fallen Western Roman Empire at the start of the Dark Ages.
13. What Eastern Roman Emperor desired to recapture the Western territories of Italy, Spain and North Africa
back from the Barbarians during the Middle Ages? ___________________________________
14. “Behind every powerful man lies an equally powerful woman.” Do you agree with this statement? Explain.
15. What did Justinian’s wife do when he planned to leave Byzantine for fear of the rioting sports fans?
16. What did Justinian build in Constantinople and why did he build it?
17. What did Justinian make a Roman lake again? _________________________________________________
18. What were the effects of the bubonic plague on a person?
19. How did the plague spread? ________________________________________________________________
20. Around what percent of the Roman Empire died from the plague and around how many people died?
21. What were the topics of stories that were told during the Dark Ages?
22. What would be two examples of stories that are told today that come from Dark Ages topics?
23. Why was ‘misery’ never in short supply during the Dark Ages?
24. Why were books burned during the Dark Ages?
25. Who saved books and copied down books during the Dark Ages? _______________________________
26. What are two things St. Benedict did during his life that he is known for today?
27. What two main religions fought holly wars during the Dark Ages? ______________________________
28. What did Charles the Hammer do to prepare the Franks for the Muslim army that moves through Spain?
29. How did Charles the Hammer defeat the Moors?
30. What are three modern day countries Charlemagne’s empire covered?
i.
ii.
iii.
31. When Charlemagne’s army took new territory, what choice did he give the newly conquered people?
32. What did Charlemagne do for education in Europe?
33. How did Charlemagne ‘practice what he preached’ when it came to education?
34. What was Charlemagne more passionate about than education? ________________________________________
35. On December 25, 800 what happened to Charlemagne?
36. As the ‘Charlemagne Age’ came to an end, what age followed taking Europe deeper into the Dark Ages?
37. The Vikings are notorious barbarians. Explain one vicious Viking story.
38. Who was Ivar the Boneless? Tell how he became famous and what he did to his greatest enemy?
39. How did the British (Angle Saxon) leader Alfred the Great stop the Vikings?
40. What was the typical medieval knight like during the Dark Ages?
41. What are two ways the Christian Church got knights to behave themselves?
I.
________________________________________________________________________________________
II.
________________________________________________________________________________________
42. What was the point of the crusades?
43. How did the crusades change Europe?
44. If someone asked you “What were the Dark Ages” what would you say? Explain
your answer with two specific examples from the video in your answer.
Ten historically significant events that took place during the thousand years or so that make up the period we refer to as
the Middle Ages are listed below.









520 St. Benedict established the first monastery at Monte Cassino, Italy. He drew up a set of rules for
the monks, which included vows of obedience, poverty and manual labor.
800 Charlemagne was crowned ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. This act symbolized a union of church
and state.
1066 William invaded and conquered England. He defeated King Harold who was killed at the 1096
First Crusade began. The Crusaders were armies of Christians from all over Europe who marched to the
Holy Land to regain lands captured by the Turks. The First Crusaders took the city of Jerusalem but
paid a very heavy price in lives.
1147 Second Crusade was launched. This Crusade is generally considered to have been a failure.
1189 Third Crusade was one of the more successful. In it King Richard the Lion-Hearted obtained
certain privileges for Christians from the Turkish ruler, Saladin.
1202 Forth Crusade launched. In this Crusade the original purpose of the Crusades was abandoned, and
the Crusaders burned and sacked many cities and villages on their route. They never reached the Holy Land.
1215 King John of England was forced to sign the Magna Carta. The Magna Carta gave some basic
rights to the people and also said that the king was not above the law.
1291 Fall of Acre marked the end of the Crusades. Acre, the last Christian city in the Near East, was
lost to the Turks.
1348 The black plague swept Europe. It was estimated that at least 1 out of every 5 people in England
died. Spread by fleas which infested a huge rat population, the disease is characterized by the victim
turning dark purple in the last hours of life due to respiratory failure, hence the name, black plague.