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Western Christendom after the fall of Rome WHAP/Napp “In the early centuries of the postclassical era, history must have seemed more significant than geography, for the Roman Empire, long a fixture of the western Mediterranean region, had collapsed. The traditional date marking the fall of Rome is 476, when the German general Odoacer overthrew the last Roman emperor in the West. In itself not very important, this event has come to symbolize a major turning point in the West, for much that characterized Roman civilization also weakened, declined, or disappeared in the several centuries before and after 476. Any semblance of large-scale centralized rule vanished. Disease and warfare reduced Europe’s population more than 25 percent. Land under cultivation contracted, while forests, marshland, and wasteland expanded. Urban life too diminished sharply, as Europe reverted to a largely rural existence. Rome at its height was a city of 1 million people, but by the tenth century it numbered perhaps 10,000. Public buildings crumbled from lack of care. Outside Italy, long-distance trade dried up as Roman roads deteriorated, and money exchange gave way to barter in many places. Literacy lost ground as well. Germanic peoples, whom the Romans had viewed as barbarians – Goths, Visigoths, Franks, Lombards, Angles, Saxons – now emerged as the dominant peoples of Western Europe. In the process, Europe’s center of gravity moved away from the Mediterranean toward the north and west. Yet much that was classical or Roman persisted, even as a new order emerged in Europe. On the political front, a series of regional kingdoms – led by Visigoths in Spain, Franks in France, Lombards in Italy, and Angles and Saxons in England – arose to replace Roman authority but many of these Germanic peoples, originally organized in small kinship-based tribes with strong warrior values, had already been substantially Romanized. Contact with the Roman Empire in the first several centuries C.E. generated more distinct ethnic identities among them, militarized their societies, and gave greater prominence to Woden, their god of war. As Germanic peoples migrated into or invaded Roman lands, many were deeply influenced by Roman culture, especially if they served in the Roman army. On the funeral monument of one such person was the telling inscription: ‘I am Frank by nationality, but a Roman soldier under arms.’” ~ Ways of the World 1. When scholars refer to Western Europe as a “hybrid civilization,” they are referring to the combination, after the collapse of the Roman Empire, of elements of (A) Byzantine and Slavic cultures to produce a new civilization. (B) Classical Roman, Germanic, and Celtic cultures to produce a new civilization. (C) Slavic and Germanic cultures to produce a new civilization. (D) Byzantine and Celtic cultures to produce a new civilization. 2. Which of the following was NOT a factor that left the western part of the Roman Empire more vulnerable to collapse than the eastern half at the end of the fourth century C.E.? (A) The western portion was if anything wealthier than the eastern portion, but squandered its resources foolishly. (B) The western portion possessed a much less easily defended capital. (C) The western portion had a longer frontier to defend than the eastern portion. (D) The western portion possessed a weaker army and navy. Key Words/ I. Fiefs and Faith: Western Europe after the fall of Rome Questions A. A highly fragmented and decentralized society with great local variation B. Independent, self-sufficient, and isolated landed estates or manors 1. A manor was the lord’s land; an agricultural estate C. Lesser lords and knights swore allegiance to lords thus becoming vassals 1. Vassals received land for military service to lords (Feudalism) D. Roman slavery gave way to serfdom 1. Serfs were not slaves but were bound to the lord’s land E. In absence of central Roman authority, only security lay in manors II. Roman Catholic Church A. Hierarchical organization (pope, bishops) modeled on Roman Empire B. Began the process of converting many of Europe’s “pagan” peoples C. Provided unity and stability during a time of political fragmentation D. By 1100, most of Europe had embraced Christianity E. Church was a center of literacy, received tithes (taxes), and landowner F. Church Controversies 1. Investiture Controversy during the eleventh and twelfth centuries 2. Church officials and kings debated who had the right to make Church appointments but eventually Church officials were given the right G. Pace of change in West picked up in several centuries after 1000 H. By 1000, invasions had been checked and absorbed into societies 1. Called the High Middle Ages (expansion and commerce occurred) III. Stability and Trade A. Urbanization proceeded as towns and cities began to attract people B. Groups organized themselves into guilds or associations of people pursuing the same line of work in order to regulate professions C. For women, religious life provided opportunities [like Buddhism] 1. Catholic nuns D. Further change: 11th – 13th century, monarchs became more powerful IV. The Crusades A. Beginning in 1095, the Crusades or a series of “holy wars” B. Crusaders were offered an indulgence: removed penalties for sins C. But by 1291, Muslim forces had recaptured all of the temporary Christian states established in the eastern Mediterranean 1. “Successful failures”: Europeans lost permanent control of the Holy Land but gained ideas from Islamic golden age 2. Europeans rediscovered their own classical ideas in Muslim libraries 3. But also tremendous cruelty: slaughtered Muslims and Jews 4. Crusading elsewhere too: Spanish waged war for centuries to reclaim the Iberian Peninsula from Muslim hands (Reconquista) 5. Europeans also learned techniques for producing sugar on large plantations using slave labor from Muslims 6. Muslim scholarship, together with the Greek learning it incorporated, also flowed into Europe, largely through Spain Reflections: 1. “The Crusader states were able to cling to survival only through frequent delivery of supplies and manpower from Europe. [They] were defended primarily by three semi-monastic military orders: the Templars, the Hospitallers, and the Teutonic Knights. Combining monasticism and militarism, these orders served to protect pilgrims and to wage perpetual war against the Muslims.” Palmira Brummett, world historian, 2007 “Whenever I visited Jerusalem, I always entered the al-Aqsa Mosque, beside which stood a small mosque which the Franks had converted into a church.… [T]he Templars … who were my friends, would evacuate the little adjoining mosque so that I could pray in it.” Usamah ibn Munqidh, Muslim historian, Jerusalem, circa 1138 The second passage does not support the first passage because the second passage (A) shows that an influx of manpower from Europe was not critical for the survival of the Crusader states (B) shows that Muslims vastly outnumbered Europeans in the Crusader states (C) minimizes the importance of Hospitallers and Teutonic Knights in the administration of the Crusader states (D) presents an incident in which a military order supported a Muslim traveler 2. The political culture of post-Roman Western Europe possessed all EXCEPT which of the following? (A) A church more independent from the state than in the Byzantine Empire (B) A more powerful and centralized political structure than China (C) A complete lack of politically independent cities (D) Political authority exercised exclusively by the Pope 3. In Western Europe, the multicentered political system made up of competing states and a three-way struggle for power within states between kings, warrior aristocrats, and Church leaders resulted in (A) The achievement of an unusual independence for urban-based merchants. (B) The Roman Catholic Church losing its political authority as Western rulers developed their own version of caesaropapism. (C) A slowing in technological development, because of the devastation of war. (D) All of the above. 4. A feature of the High Middle Ages in Western Europe was (A) Population growth. (B) Reemergence of political unity as popes started to take the additional title “Holy Roman Emperor.” (C) Considerable growth in long-distance trade. (D) Both a and c. 5. Which of the following was NOT a similarity between the establishment of Buddhism in China and Christianity in Western Europe? (A) Both the Buddhist and Christian establishments built hierarchies modeled on their respective empires. (B) Reformers often accused both Buddhist and Christian establishments of forgetting their central spiritual missions. (C) Both Buddhism and Christianity appealed to recently settled nomadic rulers who sought legitimacy for their rule. (D) Both Buddhist and Christian monasteries offered relative freedom from male control for substantial numbers of women. Feudalism is a political and military system based on loyalty and exchange. Look at the diagrams of below. Identify three characteristics of feudal, medieval Western Europe. Three Characteristics: ______________________________________________________________________________ Reading: The Vikings “From the eighth until the twelfth century, the European north Atlantic was primarily the province of marauding sailors and raiders from the north. These Vikings were the ancestors of today’s Norwegians, Swedes, and Danes [Scandinavians]. They were also colonizers, fishermen, and traders. One group from Norway began to settle Iceland around 870 and Greenland about 982. Under Leif Eriksson they reached Newfoundland in North America about 1000 and established a settlement there as well, but it did not endure. Danes and Norwegians plundered along the entire Atlantic coast of Europe, with especially early and devastating attacks on Lindisfarne off the northern coast of England (793), Dorestad in Frisia (834), and Nantes in France (842), where they murdered the bishop and all his clergy. These Vikings were also traders and colonizers who fostered urban development and trade in the places they conquered.” ~ The World’s History Critical Thinking Questions: 1- What characteristics did the Scandinavians share with earlier Germanic peoples? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 2- Why did Scandinavians emigrate? What skills did they possess that enabled emigration? What was the extent of Viking travels? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ How did Vikings interact with the peoples they encountered in their travels and conquests? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Thesis Practice: Analyze continuities and changes in Western Europe from 400 C.E. to 1400 C.E. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________