Download The Middle Ages in Europe REVIEW - What were the major reasons

The Middle Ages in Europe
REVIEW - What were the major reasons the Western Roman
Empire fell? Include at least three reasons.
1.
2.
3.
Which of the above reasons do you think was the most significant
leading to the fall of Rome? Explain your answer.
CHANGES IN EUROPEAN LIFE DUE TO THE FALL OF ROME
Directions: Analyze each result of the fall of Rome on the left. Then, on the right,
discuss and fill in the effect each example had on European life after the fall of
Rome.
Repeated invasions and constant
warfare caused:
Disruption of trade
Downfall of cities/Population
shifts
Decline of learning
Loss of a common language
EUROPEAN HISTORY TIMELINE
How did each effect impact European life?
600 BC
27 BC
476 AD
Greek Civilization
Roman Empire Collapse of Rome
Modern Era
1500 AD
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages began with the collapse of the Roman Empire. Do not think that the Roman
Empire collapsed in one day, or even in weeks or months. It took years and it happened so
slowly that most people did not even know it was taking place. But slowly, Roman culture
ended. The period of time between the end of the Roman Empire and the beginning of the
modern world is known as the Middle Ages, or the medieval period. There is no date to
show when the Middle Ages ended. Most historians agree that modern history began with the
voyage of Columbus to America in 1492.
People who lived during this time did not call the period the Middle Ages. They simply lived
from day to day. Today, historians look back and call the period the medieval period.
Historians also call the Early Middle Ages period the Dark Ages because trade, industry and
learning declined. The Catholic Church was the center of new learning. Since there were no
public schools, most people did not know how to read and write. Europeans forgot what the
Greeks and Romans knew about the world. This was especially true in science, astronomy,
navigation, art and literature. The term Dark Ages is used because it was as if the lights went
out and people lived in ignorance and fear of the world around them.
What event caused the start of the Middle Ages?
Why was the Early Middle Ages also known as the Dark Ages?
A NEW POLITICAL ORDER: FEUDALISM
What freedoms would you give up for protection?
The worst years of the invaders’ attacks spanned roughly 850 to 950. During this time, the
people of Western Europe desperately needed protection. As a result, they created a political
system of mutual obligations called feudalism. In the feudal system, status determined a
person’s prestige and power. Medieval writers classified people into three groups: those who
fought (nobles and knights), those who prayed (men and women of the Church), and those
who worked (the peasants). Since land ownership determined your position in feudal society,
social class was usually inherited. In exchange for military protection and other services, a
lord, or landowner, granted land called a fief. The person receiving the land was called a
vassal. The structure of feudal society was much like a pyramid. At the top, reigned the king.
Next came the most powerful vassals – wealthy landowners such as nobles and bishops.
Serving beneath these vassals were knights. Knights were mounted horsemen who pledged
to defend their lords’ lands in exchange for fiefs. At the base of the pyramid were landless
peasants called serfs who toiled in the fields.
Fill in the feudal pyramid using the different groups mentioned in the
reading. Be sure to define each new term you include in the pyramid.
THE FEUDAL PYRAMID
 How is feudalism similar to the Indian caste system?
 Why was the feudal system necessary during the Middle Ages?
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF THE CODE OF CHIVALRY
Directions: Translate the Ten Commandments of the Code of Chivalry into brief statements using modern language. Then
answer the questions that follow.
CODE OF CHIVALRY
YOUR TRANSLATION
Thou shalt believe all that the Church teaches,
and shalt observe all its directions.
Thou shalt defend the Church.
Thou shalt respect all weaknesses, and shalt
constitute thyself the defender of them.
Thou shalt love the country in which thou was
born.
Thou shalt not recoil before thine enemy.
Thou shalt make war against the Infidel without
cessation, and without mercy.
Thou shalt perform scrupulously thy feudal duties, if
they be not contrary to the laws of God.
Thou shalt never lie, and shall remain faithful to
thy pledged word.
Thou shalt be generous, and give largess to
everyone.
Thou shalt be everywhere and always the
champion of the Right and the Good against
Injustice and Evil.
What do the rules of chivalry tell us about what was important in medieval
society?
Which rule of chivalry do you think is most important to being a “good”
person? Why?
How could you argue that lords were more powerful than kings?
MANORIALISM: THE
ECONOMIC SIDE OF
THE MIDDLE AGES
The manor was the lord’s
estate. During the Middle
Ages, the manor system
was the basic economic
arrangement. The manor
system rested on a set of
rights and obligations
between a lord and his
serfs. The lord provided
the serfs with housing,
farmland, and protection
from bandits. In return,
serfs tended the lord’s
lands, cared for his
animals, and performed
other tasks to maintain the
estate. Peasant women shared in the farm work with their husbands. All peasants, whether
free or serf, owed the lord certain duties. These included at least a few days of labor each week
and a certain portion of their grain.
A Self-Contained World. Peasants rarely traveled more than 25 miles from their own
manor. By standing in the center of a plowed field, they could see their entire world at a
glance. A manor usually covered only a few square miles of land. It typically consisted of the
lord’s manor house, a church, and workshops. Generally, 15 to 30 families lived in the village
on a manor. Fields, pastures, and woodlands surrounded the village. Sometimes a stream
wound through the manor. Streams and ponds provided fish, which served as an important
source of food. The mill for grinding the grain was often located on the stream.
The manor was largely a self-sufficient community. The serfs and peasants raised or produced
nearly everything that they and their lord needed for daily life – crops, milk, and cheese, fuel,
cloth, leather goods, and lumber.
Why was the manor system necessary during the Middle Ages?
Who would you want to be in medieval society – a lord, a serf, or a knight?
Why?
Directions: The way of life in Europe changed dramatically after the Roman Empire fell.
Imagine that you have lived through these changes. Each statement below describes an aspect
of your life as a citizen of the Roman Empire. For each, describe the change in your life in the
Middle Ages.
1. You are loyal to the Roman Empire and its emperor.
Change:
2. You live in a city with stone and marble buildings.
Change:
3. You are a merchant and travel though the empire on well-maintained, paved roads.
Change:
4. You can read and write
Change:
5. You own your own farm, where you live in a comfortable but isolated country farmhouse.
Change: