Download The Dark Ages

The Dark Ages
Name:__________
Unit 5/European Middle Ages
Mrs. Robinson/World History
Date: ________
Answer the following as a class:
What is meant by an “intellectual depression”?
What was the “barbarian supremacy”?
What is meant by the “revival of learning”?
How long did the Dark Ages last according to this statement?
Who wrote this quote?
When?
Why is such information important?
Do you believe the above quote? Why or why not?
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Slide 3 __________________________
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Did not support
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Had no central
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Created little
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Had a bad
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Was repeatedly
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place to live
The Dark Ages
Name:__________
Unit 5/European Middle Ages
Mrs. Robinson/World History
Guided Questions
Textbook A
1. What type of document is this?
2. When was it written?
3. How long does this textbook suggest the “Dark Ages” lasted?
4. Why, according to this document, were the “early Middle Ages” a “Dark Age”?
5. What is similar and different about this account and the American Cyclopaedia quote from the beginning of class?
Textbook B
1. What type of document is this?
2. When was it written?
3. What 2 periods of time does this excerpt describe? How does the document describe them?
4. How does this document compare to textbook A and the American Cyclopaedia?
5. Which do you find more reliable? Why?
Now that you have read two documents about the Dark Ages, form an answer or claim to the following questions.
Was the time period between 400 AD and 1400 AD a “Dark Age” for Europe?
Was this a time of cultural decay and decline?
First Answer or Claim:
List 2-3 points from either document that support your claim
1.
2.
3.
Date: ________
The Dark Ages
Name:__________
Unit 5/European Middle Ages
Mrs. Robinson/World History
Date: ________
Document C: Abbey Records
1. When was this document written? By whom?
2. What kind of document is it? Why do you think it was written?
3. Which textbook account (A or B) does this document corroborate, more clearly, match with? How and why?
4. Do you think it is a reliable piece of evidence? Why or Why not?
Document D: Medieval Economic Laws
1. When and where were these laws written?
2. What was the purpose of these laws?
3. Compare this document to textbook A. Do you think these laws reflect how the textbook describes life in the Middle Ages? Why
or why not?
Now that you have read two more documents about the Dark Ages, form an answer or claim to the following questions.
Was the time period between 400 AD and 1400 AD a “Dark Age” for Europe?
Was this a time of cultural decay and decline?
Second Answer or Claim:
List 2-3 points from these documents that support your claim
1.
2.
3.
The Dark Ages
Name:__________
Unit 5/European Middle Ages
Mrs. Robinson/World History
Date: ________
Document E: Journey to Chartres
1. What type of document is this? When was it written? Why?
2. How did this monk get his education? What did he study?
3. How does this account compare to the other documents? In particular, the American Cyclopaedia?
Document F and G: European Universities and Notre Dame Cathedral
1. In what century were the oldest European universities founded and the construction of Notre Dame Cathedral
begun?
2. Does this founding of universities and construction of Notre Dame conflict with or match the textbook accounts
of the Middle Ages? Explain.
3. Is Wikipedia a reliable source? Why or why not?
Now that you have read even more documents about the Dark Ages, form an answer or claim to the following questions.
Was the time period between 400 AD and 1400 AD a “Dark Age” for Europe?
Was this a time of cultural decay and decline?
Third and Final Answer or Claim:
List 4-5 pieces of evidence from these document that support your claim
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The Dark Ages
Unit 5/European Middle Ages
Mrs. Robinson/World History
Final Discussion
1. Did your claim change over the course of the lesson?
How and why?
2. Why as the term “Dark Ages” to describe the Middle Ages been debated by historians?
Do you think it is a valid description?
Why or why not?
What is the best way to describe the Middle Ages?
3. Why do historians label time periods?
What’s the danger in this?
What are the challenges in try to describe different periods of history?
Name:__________
Date: ________