Download Middle Ages

Introduction to the Middle Ages
Unit 9: The Birth of Europe
After our studies throughout this unit, you will be able to fully answer the following questions:
Essential Questions:
•  How does the European middle ages and
particularly, the struggle for power between the
church, the king, and the nobility lay the
foundation of Europe, western civilization, and
modernity?
•  Why is this period not a “Dark Age”?
•  What was life like during Medieval times?
•  How influential was the Roman Catholic Church
in medieval Europe?
•  How did events in Europe contribute to the
decline of feudalism and the rediscovery of
Greek and Roman ideals?
Objectives
•  You will be able to…
o EXPLAIN the causes of the fall of the
Roman Empire. (review)
o EXPLAIN why the fall of the Roman Empire
marks the beginning of the Middle Ages.
o Start DEVELOPING your own explanation
of the essential question: Why is this
period not a “dark age”?
Write down what comes to mind when you hear the word
MEDIEVAL
Se#ing the Stage
Period of time that began with the FALL OF ROME in the year 476 and ended in 1450.
Prehistory
Antiquity/Classical Age/Ancient World
Beginnings of RECORDED human history (5,000 years ago)
Ancient Greece
Ancient Rome
Middle Ages/Medieval Age
Early
High
Late
Modern Age
Renaissance/Reformation
Industrial Revolution/Imperialism
Contemporary Age
“Recent” Past
Today
Middle
Ages
Early
High
Late
• 476-­‐‑1000
• 1000-­‐‑1300 • 1300-­‐‑1450
Se#ing the Stage
Review: The Fall of Rome
•  The start of the Middle Ages marks the END
of the ANCIENT world.
•  The Roman Empire is considered the last
remaining empire of the ancient world.
What do you notice about the Roman Empire at its height?
What are some disadvantages to controlling such a large empire? What do you notice about this map compared to the first?
What might have happened to cause these changes?
The Collapse of the Roman Empire
•  Many factors contributes to the fall of the Roman
Empire.
•  All the problems combined will lead to the collapse.
Political Instability
Economic Problems
Social Problems
Weakening Frontiers
Political Instability
•  Rome never solved the problem of how
to peacefully transfer political power to a
new leader.
o  Possible leaders fought each other for control of the empire
•  Sometimes the transfer of power
happened without conflict.
o  Many times the emperor’s private army chose the new ruler.
•  What is the conflict of interest at stake when a leader’s
military or advisors select the next emperor?
o  They frequently chose leaders who would reward them
rather than those who were best prepared to be
emperor.
Economic Problems
•  HEAVY TAXES and INFLATION
o  finance Rome’s huge armies
o  drove many people into poverty
o  Trade suffers
•  Unemployment
o  Wealthy families used slaves to work their large
estates.
•  Why does the use of slaves make it more difficult
for small farmers to compete with the large
landowners who used slave labor?
o Small farmers cannot keep their prices as low
due to having to pay for labor.
o  Poor farmers fled to the cities looking for work, but
there were not enough city jobs for everyone
Social Problems
•  CORRUPTION
o  Notorious emperors like Nero and Caligula wasted
large amounts of money.
•  DECLINE IN THE SPIRIT OF CITIZENSHIP
•  A rise in CRIME made the empire’s
cities and roads unsafe.
o  Why do you think there was a rise in crime?
•  Unemployment was very high
Weakening Frontiers
•  The huge size of the empire made it hard to defend.
•  Communication was very slow between leaders and
the generals
•  By the 300s C.E., Germanic tribes were pressing hard on
the western borders of the empire.
o  Despite many remaining in the area, the soldiers had little loyalty to Rome
The Collapse of the Roman Empire
First, in 330 C.E., Constantine decided to…
Moved the capital from ROME à BYZANTIUM (aka: New Rome or Constantinople)
Then, power in the empire was…
SPLIT – ruled by TWO emperors
WEST Rome EAST
Constantinople
In 410 C.E.,…
Rome was directly adacked by an invading Germanic tribe
In 467 C.E.,…
The last Roman emperor (Romulus Augustulus) ousted by Germanic Tribes
Western Roman Empire dissolves into separate kingdoms.
Finally, in the east…
Byzantine Empire continues for 1,000 more years
separate kingdoms
Medieval Europe About 1300
The political geography if Europe has remained largely unchanged since medieval times. But the political geography of this region – such as names an boundaries – have changed a great deal.
CLOSING ACTIVITY:
GEOGRAPHY CHALLENGE
Physical Features of Europe
CLOSING ACTIVITY:
GEOGRAPHY CHALLENGE
Up Next…
Charlemagne Unites the
Germanic Kingdoms
Homework
•  Find the article Was Medieval Europe really “Dark”?
on my webpage in the calendar.
•  Read it.
•  Answer 10 reading comprehension questions on
Socrative.com by Wednesday. (.5 per question – 5
point HW)
•  NAME INPUT
o  Period, Last Name, First Name
o  Ex: 7, Beck, Rachel