Download How Middle Ages Started `08

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The middle ages was a period of time between
ancient and modern times in western Europe.
This period of time went from about the 5th
century to the end of the 15th century.
The middles ages were after the Classical Age of
Greece and Rome and before the Renaissance.
Classical Age
Middle Ages
Renaissance
Not a Roman soldier!
Roman
soldier
Before the Middle Ages western Europe was
part of the Roman Empire. The Roman Army
was very organized and was able to take over
control of most of western Europe.
The Romans were an incredibly
advanced society because of many
things.
1. The Romans are famous for their
incredible army. The Romans were able
to defeat almost everybody.
Their army was called the Roman
Legion. It is probably the most powerful
army ever. They could defeat armies
much larger than themselves. They did
this using mostly just shields, spears and
swords.
http://www.wildfiregames.com/0ad/pages/pictures/legionarymain3.jpg
http://www.ronatvan.com/Facts/images/Roman_Legion.jpg
2. The Romans were
also famous for their
advanced building
techniques. They
built aqueducts
(water systems that
brought water to
towns and homes),
roads, baths, walls,
theatres,
amphitheatres,
temples, arches,
cities and palaces.
The colosseum is a famous amphitheatre
the Romans built. 70 000 spectators
could sit and stand in this amphitheatre.
It is 188 m x 156 m and about 15
storeys tall.
It even had a canopy as a roof
that could be moved to shade
people from the sun.
This is what the colosseum looked like 1 920 years ago. Do you
see the poles at the top? They are holding the ‘sun’ canopy in
place. The colosseum was so well built that it managed to stay
in fairly good condition until a huge earthquake occurred in
1349 which destroyed the southern outer walls.
The canopy
Rome Monuments Past and Present ISBN 88-8162-000-6
It had elevators
operated by slaves to
bring up gladiators and
wild beasts.
It could even
be filled with
water and
mock sea
battles would
be played out.
All 70 000
people could
leave the
colosseum in
about 15
minutes. That
is like putting
every person
in Red Deer in
1 building and
they could all
line up and
walk out in 15
minutes. Those
Romans were
very clever!
Julius Caesar built a bridge
across the Rhine in only 10
days. Trajan, another
famous Roman built a huge
bridge across the Danube
River. These were
incredible accomplishments
and they only used basic
tools. No other civilization
but the Romans could have
achieved this at the time.
wikimedia.org
In fact, the Romans really left their mark all over Europe. Below is an aerial
view of a Roman road that still exists in England.The road originally ran from
Lincoln (in the east) to Bristol (in the west). It was built by the Romans around
40-50 AD. That is about 2 055 years ago.
http://www.paracletesystems.co.uk/inj/inj050roman.htm
www.highways.gov.uk
The Romans even built a stone
wall along the border with
Scotland to keep the ‘barbarians’
out of the Roman Empire.
nettlesworth.durham.sch.uk/time/hadmap.gif
They started it in 80
AD and it still exists
today. It took them 80
years to complete! It
was 118 km long and
8.5 metres tall.
http://www.ecastles.co.uk/hadrianwall.html
You can see the
Romans built
many roads all
over England
and Scotland.
http://www.battle1066.com/romans.shtml
3. The Romans invented an alphabet that is still used
today. Only the letter ‘W’ has been added. We still use
Roman numerals too.
4. In 451 BC, the Romans created laws which we still use. They
wrote them down on twelve plates made of bronze, which became
known as the Twelve Tables. These were the first examples of
written law.
5. Art The Romans were also very advanced in art. They created very
realistic sculptures of their gods, battles and famous Romans.
Then things began to change.The Roman Empire lost it’s strength
and its armies were not as strong. Tribes from Germany which the
Romans called ‘barbarians’ began to invade Roman territory. They
were very uncivilized compared to the Romans. They fought with
spears and shields and wore animal skins, long hair and beards.
They looked very fierce. Soon ‘barbarians’ from many other tribes
also fought the Romans and conquered portions of their land. This
started to occur around the year 400 AD.
They probably looked a lot like this:
It is hard to believe that these
barbarians who had never
created laws, an alphabet,
magnificent sculptures and
sophisticated buildings, could
defeat the Romans, but they
did!
Below you can see how the invasions took over Europe.
wwnorton.com/college/history/ralph/ralimage/map10bar
When the Romans
were in power they
encouraged trade and
money was commonly
used. The barbarians
stopped trade from
happening and money
stopped being used.
People were forced to
make a living farming
so they had their own
food to eat.
Europe entered a period of time called:
The barbarian
invasions divided up
Europe into many
kingdoms. The
barbarians were only
loyal to their tribal chief
or their own
family.These tribes
were very superstitious
and replaced some
very fair Roman laws
with some of their own.
Each tribe would have
its own laws. These
laws were used for
many centuries too!
allmoviephoto.com/2006
The Dark Ages were the
beginning part of the
Middle Ages. It started
after the Romans were
defeated, around 450 AD
and continued until 1000
AD.
http://www.kidspast.com/world-history/
http://www.lancefuhrer.com/middle_ages.htm
By the year 800 AD, all of Europe was broken up into many
large estates of land called manors. Lords ruled the
manors. It was a dark period in time. The Romans had
believed in the arts and educating people, but not these
‘barbarians’. During the time of manoralism there were no
schools, no painting or building of great architecture and no
creation of sculpture. These beautiful skills were not handed
down and were lost.
During the early part of the
middle ages people believed
in the importance of the
family (clan). If a person was
accused of doing something
bad then that person and all
his clan were responsible.
The criminal had to pay back
in some way, the person he
had done wrong to.
aliciapatterson.org/APF0304/Denenberg/Denenberg01.jpg
Barbarian Laws
Ever heard of ‘Trial by Fire’? It was
created over 1000 years ago. It was a
barbarian rule to see if you were guilty
of a crime or not. Here is how it worked:
If you were accused of something you
would have to walk barefoot over red
hot iron. If you survived that, and your
wounds healed after three days you
were considered innocent. Do you think
many were found innocent?
Or you could be tried by ‘Trial by
Ordeal’. The trial by ordeal was to
plunge your arm into boiling water or
make you hold a burning hot bar. If you
had no blisters, you were assumed to
be innocent. How likely would that be!
arthistoryclub.com
People called missionaries, began to
travel and told the barbarians about
God. Many barbarians became
Christians. Missionaries also taught
ideas about justice and government
too. Some leaders like Charles the
Great, a great French king, also called
Charlemagne believed in Christianity,
and influenced the spread of the
Christian faith throughout Europe.
Then a new invasion occurred. The Danes Invaded England!
These invaders were from Norway and Denmark. These pirates rowed up
the rivers in their longboats, stole from the rich monasteries, and went
home with the loot.
Then permanent
Danish settlers
moved into England.
But Alfred the Great
defeated the Danes'
army in 878. The
Danes promised to be
baptized, and many
did become
Christians.
Because of Alfred the Great the church continued to thrive.
The church began to collect taxes and had courts to punish
criminals. Churches also cared for the sick and allowed
travelers to stay overnight.
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Cathedrals and monasteries
became places of learning.
Monks and clergy learned to
read and write and even set up
some schools in Europe.
cartage.org.lb/en/themes/GeogHist/histories/middleages/lifemiddle/
Charlemagne set up a
school in one of his
palaces and teachers
gathered there. They
created libraries and
schools.
With the improvements
Charlemagne made, the Middle
Ages did get a bit better, but life
was still hard, especially for people
who were lower down in the ranks
of the feudal system.
http://gcuonline.georgian.edu/wootton_l/Feudal.jpg