intro to the Middle Ages

1. Medieval Times
or
Middle Ages
“Age of Faith”
http://eawc.evansville.edu/chronology/mepage.htm

2. Started with the collapse of
Roman Empire
• Crumbling started in earnest 190 CE
• 476 Last Western Roman Empire leader
dethroned.

3. Loss of the Roman Empire
• No strong central government
• Frequent invasions
• Limited Trade
• Limited large projects

4. The Middle Ages
• Existed from about 500 to 1500 A.D.
• Small Kingdoms replaced large empires
• Religion dominated over Reason
• Feudal system is used

5. Feudal System
• Feudalism is a system of government
& way of life
• Fiefdoms- serfs farm land, pay taxes,
landowner protects serfs from
invaders
• Nobles (kings & lords); clergy;
peasants/serfs

6. Castles and Knights

7. Church
Roman Catholic
• Built schools & churches & fed the
poor
• Controlled much of the flow of
information
• Held positions of great power

8. Cathedrals
• Built to celebrate God
• Gargoyles, spires, flying buttresses

9. Crusades
• Started when Muslims invade
Constantinople
• Often exercises in futility, Children’s
Crusade
• Christians supposedly wanted the Holy
Lands to protect them from Muslims
• Introduced Muslim Ideas & Products

10. Muslim Products
• Universities, libraries, schools
• Use of zero & Arabic numerals
• Algebra & Geometry
• Chemical medicines
• Performed surgery
• Wrote medical textbooks
• Astronomy Records

11. Black Death Begins
• Began in Europe around 1350, 1 in 3
people died
• Caused by a germ found on fleas from
rats (Cats could have helped)

12. Impact of Black Death/Plague
• Population decreases
• People isolate themselves, learn about
cleanliness & spread of germs
• People move away from populated
areas back to secluded farms
• Ends feudal system

13. Joan of Arc
French girl who convinced
Charles VII to build her
an army
Burned at the stake
http://archive.joan-of-arc.org/

14. Marco Polo
• Traveled East to the Orient
• Brought back spices, pasta,
fireworks, and more.
http://www.silk-
road.com/artl/marcopolo.shtml

15. Age of Faith v Renaissance
• Group
• Survival & self-
awareness
• Simple lifestyle
(survival)
• Celebrated the
Individual
• Ideas of Ancient
Greece & Rome
reappear
• People enjoy
worldly pleasures

16. Renaissance
• Scientific Revolution
• Industrial Revolution
• Enlightenment ( Revolution of Ideas)
• Cultural Revolution
• Political Revolutions
• Democratic Revolutions

17. Bibliography
• http://eawc.evansville.edu/chronology/mepage.htm
• http://www.insecta-inspecta.com/fleas/bdeath/bdeath.html
• http://www.cybersleuth-
kids.com/sleuth/History/Ancient_Civilizations/Rome/index.htm
• People Through the Ages (grade 8 textbook)