2. THE MIDDLE AGES BEGAN WITH THE FALL OF
THE ROMAN EMPIRE
Rome, for years, had
been ruled by
emperors.
Rome was the most
powerful empire the
world had ever seen.
Its architecture was
Hellenistic and its
road system was as
impressive as that of
the Inca in S. America.
3. THE ROMAN EMPIRE
By the early 2nd century, Rome ruled most of Europe, from Britain in the
north to Egypt in the south and all around the Mediterranean Sea.
4. BY THE 3RD CENTURY
Barbarian invasions began to threaten the borders of the
empire.
5. IN 284, THE EMPEROR DIOCLETIAN
Decided to protect the empire by splitting it in two!
6. IN 330 AD THE EMPEROR CONSTANTINE ADOPTED
CHRISTIANITY AND ESTABLISHED A NEW CAPITAL IN THE
EAST
The city was called “New Rome” but soon became known as
Constantinople.
7. •By the late 300’s,
invasions were frequent.
•By 410, Rome itself was
sacked, but it would not
be the last time.
8. Attila the Hun, the most ruthless of all
barbarians sacked Rome again in 455.
Odoacer sacked Rome in 476 and
overthrew the last emperor.
The West had fallen.
Constantinople became the capital of
the Eastern Roman Empire which would
last another 1000 years.
9. The people of
Constantinople still
called themselves
Romans, though we
call them Byzantines.
By the mid 500s, the
emperor Justinian and
his wife led the
Byzantines into their
first Golden Age.
10. In the early 600s near
Mecca, a new religion
began to take hold.
The religion was called
Islam.
Within 100 years,
Islam had rapidly
spread to India in the
East and across North
Africa to Spain in the
West.
11. CHARLEMAGNE
The Franks stopped the
Muslim entry into Europe
at the Battle of Tours in
732 AD.
Charlemagne united the
Franks by the end of the
700s and was crowned
emperor by the Pope.
Under the leadership of
Charlemagne and the
Pope much of Europe
became united in
Christianity.
12. THE VIKINGS
However, in 793 on Lindisfarne Island, off the
coast of England, the lives of the Christian
monks and others who lived there were
changed forever.
The Anglo Saxon Chronicle entry for AD. 793
says, “This year came dreadful fore-warnings
over the land of the Northumbrians, terrifying
the people most woefully: these were
immense sheets of light rushing through the
air, and whirlwinds, and fiery dragons flying
across the firmament. These tremendous
tokens were soon followed by a great famine:
and not long after, on the sixth day before the
ides of January in the same year, the
harrowing inroads of heathen men made
lamentable havoc in the church of God in
Holy-island, by rapine and slaughter.“ This
was the first Viking attack!
13. European rulers began to build castles to protect them
from Vikings and other threats.
14. THE CRUSADES
By 1100, the Pope realized he could
use knights to attack the holy city of
Jerusalem and take it from Muslim
control and the Crusades began.
The Crusades were a series of
battles between Christians and
Muslims in the Middle East.
Thousands of knights and “barbarian”
soldiers united under Christianity
attacked Muslims and Jews in Turkey
and Jerusalem to gain the land for
Christians.
15. EFFECTS OF THE CRUSADES
Kings and popes, gained power as a
result.
Never was there a time when the
Church was so powerful in Western
Civilization.
The Crusades inadvertently reopened
trade routes, but there were other
consequences as well.
The Black Plague was carried along
the trade routes killing 1 in 3
Europeans.
People were left to die in the streets.
16. MANORALISM
For safety and for defense, people in
the Middle Ages formed small
communities around a central lord or
master. Most people lived on a
manor, which consisted of the castle,
the church, the village, and the
surrounding farm land. These manors
were isolated, with occasional visits
from peddlers, pilgrims on their way
to the Crusades, or soldiers from
other fiefdoms. No one wanted to be
exposed to the Bubonic Plague.
17. FEUDALISM
The kings had lots of land; he gave
land to lords in exchange for
protection and money.
Lords gave their land to knights in
exchange for protection and money.
Knights let serfs work the land and
would protect them.
Serfs got food and shelter.
Life in Europe was not very pleasant.
Life was very difficult especially for
the serfs.
