1. The document discusses three civilizations that emerged during the Middle Ages after the fall of the Western Roman Empire: the Byzantine, Germanic Kingdoms, and Islamic civilizations. 2. It provides details on the Byzantine Empire such as its capital in Constantinople, its reconquest of territory under Justinian I, and its characteristics including the Greek language and Orthodox Christian religion. 3. It also summarizes the Germanic Kingdoms that formed in the territories of the fallen Western Roman Empire, including the Franks and Visigoths, and the Carolingian Empire under Charlemagne.

1. UNIT 1. THE MIDDLE AGES:
THE THREE CIVILISATIONS
BYZANTINE CIVILISATION
GERMANIC KINGDOMS
ISLAMIC CIVILISATION

2. MIDDLE AGES: DEFINITION
• The Middle Ages is the historical period that
lasted from the fall of the Roman Empire (476)
to the 15th century (1492 or1453).
– The event that marked the end of this age was the
discovery of America in 1492.
– Other historians claim that the end of this period
came in 1453, when the Byzantine Empire
disappeared.

3. An important event:
THE DIVISION OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
• The eastern half was inherited by
Arcadius, who established the
capital in Constantinople (present-
day Istanbul).
– This city had been built over the
Greek city of Byzantium. Therefore,
the Eastern Roman Empire was
known by the name of the Byzantine
Empire.
• The western half of the Empire
was inherited by Honorius, who
kept the capital in Rome.
– The Western Roman Empire
continued to suffer pressure
from Germanic tribes.
– In 476, the tribes conquered the
West Roman Empire and established
their own kingdoms in the territory.
Emperor Theodosius’ empire was divided among his children after his death in ad 395.

4. THREE CIVILISATIONS:
The period of three important civilisations
1. Byzantine civilization
2. Western Christian civilization
3. Islamic Civilization
After the end of the Roman Empire, three civilisations occupied
the area of the former Empire during the Middle Ages.

5. 1. BYZANTINE EMPIRE (476-1453)
• The period of greatest splendour of the Byzantine Empire took
place during the reign of Emperor Justinian I (527-565).
Justinian wanted to
reconquer the territory of
the Roman Empire.
He managed to occupy the
entire Italian Peninsula
and some isolated areas in
the south of the Iberian
Peninsula and North of
Africa.

6. • After the death of Justinian, the Empire underwent a period
of crisis, as it began to lose territories, until the Ottoman Turks
(Mehmed II) occupied the capital in 1453. This marked the
end of the Byzantine Empire.

7. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE
• Political organisation.
– The empire was led by an emperor, also called basileus, who exercised
absolute power and was attributed with a divine origin.
– There was a highly organised administration and legislation system
based on Roman law. An example, the set of laws of Justinian I: Corpus
Iuris Civilis (Compilation of laws to give uniformity to the right).
• The economy. The main economic activities: agriculture, craft
activity in cities and trade. Constantinople became an important
intermediary in routes carrying products from the East and West.
For instance, silk route.
• Culture. Hellenistic culture had a very important role. This meant
that the Latin was replaced by Greek as the official language of the
Empire. The most important tradition was Christianity, so Byzantine
art was mainly religious. The main buildings were churches
decorated with paintings and mosaics with religious themes.

8. IMPORTANT:
Oriental Schism (1054)
• The Christian Church gained great
influence in the Byzantine Empire.
• Its main representative, the
patriarch of Constantinople, was
chosen by the emperor, causing
tensions with the head of the
Western Church, who was the
Pope of Rome.
• This fact led the Byzantine Church
to split from Rome.
• This separation, known as the
Oriental Schism, took place in
1054 and marked the start of the
Orthodox Christian Church.
PRESENT-DAY IMAGE:
Patriarch of Russia

9. ACTIVITY
• Look for information about the Orthodox
Christian Church and the differences with the
Catholic Christian Church.

10. 2. GERMANIC KINGDOMS
The fall of the Western Roman Empire.
http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/ancient-rome/videos/the-fall-of-rome
• Despite the Germanic invasions, the Western Roman Empire managed
to stay in place, although in a very weakened form, until the German
chieftain (jefe tribu) Odoacer deposed the last emperor of Rome,
Romulus Augustus, in 476.
• The western half of the empire disappeared and a series
of kingdoms was formed in its place. Some of the most important
Germanic kingdoms were:
The Burgundians.
The Ostrogoths.
The Franks
The Visigoths
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5pWLP_Eebk

11. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GERMANIC KINGDOMS
• They were monarchies. At first, kings were elected but over time
the position became hereditary. Kings were weak and had little
power as they were in the hands of an increasingly
powerful warrior aristocracy.
• A majority Romanised population was dominated by a minority
Germanic population. Germanic laws were gradually introduced, so
Roman law ceased to be used.
• Some features of Roman culture were imposed.
– This was the case with the language, Latin, which remained.
– Likewise, Christianity, which had spread throughout the Roman
Empire, also spread among the Germanic tribes.
• Economically, the tendency towards ruralisation increased. The
basis of the economy was very rudimentary agriculture practised by
peasants and slaves on large estates that belonged to an aristocratic
minority. Meanwhile, cities and trade almost completely
disappeared.

12. THE FRANKISH KINGDOM AND
THE CAROLINGIAN EMPIRE
• One of the most important Germanic kingdoms was the Frankish Kingdom
and one of the most important dynasties, Carolingian dynasty, took the
French throne in 751.
• The most important figure of the Carolingian dynasty was Charlemagne
(742-814), who was crowned king in 771. He carried out intense military
activity and conquered many territories.
Charlemagne was considered an heir to
imperial Rome and defended
Christianity. He promised to convert
pagan peoples like the Saxons to
Christianity and defend the Pope, who
needed to establish a strong power base
against Islam and the Byzantine Empire.
As a result of these relationships,
Charlemagne was crowned emperor by
the Pope in 800.

13. Administration:
• The capital: in Aachen (Aquisgrán). From there, officials like the
chamberlain led the administration in the name of the emperor.
• Extensive laws (capitularies) were passed throughout the Empire.
• The territory of the Empire was organised into (p.17 book):
– Counties (condados), led by counts named by the king
– Marches (marcas), in the border areas, led by a military commander,
the marquis.
• Missi dominici (palace inspectors): ensured that the counts and
marquises complied with the capitularies and did not govern
independently.
Culture:
• Study plans were developed in the monastery school, where
students learnt:
– Trivium: Grammar, Rhetoric and logic.
– Quadrivium: arithmetic, astronomy, geometry and music.

14. The division of the Carolingian Empire.
• Despite building up a vast territory, the Carolingian Empire
was short lived. Charlemagne’s grandsons therefore divided
up the Empire in the Treaty of Verdun in 843.

15. GERMANIC TRIBES ON THE IBERIAN PENISULA (476-711)
• The Germanic tribes reached the Iberian Peninsula in 409.
• These peoples were the Suebi, Vandals and Alans.
• Therefore, in 418 the Romans signed a treaty with another Germanic tribe
that was already inside the Empire as an ally of Rome: the Visigoths. This
pact stipulated that the Visigoths should aim to reduce the influence of
the other Germanic tribes in the area in exchange for being allowed to
settle in certain Hispanic territories.
The Visigoths expelled the
Vandals and Alans from
Hispania. The Suebi, however,
resisted and formed a
kingdom in the northwestern
part of the peninsula, until
Leovigildo occupied this
kingdom in 585

16. • After the fall of Rome in 476, the Visigoths formed
the kingdom that covered Gaul and Hispania.
• Its capital was Tolosa, known today as Toulouse in France.
• However, they were defeated (derrotados) by the Franks in 507,
abandoning almost all of Gaul and forming a kingdom in
Spain.

17. THE VISIGOTH KINGDOM OF TOLEDO
1. This Kingdom controlled
almost all the Iberian
Peninsula until 711:
 the time at which it
crumbled (derrumbarse)
before the Muslim
conquest.
2. The capital is located in
Toledo with King
Leovigildo (572–586).
3. The political system
established by the
Visigoths was an elective
monarchy.
The Visigoths had their own system
of laws. However, in the 7th century,
King Recesvinto issued the Visigoth
Code or Liber Iudiciorum, making it the
only law.

18. The main Royal institutions of the Visigoths:
– The Assembly of Free Men: elect kings.
– The Aula Regia was a council of nobles and bishops
that helped the king in the tasks of government.
– Territorial administration based on:
• dukes and counts.
Religion and council:
• When they reached the peninsula, the Visigoths were Arian
Christians (Arianism was a religious movement condemned by the
Catholic Church). In 589, King Recaredo converted
to Catholicism and with it came the conversion of all his
people. From that moment, the Church increased its power by
intervening in political affairs through the councils.

19. Society
 The dominant group was the warrior nobility. They owned latifundios,
which was the name given to large farms dedicated to agriculture and
livestock rearing.
 Peasants, serfs and slaves were the largest group. They usually worked
the land of the nobles.
Economy
 The Visigothic economy changed from Roman times. Cities declined,
which benefited the countryside, resulting in fewer commercial and craft
activities. Agricultural activity focused on growing cereals, although
rearing livestock later became more important, especially sheep.
Culture
Visigothic jewellery, such as votive crowns
(coronas votivas) and architecture, such as
some small churches: San Juan de Baños
(Palencia), Quintanilla de las Viñas (Burgos)
and San Pedro de la Nave (Zamora).