1 / 60

Barbarian Invasions and the Fall of the Western Empire

Barbarian Invasions and the Fall of the Western Empire. What caused the Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire. Beowulf. Discuss Beowulf. Why is this poem so widely read and used? What is its value? What kind of person was the poet? How would you describe Beowulf?. When was Beowulf written?.

elonnie
Download Presentation

Barbarian Invasions and the Fall of the Western Empire

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Barbarian Invasions and the Fall of the Western Empire What caused the Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire

  2. Beowulf

  3. Discuss Beowulf • Why is this poem so widely read and used? What is its value? • What kind of person was the poet? • How would you describe Beowulf?

  4. When was Beowulf written? • 600 CE • 700 CE • 800 CE • 900 CE • 1000CE

  5. What language is it written in? • Latin • Greek • Arabic • English • French

  6. Where does the story take place? • England • Scotland • France • Scandinavia • Rome

  7. Discuss Beowulf • Why would a Christian Englishman (monk?) want to write about a pagan, Scandinavian warrior? • Who would the likely audience have been? • How does the Beowulf manuscript from 1000 CE illuminate the culture of Germanic people around 500 CE?

  8. How did each of the following civilizations fall from the height of its influence? • Sumerian city-states • The Old Kingdom in Egypt • The Middle Kingdom in Egypt • The New Kingdom in Egypt • Minoan Crete • The Ancient Hebrews • Athens

  9. Barbarian Migrations 350-500

  10. Why did Rome fall?What have you heard? • Lead in the water • Christianity • Depletion of the soil in Italy • Lack of infrastructure • Something else

  11. Which barbarian tribe proved to be Rome’s most formidable enemy in the 400s? • The Huns • The Goths • The Franks • The Saxons • The Vandals

  12. Usurpers: Constantine the Great c. 306

  13. Roman Villas

  14. High Quality Coins 380

  15. More quality coins 408

  16. What seems odd about this depiction of the sack of Rome by the Visigoths in 410?

  17. St. Augustine of Hippo(354-430)sought to explain why the Christian God would allow Rome to be sacked.

  18. Niccolo Machiavelli c. 1500

  19. Edward GibbonDecline & Fall of the Roman Empire1776-1789

  20. Barbarian Migrations 350-500

  21. Hunnish Empire c. 400

  22. Hunnish Cavalry

  23. Aetius – Master of the Roman Army c. 450

  24. Barbarian Migrations 350-500

  25. Battle of Cape Bon, 468 CE,North Africa, 45 miles from Carthage

  26. Barbarian Migrations 350-500

  27. “The Empire” c. 500 CE

  28. Stilicho: Vandal and Roman Consulc. 400

  29. Greek mythology on a Gallo-Roman platefrom 4th century

  30. Romano-Saxon Pottery

  31. East Anglian King Baptized 605 Died 625 Induced to adopt Christianity by Ethelbert of Kent Bretwalda Both pagan and Christian Raedwald

  32. Sutton Hoo Burial Mounds

  33. Burial Mounds in Sweden

  34. Discuss barbarian culture • What types of sources can yield insight into the mostly illiterate people who inhabited northwestern Europe after 476? • What do we mean by the term barbarian? • What types of people were these barbarians?

  35. Barbarian Migrations 350-500

  36. Beowulf

  37. Medieval Fusion The creation of a distinctly medieval culture: 300-1000

  38. Barbarian Invasions • Continuity in the East • Disruption in the West • Explanations for the Fall of Rome • St Augustine • Machiavelli & Gibbon • Internal factors • Christianity • Crisis of the third century • Exogenous factors • Growth of Germanic supergroups

  39. Overview • Features of Medieval Fusion • Barbarian cultures: Germans, Celts • The Judeo-Christian Culture • Classical institutions and traditions • Discussion of Beowulf

  40. Overview • Features of Medieval Fusion • Barbarian cultures: Germans, Celts • The Judeo-Christian Culture • Classical institutions and traditions • Discussion of Beowulf

  41. During the Middle Ages, several cultures fuse within Europe • Barbarian • Germanic/Norse • Celtic • Gothic • Slavic • Ancient • Roman • Greek • Middle Eastern • Christian

  42. Germanic Literature • Literature as a source and its difficulties • Ancient literature: Tacitus - A Roman writes about Germania • Medieval literature: Beowulf, Njal’s Saga • Glorification of warrior heroes • great fighters • overcome incredible odds • superhuman strength • Often fatalistic in outlook; the inevitably of death • Love of gold and riches: plunder • Vengeance and retribution: law of the talion • barbarian legal codes

More Related