Transition From Fall of Rome to Middle Ages

1. Transition From Fall of Rome to Middle Ages Matt Reed and Noah Strong

2. Decline of Roman Empire • Territories in Africa and Europe were lost to Germanic tribes and invaders. • Population in the west declined due to Agricultural issues. • Capital of empire shifted from Rome to Byzantium, this ended power in the west. • In the 3rd century political instability developed within the empire. • Roman citizens became over confident. • Diseases swept through population killing about half of the western empire.

3. Division of Roman Empire. • Divided between west and east. • East was heavily influenced by Hellenistic culture and were more sophisticated. West still spoke Latin and only had main cities protected and not countryside. • Emperor Constantine moved the capital from Rome to Byzantium in the east. • West became the Holy Roman Empire after Romulus Augustus’ rule

4. Barbaric Kingdoms • Germanic Tribes ended up controlling much of Italy. • The Visigoths controlled Spain • The Vandals controlled North Africa • Britain was divided in to the Anglo Saxons • Many small tribes became known as the Franks. • Gauls controlled France.

5. Germanic Tribes • These invasions of Germanic Tribes was harmful to the Roman empire because they all brought their own culture to the empire causing loss of unity in the empire. • Germanic Tribes wanted to invade the Roman Empire because they appreciated Roman culture more than their own. • Germanic Tribes were mercenaries for Roman military and wanted more military control.

6. Anglo Saxons • Made of a combination of two tribes from Northern Germany and Denmark. • Captured most of Britain, and established a Germanic tribal system of government. • Converted to catholic by the end of the 6th century. • England became a dangerous place to live under Anglo Saxon rule.

7. Visigoths • Joined forces with the Romans to defeat the Huns in 451, Battle of Chalons. • From southern Scandinavia • Split in to the Ostrogoths, who remained in southern Russia and the Visigoths, who drove the Romans out of modern day Romania. • Also captured Ravenna, and Rome then continued to settle in southern France and Spain.

8. Vandals • From Germany • Tried to settle in Spain but were expelled by the Visigoths. • Conquered North Africa and sacked Rome in 455 after the Visigoths. • Took the treasures of Rome back to Carthage. • Fell to the Byzantine Empire led by Justinian in 533.

9. Roman Influence on Middle Ages • Byzantine law was based off of Roman law. • Roman nobles inter-married with Germanic upper class. • Social structure of old Rome remained in Spain and southern Gaul, area where romans had fled to. • Things that were influenced were political styles, and Architecture. • Rome remained the largest city in the west and economic center for western Europe.

10. Invasions • Odoacer was the chief of the Germanic mercenaries, he disposed of Romulus Augustus and quickly conquered Italy. • The Germanic tribes established control over Italy for many centuries • Rome was abandoned during the Gothic war in the 6th century. This caused surrounding cities to fall in to decline. • The Muslim Conquest led to poor trade in the Mediterranean for the Europeans.

11. Early Middle Ages • The split of the Roman Empire led to depopulation, de-urbanization, and increased invasions. • The lack of leadership led poor infrastructure within the divided Western Roman Empire. • Trade with other territories collapsed and education suffered. • Early Middle Ages was not a strong time period, everything but the catholic church declined.

12. Holy Roman Empire • Pope Boniface III became the bishop of Rome in 607 and was given the Pantheon. • Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne, the leader of the franks, the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. • This Empire became the new power in the west, making Constantinople its new rival.

13. Works Cited • http://gallery.photo.net/photo/9084372-md.jpeg • http://www.wikipedia.org/ • http://databases.abc-clio.com/Multi/ • www.flowofhistory.com • http://www.memo.fr/Media/REG_NEU_MOY_001_a.jpg • http://www.rome-in-italy.com/PHOTOS/forum-romain/Forum-romain-Rome_3837.jpg • http://ivarfjeld.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/holyromanempire.gif • http://www.jayzine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/St-Peters-Basilica-Vaticano.jpg • www.history-world.org