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Chaos & Continuity in the Barbarian West

Chaos & Continuity in the Barbarian West. The Decline of Rome and the Coming of the Dark Ages My voice sticks in my throat…and sobs choke my utterance. The City which had taken the whole world was itself taken - Jerome, 410 CE. All roads lead to Rome. Emperor Qin 221 BCE.

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Chaos & Continuity in the Barbarian West

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  1. Chaos & Continuity in the Barbarian West The Decline of Rome and the Coming of the Dark Ages My voice sticks in my throat…and sobs choke my utterance. The City which had taken the whole world was itself taken - Jerome, 410 CE

  2. All roads lead to Rome Emperor Qin 221 BCE

  3. West Germanic Revolution 200-400 CE Germanic “nations”

  4. I. The Germanic West

  5. A. Barbarians among us • Romanized tribesCelts / Gauls / Britons • Romance & Germaniclanguages

  6. 3. “Imperial” Germans Battle of Teutoburg Forest, 9 CE “Imperial” Germans - Weregeld - oaths Comitatus

  7. B. Eastern Crisis • “The Scourge of God”- the Huns

  8. 2. Valens and the Visigoths Battle of Adrianople 378 Theodosius - foederati

  9. 3. Alaric 370-410 - Honorius & the last defense of the West - Sack of Rome 410 Each community decides what willmake it happy, and when each getswhat it wants, it lives with the con-sequences of its choice. - Augustine, The City of God

  10. C. Alliance • Battle of Châlons 451 - Flavius Aëtius • Fused aristocracies - German security - Gallo-Roman titles Letters of Sidonius

  11. 3. Origins of serfdom - tax reform

  12. D. Shades of the Empire 1. Theodric & the Ostrogoths 489-526 - Boethius Consolation of Philosophy 524 - Cassiodorus Greek to Latin translations Anno Domini - Jerome “Vulgate”

  13. End of Rome? • Byzantine Empire preserves Roman / Western ideals for 1000 years 2. Feudal system provides social continuity 3. “Romanized” Germans maintain links to Rome

  14. 4. City of God ca. 411 CE city of God (Christianity) endures city of Man (Rome) is falling

  15. * Augustine argues for universal salvation… BUT, must be a member of the Church - would give Roman Church unrivaled power and legitimacy for the next 1000 years

  16. By 500, the western half of the Roman Empire was under the control of Germanic chieftains… …but at the local level society still governed by Roman laws and aristocrats

  17. How dark were the Dark Ages? Dominance of the Church Political / cultural diversification - Germanic Kingdoms Roman-Germanic fusion - “European” civilization

  18. The Merovingian Model

  19. A. The Frankish Kingdom

  20. Clovis & the Merovingians - Patrice 487 - pagan or Arian?

  21. 2. Language, law & class - Latin and Francia “Romance” - source of law leges barbarorum

  22. B. Social change 1. Slavery - Manorial system 2. Serfdom - marriage depended on permission

  23. 3. Christian / peasant culture - blending pagan/Christian rituals - status of women - the Church and power

  24. C. the new Aristocracy 1. Land (Roman) and warfare (German) 2. Liege-lord grants fiefs - Germanic loyalty - vassal serves lord in exchange for fief

  25. 3. Aristocratic women - non-primogeniture

  26. 4. Pursuit of honor - “quest” myths Beowulf - 8th Century - Nordic; pagan mysticism - oral tradition; Old English - written down by Christian scribe

  27. Between 500 - 700, Germanic tribes establish kingdoms in the West based on Roman land-use patterns and Germanic customs Lombards – divided Italy Visigoths – religious strife Angles/Saxons – Britons

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