Middle Ages / Dark Ages

1. Middle Ages / Dark Ages

2. Fall of the Roman Empire When the Roman Empire fell, it was split into two parts. The Eastern half was called the Byzantine Empire and the Western Roman Empire became very weak with a decentralized government.

3. Byzantine Empire The Eastern Roman Empire became known as the Byzantine Empire. It was ruled by EmperorerJustinian. He ruled under Justinian’s Code, which were his set of laws. The Byzantine Empire was important because it preserved Greek and Roman culture.

4. Constantinople The capital of the Byzantine Empire was Constantinople. Its location between Europe and Asia made it a very important city for trade.

5. Western Roman Empire The Western Roman Empire was very weak and had a decentralized government. This meant that no one was in charge. People were very scared of warfare and barbarians. Because people were so scared they hid, and stopped learning and practicing tradition things.

6. The Church The church became very powerful during the Middle Ages or Dark Ages. People had nothing but the church to give them hope and guidance.

7. Charlemagne Charlemagne brought some order back to the Dark Ages for a period of time. He was a very tall man and showed that the church was more powerful than the government by bowing down in front of the pope.

8. Feudalism Politically, in the Dark Ages, Feudalism was the form of government that was practiced. Under Feudalism, Kings owned the land, Lords controlled the land, Knights protected the land, and serfs worked the land. Land was exchanged for service. Feudalism had a rigid class structure, which meant you could not move between classes.

9. Code of Chivalry Knights protected the land and practiced the Code of Chivalry, which were rules for fair fighting. An example of a rule in this code was : if your opponent drops their sword, you would drop yours before you continued fighting.

10. Manorialism Economically, the Western Roman Empire practiced manorialism. Manorialism is an area of land that is run by the Lords. This area of land is surrounded by walls and is self sufficient. This means that everything that was needed to survive was within the walls of the manor.

11. Bubonic Plague The bubonic plague hit Europe and wiped out half of its population. It was carried by rats, traders, and sailors. Countries that did not trade avoided getting the Plague.

12. Religion The Catholic Church, at this point of time, was “all encompassing”, and “everything was under its domain”. People in Europe had very little to hope for, and the church offered them hope and salvation. It also provided security, order, and unity. Monks during this time were able to read and write, so they would copy texts and the bible.

13. Church Laws The church had many laws. Church law is called Canon Law. People who disobeyed the church were excommunicated. People had to pay a tax to the church which was called tithing. If a whole region or town was excommunicated, this was called interdiction.

14. Gothic Architecture Large cathedrals and churches exhibited Gothic architecture, which included flying buttresses and gargoyles. Stained glass windows told stories of the church.

15. Crusades The Christians wanted to take the “holy land” (Jerusalem) from the Muslims. When the soldiers left their manors to go to fight in the Crusades, their eyes opened to a whole new world. They saw things they did not know existed and were exposed to things they knew nothing about. The main results of the crusades were increased trade and cultural diffusion. Along with this, people were no longer scared and needed to hide in their manors. Feudalism decreased greatly because of the crusades.