After the Fall of Rome

1. After the Fall of Rome

2. After the fall of Rome • The fall was a real decline in quality of life • Church was primarily urban, in no position to control rural areas • Pagan comes from Latin pagus, countryside • Heathen means someone who lives in the heath • Traditional Roman cults persisted until 600 A.D and beyond in rural areas

3. There were two "dark ages". • The first, due to the collapse of Roman infrastructure and trade, bottomed out around 600-700 A.D. • There was a revival around 800 culminating in the reign of Charlemagne • Another decline about 900-1000 due to the raids by Vikings and Magyars.

4. Technological innovations in post-Roman Europe • Steel--most Roman steel came from Austria • Rise of water wheels • Stirrup • Motte and Bailey castle (stockade on a mound). • Heavy plow • 3-field crop rotation • Horse collar

5. The lifestyle of many parts of Western Europe around 700 A.D. would not have differed greatly from the Mound Builder societies in North America that would arise a little later.

6. The role of Ireland • Romans abandon Britain in A.D. 409 to defend closer to home. • Ireland at this time was a clan society, with frequent petty warfare, not so much for conquest as adventure. • Irish frequently raided Britain for slaves • Also, the culture was remarkably casual about sex.

7. Ireland

8. Saint Patrick • Patricius, a Romanized Briton, was kidnapped and taken to Ireland as a slave about 410 A.D. • After seven years as a shepherd, he escaped. • After escaping, decided to become a priest. • He interpreted dreams of Ireland as a call from God to evangelize Ireland, and he returned. Patricius is better known to us as St. Patrick.

9. What Patrick accomplished: • First missionary in 300 years (since Paul) to travel widely, and the first ever to venture outside the Roman realm in Europe. • He successfully identified the core values of Irish culture and tailored Christianity to those values. • Ireland is the only country ever converted to Christianity completely without bloodshed.

10. What Patrick accomplished: • Patrick so successfully converted Ireland and pacified it that it became a source of slaves for petty warlords in Britain. • Patrick protested to his British fellow clerics and is the first known person in Western history to condemn slavery as evil.

11. After Patrick • The Irish, who loved epics and adventures, became fascinated by Greek literature, and developed a tradition of literacy. • Some fulfilled their cultural desire for adventure by venturing out on missionary travels of their own. • Irish missionaries are among the first people in the West who go to difficult places just "because they're there."

12. Ireland Reaches Out • Followers of Patrick, Aidan and Columcille, spread Christianity back to Scotland and northern Britain. • Irish had no racial or cultural biases against converting the Saxons, who were invading Britain

13. Ireland Reaches to Europe • Columba (ca 500) spread Irish Christianity to the European mainland. • He and his successors established dozens of monasteries in Germany, Austria, and even Italy, traveled as far as Kiev • Irish missionaries re-disseminated literacy to Western Europe. • They also established Christianity outside the cities, something the Romanized Christianity of the time had not done.

14. Decline of Ireland • Vikings sacked Irish monasteries beginning about 700 A.D. • Vikings occupied much of Ireland, built first cities (Dublin) • Real decline began in 15th-16th centuries as English stamped out Irish resistance • Disastrous famine and migration, mid-19th century. • Recovery only in Twentieth Century

15. What Happened to the Celts?

16. What Happened to the Celts? • In Pre-Roman times, occupied most of Western and Central Europe • Now occupy fringes of Europe • Romans did not engage in genocide • Celts had some familiar values: pragmatism, love of adventure and exploration • To what extent is Western culture really Celtic?