The Middle Ages

civil law, politics and literature, the collective willpower of the Roman Empire would eventually degrade over time and give way to new ideas andd

influences. The empire of Rome did not fall- it fizzled. The Western Roman Empire gave way to the Middle Ages around 476, when the Barbarian,,

Odoacer, overthrew the emperor Romulus Augustulus. Other historians give the year 410, when Alaric, king of the Visigoths, sacked Rome. Still,,

others say about 500 or even later. In any event this early medieval period is often referred to as the Dark Ages because of the apparent collapse off

Greco Roman culture. During this time their was no effective government and no sense of state, just small autonomous tribes and peasantt

communities. Local life was isolated, fragmented, dreary, illiterate and superstitious..

For various reasons, Germanic people to the North had long desired to expand into Roman territories perhaps because of pressures from

overpopulation, wars, or food shortages. These Barbarians were semi-nomadic tribes led by warrior chiefs. They advanced for

. . .
But, gradually, by a painful process of political

pioneering, the kings learned to rule in their own names without the benefit of imperial restrictions. In 843 The Treaty of Verdun

divided the empire into three areas which each of them would control. Their greatest gains in this

transitional period were made for them by their kings. German tribes developed regulations or laws that applied to the Romans as well as

their own people. " He worked closely with the papacy to develop high standards for behavior and government that would be the seed

for medieval and later governments to follow. In 840 England received numerous attacks from the Vikings, and the

Danes begin a full-scale invasion in England in 865. He provided a royal example that started a steady conversion of the whole Frankish people and speeded their

ethnic fusion with the Roman citizenry of Gaul. Charles The Great, also called

Charlemagne, conquered the Lombard Kingdom in Italy, subdued the Saxons, took Bavaria, fought campaigns in Spain and Hungary, and, with the

exception of the Kingdom of Asturias in Spain, southern Italy, and the British Isles, united in one superstate practically all the Christian lands of western

Europe.

Barbarian assimalation first began with slow and peaceful migration. The

cultural legacy of Greece and Rome, combined with the new ideas and traditions of the Germanic people was glued together with Christianity.

Major conflicts within the papacy arose over issues such as Iconoclasm (icons in religious prayer) raised the question of the rights of the

emperor to intervene in religious deputes. The eastern half differed from the western in many respects: it carried on the traditions of the Hellenistic civilization,

a blending of Greek and Middle Eastern elements; it was more commercial, more urban, and richer than the West, and its emperors, who in the

Hellenistic tradition combined political and religious functions, had firmer control over all classes of society.

Information from class lecture notes, and last but not least Mckay, Hill, Buckler, Ebrey's A History of World Societies Volume I to 1715, 2000.

Common topics in this essay:
Feudal System, Roman Empire, Middle Ages, Greco Roman, Christianity Christianity, Europe Germanic, Christians East, Carolingians4 Clovis, Europe Charlemagne, Byzantine Western, roman empire, middle ages, germanic people, germanic tribes, roman culture, sixth century, pepin ii, eastern half, christian culture, byzantine empire,

Approximate Word count = 2272
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)

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