rope. The
Germanic people brought with them their customs and traditions, but the idea that most influenced later Europe was the belief in the rights of the
individual. To the Romans the state was more important than the individual. It is from this merging of cultures that the idea of personal rights, the
concept of government by the people, and crude but representative law courts emerged. These ideas paved the way for the acceptance of new ideas.
This individual thinking allowed for the broad acceptance of Christianity, the most important ingredient that went into the making of Europe. The
cultural legacy of Greece and Rome, combined with the new ideas and traditions of the Germanic people was glued together with Christianity.
As Germanic minorities mingled with what was left of the Roman population, they created new hybrid societies that would differ in ways that would
have great consequences for centuries. How did these various Germanic people assimilate and what kind of governmental and social structures
developed in these early Middle Ages that would later influence the making of Europe? The answers are numerous and complex, but here are a few
underlying basic reasons: Germanic tribes were originally ruled by individuals who were chosen because of their dominance and success in battle.
Germanic warriors were modified by their increased exposure to Roman civilization. Barbarian war bands acquired the concept of stratified ranks from
the Roman armies they encountered which assisted in the evolution of a class structure. As the most elite acquired land and wealth, social inequalities
emerged that would define nobles from peasants in later Europe. German tribes developed regulations or laws that applied to the Romans as well as
their own people. For example, the Franks developed the "Wergeld Value System" where a certain value was placed on every person. Fines were
charged for ...