On western Europe, Germanic invaders made huge impacts over Roman Empire. The
merchants faced invasions from both land and sea. Their businesses collapsed.1 The economy
was destroyed. Also, With the fall of the Roman Empire, cities were abandoned as centers of
administration. As Roman government and the city collapsed, people retreated to the rural areas.2
People could not learn to read or write, and small Germanic kingdoms replaced Roman
provinces.3 A group of Germanics called Franks took power, they expanded and gained control
over part of Europe.4 A famous leader was Clovis I, he converted to Christianity. The expansion
continued as Frankish territory occupied most of the Europe.5
1
Roger B. Beck, Ancient World History: Patterns of Interaction, student text ed. (Orlando, FL.: Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt Pub., 2012), 353.
2
Ibid.
3
Beck, Ancient World, 354.
4
Cristian Violatti, Franks, Ancient History Encyclopedia, Dec. 23 rd, https://www.ancient.eu/Franks/ (accessed Feb.
26, 2018), 2014
5
Violatti, Franks, (accessed Feb. 26, 2018), 2014