Dark Ages/ Medieval/Middle Ages
The sacking of Rome in 410 AD by Alaric, leader of the Visigoths caused the gradual fall of the Western Roman Empire.
By 476 AD the last Roman Emperor was deposed, beginning a new era, this being the Middle Ages. It is also referred to
as "Medieval" in history, so the two terms are alike.
The Dark ages is simply a word used to describe the early Middle Ages from 476 AD to approximately 1000 AD. It is
named the Dark Ages because it was a specific period of time where there was very little technological development or
advances in knowledge, where the quality of life for the people was moving backwards and they suffered as a result.
The Dark Ages and the Church
The fall of the Roman Empire lead to the Dark Ages.
Life was tough during the Dark Ages:
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Life was a struggle for enough to eat.
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Life expectancy was very short.
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Life was violent and uncertain.
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Life seemed to be controlled by superstition.
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Serfs are powerless.
During the fragmented times, the only universal institution was the Church. The Bible was at the center of any learning
activity. The Catholic Church began to fill the void that was left by the fall of the Roman Empire. However, the church, in
certain instances, also became corrupt and barbaric.
The Middle Ages (Medieval Period)

The Medieval Period is considered to have started at the time of the collapse of the Roman Empire
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Barbarian groups moved into the areas previously governed by Rome and these Barbarian tribes displaced and
destroyed the Roman way of life
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Examples of Barbarian tribes: Goths, Vandals, Huns
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The feudal system developed as an answer to barbarian rule
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Feudalism was a socio-economical and political system which organized society in the Middle Ages
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In the feudal system, the strong protected the weak and men were loyal to one another
The Middle Ages Power Point
While going through the PowerPoint, do not write everything down. Instead, concentrate on what is red, and put it into
your own words. Make your notes on a piece of loose leaf.
KING
BARONS
BISHOPS
LORDS
PEASANTS
Feudal System – Fill in the blanks with one of the following: Bishop, Peasant, Lord/Knight, King.
Promises to provide knights for the army for 40 days a year
Grants land to
Promise to serve in army for 40 days a year
Who grant land to
Grant land to
Promise services and payments to
The Feudal Hierarchy
King
 The King depended on their Barons to provide knights and soldiers in time of war.
 All land belonged to the king.
Baron
 The Barons were the most powerful and wealthy noblemen.
 They received their fiefs (grants of land).
Bishops
 The Bishop has as much power as a Baron.
 They ruled over all areas of the church including the priest, convents and monasteries.
 The collection of taxes made them extremely rich.
Lords
 The Lords (knights) ruled over the fiefs or manors.
 They rented their land to peasants who worked for them.
 The trained knights were bound by oath to serve the nobles who granted them their fiefs.
Peasants
 The peasants were at the bottom of the feudal pyramid.
 They were the workers who farmed the land to provide food for everyone.
 Sometimes they were given a piece of land to farm in return for their labour on the lord’s land.
The Feudal Game- wait for instructions
The Medieval Worldview and Change
Manorialism:

Manorialism refers to the system of services and obligations owed by the peasant classes to the nobility.
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A manor was like a small country in which the king's castle was the capital. A typical manor consisted of
meadows, forests, fields, pastures, rivers, orchards, a mill and bake-house, a well, a wine press, a tannery, a
church and a village.
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The economic power of the aristocrats depended on the landed estates and the workers who worked them.
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Labour and land (not money) were the key commodities in producing wealth in Medieval times.
Peasants needed protection, which the lords supplied in return for the peasants' land and labour.
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The peasants were allowed to farm their land, but were tied to the land by the obligation to provide various
customary payments and services.
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By 800 A.D. about 60% of the population of Western Europe had been reduced to serfdom in an attempt to find
some security.
Technological Change:
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The frontier conditions that many new manors faced required the adoption of new technology in order to be
successful.
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The lord had an interest in the actual production of goods on the manor, which meant that the lord understood
the need for technological innovation.
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In the next centuries, technology (much of which came from the Far East) began to change farming practice:
o
plows with iron shares
o
horse shoes and horse collars
o
three-field crop rotations: cereal crop, nitrogen-generating crop, then fallow, which was plowed twice to
loosen soil and rid it of weeds
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Productivity increased and yields grew from 3:1 seeded to 5:1.
The Crusades
Crusades are a series of military campaigns that the Christian countries of Europe waged to conquer the Holy Land from
the Muslims. By the beginning of the Middle Ages much of Europe was Christian. However the land where Jesus lived
and was crucified was controlled by Muslims, people who followed Muhammad. Until 1095 Muslims allowed Christians
to visit the Holy land and thousands of Christians travelled to Jerusalem to see where Jesus died and was buried, but in
1095 the Holy Land was captured by Muslims from Turkey. They would not allow Christian pilgrimages, and the Turks
began to attack Christians who lived outside the Empire
Byzantine (now Istanbul) Emperor Alexius Comnenus asked Pope Urban II for help. At the council of Clermont in 1095
the Pope asked all Christians to launch a Crusade (Holy War) to win back Jerusalem and stop the spread of Islam. At this
time, the Muslims believe that Jerusalem is their holy land as well, and they thought the Crusaders were invading their
holy place.
There were eight major Crusades, which are referred to by number, and there were lesser ones as well. The First
Crusade began in 1096, the Eighth in 1270. The Crusaders won some early victories but were eventually driven from the
Holy Land. The first Crusade actually accomplished what it set out to do and that was to capture Jerusalem,
the Crusaders were able to hold the city for about 100 years. The rest of the crusades ended in failures for the
Christians, most notably the 3rd and 4th crusades.
The Effects of the Crusade Questions: What do you think/know/what do you want to know?
1. Before the Crusades, what did the Muslims think about the Christians from Northern Europe?
2. Before the Crusades what did the Christians from Northern Europe think about the Muslims?
3. What did Christians learn from the Muslims?
Why Did People Go On Crusades?
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Religious devotion – their duty to god
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Nobles saw it as a chance to win new land
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Knights wanted adventure
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Criminals wanted to escape punishment
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Debtors wanted to escape creditors
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Some wanted to seek a new life in the east
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Some hoped to cancel out their sins because Pope said he would forgive their sins
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Many were looking for salvation
Effects of the Crusades:
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Introduced many new foods and goods to Europe e.g. sugar, lemons, rice, melons, glass mirrors
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New ideas were brought back to Europe – Muslims and Christians exchanged ideas
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Many Italian cities grew because they were ports to the East
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Italian banks grew because they financed the Crusaders
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Helped to break down feudalism as many lords sold land rights to get money to go and many peasants left the
land to go
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Introduced national taxation
The Black Death Powerpoint (Only spending a small time on it because we will be learning about it again next semester)
When did it happen?
Who are the culprits?
The Famine occurred in ___________________
In 1347, the plague reaches _____________________
The symptoms are __________________ and _______________________
The Disease Cycle:
What were attempts to stop the plague?
Why was surgery dangerous?
What was the mortality rate?
We will be having a test on Medieval/Middle Ages/ Dark Ages on _______________________________. You do not
need a review booklet. Think of this as your review booklet!