Name: ________________________
Date:_________ Period:______
The Decline of Rome
Read pages 318-319 in your textbook and complete the following
questions/tasks.
1. Identify 5 reasons that Rome went into decline
a. _______________________________________________________________________
b. _______________________________________________________________________
c. _______________________________________________________________________
d. _______________________________________________________________________
e. _______________________________________________________________________
Read pages 320-321 and answer the following questions.
2. How did Diocletian try to reverse the decline of Rome?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
3. Who was Constantine and what did he do when Rome continued to decline?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
The Fall of Rome 476 AD
Read pages 322-324 and answer the following questions
4. Who were the Visigoths and how did they contribute to the fall of Rome?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
5. What event usually marks the fall of the Western Roman Empire?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Read pages 325-326 and complete the following questions.
6. Which aspects of the Roman Empire are reflected in present day cultures? List and explain at
least five examples.
a. ____________________ - ______________________________________________________
b. ____________________ - ______________________________________________________
c. ____________________ - ______________________________________________________
d. ____________________ - ______________________________________________________
e. ____________________ - ______________________________________________________
Read 351-357
Read pages 373-378
Directions: Turn to page 514-519 and read the section titled The Germanic Kingdoms, and
answer the following questions.
1. What happened at the Battle of Tours, and why is the battle significant?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Who is Charlemagne and how did he demonstrate his support for education?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Monks and Monasteries
From early Christian times there were people who felt that they could serve God better by living away
from the confusion and fighting. These religious men were called monks. Their homes were called monasteries.
Women who spent their lives serving God were called nuns, and they lived in nunneries or convents.
A monastery was usually surrounded by a wall. The wall enclosed a number of buildings- a church, a
kitchen, a dining room, a library, a guest house and a building where each monk had his own small room. Often
there was also a hospital and a school. In the school boys were taught to read, write and speak Latin, the language
of the church.
Even in a monastery, rules for living together were necessary. A monk named St. Benedict made a set of
rules for monks to follow. Every monk who joined St. Benedict’s order had to promise to remain poor, never
marry, and always obey the rules of the order.
There was much work to be done to raise and make all that the monks needed. Some monks had to farm
the land and raise the animals. Others had to be cooks, weavers, blacksmiths, millers, or do other work for the
monastery. “To work is to pray,” said Benedict. In a time when nobles had little respect for work or workers, the
monks taught that honest labor was something to be proud of.
The sick and the injured were cared for by the monks. So were the travelers who could always find food
and a place to sleep in a monastery. Monks also helped farmers by showing them better ways to plant and raise
their crops, to drain swamplands and build dikes.
The monks kept and passed on ancient knowledge. Monks and men of the church were usually the other
people who could read and write. Monasteries held the few Greek and Roman books that had not been destroyed
by the barbarians.
Monks called scribes worked hour after hour and day after day copying these ancient books. For paper
they used parchment, made by hands form the skins of sheep. They also made their own pens from birds’
feathers, and their own ink. On the borders of the pages, the monks painted flowers, birds, leaves, and beautiful
designs. The book was then bound in leather and often trimmed with gold, ivory and jewels.
For several hundred years, Irish monks played an important role in preserving Roman learning and
passing it on to the people of Europe. Monks did much to keep education alive in this age of confusion and
disorder.
The Monks Timetable
Summer
1:30 AM-2:00 AM-reading Bible and praying in room
12:00 noon-1:30 PM-eating
2:00 AM-3:30 AM-services in the church
1:30 PM-2:30 PM-sleeping
3:30 AM-4:00 AM-sleeping
2:30 PM-3:00 PM-service in church
4:30 AM-5:00 AM-services in the church
3:00 PM-5:30 PM-work
5:00 AM-6:00 AM-reading Bible and praying in room
5:30 PM-6:00 PM-eating
6:00 AM-7:00 AM-mass in church
6:00 PM-7:30 PM-service in church
7:00 AM-8:00 AM-work
7:30 PM-8:00 PM-reading Bible and praying in room
8:00 AM-9:30 AM-mass and prayers in church
8:00 PM-8:30 PM-service in church
9:30 AM-11:30 AM-work
8:30 PM-1:30 AM-sleeping
11:30 AM-12:00 noon-services in the church
After reading the article entitled “Monks and Monasteries” complete the following.
1. Men who wanted to work together to serve God in a special way were called___________. Their homes were
called_______________________.
2. Women who spent their lives in serving God were called ____________. Their homes were
called_______________________.
3. Name some of the buildings that were part of the monastery:
4. _________________ was the language used by the Catholic Church.
5. Name three basic rules for life in a monastery that were written by St. Benedict:
A.____________________________________________
B.____________________________________________
C.____________________________________________
6. What type of work did monks do?
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
7. How did monks help people?
___________________________________________________________________________________________
8. What kind of work did monks called scribes do?
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Look at “The Monks Timetable” and answer the following:
9. How many times during the day did monks go to church to pray? _______
10. How many times during the day did monks read the Bible and pray in their rooms? ________
11. How many hours did monks sleep? _______
12. How many times a day did monks eat? ________
13. How many hours of work did monks do? _______
14. How many hours of the day did monks watch TV or listen to the radio? _______
15. What is the greatest contribution of the monks?
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________