5th – 15th Century Europe, Eastern Asia,
Northern Africa
MEDIEVAL TIMES
AKA THE DARK AGES/THE
MIDDLE AGES
Medieval – Dark Ages – Middle
Ages
 The period in European history from the
collapse of the Roman civilization in the 5th
century CE to approximately the 15th Century
 Also called the Dark Ages in Europe because
during the first 300 years not much progress
was made
 Barbarian tribes were taking over previously
Roman ruled lands
History – Germanic Tribes
 The Western Roman Empire began to fall in
the 4th Century as powerful leaders of
Germanic barbarian tribes violently took over
regions ruled by Rome
 The Germanic tribes had converted from
Pagan religions to Christianity
 Some of tribes were considered Barbaric in
the ways they fought and took control
 The Huns, Franks, Angles, Saxons, Ostrogoths,
Visigoths, Burgundians, Vandals, Lombards
History – Germanic Tribes
 The control of the tribes lead to the deterioration
of the Roman structure of Western Europe
 There was very little political or cultural stability.
 The only thing most people had in common was
social unity in the Christian religion ruled by the
Roman Catholic Church.
 http://www.history.com/topics/middleages/videos#the-fall-of-rome
Geography –
AD/CE
Germanic Invasion 300-600
The Lombards and Charlemagne
 http://www.history.com/topics/crusades/vide
os#dark-ages-barbarians-ii---desiderius-vscharlemagne
 Charlemagne defeated most of the barbarian
tribes in Western Europe
 Brought a more united Europe with close
connections to the Roman Catholic Church
History – Christendom
 The Holy Roman Empire (Christendom) – a
large church state
 The empire owned cities and armies
 Emperors were chosen by the church leaders
 Divided into Two parts
 Western Empire – included all of Western Europe -
Roman Catholic church
 Byzantine or Eastern Empire – included Eastern
Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa - Orthodox
Christian Church
History – Western Empire
 Near the end of the 9th Century the emperors
of Roman Catholic West began to fight with
the Pope and church leaders
 The emperors wanted to choose the church leaders
in order to control the church
 The church owned the cities and the armies to
control the emperors
 Feudalism developed across Europe
History - Feudalism
 Kings took ownership of
land – nation states
began to develop.

See Feudalism video on wikispace
History – Eastern Empire Byzantium
• Ruled by an
Emperor or king
from 3061453AD
• Orthodox
church
predominant
religion
History - Sassanian Empire
 Sassanians were Persians who fought the Romans
in 211AD for control of Israel, Syria, Lebanon,
Jordan, Turkey, and Egypt
 They also controlled Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan,
Pakistan
 They worshipped many gods
Sassanid Empire – 620 AD
History – The Rise of Islam
 In about 610 in Mecca (present day Saudi
Arabia), the prophet Muhammad claimed to
receive messages from God.
 He began to preach the religion of Islam and
converted many Arabs.
 The movement spread to Persia/Sassanid,
Syria, Palestine, North Africa, and Spain.
 Followers of Islam are called Muslims.
Geography - Spread of Islam:
700 AD/CE (Yellow)
630-
History – Rise of Islam
 600’s -1100’s Muslims dominated shipping on
Mediterranean Sea making contact between
western Europe and eastern Europe difficult.
 Muslims introduced industries such as
papermaking and silk-weaving to western
Europe
 Muslim scholars translated ancient Greek
texts to Arabic
Crusades – Late 1000s – late
1200s
 Muslims captured Jerusalem and the Holy
Land in 1076
 Christian armies from western Europe
traveled to the Middle East to fight Muslims
to regain control of the Holy Land and
eastern Mediterranean seaports
 During the 200 year period 9 bloody crusades
were paid for by the Roman Catholic Church
The crusades played a major role in the expansion
and development of Europe during the Middle Ages
History – The Silk Road:
Global Trade
 An ancient 4,000 mile trade route from Europe
to China
 Used extensively from about 125BC-1490AD
 Europeans traveled to India and China to trade
gold, silver, and gems for Chinese silk and spices
 Many ideas, philosophies, religions were shared
along the way
History – Education, 13th
 Century
Scholasticism – a method of teaching that
combined theology with ancient philosophy
 Teaching was ruled and governed by the Roman
Catholic Church
 Thomas Aquinas, a Roman Catholic priest and
teacher, wrote extensively about Aristotle
 Aristotle was an ancient Greek educator and
philosopher
 Ideas on how to educate came from Aquinas’ writings
Literature - Religious
 Latin was the written language of the Roman
Catholic Church so most literature was
written in Latin
 Many writings were based on ideas or the
lives of Catholic leaders and saints
 Local guilds wrote mystery plays that were
based on Biblical stories
 Each village had its own mystery that would be
performed on church feast-days
Literature – Secular
 Subjects in secular or non-religious writings were
mostly about love
 Works that are still famous today:
 Beowulf – epic Germanic poem written between 8th and
11th century
 http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/web_design/beowulf/
 Canterbury Tales – stories of pilgrimages which were
popular during the Middle Ages
 “Wife of Bath’s Tale” – paraphrased version:
http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/medieval/literature/wi
feofbathstale.htm
Literature - Allegory
 Allegories were used widely during the
Middle Ages
 They are stories with more than one meaning
 Usually the meanings are religious or moral and
meant to teach a lesson
 The element of personification is often used
 Roman de la rose - Romance of the Rose
 Poem from the 13th century
Art - Byzantine
 Eastern European Christian art
 Greece, Turkey, Romania, etc.
 Costly materials were often used – gold, silver,
and lapis luzuli to create colorful murals
 Artwork and books were given similar attention
Art – Byzantine
 Frescoe – mural made of
plaster
 Mozaic – mural made of broken
glass, pottery, stone, etc.
Architecture - Medieval
Castle
http://www.worldbookonline.com/student/article?
id=ar099200 (video)
http://hubpages.com/hub/Labeled-Diagram-of-aCastle
Architecture – Byzantine
 Churches are about all that is
left of Byzantine architecture
 Mostly made of stone, brick
and mortar with plain
exteriors and elaborate
interiors
 Early and late period
churches are distinguished
by
 a main dome
 with arched entrances
 Arched columns for inside
support
Architecture – Byzantine
Art – Romanesque
 Romanesque style is called
this because it is a little like
Roman Architecture.
 Romanesque style was
influenced by Byzantine
art.
 A revival of Byzantine
ivory carving influenced
early medieval art as in this
middle ages ivory plaque
from 1000-1200 AD/CE.
Art – Romanesque
 A Romanesque statue
made of limestone from 1170 AD/CE
Architecture - Romanesque
 The walls of
Romanesque buildings
were made of stone
and the roofs made of
wood.
 The round arches
resemble old world
Roman arches.
 Walls were very thick,
with few if any
windows
Art – Early Middle Ages
A stole made of red silk, linen, crimson silk tabby, and threads of gold and
silver leaf. This stole tells the story of the martyrdom of St. Catherine - a
Christian woman who debated with the pagan emporer Maxentius about
Christianity. Maxentius eventually tortured and killed Catherine for her
beliefs.
Architecture – Islamic Influence
• The Lions Court at
Alhambra in Granada,
Spain, built in 1400’s.
• Islamic architecture is
influenced by Greek
and Roman design
because Greeks were
living in Arab regions
when Islam faith
spread in the 700s.
Art – Islamic Influence
• For most of the Middle Ages
Islamic glass was was exported
to Europe and China.
• Islamic glass was considered to
be the most sophisticated glass
of the time.
• This piece is from the 1300s.
Art - Gothic
Gothic art is concerned with painting, sculpture, architecture, and
music in Europe that evolved from Romanesque art. The term
"Gothic" came from Italian writers of the Renaissance who called
the works ugly and compared it to the barbarian Gothic tribes that
had destroyed the Roman Empire in the 5th century.
Architecture - Gothic
Notre Dame of Paris
Cathedral of Our Lady of
Chartres, France
Writing
http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/writing.ht
m
http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/literacy/wr
iting.htm
http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/literacy/wr
iting3.htm
Gardens -
Labyrinths and Mazes
http://www.gallowglass.org/jadwiga/
herbs/medievalgardens.htm
Music
http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/grego
rian_chants.html
Lesson plan:
http://www.lessonopoly.org/node/10263#
Listen to Medieval Music
 http://www.music.iastate.edu/antiqua/instru
mt.html
 http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/fea
tures/2001/may/010503.medieval.html
