A B R I E F OV E RV I E W O F I M P O RTA N T E V E N T S

FROM THE FALL OF ROME TO THE

CRUSADES

THE DARK AGES

• Describes the Early Middle Ages from 476-1000• Started after Rome was destroyed by Barbarians• Refers to the lack of culture• Literature, written history, cultural advancements

• Time of backwardness where the advancements of Rome were not apparent

THE DARK AGES

• Historians assumed the period was a time of violence and idleness• Now used more as a way to describe the time

period, more ‘silent’ than ‘dark’• Justice: Ordeal, judgement before God• By fire: burn palm, if it healed in a matter of time you

were innocent• Battle: fight accuser, winner is right• Water: Witch, float = guilty/burn, sink = innocent

THE FRANKS

• Were a Germanic tribe who eventually became the French. • Inhabited the former wealthy Roman provinces of

Gaul and became the most powerful of the Germanic tribes. • Created the strongest and most stable barbarian

kingdom in the days after the Western Roman Empire had collapsed.

THE FRANKS

• Childeric was the father of Clovis (481-511), the first ruler of the Merovingian dynasty.

• Clovis was a ruthless warrior and he and his immediate successors destroyed all resistance within their empire.

• He drove the Gallic Visigoths into Spain

• Clovis converted to Orthodox Christianity, an act which made him king of the Franks in the eyes of the pope.

CHARLEMAGNE

• Charlemagne (Charles the Great) inherited the Frankish throne in 768, ruled for 46 years• Rule brought civilization,

order, and learning

• Led many campaigns in Europe

• People in conquered territories would be forced to convert to Christianity or they would be killedhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGkUNK8kmDw

CHARLEMAGNE

• Crowed “Emperor of the Romans” by Pope Leo III• Legacy:• Government: area divided into regions ruled by Counts• Had appointed officials to keep the counts in line• Also heard complaints from the people, made laws

• Education and Training: started schools taught by monks• Based on Roman teachings

• Charlemagne’s grandsons fought over his land and finally signed the Treaty of Verdun, which split the empire into three kingdoms• Trickle down effect, weak!

THE PROPHET MUHAMMED

• Arabia was a divided and contested country.

• In 570 C.E., Muhammed was born into the Quraysh tribe, which was very influential in Mecca.

• At 40, he received a revelation from the Angel Jibril (Gabriel)

• He was told he was a prophet of Allah, and that his mission was to bring the true Word of Allah to the Arab peoples.

THE PROPHET MUHAMMED

• Muhammed began to preach the message he had been given: • there was only one God, Allah; • that no image or idol was acceptable to Allah; • that Allah was not born from another god, and He did not

have any son or daughter; • that all who believed the Word of Allah were as brother or

sister; • that all the prophets, from the time of Adam to the time

of Jesus, had revealed the same message.

THE PROPHET MUHAMMED

• The people of Mecca were not receptive to this strict new religion• Meeting considerable opposition, and fearing for

the lives of his few followers, Muhammed moved to Medina – the City of the Prophet. • From this base Muhammed increased his efforts

to convert the other tribes of Arabia

CRASH COURSE ISLAM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpcbfxtdoI8&list=PLBDA2E52FB1EF80C9&index=13

EXPANSION OF ISLAM

• In 630 C.E., Muhammed and his armies captured Mecca. The Ka’ba was cleansed and the idols within it destroyed

• Muhammed died in 632 C.E. and was succeeded by the first Caliph, Abu Bakr.

• Under the second Caliph, Ummar, the Muslims began to expand out of Arabia.

• In battles with the Persian Empire and the Byzantine Roman Empire, the armies of Islam proved to be stronger.

• By 732 Dar ul Islam stretched from the Pyrennes mountains in Europe to the borders of India, and deep into central Asia.

CREATION OF GUNPOWDER

• Discovered by accident in China (tried to create an elixir of life)

• In about 850 CE it was mixed accidentally• mixed 75 parts saltpeter with 15 parts charcoal and 10

parts sulfur

• According to a text from that era, "smoke and flames result, so that [the alchemists'] hands and faces have been burnt, and even the whole house where they were working burned down.“

• The Chinese used it for fireworks but Europeans would ‘improve’ its usage for weaponry by the 14th century

THE VIKING AGE

• Came from Denmark, Norway and Sweden• Mostly farmers, craftsmen or traders• Would sail and raid shorelines all over Europe• Took over most of England, Scotland and Wales

• Were brilliant ship builders• Could come right up on the beach so they could jump out

and start fighting

• Were brave explorers, sailed west of Britain• Faeroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland and Newfoundland• Leif Eriksson sailed to America in 1001• First European to land in America

THE VIKING AGE

• Vikings traded all over Europe and Central Asia• Traded in goods and also slaves

• Men worked on farms or as craftsman or traders• Handled boats and fought to protect family or king

• Women did all the household jobs• Milked cows, made cheese, spun, wove and sewed all the

clothes

• Children did not go to school, helped parents work• Learned about history, religion and law from stories

• ‘Blood-feuds’ saw families fight each other• Settled by killing member of other family• Eventually ended with one paying ‘blood-money’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fc83VvUeE8

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/vikings/launch_gms_viking_quest.shtml

END OF THE VIKINGS

• In the 9th Century, Alfred the Great of England forced the Vikings to leave Western England• 10th Century saw England reclaim many Viking

areas• Early 11th century the whole of England was ruled

by the Viking King Knut• In 1066 England was conquered by William, the

Duke of Normandy• Vikings driven out but remained for another 300

years in Scandinavia

BATTLE OF HASTINGS (1066)

• Norman conquest of England by William the Conqueror• Most famous battle ever fought on English soil. • William's triumph marked the end of Anglo-Saxon

England, the creation of new ties with Western Europe, and the imposition of a new and more cohesive ruling class.

• Society became bound by ties of feudal loyalty, leading to a greater concentration of power in royal hands

• Also created common law which had consequences that still affect our lives today, after nearly 1,000 years.

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/1066-battle-of-hastings-abbey-and-battlefield/history/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/normans/launch_gms_battle_hastings.shtml

FALL OF JERUSALEM

• Jerusalem fell from the Byzantines to the Muslims in 634 CE

• Muslim forces sieged the town for four months with multiple assaults on the city

• The Christians surrendered but preserved their places of worship and were not forced to convert

• As Jerusalem grew in importance to Muslims, the persecution of Christians grew

• As news of their places of worship being destroyed filtered into Europe, support for a Holy Crusade grew in 1096

SOURCES

• http://www.thenagain.info/webchron/westeurope/Franks.html• http://www.swcs.com.au/jerusalem.htm• http://

asianhistory.about.com/od/asianinventions/a/InventGunpowder.htm