The Middle Ages PDF

The Middle Ages During the decline of the Roman Empire, much of Western Europe devolved back to many of the characteristics it had possessed before being conquered and ruled by Rome: local/tribal identity and resulting warfare, and rural agriculture would dominate Europe through the Middle Ages and...

The Middle Ages During the decline of the Roman Empire, much of Western Europe devolved back to many of the characteristics it had possessed before being conquered and ruled by Rome: local/tribal identity and resulting warfare, and rural agriculture would dominate Europe through the Middle Ages and into the Early Modern Period. The one thing introduced by the Romans to Europe that would endure after the Roman Empire collapsed was Christianity. The Middle Ages cover about 1,000 years--from about 500 CE to about 1500 CE. The first dominant kingdom to emerge from the fall of Rome and the decentralization of the old Roman Empire in Western Europe in the early Middle Ages was that of the Germanic tribe of the Franks. From 714 to 814, the Carolingian House of the Franks (its most famous king was Charlemagne) brought stability and progress to Western Europe. A large portion of Western Europe experienced a degree of military and political security as well as religious unity during this time. This accomplishment was not to last, however. The Frankish empire did not endure, partly because it lacked the strong economic bases that had supported the Romans. By the ninth century, Muslim conquests and commercial activity successfully competed with the Franks; inland trade declined sharply and urban life almost disappeared in the central and northern parts of Europe. In addition, the empire had no strong administrative machinery to compensate for the weak rulers who came after the dominating leadership of the emperor Charlemagne; the empire disintegrated amid civil wars and invasions. The impressive achievements of the Carolingians towards building a unifying governmental system were not able to counteract the decentralization of political, military, and economic activity in most of western Europe. The economic/political system known as feudalism attempted to provide stability and to serve as an effective political substitute for a powerful, effective central government. Economic life was agricultural and centered on a concern for subsistence and security, which could only be provided by the acceptance of local and rural customs and practices designed to ensure the necessities of life through resisting change and fostering self-sufficiency. The church continued its efforts to convert and standardize the belief of its members, and in so doing attempted to provide spiritual security in a troubled and insecure world, as well as assert dominance over the many peasant workers, called serfs, in feudal Western Europe. The Church owned about half of the land in Europe – so in an agricultural society, this gave the Church great power and wealth, while the monarchies of Europe remained relatively weak. This must change: the monarchies must become stronger before successful exploration, discovery, and colonization of the Americas would be possible. By the fourteenth century (1300s), Europe had begun to break out of relative isolation and explore outside of its natural boundaries – even sending some explorers eastward to seek out riches rumored to exist somewhere many days travel to the East. These explorers began an overland eastward trade route to Asia called The Silk Road that opened up trade between Europe and China. Many luxury items were brought to Europe over The Silk Road, as well as new technologies, such as the elements to make gunpowder, along with the technology of the compass. These new technologies, along with better knowledge of sailing, will be vitally important in the efforts explorers will make in crossing the Atlantic Ocean to explore the Americas. The Silk Road brought many good things to Europe, but also brought death – through germs carried by rodents hitching a ride in crates coming across the Eurasian continent. The Bubonic Plague (also referred to as the Black Death) brought devastation to Europe – killing between one-third and one-half of the entire population in the 1340s. This created enormous social dislocation and many historians see this as the “beginning of the end” for feudalism. The Hundred Years’ War between England and France (1337 – 1453) also helped to erode the power of feudalism by destroying the ordered society on which it was built. The Silk Road and the trade it encouraged brought money (gold and silver) to Europe. In a society where land had been the source of wealth, this infusion of gold and silver brought new opportunities for Europeans (both rising monarchs and rich merchants) to begin to explore across the ocean…..once the passage way to this “new” world is discovered by a man named Christopher Columbus.