Middle Ages/Dark Ages/Bubonic Plaque

The Middle Ages/Dark Ages

• The Middle Ages are a period in European history that ran from about 450 CE-1450 CE.

• The Middle Ages are called so because they happen in between the fall of the Roman Empire and the beginning of the modern world (Renaissance)

• Medieval literally means “Middle Ages”

• Bridge from the ancient world to the modern world

-The Middle Ages are also called "The Dark Ages" because there was very little cultural output.
-Most people, who were peasants were to busy trying to survive to be worried about education, art, architecture.
-There were lots of wars as well
-All this led to the name the Dark Ages.

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• With the fall of Rome, a lot of the schools, libraries, etc were destroyed 

• Much of the Greek and Roman philosophy were lost in Europe

• People in Europe were largely uneducated during this era

• Most people were religious fanatics who were very superstitious (anatomy)

• Europe became more localized and tribal

• Art, literature, trade, cities declined dramatically during this era (religion)

  • Viewed as an era of little production, science, and philosophy, with plenty of fear, superstition, and insecurity​

-During the Dark Ages, 90% of the population were peasants.
-The peasants worked the land, producing food for everyone else.
-There was NO social mobility, which means a peasant could never work hard enough to become a lord or nobleman.

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-Manors were large, self sufficient estates with farmland and sometimes whole villages.
-They are ruled by Lords.
-Many peasants were bound to the manor.
-The peasants worked the land, the knights protected the land, the lords owned the land, and everyone worked for the KING.

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The Development of Towns.
-Feudalism declined after the 1200's, as towns and traded expanded.
-The unification of kingdoms throughout the empire led to the idea of Nation building, or uniting a community of people under a single government.

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-Christianity (Catholic Church) grew even stronger during the Middle Ages.
-The Catholic Church had the power to collect taxes and was the largest landowner in Europe.

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-Between 1347-1351, 1/3 of Europe's population died from the Bubonic Plaque (Black Death)
-It was initially spread by bacteria carried by FLEAS living on RATS
-The plaque was carried to Europe by the means of TRADING, the rats were on the boats
-25 million people in Europe died from the plaque

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