Ch.12 Middle Ages Section 1 Early Middle Ages

• After the Western part of

the Roman Empire fell in
476, Western Europe
entered a period that
some called the DARK
AGES

• Western Europe became

isolated from the thriving
civilizations in the
Middle East, China, and
India as trade between
the regions slowed and
once thriving towns
were abandoned

•During this time, Classical Greek and Roman
ideas and culture combined with Germanic
and Christian traditions to form a new
MEDIEVAL civilization
What if you lived during the Middle Ages?

• After the fall of Rome, there was no

longer one group or kingdom that ruled
all of Western Europe

• Between the years 400-700, Germanic

tribes like the Goths, Vandals, Slavs, and
Franks carved up Western Europe into
kingdoms

• While the Germanic

kingdoms were
growing in Europe,
Islam emerged in
Arabia in the 600s

• Muslims, followers of

Islam, established
an Islamic empire
that stretched from
Arabia to Palestine,
North Africa, and
Spain

• In 800, after

Charlemagne crushed
a rebellion against
Pope Leo III in Rome,
the pope crowned
Charlemagne as
Emperor of the Romans

THIS DEEPENS THE SPLIT BETWEEN THE

BYZANTINE EMPIRE AND WESTERN EUROPE
AND LEADS TO FUTURE POWER STRUGGLES
BETWEEN GERMANIC EMPERORS AND THE

POPE

Charlemagne

• Charlemagne gave conquered land to

his supporters and soldiers

• He appointed nobles to rule over local

regions

• He kept track of what was happening in

his empire by using missi dominici
(royal messengers)

• Besides uniting much of Western Europe under his

rule, Charlemagne promoted a re-birth of learning
by encouraging the creation of local schools so
children could learn to read and write Latin

• He set up a Palace School at his capital,

Aachen, and staffed it with the best
scholars in Europe

• He helped preserve ancient

manuscripts by hiring scholars to
make copies for his library

• Muslims conquered Sicily in 827

and it became a thriving center of
Muslim culture

• Magyars (a nomadic group)

raided France, Germany, and
Italy and eventually settled in
Hungary

• Vikings from Scandinavia

attacked coastal and riverside
communities from Ireland to
Russia to Italy
Middle Ages Song
Shorter Middle Ages Song