Humanities 8

Introduction to the Middle Ages/Medieval Times

This time period lasted about 1,000 years from 450 AD to 1450 AD.  It was a time in Europe that followed the fall of the Roman Empire and preceded the beginning of the age of science, art, exploration and widespread knowledge.

The period has been called the Middle Ages, the Medieval Period and also the Dark Ages, as little was recorded about this time period.

In the years following the fall of the Romans, there was no central rule in Europe as tribes of Barbarians moved throughout the land.  Some of the groups or tribes who occupied different parts of Europe were the following:

The Franks 

The Vikings

The Anglo-Saxons

The Celts

For a while, one great ruler, Charlemagne, came to the forefront as a ruler in Europe and he managed to almost re-unify the Roman Empire around 770-814 AD. He was interested in rebuilding civilization and had the intelligence, power and military successes to do so. When he died though, things fell apart as his empire couldn’t withstand Viking invasions. In its place a new system of government, feudalism, developed.

The Vikings were a force during the Middle Ages as they plundered much of Western Europe from their homeland in Scandinavia.  As a result of their Barbarian invasions, local leaders had to rely on their own strength, not a far-away king, to defend themselves. This led to the development of the feudal system.

Read through pages 21 to 35 in Pathways about Europe’s Early Middle Ages

- Summarize the sections focussing on the four groups that settled in Western Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire: the Franks, the Anglo-Saxons, the Celts, the Vikings.

- Make a poster that shows what parts of Europe were occupied by the four groups and highlight a couple points about each of the groups on the poster.

- Read the section on Charlemagne, p. 25 and 26, and make a table with two columns, one side list the good things he did and on the other side list the bad things he did.

Then write a paragraph on whether or not you think he should have been known as Charles the Great and why.