Medieval Europe

Essential Questions

• How did the Germanic kingdoms that took over the Western Roman Empire differ from the society the Romans had organized in that region?

• What is feudalism, and how did medieval feudalism differ from political rule by a central authority or state, such as the one that ruled the Roman Empire?

• What factors help to explain the rise and spread of feudalism in Europe in the Middle Ages?

• Why was the Catholic Church able to play a unique role in unifying the societies of medieval Europe?

• In what ways was medieval Europe influenced and shaped by its interactions with the Muslim societies to its south?

• What factors caused the crises and troubles of the late Middle Ages?

Defining the Medieval Period

This time period has also been called the “Middle Ages” and the “Dark Ages.”

Medieval Europe: Stages

The Fall of the Roman Empire

• Beginning of the Middle Ages

• Invasions from all sides

• End of the Roman emperors

The Barbarian Invasions

• From Asia: Huns and Magyars

• From the Germanic north: Saxons, Angles, and Goths

Europe in 814

Rise of the Germanic Peoples

• Ostrogoths: Italian peninsula

• Visigoths: modern-day Spain

• Angles and Saxons: modern-day Britain

• Franks: central Europe

Invasion of the Goths into the Roman Empire, a 19th-century painting

Clovis (466–511)

• Established a Frankish kingdom in central Europe

• Conquered many competing tribes and regional Roman political leaders

• Converted to Christianity

Charlemagne (742–814)

• Powerful leader, strong Christian

• Founded the Carolingian Empire

• Crowned by Pope Leo III as the first Holy Roman Emperor