This article is for notes, and for people who need to study for tests. All information is supplied by my social studies teacher.
Vocabulary
Medieval- Latin for “Middle Ages”
Feudalism- A system of loyalties and protection in the middle ages
Dark Ages- The period in which Rome and Greece had fallen
Renaissance- The beginning of modern history
Primogeniture- A system of inheritance where all property is handed down to the first born son
Key
Critical information (Things that are very good to know, must be copied exactly= Will be in this pink color
THE DARK AGES
Section 1: Comparison
Roman Architecture
The Roman architecture looks a lot more sturdy. It was very complex and were drawn out/planned and designed in a way to make it easier to build. They had a very clean and stable built.
Europe’s architecture
While the Roman’s used cement and bricks, the dark ages had many straw and wood houses with wooden fences. It looked very run down and many people were scared, so they wouldn’t spend a lot of time and plan out things because of how scared people were of being stabbed in the back by vikings.
Roman medicine
They had very complex surgeries, they could do cataract surgery and flip lenses on people’s eyes to help them see better. One slip could make someone blind!
Europe’s medicine
Again, they were quick and made shelves and drawers so all they did was pile things into drawers and keep things in bowls. They had things sometimes sit out. All they would have is bandages because they had to be quick. They didn’t have a lot of things due to all the vikings and people dying so much in the dark ages. They couldn’t do a lot of surgery.
Section 2 Rome: a lost empire
When Rome fell, knowledge, law, culture, and technology fell with it. The army was lost too leaving the people with no protection. Europe broke up into a bunch of kingdoms; each with their own laws and leaders.
POP QUIZ
Which of these would be the worst to lose?
a. Architecture
b. Medicine
c. Laws
d. Army
Comment down below what you think and why you think so!
Survival
People lived in small villages and nearly everyone had to farm to provide enough food (agriculture). If everyone was a farmer, there are no artists, lawyers, and teachers etc. This made the loss of the knowledge even worse.
Geography
Europe is bordered by water. It was highly populated, and 1/3 of the land was good for farming. They also had lots of forests, and it provided plenty of wood.
Zones of europe:
- South: warm temperature, seasonal rain- excellent farming.
- North: slightly colder, heavily forested-lots of natural resources
- Scandinavia: very cold, relied on the ocean for food and resources, very different from the other two
Peasant life (sometimes known as the serfs)
Peasant- small farmers or farm laborers of the “lower class” of Rome
3-2-1 Summary (Guess 3 in 3 seconds, guess 2 in 2 seconds, and 1 in 1 second)
3- Things lost from rome – Architecture, Technology, The Army
2- Two good zones to live in – North and South
1- The one food they ate – Pottage
Christianity
Since there was no true emperor to follow, the church essentially became the leader of Europe. Monasteries popped up all over Europe spreading the word of God. This began to give people the sense of community needed for a strong nation.
THE BIRTH OF KINGS
After Rome fell Europe split up into small states ruled by kings. They weren’t elected. Instead, they were born as kings and considered “chosen by God”.
CHARLEMAGNE (pronounced: Char-lay-mayne)
Become king of France in 771. He was very religious. Used his army to unite all of Europe as an empire based on Christianity. He also focused heavily on the importance of education. He was eventually taken down by the Vikings.
VIKINGS
A group from Scandinavia in northern Europe. The land there is often frozen over so very little food was available. Eventually their population got so big they had to go south to find food – and they did not go peacefully. The arrival of Viking raiders destroyed this unity. The people once again focused purely on survival. Trade stopped, learning stopped, the Dark Ages were back in full force.
Feudalism
Feudalism- a system of rule where people trade their work for protection.
One guy owns the land, another works on it. Each group had specific jobs to complete.
ATTENTION: Write this information down exactly how it is. It is very important information that could possibly be on tests.
The feudal system
KING
The main guy
Nobles and Barons
Lords, forced to marry at a young age
Knights
Begin as a squire and worked their way up. Had chain mail armor and moved up from that as well. It took a lot of things to make their materials. Had a “code” they had to fill up to. They could be rewarded by the king. Had to learn how to speak Latin. Traveled the world a lot. Provides protection to the other classes.
Peasants/Serfs
The lowest class. Provides labor for the other classes.
Clergy
(This is supposed to be next to the Nobles, but they are not considered lords even though they have about the same power. They are higher than serfs.)
Had a big influence on the king, basically the religious group. The priests were in this and controlled the church. Monks lived the christian life.
Vocabulary
Fiefs- Nobles granting land to Knights
Labor- work
Clergy- a group of religious people (priests, bishops, etc.)
Serf- A farmer bound to work on the lords land
Land
Here’s an example of the land being broken up.
1. Queen Lauren officially owns all the land of the country. She usually builds a large castle in his capital city.
2. To get nobles to support her she divides her land and puts nobles in charge of their own area.
3. The nobles divide their land and use that to pay knights who then protect the land and serve the king (usually the ruler isn’t a queen, but as an example I used a queen. So usually the ruler is a king).
4. Peasants are allowed to live on the and and build farms. They pay taxes to the nobles and can’t leave.
5. In the end, taxes ultimately end up going to Queen Lauren. Peasants work, knights protect, nobles collect, king gets rich.
WHY?
No Roman Empire means no Roman Army – No army no protection – People willingly gave up their land to be protected. It all was about survival.
So- In the end, people turned to feudalism for protection. Landowners hired knights to protect peasants who agreed to work for the landowners. This further divided Europe.
History Plus 