THE DARK AGES
MARTEL defeated an invading Muslim army
“Start of the Medieval Period”
Split of Roman Empire by Constantine
I (330 C.E.)
Western Roman Eastern Roman Empire
Empire (Byzantium-
(Rome) >Constantinople
Fall of Roman Empire (476 C.E.)
Western Roman Eastern Roman
Empire’s Empire’s
“DARK AGES” BYZANTINE EMPIRE
DARK AGES
• event in European History after the fall of
Rome due to the invasion of BARBARIC
TRIBES
• refers to the EARLY MIDDLES AGES
• Lack of a Strong Central Government
• Decline in Trade
• Decline in Formal Learning
• Charlemagne (C.E. 771-814)
• starvation, diseases and wars were common
• learning in this period declines
• trades are rare, superstitions are common
• Latin was no longer the major language
• Germanic customs replace Roman ways
• Christian Church grew powerful and
preserve Greco-Roman learnings
• The Christian Church became the major
institution in Eastern and Western Europe
THE DARK AGES: FRANKISH KINGDOMS
“Start of the Medieval Period”
CLOVIS I
• Franks, a Germanic tribe, were united by
CLOVIS I.
• He established the Frankish Kingdom and in
496, he was converted into Christianity
CHARLES MARTEL
• Later, a Frankish ruler named CHARLES
at the Battle of Tours.
PEPIN THE SHORT
• The son of Charles Martel named PEPIN
THE SHORT defended the Church from the
Lombards.
• PEPIN THE SHORT even gave territories to
the Pope known as PAPAL STATES
• He developed Feudalism
CHARLEMAGNE
• PEPIN THE SHORT’s son named
CHARLEMAGNE was crowned as the
“Emperor of the Romans” in 800 by Pope
Leo III
• CHARLEMAGNE is considered as the “Father
of Europe” and his kingdom became the
“Holy Roman Empire”
• Charlemagne promoted learning and
expands his kingdom.
• He studied other languages
• He is a strong protector of the Church
against its enemies
AFTERMATH OF THE FRANKISH KINGDOM
• experienced threats from the Vikings
• partitioned into three by the grandsons of
Charlemagne (Charles the Bald, Lothair I
and Louis the German) through the Treaty
of Verdun
The Feudal Age
EVENTS AFTER CHARLEMAGNE’S DEATH
• Succeeding Frankish rulers lacked strong
leadership
• Vikings/Northmen from Scandinavia,
Saracens from Middle East and Magyars
from Central Asia attacked Western Europe
• Western Europe developed a new
organization
FEUDALISM
 • was a way of structuring society around
relationships derived from the holding of
land in exchange for service or labor
• political system based on reciprocal
relationships
• little social mobility
• FIEF is the land granted by the landowners
in exchange for military and other services
• The noble who received the land is called a
vassal.
Act of Homage
• the “vassal” will kneel bareheaded and
swordless before his lord, then place his
hands in the lord’s hands and affirmed his
intentions to serve the lord
Knights
• a soldier in the past who had a high social
rank and who fought while riding a horse
and usually wearing armor
• they defended the vassals and the landlords
• female equivalent of knights are known as
“dame”
Code of the Knights: Chivalry
• code of honorable and gallant behavior
• knights pledged themselves to the ideals
like dedication to service, loyalty, courage,
courtesy, etc.
• failure to follow the code means disgrace to
the knight
• softening influence on the knights
• affected social and moral standards in the
world like knight’s protectiveness and
gallantry to the ladies
Manorialism
• economic system during Middle Ages
• peasants became serfs, people who are not
allowed to leave the land where they are
born
• serfs lived in a lord’s estate called manor
• manors are self-sufficient
• manors had to produce all the things the
people in it needed due to frequent dangers
outside the manor
• lord lives in well-protected castle with heavy
fortification
• serfs live in dark, dirty, one-room huts and
they seldom ate fresh meat
LIFE OF A SERF
• might share their homes with farm animals
and eat simple diet
• men and women worked from sunrise to
sunset
• diseases often crippled and killed their
children
• sing and dance during holidays
• most serfs accept their position in life
Castle - a large fortified building that is used to
protect against attacks
Rise of Christianity
• The invasions and unrest in later part of the
empire until the fall of Rome brought more
converts.
• Christians were allowed to practice their
religion during the reign of Constantine I
• Theodosius I made Christianity the official
religion of the Roman Empire
The Medieval Church
The Christian Church in Europe split in C.E. 1054
• Religious Function
• Political Function
• Economic Function
• Social Function
• The Church manifested its power through
CANON LAW (or Church Laws) which served
as a guide to human behavior.
• Clergy are exempted from paying taxes.
• Church’s ultimate power is
EXCOMMUNICATION – exclusion of the
Church and denial of the chance for the
salvation of one’s soul
Factors that Led to the Dominance of the
Church in the Middle Ages
• It taught that salvation depended on its
sacraments.
 • It had the only strong authority during the • Churches' design are classified either
time. Romanesque or Gothic
• It controlled education.
• It controlled land ownership.
ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE
• were adapted from Roman architecture
Monasticism
• had rounded arches, massive walls, small
• religious way of life in which one renounces windows
worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to
spiritual work GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE
• St. Benedict required monks to take the vow • delicate structure and more windows
of poverty, chastity and obedience • had pointed arches and “flying buttresses”
Monastery UNIVERSITIES
• resembled as a small city • Universities existed in Europe with the help
• led by an ABBOT of the Catholic Church
• priests staying here are called as MONKS • offered courses in logic, grammar, rhetoric,
arithmetic, music, geometry and astronomy
Reforms by Church
• after enrolling for four years, students can
• Introduction of TRUCE OF GOD or not to take theology, medicine or law
fight during Lent, Advent, Christmas, Easter
and other holy days SCHOLASTICISM
• Introduction of PEACE OF GOD which • philosophy that combined reason with faith
exempted clergy, women, children, and • St. Thomas Aquinas is the most famous
peasants from battle or attacks scholastic
Church’s Authority Grows Late Middle Ages (1000-1500)
• Pope Innocent III said that the Pope is • Ex Cathedra
“lower than God but higher than man,… • Anti-Semitism
judges all and is judged by no one” • Crusades
• excommunicated rulers like Henry IV for • Cultural Diffusion
violating the Church’s orders Church’s • Revival of Trade
Authority Grows
• Decline of Feudalism
• Crusades (Holy War) were launched, first by
• Nation-states
Pope Urban II, to reclaim Holy Lands from
the hands of the Turkish Muslims
• People who joined the crusades are known
as CRUSADERS
• INQUISITION (a Church court) was organized
to punish HERETICS (people upholding
HERESY – a belief or an act that the Church
considered as wrong)

INFLUENCES OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC

CHURCH
• Establishment of Catholic Churches
throughout Europe