From Rome to the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

• Middle Ages - the gradual decline and collapse of the Roman Empire ushered in a dark era of European history

What Changed in the Middle Ages?

1) Movement of People

• Urban to Rural– Urban cities decline due to

over-taxation, invasion, and people migrating to the country side.• Still they needed protection from

invaders and thieves.– The local lord would offer

protection in return for their work in his fields as Serfs. • Often a serf would be born, live

and die on the manor.

2) Loss of Liberties

• From Freedom to Serfdom– In exchange for

protection, rights were given up.

– Often the serfs had no true rights and few privileges connected to the lord they served. • A serf is not a slave but is

bound to the land in which they work.

Noble

Serfs

3) Change in Law• From Public Law to Family Law

– Under the Romans, laws, such as the Twelve Tables, were posted in the forum for all to see and follow.

– In the early Middle Ages, judgments were made by the local lord who settled all disputes on his property or fief. • Disputes between nobles were

settled by judgment by their king/peers, trial by combat, or trial by ordeal.

• Instead of laws, there were codes (chivalry and courtly love) that guided the behavior of the nobles.

4) One Religion, One God

• Switch from Multiple Religions to One International Church– Germanic religions focused on many

gods. – The Romans also had multiple gods

and deities until Christianity became the official religion of the empire. • At that point, Christianity and the kings

that supported it began to conquer more and more territory and institute Christianity as the only religion of the land.

– The Catholic Church was the dominant control of European society.

Roman Gods – Romulus and Remus

Jesus

5) Diluted Power• Switch from Centralized

Government to Decentralized Authority– The Romans exercised

control over the empire (from Spain to Persia) from a central authority revolving around the emperor.

– As the empire fell, authority was decentralized to the local lords of the land who protected and maintained justice in their fiefdoms.

Augustus

Lords

6) An Agricultural Economy Arises• From Manufacturing

and Trade to and Agriculture Based Economy– The Roman trading

empire soon fell apart as the empire could no longer protect their trade routes and the urban workers disappeared into the rural area.

– Manorialism (economic system based on self sufficient, agricultural units) guides the economics of the day.

7) Reverting to Barter

• Switch back to Barter from a Monetary System– Roman coinage disappears.– In the Middle Ages it is

replaced with the trade of goods and services of equal value, which is known as bartering. • Most all forms of banking or

money lending were a thing of the past.

– The Middle Ages saw the development of local markets and trade days.

8) Cultural Stagnation

• From Greco-Roman Culture to Cultural Stagnation– The Greco – Roman world

ushered in a new ideal of art and architecture, the writing of political philosophies, and the creation of dramas and comedies for the theater.

– The Middle Ages saw sporadic pieces of inspiration, such as the architecture of cathedrals and writers like Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales but for the most part, little was added to our cultural growth in the Middle Ages, especially the first 300-400 years.

9) Constant Warfare

• From the Pax Romana to Continual Fighting– Starting well before the Fall of the

Roman Empire, warfare becomes one of the driving forces of the Middle Ages. • Invaders, such as the Vandals, Huns,

Visigoths, and Ostrogoths, and later the Vikings and Muslims, kept western Europe in a near constant state of war.

– The political system of Feudalism was created to contract for warriors to serve a lord’s needs. • Castles, or defensive fortifications,

become symbols of military and political power.