Erik Selisker
History of Western Civ
Dr. Su
March 29, 2016
The fall of the Roman Empire and its Affects on the World At the time of the Roman Empire the world saw them as complete law and order. Not only were they considered the world, but they also brought a lot of technology like plumbing and waterpower mills. Without Rome to stabilize Europe it caused the entire continent to break up into many regions. Due to civil wars and the invasions of barbarians businesses and trade routes came to a complete halt. The cites of Rome were all dependent on their trade with one another and once that trade came to a stop the cities all started to fall apart. Once this happened the population started to leave the urban cities and move into the countryside, which were owned primarily by huge landowners. Following the fall of the Roman Empire three societies emerged and it was Western Europe that started as the weakest of these three cultures. The cultures in Western Europe
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Because of this it was a very prosperous time for these civilizations. On the flip side Western Europe was the complete opposite with producing very little in the way of literary work and cultural creations. This is the reason why this time in history is called the “Dark Ages”. Western Europe was thrown into complete violence during this time in history with no laws and people trying to take control of the countryside. Europe was always being invaded by outside threats like the Byzantines. Slavs and Scandinavians along with many threats coming from their own society. With all the problems Western Europe was having it was the Frankish Kings or as the Romans called them the barbarians that fought each other for supremacy and domination. The only good thing that came of all this fight was that it started the foundation for what we call Western Europe
There were many social factors that contributed to the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The fall of the Western Roman Empire was impacted by several social factors. For example, “the introduction of Christianity had some influence on the decline and fall of the Roman empire” (doc. 2). The things that this religion valued, were quite the opposite of what Romans used to hold as their virtues.
One of the variables that led to western Rome falling was cultural decay. Cultural decay. Cultural decay is the event in which a group of people lose the cultural influence they once hd. In this case, western Rome lost their unique culture because of increased German influence. Germans replaced Ruling classes(doc 7) and good amount of the military(Doc 5). Since the empire was so big the military was very spread out, this allowed for German influence to be cast all about Rome. Consequently, many forgot about the traditional Roman ways, and turned to barbarism. As their
After the fall of Roman Empire, Europe fell under the rule of many different leaders. The eastern side of the empire became the Byzantine Empire, which grew in strength and prospered in the many years after its formation. The western side, on the other hand, did not. The Germanic Kingdoms that formed on that land quickly fell under attack by barbarians. From 400 A.D. to 1400 A.D, this side of Europe fell into a "Dark Age". A lack of government, barbarian attacks, and a decline in education made the "Dark Ages" a time of cultural decay for Europe.
While this was all going, vikings were raiding from the North. Their homeland in Scandinavia was cold and barren and they needed to supplement their food storage, so they would travel South along the maze of rivers and invade villages in Medieval Europe, adding to the poverty of the area. Art, much like education, also became an item that only religious institutions possessed. Art was deemed nonessential by most people in the area and was not made by most people. After a period of inorder, a new civilization emerged for a short period of time, the Carolingian Empire. Charlemagne, the second ruler of the empire, was the most ambitious ruler and the most well-known. His political changes that he made caused many cultural changes to be made. Charlemagne established control over what modern day France, Italy, and Germany would be today. He was a genius military leader and conquered a lot of land. However, at the end of his reign, the Treaty of Verdun was made, splitting the empire into three sections: a Western region, a ‘middle’ region, and the Eastern region thus dividing their cultures further. This would later have a more profound difference on their cultures as they develop separately from each other.
The Roman Empire was one of the most influential civilizations of all time and they left a mark not only during its reign but also during its decline. Roman architecture styles are still very much in use today as is their government style. However, their fall was what impacted the world the most; this fall is the reason today Christianity has so much influence on western culture and why Europe is separated from the rest of its continent. This fall caused a massive decline in the living standards and the people who had once walked the streets of Rome were left with nearly nothing. They took up farming, like their ancestors long before them and did so in exchange for protection.
The fall of the Western Roman Empire The Roman Empire was one of the greatest empires in history. It not only held a lot of power, but Rome’s advancements were above where they should have been. But Empires can’t last forever. The four major contributors to the fall of the Rome Empire were political problems within themselves, economical dilemmas, disastrous diseases, and attacking invaders that finished them.
Many great civilizations went into a depression after they had their golden age. One of these civilizations was the Western Europe civilization. After the fall of Rome the Western Europe civilization went into the dark ages while Eastern Europe called the Byzantine Empire prospered. Western Europe was brought out of the dark ages by the crusades. The crusades were the one thing that brought Western Europe out of the crusades
The Roman Empire was a time when the government was ruled by emperors and there were boarders around that distinguished which land belong to the Romans and which did not. It encompassed the coastland and people of three continents: Africa, Asia and Europe. Many like to remember it was “the last and greatest of the Hellenistic empires, with all of the cultural variety that the term connotes” (Andrea & Overfield, 2014, p. 300). Because of the characterization of “The Fall of the Roman Empire” many have had a misconception of it. It did not collapse, what happened was that it was a work in process that seemed to have caught up. There are many causes to the fall of the Roman Empire. The lands that were ruled in by the Roman Empire began to embrace new cultures and over a period there was new civilizations that were formed: Byzantium, Western (or Latin) Europe, and Islam. Because of these knew civilizations, there was a lot of change that was going to come to Europe.
Because trade was scarce, Western Europeans had little contact with each other and the surrounding world during the early Middle Ages. There wasn’t much cultural diffusion, meaning that new ideas concerning technology, law, education, and art were scant. The lack of technology affected serfs the most, as they were the people who cultivated the land without the efficiency of advanced agricultural equipment. The only organized authority with a clear hierarchy during the Middle Ages was the Church. The Church, although arguably corrupt, provided foundation and religious unity to Western Europeans.
At the peak of the Roman Empire, the territory spanned from the western reaches of Spain to the deserts of Egypt. Such power had never been seen in the Western world before the Romans. Sadly, due to massive size, the power the Roman Empire possessed hardly served to last. Over time and multiple emperors, the empire slowly decayed, financially and politically. Eventually, the empire was split into Eastern and Western portions in the hopes to ease political and economic struggles. Each side of the empire was influenced by Roman culture and political structure in different aspects of life. What would become the Byzantine Empire and the Western European Kingdoms grew from their Roman roots like weeds; blooming into flowers that seemed to poorly emulate the Roman Empire’s original beauty.
The Fall of the Roman Empire For hundreds of years, the Roman Empire was the principle power in the Western world. People from a vast number of tongues and nations all bowed in submission to one man: the emperor of Rome. By the late fifth century, however, the western Empire had declined, having lost a large degree of its territory and power. With the fall of Romulus Agustulus to Odovacer in 476 C.E the once great Roman Empire fell, never to rise again.
Upon looking at all the documents presented, medieval Europe was a Dark Age from 476-1100, roughly speaking.The Dark Ages are classified as such due to: a lack of governance, invasion from the barbarian tribes, and due to the lack of intellectuals.According to document A, the semi-barbarian tribes had a greater influence in Europe during this time period, as the preexisting government in 476 was unable to lower crime by enforcing the laws that were established at that time, as shown in Document D. Document C further explains the battles that took place, and how barbarians would attack parts of Europe, killing many people, thus making circumstance even darker. Many people were poor at this time and lacked a proper farm, and a proper education
It started from the Christianization of Clovis I, the leader of the Franks - Germanic people held power in the Roman Province of Gaul which is now known as France. With the Church supports on his military campaigns, Clovis I had united the Franks into a Kingdom. After few centuries rose a new leader that expanded Christianity's rule over Europe. Charlemagne took over the Frankish Kingdom and started his campaign to the West and later reunited for the first time since the Roman Empire. During Charlemagne's reign over the kingdom, people who worship pagan gods have their heads off.
Europe had a lot invasion by barbarian hordes, which caused destruction to this era. According to document
Western civilization can be traced back to the Western Mediterranean and Western Europe. It has been linked by many Historians to the Roman Empire, as well as with Medieval Western Christendom which came out of the Middle Ages in order to experience transformative ideas such as the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Enlightenment. On the surface it may seem that there are abundant reasons to why Western Civilization was able to develop and grow during the Middle Ages. But ultimately it comes down to three main reasons Western Civilization in the Middle Ages was able to grow so rapidly. With all of this said, In order to truly understand how Western European Civilization was able to flourish and grow during the Middle Ages, one must look at the role of the Church during these times, how war and conflict shaped territories, and how disease and famine changed the world. First, during the Medieval Ages the Catholic Church was able to rise to one of the most powerful institutions in Europe. Second, wars such as the Crusades where the Catholic Church began to start military expeditions, otherwise known as Crusades, to kick Muslims out from what they considered the Holy Land. Finally, diseases such as the Black Death changed the way people during the Western Civilization acted and felt.