yr 8 - history the dark ages

Rise and fall of Ancient Rome

• The Roman Empire was a superpower of that time in history.

• At its greatest peak, the empire spread across most of the known world equalling almost the size of Australia with 3 times our population

• Rome ruled from 753 BCE to 476 CE

• Kings had ruled Rome for around 250 years

• Some of this era was brutal

Roman Republic

• When the last King went away to battle he was refused re-entry to Rome and the country became a Republic - led by leaders not kings

• Roman Republic lasted 509-27 BCE

• A system of government was established with no central ruler and power was shared between officials, the Senate and assemblies

• A constitution was set up

• The Plebians were the lower class who wanted a say

• The word PLEB today goes back to early Roman days meaning commoner - lower class, uneducated and poor

What happened?

• The Plebians outnumbered the ruling class and went on strike and without them working - nothing functioned

• As a results Plebians were included in their own assembly

• Roman laws were written down

• The people at the bottom became important

Roman Society

• Rome was class based and social status or position determined your power

• It was difficult to move into the upper classes unless through marriage or a promotion through an important job, or knowing someone in power

Problems

During the Republic, the Roman Army was often at war. Since Rome was concentrated on war and trade with other nations—it was difficult for poor Romans to make enough money. This led to anger between the lower class and the upper class, who were benefitting with the money from war and trade.

End of the Republic

This conflict set the stage for the end of the Roman Republic and the beginning of the Roman Empire. Since Rome was often at war, military leaders such as Julius Caesar were able to obtain power and influence. As a result of this military power, Augustus, a military leader, was crowned the first emperor of Rome in 31 BCE. The Roman Empire lasted from 27 BCE to the 5th century CE. Augustus set up a form of government known as a principate, which gave Augustus, as first citizen, control of the government, while keeping some parts, such as the Senate, of the Republic. The Senate was largely composed of wealthy men. Augustus brought great wealth to Rome. Due in part to this wealth, Augustus and the emperors after him were worshipped as gods after their deaths.

Fall of Rome

• Enemy of Rome: General Hannibal Barca Of Carthage

• The biggest military threat and invasion came from Hannibal of Carthage which was the super power in Mediterranean after Rome. In B.C. 218, with its army reinforced with elephants, Hannibal moved into Italy through France and he almost captured Rome thanks to his genius strategic move.

• Romans lost the battles many times. But the senate eventually found a way to decapitate Hannibal and counterattack for Carthage

Fall

Barbarians Eventually Led The Fall of Roman Empire

Long standing enemy of the Rome was the barbarian tribes in the north. Now the modern northern European nations, those people were always degraded as barbarians by the Romans since they did not belong to the Roman civilization. Barbarians were anyone not Roman generally.

Division of the empire

Roman Empire was split into the east and west

Emperor Theodosius divided the empire into two between his sons in 395. Arcadius became the Eastern Roman Empire with the capital as Constantinople. Honorius became the emperor of Western Roman Empire with the capital as Rome.

The western part fell

Western Rome collapsed

In 476, Western Rome collapsed due to the barbarian attacks from the north. Widely known as Byzantine Empire, Eastern Roman Empire continued its existence until 1453. One of the titles given to Mehmed the Conqueror, who conquered Constantinople, was the Emperor of Rome.

In the West, the political gap after the collapse of Western Roman Empire was filled by the Roman Catholic Church. Established at the heart of Rome, Vatican and Saint Peter’s Basilica, the residence of the Popes, ruled over the kingdoms in Europe for many years. This leads into the start of the Medieval Era.

Feudalism

Medieval Europe

Period of time that began with the fall of the Roman Empire around 476CE.

Over time, a system called feudalism replaced Roman laws and the spread of Christianity changed societies across Europe.

What is Feudalism

Feudalism is a kind of social system based on rights and obligations around land ownership during Medieval Europe.

Ask AI

How did feudalism work?

It was a hierarchy which means it classified members of the society from top to bottom in order of importance

Relationships in this hierarchy were between lords (people high up) and vassals (people low down)

Feudalism Obligations

Not simply a top down structure that allowed people at the top to tell people below them what to do. Obligations were mutual

For example the king had to provide the nobles with land and in return they promised to obey the king and provide military support if needed. This continued down the chain.

Ask AI

Could you change your social status?

In a feudal system, person could almost never change their social position.

If a person was born as a peasant (at the bottom of the feudal hierarchy), he or she died as a peasant

Peasants could not become nobles, no matter how intelligent they were.

The King

Top of the hierarchy

Very wealthy

All the land ruled by the king was believed to belong to only him

Usually the king kept about 25% of all land for humbled and granted permission to nobles and Church officials to use the rest.

Nobles

Below the king - loyal to the king

They often lived in large manor houses built on land granted to them by the king (known as fiefs)

These manor lands were farmed by peasants and serfs who were allowed to live there by the nobles in exchange for labour and food.

Knights

Small percentage of the population but had an important role

Many were given grants of lands from their lords (wealthy nobles)

In return they were given grants of land from their lords (wealthy nobles)

Sometimes received food or supplies as payment for protection from peasants.

Peasant and serf

Peasants made up of the largest group in medieval European society - about 90%

Undertook the bulk of the physical work - mostly farming related

Their labour produced the food and other goods needed by the wealthy (such as furniture and armour)

They provided much of the income of the rich through - paying rent and tax

Lived hard lives that were usually short - survival depended on working hard and staying healthy. There was little time for rest and leisure

Farm work was difficult - every thing had to to be done with hand and tools were basic.

All the land belonged to the King

King gave big pieces of land to lords (tenants in chief) in exchange for military and political support.

The lords then gave out small parts of their land to lesser lords for similar

terms - they did the same for locals

lords - they did the same of for peasants.

Medieval Manor

Under this arrangement, the lord of a manor provided serfs on his estate with a place to live and the means to survive

In return, they provided him with their labour and taxes (a portion of what they produced on the land they farmed)

most serfs were not free to leave the manor lands and had to have the lord’s permission to do many everyday tasks.

manors were self sufficient everything they needed to live was within the manor property.

Housing for all the people who worked for the lord and lady, food spruces, water sources and specialty shops.

the black death

What was the Black Death?

• Highly contagious disease that spread across Europe from 1347-1351

• Disease was almost always fatal

• The Black Death is now believed to have been a combination of three types of plague – bubonic plague, pneumonic plague and septicemic plague.

Symptoms

• Swollen lymph nodes

• Large bulges or bumps on the skin - red to purple to black ‘Black Death’

• High fever

• Vomiting

• Painful headaches

• Loss of motor controls - couldn’t speak or walk properly

• The average time of death from the first symptom was between three and seven days. It is believed that between 50 and 75per cent of those who caught the disease died.

Origins of the plague: Believed to have started in Chinese cities in 1331

Spread of the plague

Plagues were spread by fleas that lived on rats.

1. Fleas drink rat blood that carries the bacteria.

2. Bacteria multiply in flea’s gut.

3. Flea bites human and regurgitates the blood into human wound.

4. Flea’s cut clogged with bacteria.

5. Human is infected

Origins of the plague

• Disease spread rapidly through crowded urban cities

• Mongol armies helped spread the plague - used infected bodies as a biological weapon, launched dead bodies into cities they were laying siege to

Spreading west

• Plague moved along the caravan trade routes toward the west

• By 1345 had arrived in Russia

• Arrives in Cairo and Alexandria by 1348 - Killed 7,000 people a day in Cairo at its peak.

Plague arrives in Europe

• Resurgence of trade helped spread plague into Europe.

• Fleas on rats spread from trading ships into Europe.

• Enters through Sicily and then Italian City states and quickly spreads through Europe.

• Unsanitary conditions in cities and towns supported large populations of rats which carried the disease - fleas leapt from rats to people

Similarities in Australia

• A First Fleet of British ships arrived at Botany Bay in January 1788 to establish a penal colony.

• Europeans brought with them disease (though people, animals, plants) - they could survive these diseases because they had a built resistance.

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people did not have this resistance and most who contracted the diseases died.

Impact of disease in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

In 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip and 1,500 convicts, crew, marines and civilians arrived at Sydney Cove. In the 10 years that followed, it's estimated that the Indigenous population of Australia was reduced by 90%. The most immediate consequence of colonisation was a wave of epidemic diseases including smallpox, measles and influenza, which spread ahead of the frontier and wiped out many Indigenous communities. Governor Phillip reported that smallpox had killed half of the Indigenous people in the Sydney region within fourteen months of the arrival of the First Fleet.

Resopnses

• Mutated version of plague could be spread through the air  much deadlier and could kill within a day.

• People had no idea why they were dying  they knew nothing about germs or bacteria.

• Doctors could not treat the disease

  • tried bloodletting and folk medicine

  • some people turned to magic and witchcraft

• Some university trained doctors but only the wealthy could afford them - poor people went to monks, nuns, and healers in the community.

Blood letting

• Blood letting was believed to cure illness and prevent diseases such as the Black Death by removing ‘dirty’ blood.

• Leeches were sometimes used to suck out blood, or a person’s vein was cut and a set volume of blood was collected in a dish.

• Often this procedure was done in a barber’s shop by the barber!

Other treatments

• Forcing a patient to vomit

• Bringing on severe sweating or diarrhea

• Some doctors treated the buboes of plague victims by cutting them open to release blood -then a mixture made from crushed dried toads and dried human faeces was spread over the open, pus-filled wound.

Looking for a cause

• Some believed that the plague was a punishment from God

• Some people blamed it on Jews who they claimed were poisoning wells - Jews attacked and killed in some parts of Europe

Persecution of Jews

• Societies in medieval Europe were dominated by Christian beliefs, so the Jews formed only a small minority of the population.

• They were often looked down upon because of the Christian belief that Jewish people were responsible for the crucixion of Jesus Christ

• Massacres of Jews began in 1348, starting in France.

• Persecution grew more intense after a Jewish doctor in Switzerland confessed to poisoning the drinking water, thus causing the Black Death. However, he was tortured to obtain his ‘confession’.

• That month all Jews in the town of Basel (in today’s Switzerland) were rounded up and burned alive.

The Flagellants

• Radical Christians who roamed through Europe wearing red crosses on their clothing - each person carried a heavy whip tipped with metal studs.

• In groups of up to 300 people led by a master

• Would walk into towns and villages and form a circle to conduct their rituals  form a circle and take off their tops and the master would walk around, whipping them

• They would then whip themselves until they drew blood - as they did this they would cry out to God to forgive them for their sins and to stop the Black Death.

• The flagellants also believed that Jewish people were responsible for the Black Death, and encouraged attacks on the Jewish populations in the towns they visited.

Impacts of the Bubonic plague

• Huge Population losses

• 33% to 40% of the population of Europe - higher rates of death in rural areas

• 35 million people in China

• one-third of populations in the Middle East

• 40% cent of Egypt’s population.

Economic impact of the plague

Town populations declined

• Dramatic decrease in trade

• Prices increased

Large death rate decreased the number of available workers

• Farm production declined

• Allowed remaining workers to demand higher wages

• Nobles resisted which led to peasant revolts (rebel)

• Many serfs left the manors for better jobs in the cities -weakened the feudal system

Social and political impact of the plague

• Feudalism declined as peasant uprisings weakened the power of landowners over peasants.

• Monarchs (e.g. King) gained more power and began to build powerful nations

• Led people to question their religious faith and the Church

  • Seemed powerless to stop the plague

  • Some clergy fled towns and others charged high prices to perform services for dying victims.

Cultural impact of the plague

• Images of death appear frequently in the art and literature of the time period – Dance of Death

• Some people became pessimistic about life and feared the future.

• Other people became preoccupied with pleasure and self indulgence.

Medical advancements

• Frustrated with diagnoses and treatments that revolved around astrology and superstition, doctors and scholars began focusing more on clinical medicine.

• Led to an increase in autopsies and dissections of human corpses in a desire to learn more about anatomy.

• This led to a greater understanding of the workings of the human body and new medical texts and treatments.

• Hospitals developed into places of treatment rather than being places where the sick were sent to die.

Sanitation advancements

• After the plague had passed, some towns and villages slowly began to set up local health boards to develop and enforce sanitation procedures.

• These remained very simple but included such moves as regulations to restrict the dumping of waste and the employment of street sweepers.

Punishments

Medieval law and order

• Laws were extremely harsh and punishments were even harsher - one­ of ­the most violent eras in history.

• Those in charge of law (such as kings and the nobility) believed that peasants and common people would only behave properly if they feared what would happen to them if they broke the law.

• Even the most minor offences had serious punishments.

Level of offence: Under feudalism, different courts dealt with different types of offences.

Minor offences

• Minor matters, such as a woman gossiping and nagging her husband, were heard by village courts.

• If found guilty, a woman like this (known as a scold) would be forced to wear a ‘scold’s bridle’

More serious offences

• More serious matters, like a peasant’s son being educated without the lord’s permission, were heard by manor courts.

• If found guilty, a peasant might be fined or put in the stocks.

Most serious offences

• The most serious charges were dealt with in Church courts (for charges such as heresy and witchcraft) and the King’s court (for charges of treason).

• Confessions for such crimes were often obtained under torture (with the use of thumbscrews and other devices).

Execution

• If found guilty, people could be executed by being burned or skinned alive.

• Traitors were frequently executed by being hanged, drawn and quartered.

• This involved first hanging a person, cutting him down while still alive, then pulling out his intestines while he watched, and finally attaching each of his hands and legs to a horse and having the horses pull him apart.

Trials

• The legal system of early medieval Europe required accused persons to prove their innocence.

• They did this by swearing an oath before God.

Trial by ordeal

Sometimes the oath of the accused was tested using trial by ordeal. There were two types of ordeal:

• Ordeal by fire – The accused held a redhot iron for some time, put an arm in a fire or walked across burning coals. If, after three days, the burn was not healing, they were seen to be guilty

• Ordeal by water – The accused placed an arm in boiling water, with the same test as above. They also could be bound and tossed into a river. If the body floated, they were seen to be guilty.

Trial by combat

• Another trial commonly used for members of upper classes was trial by combat, where the accused fought the accuser.

• Sometimes a champion (such as a strong knight) fought on behalf of a weaker party.

• The winner (or whoever they represented) was innocent – God was believed to ensure this. Guilty people were punished or killed. They might have ears or hands cut off, or worse.

Changes in the justice system

• In 1154, Henry II became king of England.

• The various types of courts continued to exist during his reign, but Henry also wanted all his subjects to have access to royal justice.

• So he and his court (the king’s court) travelled around the land, hearing cases.

• At this time, judges also began recording court decisions.

• It set the basis for today’s common law, as practiced in England and in Australia – where judges’ decisions, and the penalties for them, are based on similar examples from the past.

• Another initiative of Henry II was trial by jury. It, too, continues to this day as a key part of the Western justice system.

Magna Carta

• By the early 13th century, John was king of England. He was unpopular because he raised taxes, fought a series of unsuccessful wars and upset the Pope.

• The Pope was so angry that he banned religious services in English churches. T

• he nobles decided to act. They negotiated with King John, forcing him to sign a charter (legal agreement) known as the Magna Carta.

• The Magna Carta marked a significant legal development in England because it required the monarch (e.g. King) to be subject to the will of others, not just God he could no longer rule exactly as he saw fit.

• This is seen as one of the first steps towards the development of legal and political rights for ‘the people’ and the start of modern democracy.

• The Magna Carta also abolished trial by ordeal - no more could people be condemned, tortured or killed on the grounds of suspicion or rumour.

the church

Medieval church

• In medieval Europe, the Church was extremely powerful and influential. The boundaries between church and government were not separate as they are today  The Roman Catholic Church had great authority.

• The Pope and the Church were supported by a large network of Christian workers ( cardinals, archbishops, bishops, deacons, abbots, monks, nuns, village priests and friars)

• Some of these people (such as abbots) were often given fiefs by the king or ruler.

• By acquiring land and by collecting taxes and payments from the people who lived on it, the Church became very wealthy.

• For example, in England, the Church and the nobility owned about 75per cent of all the land between them. Unlike nobles and peasants, the Church was not required to pay taxes to the king.

The structure of the church

Power of the church

• The Church and its leader, the Pope, had great power and influence over almost every person in medieval society.

• From a very early age, all people, from the very rich to the very poor, were educated in the customs and traditions of the Church that would grant them salvation (entry into heaven).

• The desire to gain entry into heaven and the terrible fear of hell were strong incentives (encouragement) for people in medieval times to obey Church rules and customs.

Why did medieval people believe?

1. People went to Church is because it was fun.

2. They thought hell was such a scary place.

3. If you died with a dirty soul you would go to either purgatory or straight to hell.

4. You had to go to church and get the priest to clean your soul.

5. If you died with a clean soul you would go to heaven.

6. Going to church helped you to get to heaven.

The seven deadly sins

Doom paintings

Why was the thought of hell so scary?

A "Doom painting" or "Doom" is a traditional English term for a wall-painting of the Last Judgment in a medieval church.

How to get into heaven?

Coat of arms

Def.: A symbol that represents the family. Having one was called heraldry.

Knights couldn't distungiuish themselves so they started painting symbols on their shields. They eventually began to put the symbol on their banner and coat they wore over the armour. That’s how it got it’s name of “coat of arms”

A person who kept track of the difference coats of arms was called a Herald

Original coats had fairly simple desgins they included:

Escutcheon: the main shape

Field: Generally a solid colour but sometimes patterns

Charge: The main picture in the centre

Ordinaries: The designs that appeared on the fields.

The colours:

Red: Warrior and nobility

Blue: Truth and sincerity

Black: Devotion and knowledge

Green: Hope and joy

Glossary

Chronology: Order of events (in a sequence)

Century: A period of a hundred year

Millennium: A period of a thousand of a hundred years

Circa: An approximation of the year (e.g. circa 1860)

Common Era: The non religious term of Anno domini. All of the years before the birth of Jesus.

Anno Domini: the religious way of saying after the birth of Jesus

Before the Common Era: The non religious term of saying before Jesus was born.

Medieval period: Europe between the fall of Rome in 476 CE and the beginning of the Renaissance in the 14th century

Dark ages: A synonym for the Middle Ages.

Artefacts: Historical objects

Hypothesis: An educated guess

Bias: A favouritism to a party or a person

Emperor: The leader of a country.

Nomadic: Somebody who moves around a lot and doesn’t have one set address or place to live in.

Barbarian: Somebody who wasn’t from Rome or loyal to Rome

Civil war: Fighting in the country.

Black Death: A deadly plague that spread across Asia, Europe and Africa during the fourteenth century.

Blood letting: The deliberate cutting of someone to cause bleeding; this medieval practive, often performed by barber, was seen as a treatment and cure for illness.

Buboes: The blackened, swollen, pus-filled lymph nodes evident on the body of someone with the bubonic plague.

Bubonic plague: An Infectious disease caused by a bacterium carried by the fleas of rats and mice, and which quickly kills those who contract it; visible symptoms include buboes.

Feudalism: A set of legal and military customs that served to organise the society of medleval Europe; under feudalism, a lord gave a fief to a vassal in exchange for loyalty and support

Fief (pronounced feef): Usually a plot of land granted to a vassal by a lord in return for the vassal's loyal support.

Flagellants: A group of radical Christians during the Black Death who whipped themselves to gain God's forgiveness for their sins.

Heresy: Doing or saying something regarded by the medieval Catholic Church (and by some other faiths) as being in serious conflict with its teachings

Hierarchy: A way of organising people or groups of things so that the most important is at the top, with the others ranked underneath in decreasing order of importance

Serf: A medieval peasant who worked on the manor of a feudal lord

Vassal: Under feudalism, a person who offered his loyalty and service to a lord in return for his protection and the granting of a fief.

Over lord: Gave the land to someone lesser