Monarchs, monks and farmers - MEMO History

• Geschiedenis
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 1

Chapter 4 - The age of monks and knights

The end of Roman rule ...

• Read Two Roman empires and Mass migrations on page 77/78 of your textbook.

• Close your book.
• Try to answer the questions on the next slide.
  

The questions

1. In which two parts was the Roman empire divided in 395 AD?
2. Name the capitals of these two parts.
3. Most of the problems that the empire faced had to do with the army. Name/describe two of these problems.
4. The Romans had enormous difficulties with Germanic tribes. Name two of these tribes.
5. During which century did these difficulties begin?
6. In 476 AD, a Germanic chief dethroned the last Roman emperor. What was the chief's name?
   

The answers

1. West and east (or: Western Roman Empire and Eastern Roman Empire)
2. Rome and Constantinople
3. The army became weak (too small to guard the borders) (1), the population could not afford to pay taxes to maintain the army (2), soldiers had a better relationship with their generals than with the emperor (3)
4. Visigoths, Vandals, Franks, Alemans, Ostrogoths, Burgundians, Suebi, Saxons, Jutes, Angles ... NOT correct: Huns
   
5. 4th century
6. Odoacer

Kf2 - The Franks arrive

Question: How did the Franks become kings of such a large and powerful kingdom?

Clovis

• Mass migrations brought the Franks to France.
• King Clovis united several different Germanic tribes.
• These tribes were Christians, so Clovis decided to become a Christian himself.
• Becoming a Christian was a very smart move ... why? 
  

Kf3 - Life in the countryside

Question: What was life like in the countryside?

Cause and effect: please, explain ...

... how the following events are connected (1&2, 2&3, 3&4, 4&5):

1. Mass migrations (from KF 2)
2. Fall of the Western Roman Empire (from KF 2)
3. Declining trade in Western Europe 
4. People flocked from the cities to the countryside 
5. A self-sufficient society arose on domains
   

In other words: how did event 1 cause event 2 to happen? How dit event 2 cause event 3 to happen? etc ...

Sentence stem

1. Read Different kinds of farmers by yourself (2 minutes).
2. Finish the following sentence stem, by yourself: "On the medieval domain ..." (3 minutes).
   
3. Use two of the following key words in each sentence: serfs, servile duties, manorial system, farmers, lord.
   
4. Compare the results with some classmates - if you can - and come up with three (!) unique and correct English sentences that summarize this piece of text for you.
   

Sentence stem:
"On the medieval domain ..."

Kf4 - The spread of Christianity

Question: what influence did Christianity have on medieval society?

Scrambled sentence(s)

Middle Ages / social / during / society / the / into / classes / divided / was.

important / formed / the / clerics / the / most / class.

society / in / place / of / everybody / had / this / their / kind / own.

Europe: a christian continent?

• After the Romans left: christians and pagans.
• Missionaries used monasteries/convents and lords to spread their religion.
• They linked the new religion to the old one.
  

Influence of the church on society

Medieval society was divided into social classes:

• Clergy - task: pray to God
  
• Nobles - task: protect the people
  
• Farmers - task: produce the food 

Kf5 - Islam in Europe

Question: how did Islam emerge and how did this religion spread?

Assignment

• Read The rise of Islam by yourself (2 min.)
  
• Write down 3 words that sum up the rise of Islam for you (1 min.)
• Discuss these words in your groups and write down 5 words together (3 min.)

The rise of Islam
(in 5 words)

The spread of Islam

• Islam began in a region that had many trading routes, yet little fertile land.

• Many of the now Muslim leaders (caliphs - successors of Mohammed) tried to conquer more trading routes and fertile land. Muslim missionairies followed in their footsteps.

Kf6 - Loyalty to the lord

Question: how did the feudal system work?

 Charlemagne

As king of the Franks and emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Charlemagne had a few problems:

• Lack of unity amongst his people
  
• An uneducated population
• Invasions
  

How to solve these problems?

Charlemagne's solutions

• Unity and education was arranged through the Christian Church.
• Protection from invasions was something else, however. The feudal system solved this problem ... for now.
  

The feudal system

• The king needed troops to fight the invaders. His best defence were troops that fought on horseback.
• The loyal followers of the king needed land to breed horses and train knights.
  
• The king decided to reward his followers for their loyalty with land (a fief).
• These followers, his vassals, used the land to breed horses, train knights and to farm.
• The knights fought for their lord (the vassal), who was loyal to the king ...
  

A medieval tournament ...