THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES (PART 1):

THE DECLINE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE AND THE GERMANIC INVASIONS

María Jesús Camposlearningfromhistory.wikispaces.com

THE MIDDLE AGES: CONCEPT Historians have divided

the past in different periods or stages to help people understand past events.

The period that goes from the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the year 476 A.D. to the discovery of America by Christoper Columbus in the year 1492 A.D. is known as the Middle Ages.

THE DECLINE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE The Roman Empire was established by

Augustus in the 1st century. The empire was extensive and included most

of the territories of the Mediterranean Sea.

CAUSES OF THE DECLINE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE

The empire was expensive and difficult to

protect

Some emperors were weak leaders

The military did not want to

defend the empire

The empire’s economy suffered a

crisis

CRISIS Emperors were weak

and the military struggled for power. Between the 2nd and the 3rd century there were 29 emperors but only 4 died of natural causes.

The military was less willing to defend the territories and urged emperors to hire more and more barbarian mercenaries to protect the borders.

CRISIS

The economy was hurt because: Hiring mercenaries

was expensive Trading routes were

interrupted by the attacks so neither money nor supplies arrived to Rome.

THE ROMAN EMPIRE IS DIVIDED To change the situation,

emperor Theodosius decided to divide the empire between his two sons to better defend it.

In the year 395 A.D. Theodosius created the Eastern Roman Empire, which became dominant and wealthy, and the Western Roman Empire which became increasingly defenseless against invasions.

THE GERMANIC INVASIONS

The decline of the Roman Empire coincided with an increasing number of “barbarians” migrating from the north of Europe and Asia to the borders of the Empire.

•The word “barbarian” in Latin was used by the Romans to describe the tribes outside the boundaries of the empire.

•Romans considered them uncivilized as they were nomadic peoples with strange customs.

•These “barbarians” were, in fact, Germanic Tribes that came from Asia or from the north of Europe.

•At first, small groups moved into the empire to farm, to settle or as mercenaries paid by the Romans to protect their boundaries.

But when the Huns in Asia began to move towards the West, attacking all the tribes in their path, those tribes massively migrated to Europe and the borders of the Roman Empire

At first, the Romans and the Germanic tribes allied to fight the Huns but as the Empire became weaker and weaker, the Germans decided to conquer its territories.

On the year 476 A.D. the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed when the ostrogoths conquered Rome.

The fall of Rome in the year 476 marks the beginning of the Middle Ages.

Although the Eastern Roman Empire was also attacked by different tribes, it survived and became prosperous. It changed its name to Byzantine Empire.

Developed by María Jesús CamposChusteacherwikiteacher