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SUMMARIES UNIT 1 : THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES (2º ESO)

  1. THE END OF THE ANCIENT WORLD
THE FALL OF ROME
Germanic tribes settled inside the frontiers of the Roman Empireas its political and military authority weakened. But the disintegration of the Empire was a gradual process:
  • Germanic tribes formed independent kingdoms in the west, in the territory of the former Roman Empire.
  • The Eastern Roman ( or Byzantine) Empire survived in the east for many centuries.
The deposition of the last Roman emperor in the west in 476 was important for its symbolism. Historians have used this date to separate Ancient History from the Middle Ages.
THE GERMANIC KINGDOMS
During the 5th and 6th centuries, groups og Germanic tribes formed kingdoms, which sometimes bécame the precursors of later European states.
There were monarchies in which held political and military authority. The nobility received land and honours in Exchange for serving the King.
Many different Germanic tribes settled inside the former Roman Empire.
REGION
GERMANIC PEOPLES
Gallia
Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians
Italy
Ostrogoths, Lombards
Britannia
Angles, Saxons
Hispania
Suevi, Visigoths
Northern Africa
Vandals

WHO WERE THE VISIGOTHS?
The Visigoths came originally from Eastern Europe. They entered the Roman Empire at the end of 4th century, invaded Italy and sacked Rome in 410. A few years later they settled in southern Gaul as a federation of the Romans. From there, they came to Hispania to push out the Vandals, Alans and Suebi. When the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Visigoths established the kingdom of Toulouse with territories on both sides of the Pyrenees.
In 507 the Franks defeated them at the Battles of Vouillè and took most of their territories in Gaul. So they moved their royal court to Toledo and formed the Visigoth Kingdom of Hispania, that represents the birth of Spain as an independent state.
THE DECLINE OF URBAN LIFE
Cities declined in the late Roman Empire as a result of several factors:
  • Roman military authority declined, so there was growing insecurity. Cities were no longer safe places.
  • Insecurity affected trade routes. Merchants could no longer travel freely throughout the Empire to buy and sell goods.
  • Economic activity and urban population declined, so the few people who still lived in cities had top ay extra taxes.
THE RURALISATION OF EUROPE
The economy and society of Europe gradually changed until it was based almost entirely on the use of the land. We call this process the ruralisation of Europe.
  • The upper clases did not live in  the cities any more. They spent all their time on their rural villas.
  • At a lower level, new social groups emerged. Many free farmers became coloni, who worked o the villas. Later, the descendants of coloni were serfs. Serfs worked for a single lord and were tied to one piece of land. Slavery ended, and the descendants of slaves also became serfs.

  1. BYZANTIUM
THE ORIGINS OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE
IN 324, the Roman emperor Constantine founded the city of Constantinople. This city was on the site of a Greek colny called Byzantium. Constantinople had great cultural and political influence for many centuries.
. In 395, the Roman emperor Theodosius divided the Roman Empire between his two sons:
  • The Eastern Roman Empire, under Arcadius, had Constantinople as its capital. The Eastern, or Byzantine, Empire lasted until 1453, when it as conquered by the Turks.
  • The Western Roman Empire, under Honorius, had Rome as its capital. It was conquered by Germanic tribes in the 5 th century.
THE POLITICAL SYSTEM
In Byzantium, an emperor, or basileus, held supreme authority. Byzantium was a theocracy, so the emperor had both political and religious power. The Empire was divided into provinces that were controlled by military governors.
The most famous Byzantine emperor was Justinian (527- 565), who regained controlover some parts of the Western Roman Empire. His armies conquered the north of Africa, Italy and the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula. Under this emperor, the Justinian Code was a complete code of Roman law.
RELIGION
The church influenced many aspects of Byzantine society:
  • Byzantine art was mainly religious in inspiration. In the  8th and 9 th centuries there was controversy when the worship of religious images, or icons, was prohibited. Many images were destroyed or removed in a process called iconoclasm.
  • Orthodox Christianity developed its own traitions in the Byzantine Empire, which were different from those in the West. A schism, or Split, in 1054 marked the separation between Orthodox Christanity and Roman Catholicism. This form of Christianity had its own rituals and festivals, and priests were allowed to marry.
  • The Byzantine church also prayed an important rle in spreading Christianity among the Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe. Byzantine monks invented the Cyrillic script to translate the Bible into Slavic languages. It is still the alphabet of languages like Russian, Bulgarian and Serbian today.
BYZANTINE ART AND CULTURE
Byzantine civilisation was a mixture of Greek, Roman and Eastern cultura. Greek influence was especially strong, and the Empire’s oficial language was Greek. Great libraries kept manuscripts of ancient Greek and Roman texts that were unknown in he west. In this way, the achievements of classical literature and philosophy were kept alive. Byzantine influence spread beyond the Empire’s frontiers into Russia and Eastern Europe.
The church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople was a masterpiece of Byzantine architecture. There were both western and Eastern influences in Byzantine art. Almost all paintings were about religious subjetcs, and were very rigid in style. Churches were decorated with beautiful mosaics that showed religious scenes.
  1. THE ORIGINS OF ISLAM

WHERE DID ISLAM BEGIN?

Muslims believe in a single God. Therefore, Islam is a monotheistic  religion. It began in the Arabian Peninsula in the 7 th century.
The Arabian Peninsula is a flat region between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, mainly covered by deserts. At this time, its inhabitants were nomadic tribes, who herded animals and traded in caravans. They were polytheistic until Islam spread across the península.

Mecca and Medina were important cities on the península. Mecca was a great religious centre, where the “ Black Stone” was worshipped in the kaaba sanctuary.

MUHAMMAD, THE FOUNDER OF ISLAM

Muhammad was born in 570 in a leading family of Mecca. He worked in the caravan trade, and travelling around he learnt about the ideas of Judaism and Christianity.
In Muslim belief, the angel Gabriel visited Muhammad to tell him that he had been chosen as the prophet of a new religion. This religion was base don submisson to Allah, or God, and was called Islam.
Muhammad promoted the new religion, but in 622 he had to escape to Medina. This event, called the Hegira, marks the beginning of the Muslim era. When Muhammad died in 632 nearly all the península was already under Muslim control and most of its inhabitants had converted to Islam.
Muhammad’s sayings were recorded in the Quran, which is the sacred book of Islam.

ISLAMIC RELIGION   

Islam is a monotheistic religion that shares some beliefs with Judaism and Christianity. Muslims worship figures from the Bible, such as Abraham, Moses and Jesus, who are considered to be prophets.
It has five key religious actions, which are called the five pillars of Islam:
  • The declaration of Faith. This is made following the principle that “Only Allah is God, and Muhammad is Allah’s prophet”.
  • Daily prayers. Muslims pray five times a day facing Mecca.
  • Fasting. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims do note at from morning until night.
  • Charity. This is the obligation to help por people.
  • Pilgrimage. Each Muslim should make the pilgrimage to Mecca once in their lifetime.
Islam has a set of rules that govern all the different areas of Muslim life, such as religion, politics, society and the economy. For example, they promote the conversión to Islam of non-Muslims, allow a man to have several wives ( this is called polygamy), and forbid Muslims to drink alcohol ore at pork.
  1. THE EARLY HISTORY OF ISLAM

THE SPREAD OF ISLAM
After Muhammad’s death, his successors took the title of Caliph. The four firstleaders were called the Righteous Caliphs.
There was a period of rapid expansión as Islam spread beyond the Arabian Peninsula. By the middle of the 7 th century, the Muslims already controlled Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia and Egypt.
There were many conflicts during the rule of the fourth Caliph Ali, who was Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law. In 661 the Umayyad family were victorious and estabished a dynasty, which had its capital in Damascus. There was extraordinary territorial expansión under the Umayyads, and Islam entered many new regions:
  • In the north, territories were taken from the Byzantine Empire.
  • In the east, the Umayyads conquered Persia and Afghanistan and reached the Hindus river.
  • In the west, they took North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula.
At  its height, the Muslim Empire extended from the Iberian Peninsula to the frontier of present –day India.
POLITICAL ORGANISATION
The Caliphate was a theocracy and an absolute monarchy as the Caliph held political, military and religious authority. His ministers were called viziers.
The Empire was divided into great provinces, called emirates, which were ruled by emirs who had considerable power and autonomy.
THE EVOLUTION OF THE CALIPHATE
In 750, the Umayyads were defeated by the Abbasid family, which created a new dynasty. Baghdad became the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate.
The Islamic Empire was no longer expanding, but its religion went on spreading into others regions. Islam bécame a widespread religion in central Asia, south-east Asia and west Africa, even though these regions were never conquered by Islamic armies.
It was difficult t maintain contol over such a vast empire, and it began to Split from the 10 th century onwards. In Egypt, the rival Fatimid family challenged the Abbasids, and created a dynasty of Caliphs in North Africa. There was also a rival dynasty of Umayyad Caliphs on the Iberian Peninsula.
The Mongols were Muslims from central Asia who conquered Baghdad in the 13 th century and overturned the Abbasid Caliphate. The new Caliphate, which was based in Egypt, was much weaker.
SUNNIS AND SHIAS
There are two  main currents in Islam:
  • Most  Muslims are Sunnis. Originally, they were the orthodox followers of Caliphs who were not necessarilyfrom Muhammad’s family.
  • A minority of Muslims are Shias. Originally, they belief hat Muslims should be governed by the descendants of Ali, who was Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law.

  1. ISLAMIC ECONOMIC AND SOCIETY

THE ECONOMY
The Muslims developed  many types of economic activity throughout the Mediterranean región    and Asia:
  • In agriculture, they grew ew types of crops, such as cotton, oranges and other fruits and vegetables. Many crops came from other parts of the world. Sugar  cane was from India, an rice from the Far East. They improved irrigation techniques by using Wells, dams, and water channels.
  • In craftsmanship, they produced textiles, including silk and linen. They were also expert manufacturers of glass, paper, wod, and ceramics. They worked in small workshops.
  • The Muslims developed trade routes between east and west. Their merchants were great travellers who went long distances by land and sea. The use of gold and silver currency also promoted trade.
CITIES
There were great cities in the early Muslim world, even though most of the population lived in the countryside. In contrast, Christian Europe was rural in this period, and had very little trade and urban life.
Cities played an important role in Muslim political, cultural and economic life. In the central part of the city there was the medina, which was where its most important buildings wee located. The main mosque was the centre of religious practice, while the authorities were based in the alcazar. There was always a souq, or market.
Muslim cities were surrounded by defensive walls, and had narrow winding streets. Outside the centre, craftsmen and their families lived in popular districts.
MUSLIM SOCIETY
Muslim society was base don religious and ethnic factors.
  • Muslims: these were divided into two groups. The Arabs were the aristocracy and had greater power, wealth and land. Below them were the inhabitants of the conquered areas that converted to Islam. On the Iberian Peninsula these were called Muladies.
  • Non- Muslims: Chrisians and Jews paid special taxes. However, they were tolerated because they were considered to be “peoples of the Book”. This meant that, like Muslims, they believed in he Bible. On the Iberian Peninsula, Christians who lived in Arab regions were called Mozarabs.
DAILY LIFE
Families were under male authority. Women had to obey their fathers, and later their husbands.
Muslims lived in simple houses, with few Windows. This kept temperaturas cool inside, and protected the privacy of the family. Women lived in separate part of the house, called the harem.
In accordance with the teachings of the Quran, hygiene was very important in the Muslim world. There were public baths in all cities.
  1. ISLAMIC ART AND CULTURE

ISLAMIC CULTURE

The Muslims created their own original civilisation from both Eastern and western sources..
They played an essential role in spreading the use of inventions like gunpowder, paper, the compass and arabic numbers.
Muslim cultural achievements included the following:
  • In mathematics, the Muslims were experts a algebra.
  • In science, they improved techniques in irrigation, and the manufacture of perfume and paper. The were good astronomers.
  • In medicine. There were exceptional doctors like Avicena
  • Muslim philosophers like Averroes influenced the cultural renaissance in Christian Europe in he 12 th century.
The Arabic language was spoken very widely, so cultural advances spread throughout the Muslim world.
ISLAMIC ART
Islamic art received a variety of influences because Islam reached so many parts of the world. Here was a religious rule against representing the human figure, so Muslims specialised in archiecture and the decorative arts.
In architecture, the Muslims created magnificent mosques like those in Damascus (Syria)Cordoba (Spain) and Samarra (Iraq). But they also built fine palaces and fortresses.
The Muslims employed various architectural features such as domes, columns, and the horseshoe arch. Their basic materials were fairly simple: bricks and plaster. But the walls were covered by fine mosaics, marble and geometric patterns. Using artistic calligraphy, they were also adorned with sayings from the Quran.
In the decorative arts, fine ceramics were made by Muslim craftsmen, and books were illustrated with miniature paintings.
The mosque was the Muslim place of worship, and meant “a place to kneel down”. It had the following parts:
  • The courtyard (sahn). Mosques had a large open space, which was surrounded by arcades. There was a fountain in this courtyard, where people purified themselves before praying. A tower, or minaret, was on one side, where the call to prayer was made.
  • The prayer hall (haram). This was an open space divided by arches. One wall (the quibla) faced towards Mecca. A niche called the mihrab was always on this side of the mosque. Near the mihrab there was a raised platform, where the iman, or religious leader, directed prayers.

  1. THE CAROLINGIAN EMPIRE

WHAT WAS THE CAROLINGIAN EMPIRE?

After the Roman empire broke up, most of Europe was divided into small Germanic kingdoms. The Frankish Kingdom was created in present-day France in the 6 th century. But by the 8 th century the real rulers of the Frankish kingdom were its leading officials.The most important oficial was Charles Martel, who led the forces that stopped Muslim expansión in the battle of Poitiers in 732.

Charles Martel ‘s descendants bécame the Frankish kings. His son, Pepin the Short, declared himself King in 751. His grandson, Charlemagne, continued Frankish conquests until he was the ruler of many territories in present-day France, Germany, Italy and northern Spain.
The Frankish Kingdom was now the leading power in medieval Europe. For the first time since the end of the Western Roman Empire, a vast territory was united under a single ruler. On Christmas Day in 800, Pope Leo III recognised this by crowning Charlemagne Emperor of the West. The Carolingian Empire took his name (“Charlemagne” meant “Charles the Great” and “Carolingus” was Latin for “Charles”.

The Carolingian Empire was not like a modern state, and it was held together by the personal prestige of th emperor. I had many peoples who spoke different languages. Counts ruled in the provinces, or counties, and the emperor sent inspection teams, the missi dominici (“the lord messengers”), to control them. Border areas, called marches, were strongly protected.

After Charlemagne died, there was no shared loyalty to the Empire. The Treaty of Verdun (843) divided the Empire into three parts, which were ruled by Charlemagne’s grandsons. We can see the very distant origins of the later emergenceof France and Germany in this division.

CAROLINGIAN CULTURE AND SOCIETY

Like all Europe in the Early Middle Ages, the Carolingian Empire was overwhelmingly rural. The emperor granted great estates to lords, and peasants working on the land. There was very Little comercial activity, and there were only a few ciies such as Paris and Aachen.

However, Charlemagne did promote cultura. He built a palace with  chapel in his new capital at Aachen, using the remains of Roman buildings. He established a centre of learning under a scholar called Alcuin, where Latin scholars came to live. These scholars copied Latin manuscripts that had survived from the former Roman Empire.

This modest attempt to renew the cultura of the Roman Empire was called the Carolingian Renaissance. But it had Little influence after Charlemagne’s death.

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