1. The Decline of Rome and the Coming of the Dark Ages My voice sticks in my throat…and sobs choke my utterance. The City which had taken the whole world was itself taken - Jerome, 410 CE

2. Emperor Qin 221 BCE

3. Germanic “nations”

5. 1. Romanized tribes Celts / Gauls / Britons 2. Romance & Germanic languages

6. 3. “Imperial” Germans Battle of Teutoburg Forest, 9 CE “Imperial” Germans - Weregeld - oaths Comitatus

7. 1. “The Scourge of God” - the Huns

8. 2. Valens and the Visigoths Battle of Adrianople 378 Theodosius - foederati

9. 3. Alaric 370-410 - Honorius & the last defense of the West - Sack of Rome 410 Each community decides what will make it happy, and when each gets what it wants, it lives with the con- sequences of its choice. - Augustine, The City of God

10. 1. Battle of Châlons 451 - Flavius Aëtius 2. Fused aristocracies - German security - Gallo-Roman titles Letters of Sidonius

11. 3. Origins of serfdom - tax reform

12. 1. Theodric & the Ostrogoths 489-526 - Boethius Consolation of Philosophy 524 - Cassiodorus Greek to Latin translations Anno Domini - Jerome “Vulgate”

13. 1. Byzantine Empire preserves Roman / Western ideals for 1000 years 2. Feudal system provides social continuity 3. “Romanized” Germans maintain links to Rome

14. 4. City of God ca. 411 CE city of God (Christianity) endures city of Man (Rome) is falling

15. * Augustine argues for universal salvation… BUT, must be a member of the Church - would give Roman Church unrivaled power and legitimacy for the next 1000 years

16. By 500, the western half of the Roman Empire was under the control of Germanic chieftains… …but at the local level society still governed by Roman laws and aristocrats

17. Dominance of the Church Political / cultural diversification - Germanic Kingdoms Roman-Germanic fusion - “European” civilization

20. 1. Clovis & the Merovingians - Patrice 487 - pagan or Arian?

21. 2. Language, law & class - Latin and Francia “Romance” - source of law leges barbarorum

22. 1. Slavery - Manorial system 2. Serfdom - marriage depended on permission

23. 3. Christian / peasant culture - blending pagan/Christian rituals - status of women - the Church and power

24. 1. Land (Roman) and warfare (German) 2. Liege-lord grants fiefs - Germanic loyalty - vassal serves lord in exchange for fief

25. 3. Aristocratic women - non-primogeniture

26. 4. Pursuit of honor - “quest” myths Beowulf - 8th Century - Nordic; pagan mysticism - oral tradition; Old English - written down by Christian scribe

27. Between 500 - 700, Germanic tribes establish kingdoms in the West based on Roman land- use patterns and Germanic customs Lombards – divided Italy Visigoths – religious strife Angles/Saxons – Britons