The Dark Ages of Europe

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The Dark Ages of Europe

• World History Chapter 9

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410 A.D. saw the final phase of the Roman empire.
The last emperor was deposed by Alaric the Goth.
Many groups such as the Vandals, Goths, and
Visigoths has all invaded and laid waste to Rome
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For a city that had boasted more than 1,000,000
people around 200A.D., Rome had fewer than
10,000. No longer an empire it was not even that
much of a city.
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While the Romans as an empire and a people ceased
to exist, they left many legacies, some which
people use right up until the present.
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Although the buildings, law systems, roads,
bridges, aqueducts, and baths remain, there is no
central authority over Europe at this time. It
breaks up into dozens of small Kingdoms or
principalities.
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Most of these kingdoms had been invaded at one
point or another by Germanic peoples. Many
different languages were being spoken and fewer
people spoke Latin. The one thing which truly
unified Europe during this time was the Roman
Catholic Church.
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The Catholic Church (then known as the Christian
Church) was overseen by one person. His title
was and is the Pope, or Vicar of Christ on Earth.
He was also called the Bishop of Rome. Europe
was divided up into Bishoprics which were
territories that were under the control of
Bishops. Bishops were in charge of the spiritual
needs of all of the people in their territory.
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The church developed a method of converting
pagans (non-believers), that was known as
monasticism. Groups of men ( women) who wanted
to devote their life to God, gave up their
possessions and joined a service which focused on
prayer and manual labor. They lived in
monasteries or nunneries. Through their hard
work, prayer, and conversations with pagans, they
were able to convert most of Europe.
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