1. The Mediterranean World
1.1. European civilization began thousands of years ago on the shores of the Mediterranean sea
1.2. The environment had everything necessary to sustain large numbers of people, fertile soil, plenty of rainfall and sunshine, and a climate
1.3. The population grew rapidly and towns formed
1.4. The Mediterranean sea itself formed a transportation route
1.4.1. That encouraged people to travel widely to trade and learn from each other
1.5. The two most important early Europe's civilizations were those of Greece and Rome
1.6. They also made great advances in art, architecture, drama, literature, medicine and science.
1.7. In fourth century B.C.E, Alexander the Great conquered many lands and spread Greek culture as far east as India
1.8. They gathered thinkers and builder from Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East
1.9. In addition, the Romans became superb organizers, developing such system as aqueducts to deliver running water, road networks, and military organzation
1.10. The Roman Legions were so powerful that the Roman Empire at its peak controlled most of Europe, Southeast Asia, and Northern Africa
1.11. For more than six centuries
1.11.1. the Mediterranean world and the Roman Empire were really one and the same
2. The Romans
2.1. Under the Romans, western European culture flourished like never before
2.2. The Romans copied and developed Greek arts and architecture
2.3. They also built great cities decorated with works of art magnificent gardens, arena, public bath, and theatres
2.4. Latin provided a common language for the whole empire
2.5. Some Canadian laws and rules of justice are based on these Roman laws
2.5.1. for example, all Roman citizens had the right to a fair trial and to rescue from poverty
2.6. Rome demanded taxes, slaves, and submission from all the lands it controlled
2.7. Women, non-Romans, and slaves were all denied the rights of Roman citizenship
2.8. The Fall of Rome
2.8.1. In the year 410 C.E.
2.8.1.1. Mediterranean world was shocked by news that the city of Rome, the centre of European civilization, had been conquered by the Goths, a Germanic people
2.8.2. The Roman empire, which had once stretched from Iran to Scotland and from upper Egypt to the North sea, had collapsed
2.8.3. Some believe that all civilization have a life span and that they eventually grow old and die, almost like living things
2.9. After The Fall of Rome
2.9.1. Ages later, Greek and Roman art, architecture, drama, literature, sports, mythology, philosophy, laws
2.9.2. But first, Europe experienced a period the Romans would have called "barbarous"
2.9.2.1. Barbarous
2.9.3. These people were known to the Greeks and Romans as Barbarians, meaning 'people who speak an unfamiliar language.'
2.9.4. These people- Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Goths, Vandals, Lombards, and Franks-were attracted to riches of the Roman Empire
2.9.4.1. Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Goths, Vandals, Lombards, and Franks
2.9.5. Roads fell into disrepair; travel became dangerous; cities decayed and were deserted
2.9.6. This time of turmoil lasted from approximately 476 C.E., when the last Roman emperor lost his power, to 800
2.9.7. In that year, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Emperor of the Romans, and the slow crawl back to organized, widespread civilization began
2.9.7.1. Charlemagne, Pope Leo III
3. The Franks
3.1. One of these groups, the Franks, conquered much of the Roman province of Gaul (France) in the late fourth and early fifth centuries
3.2. Although they were farmers, they also loved making war
3.3. Most free men went about armed, often with a special kind of throwing axe called francisca
3.3.1. Francisca
3.4. Franks meant free
3.5. "Franchise," the english word for the right to vote, comes from this Frankish word
3.5.1. Franchise
3.6. The Laws of the Franks
3.6.1. The Franks had their own legal code, which differed greatly frrom Roman law
3.6.2. When these laws were written down and collected, they were called the Salic code, after the Salian Franks, who had settle in france
3.6.2.1. Salic Code
3.6.3. If property was stolen or a person injured or killed, a fine called wergild had to be paid to the ownerof the property or the victims's family
3.6.3.1. Wergild
3.6.4. In case of a murder, the family can refuse to accept the fine, and instead could demand the guilty person's death
3.7. Everyday Life Among the Franks
3.7.1. The Franks had social classes: some people were very rich and some were incredibly poor
3.7.2. Around 60 percent were serfs, or peasants, people who worked the land on their lord's manor, or estate
3.7.3. serfs were farmers, the serfs were at mercy of the weather
3.7.4. The lords and rulers could steal serf's crops at any time
3.7.5. Merchants often tried raising prices when food was scarce
4. Charlemagne
4.1. Charlemagne came to power in western Europe in 768 C.E.
4.2. Charlemagne was very interested in rebuilding civilization and he had the intelligence and power to do so
4.3. Charlemagne expanded the Merovingian Empire in every direction
4.4. He was crowned Emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III
4.4.1. Pope Leo III
4.5. After a long war with the Saxons in northwest Germany
4.6. Charlemagne defeated them and insisted that they convert to Christianity
4.7. When the Saxon leader refused, Charlemagne ordered his soldiers to kill about 4000 Saxons in a single day
5. The Anglo-Saxons and The Celts
5.1. Britain was invaded by a different group
5.2. Soon large numbers of these Germanic invaders began to settle in Britain
5.3. Germanic people puched the Celts into Wales, Cornwell, Scotland, and arcoss the sea of Ireland
5.4. The Celts had once been a powerful people, inhabiting much of Europe, from Spain all the way to southern Russia
5.5. The Celt language disappeared from the seven kingdoms
5.5.1. established by the invaders, who became known as the Anglo-Saxons, or English
5.6. Anglo-Saxons England
5.6.1. The Anglo-Saxons, like the Franks, were farmers
5.6.2. They lived in small villages, and men and women shared the hard work of agriculture between them
5.6.3. Like other Germanic people, the Anglo-Saxons had the skilled metal workers
5.6.4. Great storytellers who created wonderful epics, such as Beowulf
5.6.4.1. Epic
5.6.5. Anglo-Saxons England, like Carolingian France, suffered from devastating Viking raids
5.6.6. Alfred the Great, lost many battles with the Vikings
5.6.6.1. Alfred the Great
5.6.7. Alfred left England united and prosperous
5.6.7.1. Prosperous
5.6.8. Viking invaders until the time of William the Conqueror
5.7. The Pivotal Role of the Irish
5.7.1. The Celts, who had settled on the western and northern edge of the British Isles
5.7.2. They fought in bloody battles, kept slaves, and made human sacrifices
5.7.3. Irish monks played a critical role in training missionaries and in spreading Christianity
5.7.4. They travelled through Scotland, England, and then Europe, spreading knowledge and Christianity
6. The Vikings
6.1. The year 855
6.1.1. a Viking force attacked and pludered Paris
6.2. Their war parties devastated whole regions in the Low Countries (modern Netherlands and Belgium), Ireland, and England
6.3. They travelled in swift longships that allowed them to strike without warning and disappear quickly before local rulers could raise a force to oppose them
6.4. Their raiding forces ranged from the crew of single ship to large fleets of a hundred ships or more
6.5. The Viking Reputation
6.5.1. The Vikings were mercilessly destructive
6.5.2. Their common practice was to kill or enslave every man, woman, and child they found
6.5.3. Many people thought that the Viking were sent by God to punish the world for its wickedness
6.5.4. Some monarchs and church leaders were so terrified that they paid the Vikings to leave their lands
6.5.5. Only a few rulers, such as Charlemagne and Alfred the Great, could fight the Vikings effectively, but even they weren`t able to stop the raids completely
6.6. Everday Life of the Vikings
6.6.1. Vikings life was not all wars all wars and raiding parties
6.6.2. Most Vikings were farmers and fishers living in small villages close to the sea
6.6.3. They came from the region we now call Scandinavia
6.6.4. Men and women shared the work in Vikings society, although some jobs, such as weaving, were always done by women
6.6.5. Viking landowners almost always owned slaves, called thralls, who did much of the heavy work on the farms
6.6.6. Thralls had no legal rights in the Viking society, and could be killed by their masters at any time
6.7. The End of the Viking Age
6.7.1. The Viking age ended in the eleventh century
6.7.2. The king of France gave the Viking Rollo the Province of Normandy to rule and protect
6.7.3. The Viking settlements in North America and Greenland were destroyed or disappeared