Europe's Early Middle Ages

Just an initial demo map, so that you don't start with an empty map list ...

Começar. É Gratuito
ou inscrever-se com seu endereço de e-mail
Europe's Early Middle Ages por Mind Map: Europe's Early Middle Ages

1. The Romans

1.1. The Roman Times

1.1.1. The Romans copied and developed the Greek arts and architecture*.

1.1.1.1. Architecture: the art and science of designing buildings.

1.1.2. The Roman Colosseum

1.1.2.1. Could seat 50,000 spectators

1.1.2.2. It was a scene of executions, mock naval battles and combats between gladiators*.

1.1.2.2.1. Gladiator: a fighter who battled at public shows; most were slaves.

1.1.3. Latin* provided a common language for the whole empire.

1.1.3.1. Latin: the language of the Romans. During the Middle Ages, Latin served as a common language for educated people throughout Europe.

1.1.4. The Romans were highly literate people.

1.1.5. The Romans developed a code of laws for all the peoples they ruled.

1.1.5.1. Within the borders of the empire, Roman law protected all peoples from war and violent outlaws on land and pirates at sea.

1.1.5.2. The Pax Romana (Roman peace) encouraged trade and the exchange of ideas.

1.1.5.3. A price was paid: Romans demanded taxes, slaves and submission from all the lands it controlled .

1.1.5.4. Non-Romans, women, and slaves were all denied the right of Roman Citizenship.

1.2. The Fall of Rome

1.2.1. In the year 140 CE*, the city of Rome was conquered by Goths, a Germanic* people.

1.2.1.1. Germanic people: one of the European peoples that spoke a Germanic language; for example, the Teutones, Visigoths, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Franks, and Ostrogoths.

1.2.2. The Roman Empire collapsed, only the Eastern Roman Empire, with its capital in Constantinople remained strong.

1.3. After The Fall

1.3.1. Ages after the fall, Greek and Roman art, sports, drama, literature, architecture, mythology, philosophy, laws and systems of government would all be reborn in various forms to inspire and enrich modern civilizations.

1.3.2. For centuries, Rome had been in contact with Germanic peoples to the north and east. These peoples were known to the Greeks and Romans as Barbarians*.

1.3.2.1. Barbarian: originally a non-Roman person. "Barbarian" later came to mean "uncultured person," an insult.

1.3.3. As the Roman Empire collapsed, Germanic peoples moved into Roman provinces such as Gaul (France) , Britain, and Spain. These peoples were: Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Lombards, Goth, Vandals and Franks. They pushed out the Celtish peoples.

1.3.4. Rome lasted from 476 CE to 800.

2. The Mediterranean World

2.1. Civilizations

2.1.1. The two most important early European civilizations were those of Greece and Rome.

2.1.1.1. The Greeks eagerly studied philosophy*, which is usually defined as the pursuit of ideas.

2.1.1.1.1. Philosophy: the search for ideas, wisdom, knowledge.

2.1.1.2. The Greeks also made great advances in art, drama, lititature, architecture, medicine, and science.

2.1.1.3. In the fourth century* Alexander The Great spread Greek culture as far east as India.

2.1.1.3.1. Fourth century

2.1.2. The Greek empire weakened and fell to the Romans about 150 BCE.

2.1.2.1. The Roman empire at its peak controlled most of Europe, Southeast Asia, and Northern Africa for more than 6 centuries*.

2.1.3. *Legacy: knowledge and culture passed down from one generation or civilization to another.

2.2. Benefits of the Mediterranean

2.2.1. The Mediterranean environment had everything necessary to sustain large numbers of people.

2.2.1.1. It had plenty of rain fall and sunshine.

2.2.1.2. It had a climate that was moderate, neither too hot or too cold.

2.2.1.2.1. This meant that plants had a long growing season.

2.2.1.2.2. It also meant that surplus of food could be produced.

2.2.1.3. It had fertile soil

2.2.2. The Mediterranean Sea formed a transportation route that encouraged people to travel widely to trade and to learn from each other.

2.2.2.1. ideas from The Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe spread easily.

2.2.2.2. All civilizations flourish and grow stronger through new ideas.

3. The Franks

4. The Franks

4.1. The Merovingians

4.1.1. A royal family that ruled the Franks for almost three hundred years.

4.1.2. The most successful ruler in the family, Clovis I, reigned from 482 to 511 CE. He founded the country of France and made Paris its capital.

4.1.3. After the death of Clovis, the kingdom was divided between his children, who where not capable leaders.

4.1.4. For the next two centuries, the Merovingian royal family was weakened by the constant infighting, and the kingdom fell into chaos.

4.2. Who they are

4.2.1. Conquered most of the province Gaul (France) in the early 5th century and late 4th century.

4.2.2. Although they were farmers, they loved making wars.

4.2.3. Frank meant free.

4.2.4. Both genders wore their hair long.

4.2.5. Most free men went about armed, often with a special kind of throwing axe called A francisca.

4.3. The laws of the Franks

4.3.1. The Franks' legal code differed greatly from the Roman law.

4.3.2. These rules were called The Salic Code after the Salic Franks, who has settled in France.

4.3.3. If property was stolen, or a person injured or killed, a fine called Wergild* had to be paid to the owner of the property or the victim's family.

4.3.3.1. Wergild: man-money, that is, a person's value in money.

4.3.3.2. In case of murder, the family could refuse to accept the fine, and instead could demand the guilty person's death. If a relation of the victim took revenge by killing the murderer, the law did not hold him or her responsible.

4.4. The everyday life among the Franks

4.4.1. The Franks' social classes*: the rich, the poor and the serfs or peasants.

4.4.1.1. social class: the group that one belongs to in a society, Class can be determined by money, role in society, or one's parentage.

4.4.2. Serfs were considered free, but they were not allowed to move away from the manor.

4.4.3. The serfs were at the mercy of the weather.

4.4.4. The lords and rulers could steal serfs' crops at any time.

5. The Vikings

5.1. Background

5.1.1. Easter Sunday, 855, a Viking force attacked and plundered Paris.

5.1.2. They settled at Constantinople.

5.1.3. Traveled in swift long-ships, which helped them to strike without warning and disappear quickly.

5.1.4. They looked for plunder and glory.

5.2. The Viking reputation

5.2.1. They killed any man, woman, or child they could find.

5.2.2. Some monarchs payed the Vikings to go away. In England, they took payments called Danegeld from rulers such as Ethelred the Unready.

5.2.3. French monarchs paid the Vikings almost 300 kilograms of gold and 15000 kilograms of silver, over the years.

5.3. Everyday life

5.3.1. What the Vikings did to the Saxons, does not differ from what the Saxons did to the Celts.

5.3.2. Farmers and fishers living close to the sea.

5.3.3. Came from Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden and Denmark).

5.3.4. They began the raids because their farmland could not support the growing population.

5.3.5. People lived either by the sea, or at the ends of fjords.

5.3.6. Both genders shared the work.

5.3.7. Women had rights under the law such as: divorcing their husbands, sue in court, and they could own property.

5.3.8. Landowners owned slaves.

5.3.9. Thralls had no legal rights in Viking society, and could be killed by their masters at any time. The children of thralls automatically become slaves.

5.3.10. Had a rich culture, despite their reputation as ruthless "barbarians".

5.3.11. Viking art shows gods such as Thor, Odin, and Freya.

5.3.12. The keepers of Viking history were called Skalds. They had to have strong memories and be good singers.

5.4. Law and government

5.4.1. The Vikings did not write their laws down, they had Law Speakers memorizing the law and recite it when needed.

5.4.2. The most dread penalty was to be declared an outlaw. The person would be treated under the law "as a dead person".

5.4.3. Anyone could kill an outlaw on sight and then be entitled ti some of his or her property.

5.5. The end of Viking Age

5.5.1. Ended in the eleventh century

5.5.2. The people of Norway and Denmark became Christian.

6. The Anglo-Saxons and The Celts

6.1. Background

6.1.1. The Celtic language and culture disappeared.

6.1.2. The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes (Germanic tribes) moved in, driving out the native Celtic* people from Britain.

6.1.2.1. Celtic Peoples: (pronounced Keltic), a western European culture. The Scottish, Irish, Welsh, Cornish, and Bretons are all Celts.

6.1.2.2. The Celts got pushed into Wales, Cornwall, and Scotland, and across the sea to Ireland.

6.2. Anglo-Saxon Englad

6.2.1. They were farmers.

6.2.2. Both genders shared the work and the agriculture between them.

6.2.3. They were skilled in metal work.

6.2.4. They were great storytellers who created wonderful epics*, such as Beowulf.

6.2.4.1. Epic: a long poem telling about heroic deeds and events.

6.2.5. They suffered from Viking raids in the begging of the ninth century.

6.2.6. Alfred the Great was an early ruler of the Anglo-Saxons.

6.2.6.1. He was the one who defeated the Vikings after many tries.

6.2.6.2. Alfred left Southern and Western England united and prosperous*.

6.2.6.2.1. Prosperous: Thriving.

6.2.7. England as a whole, suffered from a combination of weak kings and Viking invaders until the time of William the Conqueror.

6.3. The pivotal role of the Irish

6.3.1. The Celts had practiced a form of nature worship called Druidism for many centuries.

6.3.2. In the fifth century, St. Patrick became the patron saint of Ireland. He brought to the Irish Christianity and a healthy respect for learning.

6.3.3. Until Charlemagne's renaissance, Ireland was the greatest center of learning in Europe.

6.3.4. Irish monks traveled through Scotland, England, and then Europe, spreading knowledge and Christianity.

6.3.5. Irish monks preserved the cultural legacy of ancient Ireland, Greece, and Rome. Every new book had to be carefully copied out by hand on sheets of dried sheepskin called "parchment"

7. Charleamgne

7.1. Charlemagne's background

7.1.1. The pope agreed to recognize Pepin as king because Pepin's father, Charles Martel, had defeated a Muslim army that had threatened to conquer Europe in 732.

7.1.2. Expanded the old Merovingian Empire in every direction.

7.1.3. On Christmas day in 800, he was crowned Emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III. The Carolingian Empire* gave much of western Europe a brief rest from the wars that had torn it apart since the fall of Rome.

7.1.3.1. Carolingian Empire: Charlemagne's empire from about 770 to 814.

7.1.4. His father, Pippin the Short, had made himself king by throwing out the last of the Merovingian rulers, who had come to be known as the "do nothing" kings.

7.2. Charlemagne's laws and policies

7.2.1. Charlemagne's palace was at Aachen (Germany)

7.2.2. He allowed governments much freedom, yet he sent out agents called missi dominici (the lord's messenger) to make sure people were treated properly.

7.2.3. He created single code of laws for the whole empire.

7.2.4. Charlemagne tried to make things better for serfs and tradespeople.

7.3. hardhearted and merciless Charlemagne

7.3.1. After a long was with the Saxons in northwest Germany, Charlemagne defeated them and insisted that they convert to Christianity. When the Saxon leaders refused, Charlemagne ordered his soldiers to kill about 4000 Saxons in a single day.

7.4. Charlemagne's renaissance

7.4.1. He established new schools in monasteries and encouraged the learning of Latin classics.

7.4.2. Charlemagne took a keen interest of reviving the practice of architecture and had many stone churches and palaces build in France and Germany.

7.4.3. He died at the age of seventy-two, after ruling for forty-seven years.