Fall of Rome
This term means a rise in prices when the government puts more money into circulation without more goods.
Inflation
This group included the Visigoths, Vandals, Franks, Angles, and Saxons; Romans often called them this word meaning “uncivilized.”
Barbarian
What name did the Eastern Roman Empire take after the fall of the West?
Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire)
This term describes the economic system based on large estates where peasants worked the land for a lord.
Manorial system (or manorialism)
This religious institution became a unifying political and social force in Western Europe after Rome fell.
Roman Catholic Church
Name one internal political or social factor that weakened Rome in the third century CE.
Government corruption; moral decline/loss of civic duty; military weakened/army dominated government leading to civil war.
Who led the Visigoths in the sack of Rome between 408 and 410 CE?
Alaric
Why was Constantinople a center for trade?
Located on the Strait of Bosporus between the Black Sea and Mediterranean; natural harbor and trade routes between Asia and Europe.
Describe the feudal hierarchy from top to bottom.
Pyramid: Monarch → Lords → Knights → Peasants
Who was the pope that sent missionaries to make England Christian and established an archbishop in Canterbury?
Pope Gregory I (Gregory the Great)
Rome had 22 different rulers in about 50 years. This instability is an example of what kind of problem: social, economic, or political?
Political instability
In 476 CE a barbarian leader overthrew the last Western Roman emperor. Name that leader.
Odoacer
Justinian created a famous collection of laws. What is this legal code called?
The Code of Justinian
Explain how feudalism and the manorial system are related but different.
Feudalism is political/military, manorialism is economic; they supported each other.
Name one famous missionary mentioned in the unit who worked in Ireland and explain one thing he did there.
Saint Patrick; he established monasteries and converted many Irish people to Christianity.
Explain briefly why reducing the amount of silver in coins helped cause economic problems.
Less silver meant coins had lower intrinsic value; government minted more coins of cheaper metal which increased money supply without increasing goods, causing inflationinflation.
Explain where the Franks settled and where the Angles and Saxons settled after invading Roman lands.
Franks → modern France; Angles and Saxons → British Isles
Name two achievements of Justinian.
Justinian’s legal code; rebuilt the Hagia Sophia; reconquered parts of North Africa and Italy.
Describe three things a manor usually contained and why manors were mostly self-sufficient.
Manor house, agricultural fields, village with craftsmen, livestock; self-sufficient because food, clothing, and goods produced locally.
Describe two ways Charlemagne strengthened his empire.
Charlemagne: supported the Church and education, created laws and courts to administer his empire.
List three different internal factors from the unit that contributed to the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
Political corruption and civil war; weakening military; overspending and high taxes; inflation; lack of new conquests.
Describe one way Germanic invasions changed Western Europe politically or economically after the fall of Rome.
Barbarian kingdoms replaced Roman provincial government; breakdown of centralized economy; establishment of new kingdoms that led to feudalism.
Explain how the Silk Road and Constantinople’s location helped the Byzantine Empire become a cultural crossroads.
Silk Road trade routes passed through; Constantinople connected Europe and Asia, allowing goods, ideas, and religions to spread.
From the point of view of a peasant, write two or three sentences explaining how you depended on both feudalism and manorialism for protection and survival.
“I worked the lord’s fields and paid fixed dues in grain and services; in return the lord gave me protection and a place to live; I relied on the manor for food, and on feudal ties for military defense.”
Compare and contrast Charlemagne and William the Conqueror: give one similarity and one difference in how each ruler used feudalism to control land and people.
Similarity: both used feudal structures and religion to legitimize rule; Difference: Charlemagne unified large territories and emphasized education and law across his empire, while William centralized loyalty specifically to himself in England