SS.912.W.2.5 – Byzantine Empire

ROME causes of the decline and fall of Rome including: Ineffective later emperors concerned more with a life of pleasure than a desire to rule wisely. The decline of trade and increasingly high taxes. A decreased $ flow into the empire as conquests of new territory ceased. Population decline as a result of epidemic disease. Poor harvests. Social and moral decay and lack of interest the elite classes. The recruitment of non-Romans in the Roman army. The vastness of the empire, rendering it difficult to rule. Barbarian invasions.

The Emperor Constantine (ruled 312 to 337) He renamed Byzantium ( THE EASTERN ROME ) -- > Constantinople. He converted to Christianity. The western portion of the empire steadily declined, the eastern portion (Constantinople) continued to thrive and carry on a high volume of long-distance trade.

Charlemagne Charlemagne, the Christian king of a Germanic people called the Franks. The pope crowned Charlemagne as the new Roman emperor on Christmas day in the year 800. In addition to his success as a warrior, Charlemagne is remembered for his encouragement of learning: however he was, illiterate. He encouraged monks in monasteries to copy literature from the ancient Greeks and Romans; without this work, much of what we know about the classical world would have been lost forever.

Knights = warriors who followed a code called chivalry. Feudalism WHY- Farming villages in Europe needed defense against Vikings. SOULUTION- warriors called knights who could respond quickly to an attack. Knights = warriors who followed a code called chivalry. Local lords (the nobility) hired knights to protect villagers because the villagers’ farms provided the lord’s income. The farmers, called serfs, were not slaves but were poor and had few rights. The lord, in turn, owed military service to the king who gave the lord his land. The king ruled through local lords who controlled smaller territories within the kingdom. This kind of military and social system is called feudalism. Under feudalism, people owed loyalty and service to those above, while those above owed protection to those below.

The Crusades: The first of the Crusades began in 1095, when armies of Christians from Western Europe responded to Pope Urban II’s plea to go to war against Muslim forces in the Holy Land. First Crusade achieved its goal with the capture of Jerusalem in 1099 The pope told crusaders that all their sins would be forgiven as long as they fought for the holy land to get the Christian Knights to go fight and kill Muslims.

Judaism Christianity Islam SS.912.W.3.2: Major beliefs and principles of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Judaism Christianity Islam