Early+Dark+Ages

=Background= The Classic Era fell before the Middle Ages. During the ancient times, many things were invented that impact our world today. The Roman Empire was the "police" of Europe. Things were strict and orderly. People were educated. The dominant religion was Greek/Roman mythology, but there were other religions. People were prospering during this time. Then came the Dark Ages. But why did the Classic Era ever end? What caused the Middle Ages to occur?

Fall of Rome
=== The fall of Rome eventually led to feudalism and the middle ages. Rome's downfall started because of the many invasions of towns in the 200’s. Rome also fell due to internal problems that started to happen, like lead pipe poisoning. Because of this, a lot of people started drinking alcohol. There were also a lot of prostitution and parties where people ate too much and became sick. They also never had a consistent way of choosing an emperor, so they bid the role off. They had 25 to 30 emperors in the next 30 years. They were all assassinated. This meant that the government was starting to fall apart. Without a government, chaos will start to happen. The Golden Age has now come to an end. ===

Invaders had settled on the northern border of Europe, and snuck in where the land was flat and easy to enter. The invaders were a group called the [|Huns]. They came from central Asia, and they attacked nearby villages. One of these groups that were victims of the Huns were the [|Goths]. The Goths fled to Rome because they were unable to defeat the Huns. Upon this, the government of Rome decided to fight off the Goths. However, the Goths kept on coming back and eventually were victorious. Upon seeing this, other groups decided to attack as well, one of which being a leader named Attila The Hun. Attila was a mighty leader, who fought hard against Rome. Due to Rome’s weak emperors, military leaders took over Rome in the 450’s. Eventually conflict broke out between these leaders, which gave invaders an opening to attack. Political cities contributed to the decline as well. Corruption, which is the decay of peoples’ values, had become widespread by the 400s. This caused many wealthy citizens to create their own armies for protection and to try to take over the emperor. By the late 400’s, Rome was a changed city, as everything collapsed around it.

The fall of Rome greatest impact on society was that now no central government ruled the land. Think of life without any government or rules. Chaos takes over. Everyone fights and people are scared. As Rome falls, culture becomes less important as people focus on staying alive. People in villages all over, that were once ruled by Rome, were looking for order and structure. Then the Vikings come and people are hoping for anyone to restore order and structure to life.

There are many more reasons and causes of the Fall of Rome. This[| Link] shows all those causes and reasons that Rome had fallen from.

The Vikings Groups like the Vikings, Magyars, and the Franks invaded Rome. They created mass hysteria; people weremedia type="youtube" key="fIvJ2P0giVc" height="283" width="504" align="right" robbed, killed; there was no law or order. Entire villages were burned to the ground. It was easy for the Vikings because they were great sailors and northern Europe contained a lot of rivers. Also, the internal problems that are happening in Rome, also helped the Vikings to attack. The rivers allowed the Vikings to show up without notice and destroy a town. The Romans called the Vikings Barbarians, since they lived an uncivilized, dirty life. The Vikings didn't think of themselves as Barbarians. That was just how their life was like. The fact that the Vikings could come and go at any time made people’s fear grow exponentially. People were scared and looking for protection. No one knew when and were the Vikings would come and attack. They started feudal societies for protection because they were scared and they clinged to anything that gave them hope. Christianity boomed and became the leading religion. Read more here

Charlemagne tried to conquer the Roman Empire but failed. Through his wars of conquest, Charlemagne united many of the tribes of central and Western Europe into a single empire. While Europe was still reeling from the collapse of Rome, Charlemagne brought people together. He helped Europeans realize that they shared commonbonds such as Christianity that linked them. He helped people see themselves as Europeans, not members of tribes. media type="youtube" key="cTTaVnZyG2g" height="315" width="420" Edit on Dec.14, 2011; Josh Re-Edited on Mar. 12, 2014; Auryon Edited and thinglink by Sanchari: March 2014
 * Charlemagne and the Spread of Christianity **