Download - The Dark Ages Get Darker
The Dark Ages Get Darker
6.5 | Invasions, Reaction, and New Beginnings
“Where did they come from?”
Beginning c.800 AD Viking raiders appear, destroy, and vanish Wealthy churches are targeted Soon cities
Lindisfarne Monastery 793 AD
Scandinavia Denmark, Norway, and Sweden
Vikings, or Norsemen, or Northmen, etc.
Not-so-fertile land
Great for sailing though – fjords
The Viking Raids c.200 Years
“The number of ships grows: the endless stream of Vikings never ceases to increase. Everywhere the Christians are victims of massacres, burnings, plundering: the Vikings conquer all in their path, and no on resists them.” – Christian monk from the time
Hit and run raids – no time to prepare defenses Durable ships and excellent navigations skills
Original range far, but predictable (England, northern France)
Eventually, through the use of rivers, targets were as far as Kiev and Constantinople
Viking Settlements From Iceland to Greenland, to the Americas
Greenland 982 AD Leif Eriksson – settlements in Canada and
beyond
Normandy (northern France) Frankish kings cut a deal with Vikings Defend us from more Vikings and we will allow
you to settle in northern France Those Vikings were from Norway – the region
became known as Normandy, where the Normans live
Vikings in Russia According to legend, Slavic Russia was fertile,
but disorderly Called upon the “Rus” (northern Europeans,
possibly Vikings) to rule over them Three brothers are chosen
Novgorod is made a center of power Kiev (along the Dnieper) is another The Kievan Rus expands – siege of Constantinople
907 AD Byzantine Empire and Rus’ connection – good and
bad The impending “split” in 1054 and implications
The Asiatic Hordes Return
The Invasion of the Magyars
Would remind the Europeans of the devastating invasions of the Huns during Roman times
Would eventually settle in the region of Hungary
Thus, Europeans would refer to them (and the region) as the land of the Huns, even though this is inaccurate
Invasions
So How Do We Fix This?
Instability and insecurity rampant Well, let’s make it so that we have every inch of land
secure and ready to be defended As kings, we must parcel out land to “lesser kings” or
nobles, who will then operate militarily in place of us In this way, every bit of land owned by a king is
operated by a subordinate who maintains order While this stabilizes the situation, it decentralizes
power Beginning around the time of Charlemagne, this is
feudalism
How It Works
The Eastern Roman
Empire Under Siege
The Byzantine Empire
Byzantium – Constantinople – Istanbul
Byzantium After Rome Justinian 527-565 and his general Belisarius
Reconquer vast quantities of the Roman Empire
Preservation of Roman law and Classical heritage Justinian Code – Re-written for the common person Copies of all Greek and Roman works abundant –
schools
Center of Christianity (not yet Rome) 4 of the 5 patriarchs (for a while all 5) Hagia Sophia “Defender of the Faith” – conversions (Balkans, Slavs,
Russia)
Disputes Between Constantinople and Rome
For one, the East spoke Greek and the West Latin
Secondly, the East believed in equal power of the patriarchs and authority of councils (like Nicaea) Rome, being founded by St. Peter, believed
they had superiority to all other patriarchs – the Pope
The East allowed bishops and priests to marry The West did not
Among many, many other minutia
The Cold War of the Dark Ages
The only two superpowers existing outside China were The Byzantine Empire – Christian The Sassanid Persian Empire – Zoroastrian
Like with Rome, the two fought and fought Emperor Heraclius c.610 AD
Defeats the Persians in a long and draining war Secured European borders
Finally! It seemed that peace and stability could return…
The Muslims InvadeWe will learn about their origins later
For now, let’s observe their effects on the already over-encumbered Europe
Rapid Expansion Muslims sweep over Persia, too weak to resist 644 AD Muslims invade the weakened Byzantine Empire
Halted near the Taurus Mountains (3 patriarchs lost)
Muslims annex all Byzantine lands in Africa Muslims cross into Spain – topple Visigoth kingdom Muslims take to the sea – islands captured, southern
Italy conquered, Rome burned Siege of Constantinople 674 AD and 717 AD
Frankish Kingdom invaded – the Battle of Tours 732 AD
Charles the Hammer
Massive Power ShiftsByzantium enters a period of political instability
Rome, fearing that Byzantium can no longer protect it, turns to the Franks for help (Charlemagne)
Islam becomes the new super power, literally across the Mediterranean
In the East, China is emerging from the Warring States Period…