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introduction to the history of the middle ages ge1v16004
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A Short History of the Middle Ages - Summary 5th edition
Samenvatting Rosenwein: A Short History of the Middle Ages
Medieval History summary
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Table of Contents
Week I – Questions................................................................................................................................2
Week II – Questions.............................................................................................................................11
Week III – Questions............................................................................................................................17
Week IV – Questions............................................................................................................................24
Week V – Questions.............................................................................................................................32
Week VI – Questions............................................................................................................................37
Week VII – Questions...........................................................................................................................41
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,All weakly Questions and practice questions
Week I – Questions
Chapter 1 & 2:
1. Why does Rosenwein title the first chapter 'The Roman World Transformed'?
Rosenwein emphasizes that more historians nowadays tend to call it the period of Late Antiquity
instead of the Fall of Rome, because the period of and after the Fall of Rome is a period of
transformation. It is not a definitive end of the Roman society, as the concept of ‘The Fall of the
Roman Empire’ implicates, but it went on existing but with several changes. It was a period of
succession of the Roman society, but yet different through transformations in culture and religion.
The chapter titled "The Roman World Transformed" is an overview of the significant changes that
occurred in the Roman Empire between the 4th and 6th century AD. The text explains how the
Roman Empire was transformed by the arrival of barbarian tribes, the rise of Christianity, and the
retrenchment of the Eastern Roman Empire.
The text explains that the barbarian tribes were not nomadic peoples, but rather accustomed to a
settled existence. They were recruited into the Roman army and some of them settled peacefully
within the imperial borders. However, the Visigothic sack of Rome in 410 AD marked a turning point
in the relationship between Romans and barbarians, as it was a stunning blow to the empire. The
Visigoths, Franks, and Burgundians were all peoples that the Romans referred to as "barbarians", but
they were not nomads.
The text also explains how Christianity played a significant role in the transformation of the Roman
Empire. The arrival of Christian bishops and their teachings helped to defuse the religious differences
between Romans and barbarians. Barbarian kings such as Clovis, king of the Franks, converted to the
Catholic Christianity of his Gallic neighbours and this helped to merge the elite "Romans" and
"barbarians" into the same community of free landowners.
In addition, the text also explains how the Eastern Roman Empire retrenched as an autonomous
entity and became the Byzantine Empire. The Eastern Roman Empire was not the old Roman Empire
writ small, but it was transformed by the re-organization of the state and the increased power of the
emperor, who took on the image of concentrated power associated with the ceremony and pomp of
the Persian "king of kings", combining it with an exalted role in the Christian church. The empire of
Constantine was meant to be the Roman Empire restored. Yet it was nothing like the old Roman
Empire. Constantine’s rule marks the end of the classical era and the beginning of Late Antiquity, a
period transformed by the culture and religion of the provinces.
2. Rosenwein sees three main developments taking place during this period. Can you identify
these?
Rosenwein describes three main developments taking place during the period of transformation of
the Roman world. 4th and 6th century AD.
I. The first development is the Rise of Barbarian Kingdoms in the Western Roman Empire, and
the emergence of a new social and political order in which barbarian kings and Roman
landowners gradually came to belong to the same community of free landowners. This
process was facilitated by the sharing of taxes on Roman products between barbarian kings
and their soldiers, and by the adoption of Roman institutions, laws, and Christianity by the
barbarian rulers. The militarization (not integration/merger) of the barbarians: the merger
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, between the Roman existing culture and administrative traditions and the barbarian culture.
The barbarians became the new leaders. These barbarian kings were military leaders, the
kingdoms were kind of an army ruled by a barbarian king (the leader). They would defend
the region, raise the taxes. Government is becoming more and more a matter of armed
forces, of the military. The growing importance of the barbarians is therefore similar to
militarization. There is a growth within military in the Roman empire and that continues in
this period of barbarian kingdoms. Civilian and administrative aspects become less
important than the military aspect.
II. The second development is the Ruralisation of the West; the decay of the cities and the
disappearance of the urban middle class in the Western Roman Empire. This was caused by
new taxes imposed in the 4th century which impoverished the curiales, or traditional leaders
and spokesmen for the cities, and by the increased dominance of the rich landowners. This
was accompanied by a process of ruralisation, as the barbarians settled in the countryside
and the population shifted away from the cities. Thus, cities became less important; the
focus became the countryside. There was a shift from urban to rural settlements. The urban
middle class disappeared and moved to the countryside. Monasteries became important
corporate landowners.
III. The third development is Provincialization; less focus on central parts, more focus on
regions. This was in order to improve the defense from the invading civilizations. It was
easier to defend the borders of more and better protected regions instead of one big
empire. The Roman Empire was too large to be ruled by one man in one place, except in
peacetime. This became clear during the so-called crisis of the 3 rd century, when two
different groups from two different directions bore down on the frontiers of the Empire. This
manifests itself in the retrenchment and reorganization of the Eastern Roman Empire,
which continued to thrive and maintain its authority, even as the Western Roman Empire
collapsed. The Eastern Roman Empire was characterized by the efficient collection of state
revenues, the continued prosperity of the towns, and the flourishing of the educated elite in
Constantinople. The Eastern Roman Empire also developed a new legal and administrative
system, as emperors issued compendia of Roman laws, such as the Theodosian Code and the
Codex Justinianus, and the Digest, an orderly compilation of Roman juridical thought.
3. Rosenwein writes about 'sibling cultures'. What exactly does she mean by this term?
Which aspects of these sibling cultures do, indeed, show a shared inheritance? Are there elements
that do not show such a shared culture at all?
The term "sibling cultures" refers to the idea that different cultures and societies that have
developed in close proximity to one another, or that have been influenced by a common ancestor
culture, share many similarities and can be seen as "siblings" in terms of their cultural heritage. In
the context of the chapter, the author argues that the cultures of the Byzantine Empire, the various
barbarian kingdoms that emerged in Western Europe and the Islamic world after the fall of the
Western Roman Empire can be seen as sibling cultures, as they share a common ancestor in the
Roman Empire and have been heavily influenced by its culture and traditions.
One aspect of these sibling cultures that shows a shared inheritance is the continued use of the Latin
language and the preservation of many Roman legal and intellectual traditions. For example, in
Spain, the Visigothic kings adopted the Catholic form of Christianity and the legal and intellectual
culture of the Hispano-Roman population, which included the great landowners and leading bishops.
Similarly, in England, the arrival of the Roman form of Christianity under Pope Gregory the Great's
3
, mission in 597, led by Augustine, was able to establish an English church on the Roman model with
ties to the Pope and a clear hierarchy.
On the other hand, there are also elements that do not show such a shared culture at all. For
example, the political instability in Visigothic Spain, with the minority of a king's son almost always
sparking revolts by rival families and child's deposition was often accompanied by wholesale
slaughter of his father's followers and confiscation of their lands. The conquest of Spain by the
Islamic armies was less Arab or Islamic than Berber. The generals who led the invasion of Spain were
Arabs, to be sure, but the rank-and-file fighters were Berbers from North Africa. Also, the difference
in religious practices, such as use of icons, between the Byzantine Empire and the Pope caused
conflicts. The Byzantine Emperor Leo III's policy of iconoclasm collided with the Pope's tolerance of
images.
Continuity and discontinuity based on three cultures:
Byzantium empire:
This was first part of the Roman empire, but now it is smaller than the old Roman empire. Now it
is medium sized state.
They preserved their capital city. Constantinople.
They still collected the traditional land taxes the same way as the Romans, but now the emperor
and his officials raised the taxes. continuity of tax system.
The emperor still called himself the Roman emperor.
Strategoi and strategiai remained the war generals, also with the same name. continuity of
the military system.
The decline of cities caused the rise of the countryside; but agriculture had already been the
backstone of the Byzantium empire. ruralisation of the empire. When did this happen? This
is after Justinian, making a real effort to reunite the empire. The war between Justinian’s army
and the Ostrogoths was devastating for Justinian’s army so with that, the period of change of
these towns into a more rural society starts. Rise of Islam was also an important reason for all
kinds of economic consequences.
The city-based Greco-Roman culture on which the Byzantine Empire was originally constructed
had long been gradually giving way. Invasions and raids hastened this development. Many urban
centers, once bustling nodes of trade and administration, disappeared or reinvented themselves.
Some became fortresses; others were abandoned; still others remained as skeletal
administrative centers. The public activities of marketplaces, theaters, and town squares yielded
to the pious pursuits of churchgoers or the private affairs of the family.
There is continuity of religion: the Christian religion was the religion of the later Roman empire
and that continued in the Byzantium empire.
Continuity in the tendency and culture to territorial expansion, which the Romans also had. The
Byzantium empire was not very successful at first.
Continuity in architecture and art
Continuity in administrative: still bureaucracy,
Continuity in law: they adapted the Theodosius Code and the corpus iurus civilis.
Continuity in language and writing: the texts were written in Latin, and they remained Latin for a
long period of time.
Islamic empire:
It was one community, which was revolutionary for the disparate people of Arabia.
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