When did the Europeans become civilized like other ancient civilations?

Question

From what I undertand about ancient history, Gauls weren't very civilized. Neither were Britons, at least around the time of the Romans and ancient Greeks. When and how did they become more "professional", like having the king of England and queens and other more "civilized" roles in the world? I know that Britain got important in the Middle Ages, how did this change come about?

Or am I wrong, and the Romans wrongfully portrayed the northern world as big hairy Neanderthals?

Answer 1

Britain, Spain, and Gaul (now France) were originally Celtic and they had some "towns," although they did not read or write. Julius Caesar conquered Gaul after 55 BC, and some of his officers returned there after they retired to set up plantations and cities (Lyon = Lugdunum). Romans were never very numerous. There were only 500,000 Romans in Rome in the time of Augustus Caesar. So a very few of them spread their influence over Spain, (France), and Britain. They were the conquering, "civilizing" people. They spread the Lastin language over Europe, and Latin metamorphosed into Spanish, Italian, and French during the middle ages.

Kings and queens came later. The Visigoths invaded the Roman Empire, established a kingdom in Spain, but were themselves conquered by Arabs from North Africa (AD 711). Eventually, kings of Aragon and Castille reconquered Spain from the Arabs and founded a united kingdom.

The Franks were settled peaceably by the Romans south of the Rhine in Gaul about AD 490. A Frankish chief named Chlodovech (Clovis) united the Franks, had them convert to "orthodox" Christianity, and became the first king of France (Louis I). Clovis' successors were the Merovingian Kings of the Franks. There followed the Carolingians, named after Charlemagne. When his last descendent died, the nobles elected Hugh Capet (AD 987) King of France.

In England, the Anglo-Saxon kings ruled after the withdrawal of Roman armies (AD 444). The last Anglo-Saxon king was defeated, overthrown, and killed by William, Duke of Normandy, from France (AD1066). The current line of Kings of England stems from him.

Answer 2

Well, on the one hand you are not completely wrong but on the other the Romans had a certain difficulty appreciating the cultures of these peoples. They were not Neanderthals but they were not Romans either. The Romans had a level of technology and cultural sophistication that these people did not had.
The change came slowly during the middle ages. One important factor was the contact with the Arabs from whom Europeans re-learned about their own ancient past and discover Greek and Roman thought. Another factor was a series of innovations, mostly in farming that lead to a rise of population, that lead to the creation of cities and commerce and slowly opened the horizons of Europe.

Answer 3

At the time of the Roman Empire, the Romans were considered to be civilized. However, once the empire fell and barbarians took over, all hell broke loose. War was a way of life for about five hundred years, until the kingdoms of France and England were established at about the same times. The French and the British hated each other, though, and went to many wars. France first conquered Britain, but then Brtiain revolted, gained their independence, and conquered much of France. Then along came Joan of Arc and helped the French fight back the English until they were no longer on the European mainland. This was the Hundred Years' War. This was about the time the monarchy was established in both of these kingdoms, and if you wanted to, you could call this "civilized". Barbarians still ruled in Germany until Charlemagne conquered them and created the Holy Roman Empire. Much stayed about the same until the Protestant Reformation came along, but thats an entirely different story. So, this could be considered the first time after the fall of the Roman Empire when civilized life returned to the world.

Answer 4

The Gauls actually were civilised. They had cities and paved road networks, an advanced agriculture system. Very advanced metalworking as well. The only reason they are often overlooked is because they didn't write their history or philosophy due to their law. The Gauls also had Kings. Anyway, after Gaul had become Frankish and Britain mainly under rule of Germanic tribes. They started to advance further.

Answer 5

The Gauls were civilised, but they lacked political unity and were not as advanced as the Greeks and Romans in many areas. But they had roads, cities with buildings made of wood and some stonework, they had trade ships, wagons, carts, chariots etc.
The Gauls were a people of wood like the Romans were a people of brick and the Greeks of marble. The gauls gave us the wine barrel for instance. Much of their land was farmed and they also had herds of cattle, sheep and pigs.

Answer 6

'civilized' is a relative term and depends on which culture one is from....'Europeans' [ie: Celts], were tribal, but had very 'professional' metalmaking, a well developed religious tradition, a large and very complex trading system long before the Greeks and Romans.....
Actually, when the Romans invaded Gaul they found a very cultured group of communities in certain areas....

Answer 7

No you are not. But that doesn't mean anything even if they were not very civilised till a later time in history because civilisations like all other things has a beginning and inevitably an end. Look at all noteworthy empires of the past, how many of them stayed in power hitherto?

Answer 8

Like the rest of the world, Europeans are still working at it!

Answer 9

I suggest you read Guns Germs and Steel by Jarod Diamond. It focuses on answering this question

Answer 10

If I am not mistaken, it was the period following the Noresmen's attacks os when the integration began.