The Middle Ages?? PLZ HELP?

Question

Well...what was the sequence of the early and later middle ages? as in...the fall of the roman empire, the feudal system, Justinian, Constantinope, Banzyan,, crusades, the black death...

WHAT was the sequence of all these or related events?
I have an exam on the middle ages in 2 days and i'm not understanding the topic so i hope you can help!!
Thankx

Answer 1

I teach basic world history in college, so I'll try to summarize this in order
The last Roman emperor Romulus Augustus was deposed by the Goths in 476 CE, but the Eastern Roman empire with its capital in Constantinople continued throughout the early middle ages (~500CE to 1000CE) and the late middle ages (~1000CE to 1453 CE).
1453 CE is when the Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople and renamed it Istanbul. That date is often considered the end of the middle ages.
All these dates are rather arbitrary. They are times imposed by historians. People living then would not call their times the "middle ages." And there are variations on what dates determine early and late middle ages. I'm giving you easy ones to remember since this is troublesome for you.
Justinian was an emperor in Constantinople in the mid 500s
when the eastern Roman empire was being called the Byzantine empire (by historians). He temporarily conquered portions of Italy again taking Rome from the "barbarians", but this did not last. The Byzantines were overextended and could not hold this much territory militarily.
The feudal system grew in Western Europe during the early middle ages (500 to about 1000 CE). It was a decentralized system of overlordship. Knights owed allegiance to local lords such as barons, dukes or earls, and these greater lords owed allegiance to a king. Serfs (the peasant workers - mostly farmers) generally were stuck on their areas of land working for their feudal lords. The original deal was that the men trained to fight (knights) would protect the people who did all the work. Unfortunated the peasant workers found themselves dominated and oppressed by the fighting men who were supposed to protect them. Warrior knights, lords and most kings cared little for education. Most of these could not read in medieval times (middle ages) - at least in the early middle ages. Of course none of the peasants had any schooling. The only place where reading and writing was still practiced was in the Christian monasteries, so churchmen were usually needed to do the administrative paperwork for lords and kings.
The first crusade lasted from 1096-1099CE and was the only successful crusade. European knights captured Jerusalem and held it until 1187CE when moslems under Saladin took it back. The 2nd Crusade in the 1150s achieved nothing.
Third crusade ~1190 failed to win Jerusalem back. The 4th crusade was interesting in that the Christian European knights were diverted from their purpose and sacked the Christian city of Constantinople instead of Jerusalem. The Venetians under an 80 year old blind "doge" (leader) tricked them into doing this for the economic benefit of Venice. The remaining crusades in the latter 1200s are not worth studying for you (or for most of us).
By the 1200s, the population was increasing in Europe to the point that all available farmlands were needed to feed the people. Then the climate worsened in the early 1300s, and people became malnourished - more susceptible to diseases. By 1347 the plague bacillus arrived from the east (the steppes of Asia). The bacteria were caried by rat fleas. The Black death or Bubonic plague caused by the bacterium yersinia pestis killed one quater to one third of the people in Europe (including the people of the British isles). Although 1347-1348 were the first catastrophic plague years, the plague recurred periodically until the time of the great London fire in 1666. (The infection became treatable with antibiotics only in the 1950s)
Hope this helps. Good Luck!

Answer 2

Constantinople was established in the 4th century, Justinian was the emperor of the eastern empire in the 6th century, the traditional date for the fall of the Roman Empire was in the 6th Century. Crusades were from the 11th through the 14th centuries, Black death from 1348-1351, Feudalism was a economical and political system that functioned from about the end of the dark ages through until the early modern period, except in Russia where it went on longer.

I am sending you a link to Skip Knox's site on the Middle Ages at Boise State. It's very easy to follow and well done.

I'd use it for an outline and hit the books kiddo.

Answer 3

1. Early middle ages lasted about 500 years, and it was a time also known as the Dark Ages basicly because no one but the rich and the monks could read. There were entire towns, maybe cities that couldn't read. The later middle ages or Rennasoince was started by Guintenburg (spelling needs work) of Germany invtenting the printing press, which ment books could be mass produced.
2. Plague! It lasted until the 1600's in some parts, even later. It killed more than World War One, thats half of the population of Europe folks, and was spread by invading Huns that caused the fall of the Roman Empire.
3. "In the name of God!" Said a famous pope, these words started the 6 crusades where knights and people all over Western Europe invaded the Middle East, full of knowlege (they invented alegabra) and brought it home with them along with 'relics' from the Holy Land they were trying to claim back.
4. The Roman Empire fell and started the Middle Ages because it was split in two for 'ease to rule' that basicly means, Huns invaded, Barbarians invaded because the Huns were attacking them, so the Barbarians attacked Rome and all Hell broke lose!
5. Serfs, like the wave, right? No, serfs were the peasents that basicly were the whole population. They were ruled by lords, or knights, who promised protection if the serfs did as told, like slaves. The lords were ruled by kings and queens who had full power until the Magna Carta which was signed by John of England, or John the Worst as known by the people of Nottingham (Nottingham is real by the way, boys and girls). This was called the Feudal System, and this is how thing basicly ran all through time, up until the higher middle ages (Renassance) maby even until the Age of Discovery (You know, Columbus started it).

Answer 4

What would help you best is a Middle Ages timeline. I've linked one below. "CE" means "Christian Era" and is a p.c. term for "AD." Generally, though, the Middle Ages start with the fall of the Roman Empire and end with the Renaissance. Everything else listed happens in between there. Feudalism lasted well into the 18th century and, perhaps, the early 19th century, I would say.

Answer 5

The others have answered the question.
Just two little corrections on bc's spelling (sorry)
it's Renaissance and Gutenberg