The Middle Ages

The Middle Ages in Europe began with the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 C.E. During the next 1,000 a system of feudalism began to develop as a people could no longer rely on a stong central government for protection and instead began to live on small manors which were ruled by individual lords. This was also a time of extreme religious devotion as the Catholic Church played an extremely important role in people's lives. The Church also grew tremendously in power and political influence as well as is indicated by the support of the Crusades between 1095 -1291 C.E. Finally, the Black Death strikes during this time between 1347-1353 and kills over 38 million people living throughout Europe.

Click here for Middle Ages Power Point notes

Useful Links

1) Super information about Middle Age daily life including homes, religion, health, entertainment and clothing.

http://www.learner.org/exhibits/middleages/feudal.html

2) A very easy to read website about the Middle Ages created by 4th and 5th graders!

http://www.kyrene.k12.az.us/schools/brisas/sunda/ma/mahome.htm

3) Travel on a Medieval Quest on this website!

http://library.thinkquest.org/J002390/index.html

4) Learn all about the Black Death that struck during the Middle Ages and killed about half of the entire population of Europe!

http://www.insecta-inspecta.com/fleas/bdeath/bdeath.html

Vocabulary

feudalism - political system based on bonds of loyalty between lords and vassals

fief - under feudalism, the land a lord granted to a vassal in exchange for military service and loyalty

guild - medieval business group formed by craftspeople and merchants

knight - in the Middle Ages, a noble warrior who fought on horseback

serf - peasant laborer bound by law to the lands of a noble

vassal - in feudalism, a noble who held land from and served a higher-ranking lord, and in return was given protection