Ccot of Middle Ages

Rogers, John
CPT. Daniel
4th Period
10/7/08
Analyze the CCOT of the middle ages in Western Europe during 600C.E.-1450C.E.
In 476, the Roman Empire fell which created no central military authority. Many German Barbarians invaded the area so they could rule. With all the corruption, Feudalism was created which was when someone wouldgive up their land for military protection. The fall of Rome brought many revisions to political structure because it went from a lack of central authority to a society where feudalism and manorialism were strongly used. The economic basis went from the Roman coin system to the barter system and back to the coin system. The social structure was revised because it went from no middle class to a society with a middle class who were the merchants. Due to many technological innovations, the knight became the most important symbol to society because he was the basis of warfare. However, some aspects of Western Europe remained constant such as the struggle between kings, nobles, and the church, and the church remained the center of education, medicine, and news during the time period of 600C.E.-1450C.E.
After the fall of Rome, politically, there was nothing but chaos. Since there was no central government, feudalism and manorialism developed, and there was no middle class. Then there were six Crusades which were military campaigns that tried to get all of Western Europe to convert to Christianity. As a result, kings became stronger because they made taxes and got land from lords who died in combat without heirs. Later, there was a need for a middle class which became merchants who helped with trading in Europe.
In the early stage of the middle ages, the coin system changed to the barter system because of all the chaos. Manorialism, which was when serfs and lords lived on a manor, developed. The serfs were farmers on the manor; they were basically servants to the lord. After the Crusades, a merchant class rose because many...