Medieval Knights on Horses
In Western Europe from the 3rd Century onward, the political unity of the Roman Empire began to fragment. As the central authority of Rome faded, the imperial territories were infiltrated by succeeding waves of "barbarian" tribal confederations. Some of these "barbarian" tribes rejected the classical culture of Rome, while others, like the Goths, admired and aspired to it. The Huns, Bulgars, Avars and Magyars along with a large number of Germanic and later Slavic peoples, were prominent tribal groups that migrated into Roman territory. Some of the incursions were by agreement, in which tribal groups were assigned lands to farm and settle in return for acting as allies and confederates of Rome. In other cases, particularly from the 4th Century onward, incursions were hostile, the land was seized and settled by force.
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By the end of the 5th Century, the institutions of the Western Roman Empire had crumbled under the pressure of these incursions. Where semblances of Roman governance survived, these were largely in the form of weak and isolated city governments or else regional military commanders who had turned themselves into local strongmen in the absence of central authority. In the more developed eastern half of the empire, however, centralized institutions still continued to function, centered on the impregnably defended city of Constantinople. Often now termed the Byzantine Empire, this Eastern Roman Empire was a direct continuation of the Christian Roman Empire of late antiquity.
This era, often characterized by historians as one of dramatic population and cultural change, is sometimes referred to as the Migration Period, and as the Völkerwanderung ("wandering of the peoples") by German historians. Historically this period has been more pejoratively termed the "Dark Ages" by some Western European historians. The term "Dark Ages" has now fallen from favour, partly to avoid the entrenched stereotypes associated with the phrase, but partly because more recent research and archaeological findings about the period has revealed that complex cultural influences persisted throughout this period.
Romanesque architecture flourished in the early Middle Ages: Hildesheim.The question of what happened to the settled and Romanized populations of the western Empire is a complex one. In few cases do historians consider that the existing populations were driven out or killed off entirely by the new arrivals. Only in England, the Rhine Valley and the Balkans did the languages spoken by the original inhabitants largely disappear, to be replaced by those of the incomers. However changes everywhere would have been notable as established society went through changes in law, culture, religion, and patterns of property ownership. The Pax Romana, with its accompanying benefits of safe conditions for trade and manufacture, and a unified cultural and educational milieu of far-ranging connections, had already been in decline for some time as the 5th century drew to a close. Now it was largely lost, to be replaced by the rule of local potentates with a dramatic change in economic and social linkages and infrastructure. Roman landholders, however, could not just pack up their land and move elsewhere. Some were dispossessed, others quickly changed their allegiances to those of their new rulers. In areas like Spain and Italy, this often meant little more than acknowledging a new overlord, while Roman forms of law and religion could be maintained. In other areas where there was a greater weight of population movement, it might be necessary to adopt new modes of dress, language and custom. In such areas those who remained soon dropped their former pretences of Roman citizenship, so that within a generation or two it would have been difficult to distinguish between a Roman and a barbarian.
The breakdown of Roman society was often dramatic as it became unsafe to travel or carry goods over any distance and there was a collapse in trade and manufacture for export. Major industries that depended on long-distance trade, such as large-scale pottery manufacture, vanished almost overnight in places like Britain. The Islamic invasions of the 7th and 8th centuries, which conquered the Levant, North Africa, Spain, Portugal and some of the Mediterranean islands (including Sicily), increased localization by halting much of what remained of seaborne commerce. Thus, whereas sites like Tintagel in Cornwall had managed to obtain supplies of Mediterranean luxury goods well into the 6th century, this connection was now lost. The administrative, educational and military infrastructure of the Roman Empire quickly vanished, leading, among other things, to decreased literacy among the upper tiers (the majority of Rome's population were always illiterate) and the reduced governmental sophistication mentioned above. While the authority of Rome weakened, the authority of the bishops increased. Augustine of Hippo is such an example and is sometimes used to mark the end of the classical age and the beginning of the Middle Ages. One historian (Thomas Cahill) supports this saying that Augustine was the last of the classical men and the first of medieval men.
This era, often characterized by historians as one of dramatic population and cultural change, is sometimes referred to as the Migration Period, and as the Völkerwanderung ("wandering of the peoples") by German historians. Historically this period has been more pejoratively termed the "Dark Ages" by some Western European historians. The term "Dark Ages" has now fallen from favour, partly to avoid the entrenched stereotypes associated with the phrase, but partly because more recent research and archaeological findings about the period has revealed that complex cultural influences persisted throughout this period.
Romanesque architecture flourished in the early Middle Ages: Hildesheim.The question of what happened to the settled and Romanized populations of the western Empire is a complex one. In few cases do historians consider that the existing populations were driven out or killed off entirely by the new arrivals. Only in England, the Rhine Valley and the Balkans did the languages spoken by the original inhabitants largely disappear, to be replaced by those of the incomers. However changes everywhere would have been notable as established society went through changes in law, culture, religion, and patterns of property ownership. The Pax Romana, with its accompanying benefits of safe conditions for trade and manufacture, and a unified cultural and educational milieu of far-ranging connections, had already been in decline for some time as the 5th century drew to a close. Now it was largely lost, to be replaced by the rule of local potentates with a dramatic change in economic and social linkages and infrastructure. Roman landholders, however, could not just pack up their land and move elsewhere. Some were dispossessed, others quickly changed their allegiances to those of their new rulers. In areas like Spain and Italy, this often meant little more than acknowledging a new overlord, while Roman forms of law and religion could be maintained. In other areas where there was a greater weight of population movement, it might be necessary to adopt new modes of dress, language and custom. In such areas those who remained soon dropped their former pretences of Roman citizenship, so that within a generation or two it would have been difficult to distinguish between a Roman and a barbarian.
The breakdown of Roman society was often dramatic as it became unsafe to travel or carry goods over any distance and there was a collapse in trade and manufacture for export. Major industries that depended on long-distance trade, such as large-scale pottery manufacture, vanished almost overnight in places like Britain. The Islamic invasions of the 7th and 8th centuries, which conquered the Levant, North Africa, Spain, Portugal and some of the Mediterranean islands (including Sicily), increased localization by halting much of what remained of seaborne commerce. Thus, whereas sites like Tintagel in Cornwall had managed to obtain supplies of Mediterranean luxury goods well into the 6th century, this connection was now lost. The administrative, educational and military infrastructure of the Roman Empire quickly vanished, leading, among other things, to decreased literacy among the upper tiers (the majority of Rome's population were always illiterate) and the reduced governmental sophistication mentioned above. While the authority of Rome weakened, the authority of the bishops increased. Augustine of Hippo is such an example and is sometimes used to mark the end of the classical age and the beginning of the Middle Ages. One historian (Thomas Cahill) supports this saying that Augustine was the last of the classical men and the first of medieval men.