La fragmentación del mundo antiguo: resumen y vocabulario en inglés y documentales

FRAGMENTATION OF THE ANCIENT WORLD

At the beginning of the Middle Ages, there were three great civilisations occupying the lands of the ancient Roman Empire.

Germanic tribes conquered the Western Roman Empire from the 5^th century. In the west, many Germanic kingdoms were established that eventually adopted Roman traditions and the Christian religion. Cities declined after the fall of the Roman Empire, and people moved to the countryside to work the land.

Many peasants became serfs by entrusting themselves to a lord in return for protection. This was the beginning of feudal Europe.

Eastern Empire, Byzantium, survived, and after the fall of Rome, the imperial insignia were sent to Constantinople.The Eastern Roman Empire became Hellenised. It was called Byzantium and established its capital in Constantinople.

Finally, a new religion called Islam appeared in Arabia in the 7^th century and spread throughout the south of the Mediterranean, the Iberian Peninsula and the Middle East.

THE CAROLINGIAN EMPIRE

• King Pepin the Younger of the Franks founded the Carolingian Empire.

• His son, Charlemagne, reunited most of the Western Roman Empire.

• Charlemagne began a cultural revival, establishing schools and reintroducing the teaching of Latin.

ISLAM

The word Islam ('submission') includes all who profess the faith preached by Muhammad. A Muslim ('believer') is a follower of Islam.

The teachings of Muhammad were collected in the Koran, the holy book for Muslims, which is made up of 114 chapters called surahs. It contains the Islamic creed and defines religious obligations.

GLOSSARY

Byzantium (n): the Eastern Roman Empire, which was the continuation of the Roman Empire in the east during the Middle Ages.

Catholicism (n): the Christian Church under the authority of the Pope in Rome.

count (n): a high-ranking nobleman with extensive property and influence.

crossroads: where two roads cross

chieftain: leader of a tribe

diocese (n): an ecclesiastical district under the authority of a bishop.

episcopal see (n): the area of a bishop's jurisdiction; diocese.

fast: stop eating for a period of time

feudalism (n): the social system of medieval Europe in which the nobility received land from the monarch in exchange for military service and loyalty.

flee: run away from

Franks (n): a Germanic people who ruled much of northern and western Europe from the 6^th to the 9^th centuries.

gamble: play a game of luck for money

Herder: someone who looks after a group of animals, e.g. sheep

kingdom (n): a territory ruled over by a monarch.

marquis (n): a nobleman ranked above a count and below a duke.

means: resources; money

merchant (n): someone who buys and sells products for profit.

monotheism (n): the belief that there is only one God.

Orthodox Christianity (n): the eastern branch of the Church, created after the East-West Schism of 1054.

pilgrimage (n): a long journey to visit an important religious place.

plot: small piece of land

plunder: take goods by force, for example, in a war

prayer (n): communion with God.

preach: teach a doctrine or religion

prophet (n): an intermediary between God and people. The founder of Islam, Muhammad, is known as the Prophet.

self-sufficient (adj): when a community produces everything it consumes.

serf (n): an agricultural labourer obliged to work on the land of a feudal lord.

settle: establish a home

tithe: tax of 10 % of agricultural produce or income

tribe (n): a group of people descended from a common ancestor and who share traditions and a common culture.

vassal (n): a nobleman who offers military and economic support to a king or lord in exchange for land.

Visigoths (n): a Germanic people who occupied the Iberian Peninsula after the fall of the Roman Empire.

DOCUMENTALES