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Dark Ages Dbq Essay

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After the fall of Roman Empire, Europe fell under the rule of many different leaders. The eastern side of the empire became the Byzantine Empire, which grew in strength and prospered in the many years after its formation. The western side, on the other hand, did not. The Germanic Kingdoms that formed on that land quickly fell under attack by barbarians. From 400 A.D. to 1400 A.D, this side of Europe fell into a "Dark Age". A lack of government, barbarian attacks, and a decline in education made the "Dark Ages" a time of cultural decay for Europe. A lack of government contributed to the cultural decay in Europe. In western Europe, the Germanic Kingdoms were set up after the fall of the Roman Empire. Shortly after the kingdoms were formed, they were attacked by the barbarians. Still relatively new, " [t]he Germanic Kingdoms which had been set up by 476 were unable to suppress the violence"(Document A). Since the kingdoms were newly formed, their governments were too fragile to be able to defend against the attacks, allowing the barbarians to wreck total havoc in the Kingdoms. Government went from being strong and able to keep order in the Roman Empire to being fragile and almost nonexistent. This transformation from a strong government to a lack of government lead to …show more content…

The weak governments of the Germanic Kingdoms were no match for the chaos that came from the barbarian attacks. The barbarian attacks were mainly against Christianity. They killed innocent Christians, and destroyed religious sites. During that time," [t]he heathen, as was their custom, inflicted injury on the Christians"(Document C). This shows that innocent Christians were attacked and killed frequently, without any way to protect or defend themselves. The government also had no way to protect its people. With nothing to stop the attacks, chaos took over the Kingdoms. This turmoil caused by the barbarians lead to cultural decay in

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