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The Fall of Rome to the Rise of Feudalism for AP World History

Oct 4, 2023

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Have you ever wondered how we went from the Roman Empire to feudal Europe? It wasn’t a sudden change. There were lots of small changes and decisions made by leaders that weakened the Roman Empire and strengthened local leaders. Over time, people moved away from cities and into self-sufficient feudal lands. Check out my Google Slides presentation to get a brief overview of how Europe changed.




By 286 CE, the Roman Empire was too big for one emperor to manage. Emperor Diocletian divided it into the Western and Eastern Roman Empires. Constantine briefly brought the two empires back together in 320 CE, but it split again in 395 CE.


Even then, the Western Roman Empire was too big and diverse. There were far more barbarians (non-Romans) than Romans, and barbarian soldiers were more loyal to their own leaders than the empire.

Rome was also broke. Some historians blame a lack of enslaved people on Rome’s fall. In the past, when Rome conquered a new land, they enslaved captured people. These enslaved people did the work of the empire and allowed the elite Romans to live in luxury. When Rome stopped expanding, they didn’t have enough enslaved people to support the elite, and the economy suffered.


In 476 CE, one of the barbaric military leaders kicked the emperor out of Rome and named himself the first King of Italy. The Western Roman Empire had fallen.


Most historians agree that the Eastern Roman Empire became the Byzantine Empire when the Western Roman Empire fell in 476 CE.


The Byzantine Empire would grow and shrink under its various leaders until its end in 1453.


Attacks from the Germanic tribes, such as the Goths, helped to end the Western Roman Empire. The Germanic tribes were tribes of people who all spoke roughly the same language and had similar beliefs and cultures. Sometimes, they are referred to as barbarians because they were non-Romans.


These tribes had been living in northern Europe for thousands of years. Before the agricultural revolution, they were nomads. A nomad is someone who moves around to find food. They would hunt wild animals and gather wild plants.


Germanic tribes grew crops and raised animals as early as 3000 BCE. They moved south as they needed fresh soil for their crops.


The men of the Germanic tribes were fierce warriors. Boys were given a shield and spear when they became men. Warfare was an essential part of the culture. However, unlike the massive battles of the Roman Empire, Germanic tribes would raid each other for resources or to gain prestige. This style of fighting made the Germanic tribes especially troublesome to Rome.


The Germanic tribes were made up of clans led by chieftains. A clan was a group of people usually connected through family ties. The chieftain was the clan’s religious, military, and political leader. At first, chieftains were elected by the free men in a clan. Over time, the position became hereditary.

Like the Romans, Germanic tribes enslaved people. They were usually prisoners from battle, but enslaved people were also bought and sold.


Before the Western Roman Empire fell, the Germanic tribes were polytheistic. Their main gods were the gods of war: Wodan and his son, Thor. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, most tribes were Christianized.


By the 400s, the populations of the Germanic tribes were increasing, and Asian invaders were pushing them off their land. As a result, the tribes attacked the weakening Western Roman Empire more frequently.


Now that you know how we got from the fall of Rome to feudal Europe, you can learn about more topics in European history by visiting our Europe page. You can also check out more AP World History topics by visiting our AP World History page.



Unit 1:The Global Tapestry



AP World History


the fall of Rome for AP World History

#APWorldHistory #FallofRome #feudalism #MiddleAges

Oct 4, 2023

3 min read

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