Summary: A Short History Of The Middle Ages, Sixth Edition | 9781487541019 | Barbara H Rosenwein

Read the summary and the most important questions on A Short History of the Middle Ages, Sixth Edition | 9781487541019 | Barbara H. Rosenwein

• 1 Prelude: The Roman World Transformed (300-600)

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• What did the Roman Empire contain at the beginning of the third century?

  • Spain, England, Wales, France and Belgium
    
  • Southern coast of the Danube River, the Balkans (southwestern Europe, including Greece), Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt and the rest of North Africa

• What two points should be stressed about historical interpretation of the Roman Empire?

  • First, it is not that one historian is "right" and the other "wrong" but that good historians will base their interpretation on different criteria.
    
  • Second, the Roman Empire was not a monolith but rather a patchwork of diverse regions and communities.

• What did Judith Herren insist about the Late Antiquity?

  Late Antiquity was an era of extraordinary dynamism because it ushered in "a newly Christianized world."

• What change in leadership was there around 250-350?

  • The old elites of the cities, especially at Rome itself, generally regretted the changes taking place around them in 250-350. They were witnessing the end of their political, military, religious, economic and cultural leadership.
    
  • That role was passing to the provincials (the Romans living outside of Italy) for whom this was in many ways a heady period, a long-postponed coming of age. 
  • They did not regret that Emperor Diocletian (284-305) divided the Roman Empire into four parts, each ruled by a different man. It was tacit recognition of the importance of the provinces. 

• What change in leadership was there around 400-500?

  • The provinces eventually lost their centrality, as people still farther afield (whom the Romans called "barbarians") moved in 400-500.
  • The barbarians, in turn, were glad to be the heirs of the Roman Empire even as they contributed to the political demise of its western half.

• Op basis waarvan was Romeinse kunst gebaseerd?

  - Geïnspireerd door Hellenistische kunst van Alexander de Grote.

• Welke grote bouwprojecten ondernam Justinianus?

  • Kerken, ziekenhuizen, armenhuizen
  • Hagia Sophia in Constantinopel

• Welk gebied veroverde Justinianus van de Ostrogoten?

  - Italië veroverd

• 1.1 The Provincialization of the Empire (250-350)

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• Which two groups bore down the frontiers of the Empire during the crisis in the third century?

  • From the east came the Persians, an ancient culture ruled by a king whose pride and pretensions were as great as those of the Roman emperors. 
    
  • From the north, beyond the Rhine and Danube Rivers, came diverse peoples whom the Romans dubbed "barbarians," a demeaning term signifying "not us" - not Roman citizens, not Latin- or Greek-speaking. 

• What did the Romans change in their recruitment for the army and why?

  • The supply was dwindling: the birthrate was declining, and 252-267 an epidemic of smallpox ravaged the population further. 
    
  • Recruits would have to come from farther away, from Germania (the region beyond the northern borders of the Empire) and elsewhere. 
  • Hence, the Roman government began a new policy: it settled Germanic and other barbarian groups within the Empire, giving them land in return for military service.