Name: ________________________Date:_________ Period:______

The Decline of Rome Read pages 318-319 in your textbook and complete the following

questions/tasks.1. Identify 5 reasons that Rome went into decline a. _______________________________________________________________________b. _______________________________________________________________________c. _______________________________________________________________________d. _______________________________________________________________________e. _______________________________________________________________________

Read pages 320-321 and answer the following questions.2. How did Diocletian try to reverse the decline of Rome?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Who was Constantine and what did he do when Rome continued to decline? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Fall of Rome 476 ADRead pages 322-324 and answer the following questions4. Who were the Visigoths and how did they contribute to the fall of Rome?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. What event usually marks the fall of the Western Roman Empire?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Read pages 325-326 and complete the following questions.6. Which aspects of the Roman Empire are reflected in present day cultures? List and explain at least five examples.a. ____________________ - ______________________________________________________b. ____________________ - ______________________________________________________c. ____________________ - ______________________________________________________d. ____________________ - ______________________________________________________e. ____________________ - ______________________________________________________

Directions: Turn to page 514-519 and read the section titled The Germanic Kingdoms, and answer the following questions.

1. What happened at the Battle of Tours, and why is the battle significant?

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2. Who is Charlemagne and how did he demonstrate his support for education?

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Monks and Monasteries

From early Christian times there were people who felt that they could serve God better by living away from the confusion and fighting. These religious men were called monks. Their homes were called monasteries. Women who spent their lives serving God were called nuns, and they lived in nunneries or convents.

A monastery was usually surrounded by a wall. The wall enclosed a number of buildings- a church, a kitchen, a dining room, a library, a guest house and a building where each monk had his own small room. Often there was also a hospital and a school. In the school boys were taught to read, write and speak Latin, the language of the church.

Even in a monastery, rules for living together were necessary. A monk named St. Benedict made a set of rules for monks to follow. Every monk who joined St. Benedict’s order had to promise to remain poor, never marry, and always obey the rules of the order.

There was much work to be done to raise and make all that the monks needed. Some monks had to farm the land and raise the animals. Others had to be cooks, weavers, blacksmiths, millers, or do other work for the monastery. “To work is to pray,” said Benedict. In a time when nobles had little respect for work or workers, the monks taught that honest labor was something to be proud of.

The sick and the injured were cared for by the monks. So were the travelers who could always find food and a place to sleep in a monastery. Monks also helped farmers by showing them better ways to plant and raise their crops, to drain swamplands and build dikes.

The monks kept and passed on ancient knowledge. Monks and men of the church were usually the other people who could read and write. Monasteries held the few Greek and Roman books that had not been destroyed by the barbarians.

Monks called scribes worked hour after hour and day after day copying these ancient books. For paper they used parchment, made by hands form the skins of sheep. They also made their own pens from birds’ feathers, and their own ink. On the borders of the pages, the monks painted flowers, birds, leaves, and beautiful designs. The book was then bound in leather and often trimmed with gold, ivory and jewels.

For several hundred years, Irish monks played an important role in preserving Roman learning and passing it on to the people of Europe. Monks did much to keep education alive in this age of confusion and disorder.

1:30 AM-2:00 AM-reading Bible and praying in room

2:00 AM-3:30 AM-services in the church

3:30 AM-4:00 AM-sleeping

4:30 AM-5:00 AM-services in the church

5:00 AM-6:00 AM-reading Bible and praying in room

6:00 AM-7:00 AM-mass in church

7:00 AM-8:00 AM-work

8:00 AM-9:30 AM-mass and prayers in church

9:30 AM-11:30 AM-work

11:30 AM-12:00 noon-services in the church

After reading the article entitled “Monks and Monasteries” complete the following.

1. Men who wanted to work together to serve God in a special way were called___________. Their homes were

called_______________________.

2. Women who spent their lives in serving God were called ____________. Their homes were

called_______________________.

3. Name some of the buildings that were part of the monastery:

4. _________________ was the language used by the Catholic Church.

5. Name three basic rules for life in a monastery that were written by St. Benedict:

A.____________________________________________

B.____________________________________________

C.____________________________________________

6. What type of work did monks do?

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7. How did monks help people?

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8. What kind of work did monks called scribes do?

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Look at “The Monks Timetable” and answer the following:

9. How many times during the day did monks go to church to pray? _______

10. How many times during the day did monks read the Bible and pray in their rooms? ________

11. How many hours did monks sleep? _______

12. How many times a day did monks eat? ________

13. How many hours of work did monks do? _______

14. How many hours of the day did monks watch TV or listen to the radio? _______

15. What is the greatest contribution of the monks?

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