In this lecture, Professor Freedman considers the various barbarian kingdoms that replaced the Western Roman Empire. Oringinally the Roman reaction to these invaders had been to accommodate them, often recruiting them for the Roman army and settling them on Roman land. Now, however, they were the rulers of the previously Roman lands of the West. These tribes included the Ostrogoths and Visigoths in Italy, the Franks in Gaul, and the Vandals in North Africa. As most sources about these groups come from the Roman perspective, it’s unclear how coherent each group was. In general, the barbarian groups characterized by disorganization, internal fighting and internecine feuds, and lack of economic development. Professor Freedman closes with some remarks on the Burgundian Code as evidence of barbarian society and institutions.

1. Course Introduction: Rome's Greatness and First Crises
2. The Crisis of the Third Century and the Diocletianic Reforms
3. Constantine and the Early Church
4. The Christian Roman Empire
5. St. Augustine's Confessions
6. Transformation of the Roman Empire
7. Barbarian Kingdoms
8. Survival in the East
9. The Reign of Justinian
10. Clovis and the Franks
11. Frankish Society
12. Britain and Ireland
13. Monasticism
14. Mohammed and the Arab Conquests
15. Islamic Conquests and Civil War
16. The Splendor of the Abbasid Period
17. The Crucial Seventh Century
18. The Splendor of Byzantium
19. Charlemagne
20. Intellectuals and the Court of Charlemagne
21. Crisis of the Carolingians
22. Vikings / The European Prospect, 1000

Major developments in the political, social, and religious history of Western Europe from the accession of Diocletian to the feudal transformation. Topics include the conversion of Europe to Christianity, the fall of the Roman Empire, the rise of Islam and the Arabs, the "Dark Ages," Charlemagne and the Carolingian renaissance, and the Viking and Hungarian invasions.

Original Course Name: HIST 210: The Early Middle Ages, 284–1000.