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Assessing the Dark Age: Europe and China

Teacher Resources

Driving Question: How did societies cope with collapse?

When historians call this period “The Dark Ages,” they’re usually talking about Europe. So that’s where we’ll start, but it’s a big world beyond Europe. We’ll try to figure out if the medieval period in Europe was really a dark age and evaluate how other societies around the world responded to collapse.

  1. Analyze the extent to which Europe experienced a period of societal collapse following the fall of the Roman Empire.
  2. Evaluate whether East Asia experienced a dark age during this period.
  3. Utilize the historical thinking practice of sourcing to evaluate an imperial edict from a Chinese emperor.
  4. Use a graphic biography as a microhistory to support, extend, or challenge the overarching narratives from this period.
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Extension Materials
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Shoguns, Samurai, and the Japanese Middle Ages

Japan and Western Europe both experienced a Middle Ages period around the same time. This video compares the two places and asks whether Japan’s Middle Ages—full of samurai, shoguns, and warfare—were also a dark age.

Key Ideas

As this video progresses, key ideas will be introduced to invoke discussion.
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