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Assessing the Dark Ages

Driving Question: Did Europe go through a dark age after the fall of the Roman Empire?

When historians call this period the “Dark Ages,” they’re usually talking about Europe. And that’s where we’ll start—but there’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.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Analyze the extent to which Europe experienced a period of societal collapse following the fall of the Roman Empire.
  2. Evaluate historical debates surrounding the Dark Ages in Europe and beyond.

Vocab Terms:

  • administrative
  • aristocracy
  • bureaucrat
  • clergy
  • feudalism
  • province
STEP 1

Opener: Assessing the Dark Ages

Teaching Tools

To teach this lesson step, refer to page 2 of the Lesson 5.3 Teaching Guide Locked .

Thinking about how the Dark Ages were labeled? Take a look at Rebranding the "Dark Ages" External link in the community forum.

STEP 2

Dark Ages?

Teaching Tools

To teach this lesson step, refer to page 2 of the Lesson 5.3 Teaching Guide Locked .

Take a look at the Reading Overview for support as students dig into these articles.

Use the Claim Testing One Pager to help support students in evaluating the evidence in this lesson step.

Evaluate the evidence you’ve encountered in this lesson and take sides in the debates about the Dark Ages.

STEP 3

Closer: Assessing the Dark Ages

Teaching Tools

To teach this lesson step, refer to page 5 of the Lesson 5.3 Teaching Guide Locked .

Looking to support students in claim writing? Take a look at this Claim and Focus activity to help scaffold this process.

You’ve learned about debates surrounding the so-called Dark Ages. In this activity, it’s your turn to weigh in—did Europe experience a dark Age after the fall of Rome?