DARK AGES UNIVERSITIES ESTABLISHED:

Roman Empire was weakened by the ills of the society since Europe 1. Bologna - 1088 (Nourishing mother of the studies)
had slipped backward into savagery: 2. Oxford - 1096 (The Lord is my light)
1. Barbaric tribes that swarmed -Oldest University in the English speaking world
2. People were helpless against the: -The 2nd oldest surviving University in the world
a. Oppressors 3. Salamanca – 1134 (What natures doesn’t give, Salamanca won’t
b. Raiding savages provide)
c. Roaming criminals 4. Paris – 1160 (Here and anywhere on Earth)
d. Domineering nobles 5. Cambridge – 1209 (From this place, we gain enlightenment
The physical aspect of Europe was repellent; and precious knowledge)
1. continents / forests dotted with rude forts -2nd oldest University in the English speaking world
2. miserable villages -7th oldest University in the world
3. tiny scattered towns EPIC
Christianity and classical culture were threatened with destruction ➢ is inseparable from the idea of grandeur because an epic must have
magnitude
Parts of Europe were conquered by the following Barbaric tribes: ➢ It can be described as “a narrative in verse full of warlike
1. Franks adventures”
2. Huns ➢ A hero becomes an EPIC HERO when he represents something
3. Lombards greater than himself:
4. Anglo-Saxons 1. nation
2. race
*This age was also the end of the Western Roman Empire. It gave way to 3. faith
the Middle Ages which represented the gradual but steady and laborious ➢ Epics written during the Middle Ages:
progress of civilization. 1. Beowulf - took place as early as 520 A.D.
2. El Cid (Spain)
MIDDLE AGES 3. Song of Roland (France)
➢ Extended from the 5th – 15th Century 4. Divine Comedy (Italy)
➢ Epic literature began to reflect the life and civilization of the heroic
age; revealed the influence of Christianity.
➢ Greco-Roman Civilization survived in the Christian Church and in
the monasteries.
➢ Church was rising into power and authority so most activities and
intellectual pursuits took place in monasteries.
➢ Much of the of the progress was educational