How Did Rome Influence The Rise Of Western Europe

With the fall of Rome, Western Europe was in shambles compared to its eastern counterpart. Roman influence would hold in some aspects, but things would change. Leaders would emerge to influence its culture. Religion would maintain a major role and influence. Rome’s fall would affect the outcome of Western Europe and its development. The Roman Empire started in 27 BCE to 476 CE (The Legacy of the Roman Empire and the Middle Ages in the West, 2012). It was in 476 CE when Rome was conquered by a German named Odovacar. This is when Rome fell and the Western Roman Empire ceased to exist. The once strong central government of Rome was no longer and a single ruler was replaced by many rulers. The fate of Western Europe would be affected by Rome’s fall for many centuries. Instead of one ruler there would be several. These several rulers would create many small states and they would be governed like a miniature Rome. Basically instead of one state of Rome, now there were many small ones. Western Europe was also over populated, lacked any natural resources and materials for trade, and was lacking of manufactured goods (Nelson, 1998). This did not appeal to Eastern Europe and other advanced
Under feudalism there was a noble (lords), vassals (knights), and workers (peasantry) (The Legacy of the Roman Empire and the Middle Ages in the West, 2012). The lords were usually large land owners, since there was no central government to provide protection they needed some. The vassals were usually knights that provided this protection in return for land. The vassals would then divide their lands amongst peasants in return for labor and military service when called upon. Once again instead of a central authority, Europe was broken down into several smaller ones. This period of the Middle Ages, 400 CE to 1000 CE, is known as the Early Middle Ages. The High Middle Ages would see