History 224 - EARLY MEDIEVAL WORLD, 400-1000

The Mediterranean world from the fall of Rome to the age of conversion. The emergence of the Islamic world, the Byzantine state and the Germanic empire. Topics include the monastic ideal, Sufism and the cult of saints; the emergence of the papacy; kinship and kingship: Charlemagne and the Carolingian renaissance, the high caliphate, and the continuation of the Eastern Roman Empire; literacy and learning. The decline of public authority and the dominance of personal power in societies built on local relations.