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Rome had several problems in its empire before it fell and all these problems had a hand in destroying Rome. Rome had never learned to transfer power peacefully from one ruler to the next and the emperors that were chosen weren't always the best prepared to become emperor. Citizens also had to pay heavy taxes, forcing many people into poverty. Finally, the borders of Rome were hard to defend because the empire was so large. These problems eventually led to the fall of Rome
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Feudalism is established in Europe where all the land in a kingdom belonged to a king or queen, who gave grants of land to lords, who became the monarch's vessels. Then lords enlisted lesser lords and knights as his vassals, and these lords also rented land out to peasents who farmed that land and serfs, who weren't allowed to leave the lord's land.
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Cerularius, the patriarch of Constantinople, wanted to reassert Byzantine control of the church so he closed all churches that worshipped with western rites. Pope Leo XI was so mad that he sent Cardinal Humbert to Constantinople, who marched up the altar of Hagia Sophia and laid down a proclamation by the pope excommunicating Cerularius, who responded by excommunicating the cardinal.
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King John put his seal to the Magna Carta, an agreement between the barons and the king that King John agreed to observe common law, the traditional rights of barons, and the church. He also promised to consult the barons and church officials before imposing special taxes, as well as agreeing that "no free man" could be jailed except by the lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the land.
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The Hundred Years' War began when English kings claimed French lands as their own, but the French believed those lands to be theirs, so war broke out. The English had early successes because they used the longbow, a weapon that was long range and took less time to reload and fire, whereas the French used crossbows that were short range and took a long time to load and fire. This made the difference in the win at the Battle of Crecy.
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The Bubonic Plague, or Black Death, struck Europe in the year 1347 and continued to spread and kill people until 1351. Symptons include fever, vomitting, coughing and sneezing fits, egg sized swellings or bumps, and blue or black blotches that appeared on the skin of many victims. People blamed everything, from foul air to the position of the stars to even Jews. One third of the population of Europe was killed so the rest demanded higher pay and serfs left for better job opportunities.
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The Hundred Years' War ended, but not before a 17 year old peasant girl named Joan led the French to victory at the Battle of Orleans, earning her the nickname of the "Maid of Orleans", and she inspired a new feeling of nationalism in France. However, she was burned at the stake by the English in 1430, but 22 years after her death, the French drove the English out of France for good. 500 years later the church made her a saint.
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Charlemagne united nearly all the Christian lands of Europe into one unified empire. Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Holy Roman emperor in 800 C.E., and in return Charlemagne would support Leo III with his army.
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