Early Middle Ages · 476-526

After Rome: the new kingdoms of the West

In 476 the last emperor in the West is pushed off his throne. Students map the Gothic, Frankish, Vandal and Anglo-Saxon kingdoms that took the place of Rome, and ask how much really changed for the people living there.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, AD 500
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

In 476 the last emperor in the West is pushed off his throne. Students map the Gothic, Frankish, Vandal and Anglo-Saxon kingdoms that took the place of Rome, and ask how much really changed for the people living there.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Name four kingdoms that ruled former Western Roman lands around 500 and place them on the map.
  • Explain what happened in 476 and why historians debate whether Rome really "fell" in that year.
  • Give two examples of Roman ways (law, Latin, the Church) that the new kings kept.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 500

A Gothic king in Italy

Open the map in 500 on Italy. In 476 Odoacer deposed the last Western emperor at Ravenna; by 500 the Ostrogoth Theodoric rules here. Find the name of his people on the map.

Open this view on the map
b

AD 500

A map of kingdoms

Zoom out to see western Europe and North Africa. List the peoples whose names now cover the old Roman provinces. Who holds Spain, and who holds Carthage?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 500

East and West

Pan east to the Eastern Roman Empire. Compare its size with the kingdoms in the West. Why do you think one half of the empire survived and the other did not?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. In 476 Odoacer sent the imperial regalia to Constantinople instead of crowning himself emperor. What message did that send?
  2. Many people in Italy hardly noticed a change in 476. Why might daily life have stayed much the same?
  3. Theodoric kept Roman officials, the Roman Senate and Roman law for his Roman subjects. Why would a Gothic king do that?
  4. Most of the new kings were Arian Christians, unlike most of their subjects. How could that cause trouble?
  5. Should we call 476 the "fall" of Rome, or just a change of rulers? Give a reason.
4

Game round

9 min

Play Rule History as Attila the Hun, whose wars shook the West in the 440s and 450s. Afterwards, compare his choices with those of Theodoric, who ruled Italy from 493 and tried to keep Roman ways alive.

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.