When the cities of the West emptied and the schools closed, communities of monks kept the books alive, copying them one letter at a time.
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Students will explain how monasteries kept learning alive in the early Middle Ages and how missionaries carried Christianity into northern Europe.
The book's lesson covers the ranks of the clergy and the life of monks and nuns, and it doesn't cover missionaries. Benedict's Rule, the scriptorium, and Patrick, Augustine and Boniface are all added from the historical record.
The lesson stays early medieval, roughly 500 to 800. The quarrel between Pope Gregory VII and Emperor Henry IV belongs to a later unit, and so do Thomas Aquinas and the universities.
U2-L8 follows the Franks and Charlemagne, who gathered these same monastery scholars at his court and made the books of the early Middle Ages into a movement.
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Before You Start
The words this lesson uses. Tap a card to see what it means, then come back to them whenever a question uses one.
Part One
Questions about the story you just read. Pick your answer straight off, or press Find it in the story if you would rather hunt for the sentence first.
Part Two
The word cards are at the top of this page. Look back at them as often as you need, then answer.