We return to Western Europe in a period of marked transition. The old Roman world is gone. A new civilization is in the process of taking shape. Your chief objective for this chapter is to understand the rich material out of which this new civilization will be fashioned, and thereby understand what connects it to the past and what it provides as an environment for new directions.

Goals for this chapter include:

• Gain an understanding of the basic geography of Western Europe and be able to see ancient territories beneath the labels of modern states.

• Understand the vastness of the vacuum due to the departure of Rome.

• Grasp the unique characteristics of developments in the British Isles.

• Appreciate the enormous consequence of Charlemagne's decision to resurrect the "Roman Empire."

• Estimate how Charlemagne's new empire looked backwards toward Rome as well as surveyed the new values and attitudes attendant in the triumph of Christianity in Western Europe.