The fifth century was that of the barbarian invasion and the
fall on the Western Empire. After the death of Augustine in A. D. 430, there
was little philosophy, it was a century of destructive action. Which however,
largely determined the lines upon which Europe was to be developed. It was in
this century that the Frankish invasion Gaul into France and that the Vandals
invaded Spain, giving their name to Andalusia. St. Patrick, during the middle
years of the century, converted the Irish to Christianity. Throughout the
Western world, rough Germanic kingdoms succeeded the centralized authority was
preserved only in the church and that too with much difficulty.
Of the Germanic tribes that invaded the Empire in the fifth
century, the most important were the Goths. They were pushed westwards by the
Huns, who attacked them from the East. At first they tried to conquer the
eastern Empire, but were defeated, and then they turned towards Italy. Since
‘Diocletian, they had been employed as Roman mercenaries; this had taught them
more of the art of war than barbarians would otherwise have known. Alaric, king
of the Goths, plundered Rome in 410, but died the same year. Odovaker king of
the Ostrogoths put an end to the Western Empire in 476, and reigned until 493,
when he was treacherously murdered by another Ostrogoth, Theodoric who was king
of Italy until 526. Of him, I shall have more to say shortly. He was important
both in history and legend” in the Niebelungenied he appears as ‘Dietrich von
Bern’ (‘Bern being Verona).
Meanwhile the Vandals established themselves in Africa, the
Visigoths in the south of France, and the Franks in the north. In the middle of
the Germanic invasion came the inroads of und under Attila. This Huns were of
Mongol race, and yet they were often allied with the Goths. At the crucial
moment, however, when they invaded Gaul in 451 they had quarreled with the
Goths; the Goths and Romans together defeated them in that year at Chalons.
Attila then turned against Italy, and thought of marching on Rome, but Pope Leo
dissuaded him, [pointing out that Alaric had died plundering Rome,. His
forbearance, however, did him no service for he died in the following year.
After his death the power of the Huns collapsed.
During this period of confusion the Church was troubled by a
complicated controversy on the incarnation. The protagonists in the debates
were two ecclesiastics. Cyril and Nestorius, of whom, more or less by accident,
the former was proclaimed a saint and the latter a heretic. St. Cyril was
patriarch of Alexandria from about 412 till his death in 444; Nestorius was the
patriarch of Constantinople. The question at issue was the relation of Christ’s
divinity to His humanity. Were there two persons, one human and one divine?
This was the view held by Nestorius. If not, was three only one nature, or were
there two natures in one person a human nature and a divine nature? These
questions roused in the fifth century, an almost incredible degree of passion
and fury. A secret and incurable discord was cherished between those who were
most apprehensive of confounding and those who were fearful of separating, the
divinity and the humanity of Christ.
11.
According
to the passage , the characteristic feature of the fifth century was
that:
A.
The western Empire was continuously attacked by
barbarians.
B.
The western Empire was conquered by the
barbarians.
C.
The western Empire was replaced by autonomous
aristocracy.
D.
The Church’s powers over political life were
greatly curtailed.
12.
According to the passage , Spain was known as:
A.
Gaul before the Vandals invaded it
B.
Andalusia before the Vandals invaded it
C.
Andalusia after the Vandals invaded it
D.
The church’s powers over political life were
greatly curtailed
13.
One may infer from the passage that Diocletian
was
A.
A Gaul
B.
An Ostrogoth
C.
A Hun
D.
A Roman
14.
The Western Empire was finally destroyed by:
A.
Alaric
B.
Odovaker
C.
Attila
D.
Theodoric
15.
According to the author, Nestorius was declared
a heretic because of :
A.
His theory that there were two natures in the
person of Christ
B.
Undetermined factors
C.
His position in the clergy
D.
His lack of faith
Answer:
11.
A refer to the first sentence – the passage
give various instances of such invasions
12.
C
refers to Paragraph 1.
13.
D Refer
to paragraph 2 “since Diocletian … employed as Roman mercenaries”. Therefore
option D is most likely as it would refer to a Roman leader who hired Goths as
mercenaries. Hence D
14.
B
refers to Para 2”... Put an end to the Western Empire and reigned until
493”. Hence B.
15.
B refer
to the last paragraph “more or less an accident.” hence 2.
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