NY Social Studies 9.5a

Social Studies9th GradeKey Idea 9.5

The Standard

Following the fall of the Roman Empire, divergent societies emerged in Europe.

New York State K–12 Social Studies Framework

Key Idea 9.5

POLITICAL POWERS AND ACHIEVEMENTS: New power arrangements emerged across Eurasia. Political states and empires employed a variety of techniques for expanding and maintaining control. Periods of relative stability allowed for significant cultural, technological, and scientific innovations.

Teacher's field guide

What This Standard Means

What Students Need to Do: Students explain how power, work, land, religion, and social rank operated in feudal Western Europe and Byzantium. They compare these institutions and explain Justinian’s and Theodora’s roles in Byzantine rule.
What Mastery Looks Like: Students accurately compare decentralized feudal rule with the Byzantine emperor, bureaucracy, taxation, and legal system. They use specific evidence, including Justinian’s law code and Theodora’s political influence.
Common Misconceptions: Students may treat Byzantium as unrelated to Rome or assume feudalism worked identically across Europe. They may describe Theodora as only Justinian’s wife or confuse serfs with enslaved people.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: Name one political and one economic difference between feudal Western Europe and Byzantium, then support each with a specific example.

Lesson moves

Ways to Teach It

Use role cards and string to build a feudal obligation web, then sketch a Byzantine chain of authority beside it.
Discuss which society gave rulers more direct control, using evidence about lords, peasants, emperors, taxes, and law.
Sort institution cards into Western Europe, Byzantium, or both, then earn a point by defending each placement.
Compare one rule from Justinian’s Code with a current law, then identify one similarity and one limit to the comparison.

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