On the history of the Catholic church from Rome, Byzentine to monestaries.

5th Century: The Rhine and the Danube rivers formed a northern boundary of the empire. In earlier times, they had stationed soldiers on both sides of the rivers and built walls. Gradually, the power of the Roman Empire began to decline and the Roman legions could no longer safeguard the Roman frontier. More and more of the Germanic tribes crossed the border and occupied large sections of the empire (in both N. Africa and Europe). …

…one to doubt the church in these times would be borderline high-treason. With the relative success of the abbots, the monasteries became the central focus point of religious teaching and worship for the years ahead of the Catholic Church. It was these monasteries that kept the religious belief alive. It is safe to say that if it were not for the success of the monasteries that the history of the church would be very different.