Management A Focus on Leaders 2nd Edition McKee

Test Bank download

https://testbankfan.com/product/management-a-focus-on-
leaders-2nd-edition-mckee-test-bank/

Find test banks or solution manuals at testbankfan.com today!

We have selected some products that you may be interested in
Click the link to download now or visit testbankfan.com
for more options!.

Management A Focus on Leaders 2nd Edition McKee Solutions

Manual

https://testbankfan.com/product/management-a-focus-on-leaders-2nd-
edition-mckee-solutions-manual/

Focus on Nursing Pharmacology 6th Edition Karch Test Bank

https://testbankfan.com/product/focus-on-nursing-pharmacology-6th-
edition-karch-test-bank/

Focus on Personal Finance 5th Edition Kapoor Test Bank

https://testbankfan.com/product/focus-on-personal-finance-5th-edition-
kapoor-test-bank/

Nursing for Wellness in Older Adults 7th edition Miller

Test Bank

https://testbankfan.com/product/nursing-for-wellness-in-older-
adults-7th-edition-miller-test-bank/
Maternal Child Nursing 4th Edition Mckinney Test Bank

https://testbankfan.com/product/maternal-child-nursing-4th-edition-
mckinney-test-bank/

Intermediate Accounting 8th Edition Spiceland Test Bank

https://testbankfan.com/product/intermediate-accounting-8th-edition-
spiceland-test-bank/

Geography Realms Regions and Concepts 16th Edition Blij

Test Bank

https://testbankfan.com/product/geography-realms-regions-and-
concepts-16th-edition-blij-test-bank/

Organized Crime 11th Edition Abadinsky Test Bank

https://testbankfan.com/product/organized-crime-11th-edition-
abadinsky-test-bank/

Principles of Risk Management and Insurance 11th Edition

Rejda Solutions Manual

https://testbankfan.com/product/principles-of-risk-management-and-
insurance-11th-edition-rejda-solutions-manual/
Contemporary Business 16th Edition Boone Test Bank

https://testbankfan.com/product/contemporary-business-16th-edition-
boone-test-bank/
Management: A Focus on Leaders, 2e (McKee)
Chapter 9 Organizing for a Complex World: Structure and Design

1) Organizational structure refers to the way in which the division of labor, communication, and
resources are arranged in an organization.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 294
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.1 Define organization, organizational structure, and classifications for
organizations

2) The chain of command in an organization refers to who reports to whom.

Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 298
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.3 Describe how traditional concepts affect current views of organizational structure

3) Responsibility within an organization refers to the legitimate right to direct the actions of
another person.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 299
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.3 Describe how traditional concepts affect current views of organizational structure

4) A manager who is responsible for a small number of workers has a large span of leadership.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 300
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.3 Describe how traditional concepts affect current views of organizational structure

5) Centralized decision making tends to occur in tall hierarchies.

Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 300
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.3 Describe how traditional concepts affect current views of organizational structure

6) Decentralized decision making tends to be slower than centralized decision making.

Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 300
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.3 Describe how traditional concepts affect current views of organizational structure

1
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
7) A mechanistic organization tends to have more job specialization than an organic
organization.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 305
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.4 Assess how we can view organizational structures in nontraditional ways

8) An organic organization tends to be more vertical than a mechanistic organization.

Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 305
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.4 Assess how we can view organizational structures in nontraditional ways

9) You would expect a public relations company to be more adaptive than a utility company.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 305
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.4 Assess how we can view organizational structures in nontraditional ways

10) Starfish organizations tend to be hierarchical.

Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 307
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.4 Assess how we can view organizational structures in nontraditional ways

11) Spider organizations feature centralized decision making.

Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 307
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.4 Assess how we can view organizational structures in nontraditional ways

12) Craigslist is a good example of a spider organization.

Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 308
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.4 Assess how we can view organizational structures in nontraditional ways

13) A sole proprietor is personally responsible for all of her company's debts.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 324
Objective: 9.7 Learn how organizations are legally structured and classified

14) A shareholder in a corporation is personally responsible for all of his company's debts.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 326
Objective: 9.7 Learn how organizations are legally structured and classified

2
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
15) An owner of an LLC is always doubly-taxed on income.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 326
Objective: 9.7 Learn how organizations are legally structured and classified

16) An individual division within a large corporation is likely to develop "silo mentality."
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 310
Objective: 9.5 List and define common contemporary organizational structures

17) A team member in a matrix structure may need to report to two different bosses with
different agendas.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 316
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.5 List and define common contemporary organizational structures

18) Job specialization tends to reduce tedium in the workplace for routine jobs.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 297-298
Objective: 9.2 Understand how work is structured

19) Strategy always determines structure in an organization.

Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 319
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.6 Describe the factors that affect the design of organizational structures

20) Ethical conduct is related to employee accountability.

Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 299
Objective: 9.3 Describe how traditional concepts affect current views of organizational structure

21) ________ refers to the way in which an organization is set up with respect to division of
labor, who has authority, and resource allocation.
A) Organizational design
B) Organizational structure
C) Structural design
D) Structural framework
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 294
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.1 Define organization, organizational structure, and classifications for
organizations

3
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
22) An organization is a group of people who unite to carry out activities that are designed to
________.
A) attain goals and make a profit
B) make a profit and reward shareholders
C) improve social welfare and attain goals
D) attain goals and accomplish a mission
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 294
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.1 Define organization, organizational structure, and classifications for
organizations

23) The primary function of an organizational hierarchy is to define ________.

A) formal authority
B) formal responsibility
C) informal responsibility
D) informal accountability
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 298
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.3 Describe how traditional concepts affect current views of organizational structure

24) The chain of command in an organization refers to ________.

A) who reports to whom
B) who is responsible for meeting goals
C) how the organization is linked to the outside world
D) the overall leader of the organization
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 298
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.3 Describe how traditional concepts affect current views of organizational structure

25) In general, individuals who are located in this part of the hierarchy have more authority.
A) top
B) bottom
C) middle
D) the outer points
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 299
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.3 Describe how traditional concepts affect current views of organizational structure

4
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
26) ________ is defined as the obligation to complete a task in an organization.
A) Accountability
B) Leadership
C) Responsibility
D) Managing up
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 299
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.3 Describe how traditional concepts affect current views of organizational structure

27) A manager who supervises a large number of people has ________.

A) a low span of control
B) a high empowerment
C) a low span of leadership
D) a large span of leadership
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 300
AACSB skills: Analytic skills
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.3 Describe how traditional concepts affect current views of organizational structure

28) Empowerment of employees tends to ________ of leadership spans in today's workplace.

A) decrease the size
B) increase the size
C) change the quality
D) maintain the size
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 300
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.3 Describe how traditional concepts affect current views of organizational structure

29) In an organization with ________ decision making, ________ make important decisions.
A) centralized; employees often
B) decentralized; managers exclusively
C) decentralized; employees seldom
D) centralized; employees seldom
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 300
AACSB skills: Analytic skills
Objective: 9.3 Describe how traditional concepts affect current views of organizational structure

5
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
30) In an organization with ________ decision making, ________ make important decisions.
A) centralized; employees exclusively
B) decentralized; managers exclusively
C) decentralized; employees often
D) centralized; employees often
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 300
AACSB skills: Analytic skills
Objective: 9.3 Describe how traditional concepts affect current views of organizational structure

31) Which of the following is a key advantage of centralized decision making?

A) speed
B) increased employee commitment to the organization
C) more highly skilled employees
D) organization-wide consistency
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 301
Objective: 9.3 Describe how traditional concepts affect current views of organizational structure

32) Which of the following is a key advantage of decentralized decision making?

A) speed
B) consistency
C) more clear accountability
D) less clear accountability
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 301
Objective: 9.3 Describe how traditional concepts affect current views of organizational structure

33) Open systems theory states that an organization and its environment ________.
A) are in constant conflict
B) constantly change one another
C) have no influence on one another
D) are natural enemies
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 303
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.4 Assess how we can view organizational structures in nontraditional ways

6
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
34) A mechanistic organization is characterized by high levels of ________.
A) informality
B) nonroutine job functions
C) specialization
D) flexibility
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 305
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.4 Assess how we can view organizational structures in nontraditional ways

35) An organic organization is characterized by a high level of ________.

A) formality
B) routine job functions
C) specialization
D) flexibility
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 305
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.4 Assess how we can view organizational structures in nontraditional ways

36) You would expect a public relations firm to be ________ than a manufacturing firm.
A) more specialized
B) more centralized
C) more adaptive
D) less adaptive
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 305
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.4 Assess how we can view organizational structures in nontraditional ways

37) Managers who metaphorically envision their organization as a culture typically focus on
________.
A) the health and well-being of the organization
B) productivity
C) human relations
D) ethical concerns
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 307
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.4 Assess how we can view organizational structures in nontraditional ways

7
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
38) Managers who metaphorically envision their organization as a machine typically focus on
________.
A) the health and well-being of the organization
B) productivity
C) human relations
D) ethical concerns
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 307
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.4 Assess how we can view organizational structures in nontraditional ways

39) Companies with a traditional hierarchical structure tend to be ________ organizations.

A) spiral
B) starfish
C) spider
D) star
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 307
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.4 Assess how we can view organizational structures in nontraditional ways

40) Companies with empowered employees in a decentralized structure tend to be ________.

A) spider organizations
B) organizations with high job specialization
C) starfish organizations
D) inefficient organizations
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 307
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.4 Assess how we can view organizational structures in nontraditional ways

41) A spider organization is ________, while a starfish organization is ________.

A) centralized; unified
B) decentralized; centralized
C) decentralized; unorganized
D) centralized; decentralized
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 307
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.4 Assess how we can view organizational structures in nontraditional ways

8
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
42) Which of the following is a spider organization?
A) YouTube
B) Sears
C) Alcoholics Anonymous
D) Wikipedia
Answer: B
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 307
AACSB skills: Analytic skills
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.4 Assess how we can view organizational structures in nontraditional ways

43) Which of the following is a starfish organization?

A) Walmart
B) Ford Motor Company
C) Chase Manhattan Bank
D) Craigslist
Answer: D
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 308
AACSB skills: Analytic skills
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.4 Assess how we can view organizational structures in nontraditional ways

44) The catalyst for a starfish organization supplies ________.

A) money and support
B) technical know-how
C) mobilizing energy
D) many small, useful ideas
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 308
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.4 Assess how we can view organizational structures in nontraditional ways

45) Which of the following is an NGO (non-governmental organization)?

A) Costco
B) AutoZone
C) World Wildlife Fund
D) Frank Pepe Pizzeria
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 295
AACSB skills: Analytic skills
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.1 Define organization, organizational structure, and classifications for
organizations

9
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
46) Which of the following is a multinational corporation?
A) Nissan Motors
B) Tommy's Cab Service
C) L.L. Bean
D) W.W. Erickson, Electrical Contracting
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 295
AACSB skills: Analytic skills
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.1 Define organization, organizational structure, and classifications for
organizations

47) In this legal structure for organizations, owners are never responsible for the company's
assets or debts.
A) sole proprietorship
B) partnership
C) corporation
D) LLC
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 326
Objective: 9.7 Learn how organizations are legally structured and classified

48) In this legal structure for organizations, owners are always responsible for the company's
assets or debts.
A) sole proprietorship and LLC
B) partnership or LLC
C) sole proprietorship and partnership
D) sole proprietorship, partnership, and LLC
Answer: C
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 324-325
AACSB skills: Analytic skills
Objective: 9.7 Learn how organizations are legally structured and classified

49) In this legal structure for organizations, owners are sometimes responsible for the company's
assets or debts.
A) sole proprietorship
B) S corporation
C) corporation
D) LLC
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 326
AACSB skills: Analytic skills
Objective: 9.7 Learn how organizations are legally structured and classified

10
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
50) In this legal structure for organizations, owners cannot avoid double taxation.
A) S corporation
B) partnership
C) corporation
D) LLC
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 326
Objective: 9.7 Learn how organizations are legally structured and classified

51) This legal structure for organizations avoids double taxation and liability for company debts.
A) S corporation
B) partnership
C) sole proprietorship
D) corporation
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 326
AACSB skills: Analytic skills
Objective: 9.7 Learn how organizations are legally structured and classified

52) The main advantage for an LLC is that it ________.

A) avoids liability
B) avoids double taxation
C) avoids all taxation of income under $100,000
D) allows choice of taxation classification
Answer: D
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 326
AACSB skills: Analytic skills
Objective: 9.7 Learn how organizations are legally structured and classified

53) In a cross-equity alliance, ________.

A) one company takes over another
B) two companies exchange partial ownership shares
C) companies trade products but not ownership
D) two companies exchange complete ownership shares
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 327
Objective: 9.7 Learn how organizations are legally structured and classified

54) Licensing involves paying a fee for the use of a company's ________.
A) equipment
B) manufacturing plant
C) sources for raw materials
D) intellectual property
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 327
Objective: 9.7 Learn how organizations are legally structured and classified

11
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
55) A company that is owned by a larger company but operates independently is called a
________.
A) wholly owned affiliate
B) holding company
C) sub-company
D) company property
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 328
Objective: 9.7 Learn how organizations are legally structured and classified

56) What type of organizational structure is indicated by a strict chain of command?

A) horizontal
B) tall
C) slanted
D) inefficient
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 310
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.5 List and define common contemporary organizational structures

57) Silo mentality tends to occur in an organization with a ________ structure.

A) divisional
B) fluid
C) flat
D) customer-based
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 312
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.5 List and define common contemporary organizational structures

58) Tall, hierarchical organizations are likely to have ________.

A) a high level of job specialization
B) a low level of job specialization
C) more workers who are generalists
D) fewer workers who are specialists
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 310
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.5 List and define common contemporary organizational structures

12
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
59) A flat structure is generally found in ________ organizations.
A) mechanistic
B) very large
C) very small
D) hierarchical
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 311
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.5 List and define common contemporary organizational structures

60) A typical problem with product departmentalization is ________.

A) redundancy
B) silo mentality
C) increased production costs
D) lack of accountability
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 314
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.5 List and define common contemporary organizational structures

61) In a ________ structure, a single team member is likely to report to two different bosses.
A) divisional
B) matrix
C) dimensional
D) hybrid
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 315
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.5 List and define common contemporary organizational structures

62) Job specialization is linked to ________.

A) managing up
B) span of control
C) division of labor
D) accountability
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 297
Objective: 9.2 Understand how work is structured

63) Environmental uncertainty is NOT typically caused by ________.

A) political instability
B) low levels of competition
C) social changes
D) technological changes
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 322
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.6 Describe the factors that affect the design of organizational structures
13
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
64) Larger organizations are likely to be ________ than smaller organizations.
A) flatter
B) less stable
C) more unstable
D) more hierarchical
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 298
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.3 Describe how traditional concepts affect current views of organizational structure

65) A document that outlines the major tasks and responsibilities of a cashier is a ________.
A) job description
B) role analysis
C) job brief
D) task description
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 331
Learning Outcome: 13. Identify and discuss the components of the human resource management
process
Objective: 9.8 Define HR's role in organizational design and structure

66) You are director of transportation for a large midwestern city, overseeing a staff of 1,200
unionized public-sector employees. What type of organization do you work for?
A) private foundation
B) not-for-profit organization
C) governmental organization
D) corporation
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 295
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.1 Define organization, organizational structure, and classifications for
organizations

67) You are president of a company with 38 brick-and-mortar flower shops. The board has
decided the company should expand into e-commerce. You tell your vice-presidents about the
shift in strategy. They will in turn pass the word down through the ________ to lower level
managers, supervisors, and employees.
A) chain of command
B) value chain
C) span of leadership
D) matrix
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 298
Objective: 9.3 Describe how traditional concepts affect current views of organizational structure

14
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
68) Nikki has just been hired as director of financial operations for a footwear company. Her
employee orientation packet includes a copy of the company's ethical guidelines, which she must
read and sign before starting work. This document address Nikki's ________ on the job.
A) authority
B) accountability
C) responsibility
D) leadership
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 299
Objective: 9.3 Describe how traditional concepts affect current views of organizational structure

69) Patricia, a recent college graduate, is a junior architect at a downtown firm. After several
months, she has become frustrated because even the simplest design change on a project must
pass through four levels of management for approval. This is an example of ________.
A) centralized decision making in a matrix
B) inefficiency in a hierarchical organization
C) inefficiency in an organic organization
D) decentralized decision making in an adaptive organization
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 310
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.5 List and define common contemporary organizational structures

70) Kimanee has been working as a designer for a line of hip-hop clothes. He expected the
company would have a loose, youthful vibe, but was surprised to find a very hierarchical
structure that seems to stifle creativity. Kimanee suggests that the company form small design
teams to spur innovation. His idea would make the company more ________.
A) organic
B) mechanistic
C) vertical
D) ethical
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 305
Learning Outcome: 12. Discuss factors influencing organizational structure decisions
Objective: 9.4 Assess how we can view organizational structures in nontraditional ways

15
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
Random documents with unrelated
content Scribd suggests to you:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Dark
Ages, 476-918
 This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United
States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License
included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the
laws of the country where you are located before using this
eBook.

Title: The Dark Ages, 476-918

Author: Charles Oman

Release date: February 29, 2020 [eBook #61536]

Most recently updated: October 17, 2024

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Chris Curnow, Barry Abrahamsen, and the

Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
(This
file was produced from images generously made
available
by The Internet Archive)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DARK AGES,

476-918 ***
The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public
domain.
PERIODS OF EUROPEAN HISTORY
PERIOD I., 476-918
 Periods of European History
General Editor, ARTHUR HASSALL, M.A.,
Student of Christ Church, Oxford.
Crown 8vo. With Maps and Plans.
The object of this series is to present in separate Volumes a
comprehensive and trustworthy account of the general development
of European History, and to deal fully and carefully with the more
prominent events in each century.
It is believed that no such attempt to place the History of Europe
before the English Public has yet been made, and it is hoped that
the Series will form a valuable continuous History of Mediæval and
Modern Europe.

Period I.—The Dark Ages. A.D. 476-918. By C. W. C. Oman, M.A.,

Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. 7s. 6d. [Already published.
Period II.—The Empire and the Papacy. A.D. 918-1273. By T. F.
Tout, M.A., Professor of History at the Owens College, Victoria
University, Manchester. 7s. 6d. [Already published.
Period III.—The Close of the Middle Ages. A.D. 1272-1494. By
R. Lodge, M.A., Professor of History at the University of Glasgow.
[In preparation.
Period IV.—Europe in the 16th Century. A.D. 1494-1598. By A.
H. Johnson, M.A., Historical Lecturer to Merton, Trinity, and
University Colleges, Oxford. 7s. 6d. [Already published.
Period V.—The Ascendancy of France. A.D. 1598-1715. By H. O.
Wakeman, M.A., Fellow of All Souls College, and Tutor of Keble
College, Oxford. 6s. [Already published.
Period VI.—The Balance of Power. A.D. 1715-1789. By A. Hassall,
M.A., Student of Christ Church, Oxford. 6s. [Already published.
Period VII.—Revolutionary Europe. A.D. 1789-1815. By H. Morse
Stephens, M.A., Professor of History at Cornell University, Ithaca,
U.S.A. 6s. [Already published.
Period VIII.—Modern Europe. A.D. 1815-1878. By G. W. Prothero,
Litt.D., Professor of History at the University of Edinburgh. [In
preparation.
 THE DARK AGES

476-918

BY

CHARLES OMAN, M.A., F.S.A.

FELLOW OF ALL SOULS COLLEGE
AND LECTURER AT NEW COLLEGE, OXFORD

AUTHOR OF ‘A HISTORY OF GREECE,’

‘THE ART OF WAR IN THE MIDDLE AGES,’ ETC.

PERIOD I

RIVINGTONS
KING STREET, COVENT GARDEN
LONDON
1898

Third Edition
All rights reserved
 AUTHOR’S PREFACE

In spite of the very modest scale on which this book has been
written, I trust that it may be of some use to students of European
History. Though there are several excellent monographs in existence
dealing with various sections of the period 476-918, there is no
continuous general sketch in English which covers the whole of it.
Gibbon’s immortal work is popularly supposed to do so, but those
who have read it most carefully are best aware that it does not. I am
not acquainted with any modern English book where the inquirer can
find an account of the Lombard kings, or of the Mohammedan
invasions of Italy and Sicily in the ninth century, or of several other
not unimportant chapters in the early history of Europe. I am in
hopes, therefore, that my attempt to cover the whole field between
476 and 918 may not be entirely useless to the reading public.
I must acknowledge my indebtedness to two living authors, whose
works have been of the greatest possible help to me in dealing with
two great sections of this period, Doctor Gustav Richter, whose
admirable collection of original authorities in his Annalen des
Fränkischen Reichs makes such an excellent introduction to the
study of Merovingian and Carolingian times, and Professor Bury of
Dublin, whose History of the Later Roman Empire has done so much
for the knowledge of East-Roman affairs between 476 and 800. Nor
must I omit to express my indebtedness to the kindly and diligent
hands which spent so many summer hours in the laborious task of
compiling my index.
A word ought, perhaps, to be added on the vexed question of the
spelling of proper names. I have always chosen the most modern
form in speaking of places, but in speaking of individuals I have
employed that used by contemporary authorities, save in the case of
a few very well known names, such as Charles, Henry, Gregory,
Lewis, where archaism would savour of pedantry.

Oxford, November 1893.

 PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION
The author has to acknowledge much kind help in the revision of
this second edition given him by the Rev. Dr. Bright, Regius Professor
of Ecclesiastical History; by Mr. C. H. Turner, Fellow of Magdalen
College; by the Rev. F. E. Brightman, of University College; and by
the unwearied compiler of the index. They have materially improved
the accuracy of the book by their suggestions.

October 30, 1894.

 CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. Odoacer and Theodoric, 476-493, 1

II. Theodoric King of Italy, 493-526, 19
III. The Emperors at Constantinople, 476-527, 33
IV. Chlodovech and the Franks in Gaul, 481-511, 55
V. Justinian and his Wars, 528-540, 65
VI. Justinian—(continued), 540-565, 89
VII. The Earlier Frankish Kings and their 111
Organisation of Gaul, 511-561,
VIII. The Visigoths in Spain, 531-603, 128
IX. The Successors of Justinian, 565-610, 145
X. Decline and Decay of the Merovingians, 561- 158
656,
XI. The Lombards in Italy and the Rise of the 181
Papacy, 568-653,
XII. Heraclius and Mohammed, 610-641, 204
XIII. The Decline and Fall of the Visigoths, A.D. 221
603-711,
XIV. The Contest of the Eastern Empire and the 235
Caliphate, 641-717,
XV. The History of the Great Mayors of the 256
Palace, 656-720,
XVI. The Lombards and the Papacy, 653-743, 272
XVII. Charles Martel and his Wars, 720-41, 289
 XVIII. The Iconoclast Emperors—state of the 300
Eastern Empire in the Eighth Century, 717-
802,
XIX. Pippin the Short—Wars of the Franks and 322
Lombards, 741-768,
XX. Charles the Great—early years 768-785— 335
Conquest of Lombardy and Saxony,
XXI. The later Wars and Conquests of Charles the 357
Great, 785-814,
XXII. Charles the Great and the Empire, 369
XXIII. Lewis the Pious, 814-840, 383
XXIV. Disruption of the Frankish Empire—the coming 405
of the Vikings, 840-855,
XXV. The Darkest hour, 855-887. From the Death 424
of Lothair I. to the Deposition of Charles
the Fat,
XXVI. Italy and Sicily in the Ninth Century, 827- 446
924,
XXVII. Germany, 888-918, 468
XXVIII. The Eastern Empire in the Ninth Century, 478
802-912,
XXIX. The end of the Ninth Century in Western 496
Europe. Conclusion,

Index 519
 MAPS

NO. PAGE

1. The Perso-Roman Frontier under Justinian, 91

2. The Frankish Kingdoms in 511, 112
3. The Frankish Kingdoms in 575, 160
4. Italy in 590, 189
5. The Asiatic Themes, 243
6. Saxony in the Ninth Century, 350
7. The Partition-Treaty of Verdun, 853, 410
8. Western Europe in 890, 444
 GENEALOGICAL TABLES

1. The Vandal Kings, 12

2. The Eastern Emperors, 457-518, 39
3. The House of the Merovings, 166
4. The Lombard Kings, 183
5. The House of Heraclius, 236
6. The Mayors of the Palace of the House of 260
St. Arnulf,
7. The Descendants of Charles the Great, 413
 APPENDIX.

Names and Dates of the Emperors at 515-517

Constantinople, the Ostrogothic and
Visigothic Kings, the Popes, and the
Caliphs,
 CHAPTER I

ODOACER AND THEODORIC

476-493

Importance of the year 476—The Emperor Zeno recognises Odoacer as Patrician

in Italy—Odoacer’s position—Divisions of Europe in 476—The Vandals in Africa
and King Gaiseric—Rule of Odoacer in Italy—His war with Theodoric, and fall.

In the summer of 477 A.D. a band of ambassadors, who claimed to

speak the will of the decayed body which still called itself the Roman
senate, appeared before the judgment-seat of the emperor Zeno,
the ruler of Constantinople and the Eastern Empire. They came to
announce to him that the army of the West had slain the patrician
Orestes, and deposed from his throne the son of Orestes, the boy-
emperor Romulus. But they did not then proceed to inform Zeno that
another Caesar had been duly elected to replace their late sovereign.
Embassies with such news had been common of late years, but this
particular deputation, unlike any other which had yet visited the
Bosphorus, came to announce to the Eastern emperor that his own
mighty name sufficed for the protection of both East and West. They
laid at his feet the diadem and purple robe of Romulus, and
professed to transfer their homage and loyalty to his august person.
Then, as if by way of supplement and addendum, they informed
Zeno that they had chosen Flavius Odoacer for their governor, and
trusted that their august master would deign to ratify the choice,
and confer on Odoacer the title of Patrician.
 It has often been repeated of late years that this date, 476 A.D.,
does not form a very notable landmark in the history of the world,
that its sole event was the transfer of the nominal supremacy of the
Western World from a powerless Caesar who lived at Ravenna to a
powerless Caesar who lived at Constantinople. We are reminded that
the patrician Odoacer and the deputies of the Roman Senate
assured the Eastern Emperor not that they had cast off allegiance to
the imperial name, but that Italy no longer needed a separate
Augustus, and that a single ruler might once more rule East and
Odoacer West, as in the days of Constantine and Theodosius.
Patrician in And if the representatives of the western realm then
Italy. proceeded to recommend Zeno to appoint as his vice-
regent among them ‘Odoacer, a mighty man of war, and a person
well skilled in political matters, whom they had selected to defend
their interests,’ they were, in truth, making no new or startling
proposition; for similar embassies had often arrived at
Constantinople to announce, not the choice of a mere patrician, but
the election of an independent emperor.
In a purely formal way all this is true enough, and we must
concede that the permanent establishment of a Teutonic ruler in
Italy was only another instance of what had already occurred in
Spain and Africa. As yet nobody in either of the three countries had
asserted that the Roman Empire had died out and been replaced for
all purposes by a Teutonic kingship. Documents were still dated and
coins still struck with the name of a Roman Emperor upon them alike
in Spain, Africa, and Italy. After 476 the subjects of the Visigoth
Euric, no less than those of the Scyrrian Odoacer, proceeded to
grave a rude portrait of Zeno on their moneys, just as they had done
a few years earlier with a rude portrait of Valentinian III. What
mattered it to them that the one dwelt east of the Adriatic and the
other west?
But if the historians of the last century were too neglectful of the
constitutional and theoretical aspect of affairs, when they bluntly
asserted that the Roman Empire ceased in the West in 476, there is
a danger that our own generation may become too much imbued
with the formal aspect of things, and too little conscious of the real
change which took place in that obscure year. The disappearance of
the Roman Empire of the West was, in truth, a long process, which
began as early as 411 when Britain—first of all the Occidental
‘dioceses’—was abandoned to the barbarian, and did not, perhaps,
end till Francis II. of Austria laid down the title of Emperor in the year
1806. Yet if we must choose a point at which, rather than at any
other, we are to put the breach between the old and the new, if we
must select any year as the dividing-line between ancient history
and the Middle Ages, it is impossible to choose a better date than
476.
Down to the day on which Flavius Odoacer deposed Augustulus
there was always at Rome or Ravenna a prince who represented in
clear heritage the imperial succession that descended from Octavian
and Trajan and Constantine. His crown might be fragile, his life in
constant danger; his word might be less powerful in Italy than that
of some barbarian Ricimer or Gundobad who stood behind the
throne. Nevertheless, he was brought into real contact with his
subjects, and was a visible, tangible personage whose will and
character still made some difference in the governance of the state.
The weakest Glycerius or Olybrius never sank into being a mere
puppet, like an eighth century king of the Franks, or a seventeenth
century Mikado. Moreover, there was till the last a possibility—even,
perchance, a probability—that there would arise some strong
emperor who would free himself from the power of his German
prime minister. Majorian nearly succeeded in doing so; and the
stories of the falls of the Goths, Gainas and Aspar, in the East show
that such an attempt was not a hopeless undertaking.
But when Odoacer seized the throne from the boy Augustulus, and
became with the consent, if not the goodwill, of the
Constantinopolitan Caesar, the sole representative in the West of the
imperial system, a very grave change took place in the status of the
Practical empire. Flavius Odoacer was something far more than
meaning of a patrician ruling as the representative of an absentee
emperor. He was not only the successor of Ricimer,
Odoacer’s but the predecessor of Theodoric and Alboin. For,
position. beside being a Roman official, he was a German king,
raised on the shield and hailed as ‘Thiudans’ by the whole Teutonic
horde who now represented the old legions of the West. If he never
took the title of ‘king of Italy,’ it was because territorial appellations
of the kind were not yet known. Euric and Gaiseric, his
contemporaries, called themselves Kings of the Visigoths and
Vandals, not of Spain and Africa. And so Odoacer being king of a
land and an army, but not of a nation, may have been somewhat at
a loss how to set forth his royal appellation. He would not have
deigned to call himself ‘king of the Italians;’ to call himself king of
the Scyrri or Turcilingi, or any other of the tribes who furnished part
of his host, would have been to assume an inadequate name.
Puzzled contemporary chroniclers sometimes called him king of the
Goths, though he himself never used such a title.
Still he was a king, and a king with a settled territory and an
organised host; not a migratory invader of Italy, as Alaric had been,
but a permanent ruler of the land. In this way he was undoubtedly
the forerunner of the Ostrogoths and Lombards who took his place,
and, though the title would have sounded strange in his own ears,
we may fairly style him king of Italy, as we so style Theodoric, or
Berengar, or Victor Emmanuel. For it was the will of Odoacer that
was obeyed in the land, and not the will of his titular superior at
Constantinople. It was Odoacer who appointed taxes and chose
officials, and interfered in the election of bishops of Rome, and
declared war on the Rugians or the Vandals. In the few documents
of his time that have survived, the name of Zeno is seldom
mentioned, and in signing grants he styles himself Odovacar Rex,
and not Odovacar Patricius, as strict Roman usage should have
prescribed. Similarly, an Italian official acknowledges his regia
largitas, not his patricia magnitudo. It is, then, in every way correct,
as well as convenient, to style him the first German king of Italy, and
to treat his reign as the commencement of a new era. If we hesitate
to do this, we are logically bound to refuse to recognise the
Visigothic or Frankish kings in Spain and Gaul as independent
sovereigns till the middle of the sixth century, and to protract the
Roman Empire of the West till Leovigild and Theudebert formally
disclaimed the imperial supremacy (540-70).
In the year 476 the greater parts of the lands which had formerly
composed the Roman Empire of the West had taken new forms in
the shape of six large Teutonic kingdoms. Italy and Noricum formed
the kingdom of Odoacer; North Africa the dominions of the Vandal
Gaiseric. The Visigothic realm of Euric extended from the Loire to the
Straits of Gibraltar. King Gundobad the Burgundian occupied the
valleys of the Rhone and Saône, as far as their extreme headwaters.
The Princes of the Franks reigned on the Meuse, Moselle, and lower
Rhine. Last and smallest of the six Teutonic States was the kingdom
of the Suevi in what would now be called north Portugal and Galicia.
Interspersed among these German kingdoms were three or four
remnants of the old Roman Empire, which had not yet been
submerged by the rising flood of Teutonism, though they were
State of destined ere long to disappear beneath its surface.
Western The province of Britain had become a group of small
Europe in and unhappy Celtic kingdoms, on whose borders the
476.
Angle and Saxon had not yet made any appreciable
encroachment. Armorica, the modern Brittany, was also a rough
confederacy of Celtic states. The Seine valley and the middle Loire
formed a Romano-Gallic kingdom under Syagrius, the last governor
who had acknowledged the supremacy of the empire beyond the
Alps. The Cantabrians and Basques in their hills above the Bay of
Biscay had preserved their independence against the Visigoths, just
as their ancestors, five centuries before, had held out against the
Roman conquerors of Spain. Lastly, there was still a fragment of
territory on the Adriatic which claimed to represent the legitimate
Empire of the West. The emperor Julius Nepos, when driven from
Rome and Ravenna, had fled to Dalmatia, where he contrived to
keep together a small kingdom around his capital of Salona. Of these
five scattered remnants of territory which had not yet fallen into the
hands of the Germans, there were two, the kingdoms of Syagrius
and Nepos, which were doomed to a speedy fall; for the other three
a longer and more chequered career was reserved.
Around the solid block of land, which had once formed the
Western Empire, were lying a ring of German tribes, who had
worked forward from the North and East into the deserted dwellings
of the races who had already passed on within the Roman border.
The Frisians lay about the mouths of the Waal and Lech, north of
the land lately won by the Franks. The Alamanni, a confederacy of
Suevian tribes, had possession of the valleys of the Main and Neckar,
the Black Forest, and the banks of the upper Danube. East of them
again lay the Thuringians and Rugians, in the lands which we should
now call northern Bavaria and Bohemia. Beyond them came the
Lombards in Moravia and northern Hungary, and the Herules and
Gepidae on the middle Danube and the Theiss. All these tribes, like
their brethren who had gone before them, were showing a general
tendency to press West and South, and take their share in the
plunder of the dismembered Empire.
The history of the Teutonic kingdoms of the later fifth and earlier
sixth century falls into two distinct halves. The tale of the doings of
Frank, Visigoth, Burgundian, and Suevian in the West forms one.
Very slightly connected with it do we find the other, the story of the
doings of Odoacer in Italy, and of the Vandal kings in Africa, whose
connections and interests are far more with the Eastern Empire than
with the Transalpine kingdoms. It is with these two states that we
shall first have to deal, leaving the discussion of the affairs of the
Teutons of Gaul and Spain for another chapter.
Gaiseric, or Genseric as the Romans sometimes called him, first of
the Vandal kings of Africa, was still reigning at Carthage in the year
when Odoacer became ruler of Italy. For forty-eight years did this
first of the Teutonic sea-kings bear sway in the land which he had
won, and hold the naval supremacy in the central Mediterranean.
The creation of the Vandal kingdom had been one of the most
extraordinary feats of the time of the great migrations, and must be
attributed entirely to the personal energy of their long-lived king. His
tribe was one of the least numerous of the many wandering hordes
which had trespassed within the bounds of the empire, no more
than 80,000 souls, men, women, and children all counted, when
The they first invaded Africa. That such a small army
Vandals in should have overrun a province a thousand miles
Africa, 439- long, and should have become the terror of the whole
77.
seaboard of the Western Empire was the triumph of
Gaiseric’s ability. He was not one of the stalwart, hard-fighting,
brainless chiefs who were generally to be found at the head of a
German horde, but a man of very moderate stature, limping all his
life through from a kick that he got from a horse in early youth. His
mental powers alone made him formidable, for he was not only a
general of note, but a wily politician, faithless not with the light and
heady fickleness of a savage, but with the deliberate and malicious
treachery of a professional intriguer. He was one of those not
uncommon instances of a Teuton, who, when brought into contact
with the empire, picked up all the vices of its decaying civilisation
without losing those of his original barbarism. It is not without some
reason that the doings of Gaiseric have left their mark on the history
of language in the shape of the modern word ‘Vandalism.’ The
sufferings of Italy and Africa at his hands were felt more deeply than
the woes they had endured at the hands of other invaders, because
of the treachery and malice which inspired them. Compared with
Gaiseric, Alaric the Goth seemed a model of knightly courtesy, and
Attila the Hun a straightforward, if a brutal, enemy. The Vandal
king’s special foibles were the conclusion of treaties and armistices
which he did not intend to keep, and a large piratical disregard for
the need of any pretext or justification for his raids, save indeed the
single plea that the city or district that he attacked was at that
particular moment not in a good position to defend itself.
From his contact with the empire, Gaiseric had picked up the
characteristics of the two most odious types of the day—the tax-
collector and the persecuting ecclesiastical bigot. There was more
systematic financial oppression in Africa than in any of the other new
Welcome to our website – the perfect destination for book lovers and
knowledge seekers. We believe that every book holds a new world,
offering opportunities for learning, discovery, and personal growth.
That’s why we are dedicated to bringing you a diverse collection of
books, ranging from classic literature and specialized publications to
self-development guides and children's books.

More than just a book-buying platform, we strive to be a bridge

connecting you with timeless cultural and intellectual values. With an
elegant, user-friendly interface and a smart search system, you can
quickly find the books that best suit your interests. Additionally,
our special promotions and home delivery services help you save time
and fully enjoy the joy of reading.

Join us on a journey of knowledge exploration, passion nurturing, and

personal growth every day!

testbankfan.com