Chapter 13:1

Charlemagne Unites Germanic Kingdoms

Middle Ages

Also known as the medieval period, it had roots in:

1. the classical heritage of Rome

2. the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church

3. the customs of various Germanic Tribes

Effects of Germanic Invasions on Roman Empire

• Disruption of Trade: Merchants faced invasions from both land and sea. Their businesses collapsed. The breakdown of trade destroyed Europe's cities as economic centers. Money became scarce.

• Downfall of Cities: With the fall of the Roman Empire, cities were abandoned as centers of administration.

• • Population Shifts: As Roman centers of trade and government collapsed, nobles retreated to the rural areas. Roman cities were left without strong leadership. Other city dwellers also fled to the countryside, where they grew their own food. The population of western Europe became mostly rural.

The Decline of Learning

• Germanic invaders could not read or write

• Level of learning amongst Romans sank as more and more families left for rural areas

• Priests and other church officials were literate.

• Few people could read Greek works of literature, science, and philosophy

• The Germanic tribes had a rich oral tradition of songs and legends but no written language

Loss of a Common Language

• Latin was still an official language but was no longer understood

• dialects developed

• French, Spanish, and other Roman-based languages evolved from Latin

• The development of various languages mirrored the continued breakup of a once-unified empire.

What survived the fall of the Roman Empire?

The Church which provided order and security

How did the government change?

• Family ties and personal loyalty, rather than citizenship in a public state, held Germanic society together

• Unlike Romans, Germanic peoples lived in small communities that were governed by unwritten rules and traditions

• Every Germanic chief led a band of warriors who had pledged their loyalty to him

• The Germanic stress on personal ties made it impossible to establish an orderly government for large territories

Germanic chief and warriors

• Every Germanic chief led a band of warriors who had pledged their loyalty to him

• In peacetime, these followers lived in their lord's hall.

• He gave them food, weapons, and treasure

• warriors fought to the death at their lord's side and considered it a disgrace to outlive him

Franks

• A Germanic people who settled in the Roman province of Gaul

• leader was Clovis

Clovis and Christianity

• leader of the Franks

• brought Christianity to Roman Empire

• Clovis led his warriors against another Germanic army

• Appealed to the Christian God in fear of losing and Franks won

• Clovis and 3,000 of his warriors asked a bishop to baptize them

• The strategic alliance between Clovis's Frankish kingdom and the Church marked the start of a partnership between two powerful forces

• by the time of his death he had extended Frankish rule over most of what is now France

Clothilde

Clovis' wife was Christian so encouraged Clovis to be one

Missionaries

• people who work to spread their religious beliefs

• -often risked their lives to bring religious beliefs to other lands

monasteries

• religious communities

• Christian men called monks gave up their private possessions and devoted their lives to serving God. Women who followed this way of life were called nuns and lived in convents

Convents

The residences of nuns who were bound together by vows to a religious life

Scholastica

• twin sister of Benedict

• devoted her life to the Church

• thought to have been the abbess of a convent near the monastery founded by Benedict

• considered the first nun of the Benedictine order

Benedict

• Italian monk

• wrote a book describing a strict yet practical set of rules for monasteries

What was Europe's best educated community?

• Monasteries

• monks opened schools, maintained libraries, and copied books

Venerable Bede

• English monk

• wrote a history of England which is considered the best historical work of the early Middle Ages

• monks made beautiful copies of religious writings, decorated with ornate letters and brilliant pictures

Gregory I

• also known as Gregory the Great

• became pope

• broadened the authority of the papacy beyond its spiritual role

• papacy became secular

• negotiated peace treaties with invaders such as the Lombards

• he created the idea of a churchly kingdom, ruled by a pope, which would be a central theme of the Middle Ages

Secular

worldly or power involved in politics

What did Gregory I use church revenues for

-he used church revenues to raise armies, repair roads, and help the poor

Major Domo

• an official

• also known as mayor of the palace

• the most powerful person in the Frankish Kingdom

• Officially, he had charge of the royal household and estates

• Unofficially, he led armies and made policy. In effect, he ruled the kingdom.

Charles Martel

• a mayor of the palace

• extended the Franks' reign

• defeated Muslim raiders from Spain at the Battle of Tours making him a Christian hero

• passed on power to his son Pepin the short

Battle of Tours

• Charles Martel led Franks

• This battle was highly significant for Christian Europeans. If the Muslims had won, western Europe might have become part of the Muslim Empire.

Pepin the Short

• wanted to be king

• shrewdly cooperated with the pope

• Agreed to fight the Lombards, who had invaded central Italy and threatened Rome

• -The pope anointed Pepin "king by the grace of God," beginning the Carolingian Dynasty

Carolingian Dynasty

A series of Frankish rulers including Pepin and Charlemagne

Carloman and Charles

• Sons of Pepin the Short

• Charles, who was known as Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, ruled the kingdom after Carloman's death

Charlemagne

• built an empire greater than any known since ancient Rome

• led his armies against enemies that surrounded his kingdom

• fought Muslims in Spain and tribes from other Germanic kingdoms.

• conquered new lands

• spread Christianity

• reunited western Europe for the first time since the Roman Empire

Charlemagne travels to Rome

• traveled to Rome to crush an unruly mob that had attacked the pope

• Pope Leo III crowned him emperor

• A pope had claimed the political right to confer the title "Roman Emperor" on a European king

• This event signaled the joining of Germanic power, the Church, and the heritage of the Roman Empire.

Charlemagne's Empire

• strengthened his royal power by limiting the authority of the nobles

• he sent out royal agents to govern his empire who made sure that the counts, governed their counties justly

• regularly visited every part of his kingdom

• kept a close watch on the management of his huge estates—the source of Carolingian wealth and power. --encouragement of learning

• surrounded himself with English, German, Italian, and Spanish scholars

• opened a palace school

• ordered monasteries to open schools to train future monks and priests.

Counts

powerful landowners

Louis the Pious

• Charlemagne's only surviving son

• his sons(Lothair, Charles the Bald, and Louis the German) fought for control of the empire

End of Carolingian Empire

Louis the Pious' sons, Lothair, Charles the Bald, and Louis the German signed the Treaty of Verdun, dividing the empire into three kingdoms. As a result, Carolingian kings lost power and central authority broke down. The lack of strong rulers led to a new system of governing and landholding—feudalism.