Middle Ages Lesson 3: The Holy Roman Empire

Tenth Century

powerful dukes of the Saxons became kings of the eastern Frankish kingdom- would become known as Germany

Otto I

 best known Saxon king - became emperor of the Romans in 962 - new Roman Empire now under the control of the Germans

Frederick I

German king who tried to conquer Italy for its revenue - considered it the center of a “holy empire” (Holy Roman Empire) - failed to conquer northern Italy partially due to the pope opposing this action and the pope making an alliance with the northern Italian cities.

Frederick II

German king who tried to establish a strong, centralized state in Italy - fought a difficult war, but lost

Western Slavs

by 10th century were converted by German monks to Christianity - formed the Polish(Slavs converted) and the Bohemian(Czechs converted) kingdoms - also the Hungarians(non-Slavic Magyar people) converted - all became part of the Roman Catholic Church and its Latin culture

Eastern Slavs

converted to Orthodox Christianity by 2 Byzantine missionary brothers:  Cyril and Methodius - Cyril created the Cyrillic alphabet in order to create a Christian Bible in the Slavic language

“the Rus”

where Russia comes from

Oleg

Viking leader who settled in Kiev creating a Rus state 

-ancestors extended the control of Kiev and expanded its territory

-Vikings married Slavic people so became assimilated into society

Vladimir

a Rus ruler who married a Byzantine emperor’s sister - officially accepted accepted Eastern Orthodox Christianity in 988 - became official religion

Kievan Rus

high point in first half of 11th century before civil wars and invasions brought an end to the first Russian state in 1169

13th century

 Mongols conquer Russia - required Russian princes to pay tributes

Alexander Nevsky

 prince of Novgorod who defeated a German invading army in 1242 - Was rewarded with the title Grand Prince - descendants became princes of Moscow and eventually leaders of Russia

Southern Slavs

Serbs and Bulgarians accepted Orthodox Christianity - Croats embraced Roman Catholic Church