The Early Middle Ages“The Dark Ages”

A World Without Rome

•German invasions destroy the Roman Empire•Money no longer used

–Decline in Trade

•Most people remained in the village of their birth–No more cities–Decline of learning–Loss of common language–No central government

–So who protects the people?

Germanic Kingdoms Emerge

• Upheaval from about 400 to 600 A.D.

• Small Germanic Kingdoms replace Roman Provinces.

• Borders constantly change due to warfare.

• Christian Church survives– Only central institution that provides order and

security.

Franks

Visigoths

Lombards

Concept of Government Changes

Rome• Loyalty to public government / empire

• Large cities

• Written laws

• Elected (usually) officials rule

• Centralized Government – all parts of the empire run the same way

Germanic Kingdoms• Family ties and personal loyalty.

• Small communities.

• Government by unwritten rules and traditions.

• Chief leads a band of warriors, who have given a pledge of loyalty.

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

Role of Christianity

• Monasteries– Christian religious

communities for men – Cut off from outside contact– Spend time praying and

copying Roman and Greek books and the Bible

– The Catholic Church is the only place where reading /writing and centralized order continues during the Dark Ages Key

Point!

Three Important People

• Clovis

• Charles “The Hammer” Martel

• Charlemagne (“Charles the Great”)

ClovisLeader of the Franks

• Clovis – Frankish leader• Becomes a Christian

– Leads to increased ties to Church

– Gains more power for his tribe

– Frankish kingdom grows

Charles Martela.k.a. Charles “the Hammer”

• Frankish king after Clovis• Defeats the Muslims at the

Battle of Tours in 732 A.D.– Europe will be Christian,

not Muslim– How might history have

been different if he had lost the battle?

Pepin the Short

• Crowned king of the Franks by the Pope– gives some land to Pope

• The Papal States• Shows increasing influence of the Pope in

politics

Charlemagne

•“Char le magna”

•Charles the Great

•Frankish king

•Builds greatest empire since Ancient Rome.

•Spreads Christianity through conquests.

•Reunites Europe for the first time since the Roman Empire.

Charlemagne’s “Holy Roman

Empire”

Expanded the lands of the Franks.

Helped centralize power in Europe

Helped Christian Church spread

Established more monastaries

Collected Taxes.

Borrowed ideas from the old Roman Empire

Charlemagne’s Government

• Expanded the lands of the Franks. • Helped centralize power in Europe. • Helped Christian Church spread. • Collected taxes (tithes.) • Helped Church establish schools and monasteries• Borrowed ideas from old Roman empire.

•Charlemagne’s Empire was divided up after his death

•His sons mess everything up.

•Europe regresses

backwards again

Papal Power Grows

• Church becomes involved in politics.

• Pope’s palace is the center of government in parts of old Roman Empire.– The Vatican

• Church raises armies, repairs roads, helps poor, and negotiates peace treaties

• *The idea of a churchly kingdom, ruled by the pope, would become a central theme of the Middle Ages.