518 CHAPTER 15 Medieval Europe

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Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area projection500 km

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AFRICA

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SCOTLAND

IRELANDENGLAND

FRANCE

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BYZANTINE EMPIRE

London

Paris

Rome

Kiev

Constantinople

Invasions of Europe c. A.D. 8001000

Europe Is Invaded After Charlemagnedied in A.D. 814, his empire did not lastlong. His son Louis was not a strong leader,and after Louis died, Louiss sons dividedthe empire into three kingdoms.

These three kingdoms were weakenedfurther by a wave of invaders who sweptacross Europe in the A.D. 800s and A.D. 900s.From the south came Muslims, who raidedFrance and Italy from Spain and NorthAfrica. From the east came the Magyars, anomadic people who had settled in Hungary.From Scandinavia (SKAN duh NAY vee uh)came the Vikings, whose raids terrified all ofEurope.

Scandinavia is in northern Europe.Norway, Sweden, and Denmark are all partof Scandinavia today. Much of Scandinavia

has a long, jagged coastline. It has manyfjords (fee AWRDS), or steep-sided valleysthat are inlets of the sea. The Viking peoplelived in villages in the fjords. They wereknown as the Norsemen, or north men.

Scandinavia has little farmland. Thisforced the Vikings to rely on the sea forfood and trade. They became skilled sailorsand built sturdy boats called longboats.These boats could survive the roughAtlantic and also navigate shallow rivers.

In the A.D. 700s and A.D. 800s, theVikings began raiding Europe, probablybecause their population had grown too bigto support itself at home. The word vikingcomes from their word for raiding. Theyrobbed villages and churches, carrying off

Vikingships

Magyars

KEY

MuslimsVikings

Settlements and invasion routes:

A number of different groupsinvaded and settled in earlymedieval Europe.1. Which group invaded England?2. Which group settled the area

of Hungary?

MotionIn

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grain, animals, and anything else of value.They even conquered part of westernFrance. This area was named Normandy,after the Norsemen who ruled it.

The Holy Roman Empire The raids byMuslims, Magyars, and Vikings helped to destroy the Frankish kingdoms. In theA.D. 900s, the eastern Frankish kingdom,which became known as Germany, wasdivided into many tiny states ruled bycounts, dukes, and other nobles. In A.D. 911a group of these nobles tried to uniteGermany by electing a king. The king didnot have much power, however, becausethe nobles wanted to remain independent.

One of the stronger kings of Germanywas Otto I (AH toh). He fought the Magyarsand sent troops into Italy to protect the pope.To reward Otto for his help, the popedeclared him emperor of the Romans in A.D. 962. Ottos territory, which includedmost of Germany and northern Italy, becameknown as the Holy Roman Empire.

Most of the emperors of theHoly Roman Empire were notvery powerful. Two of thestrongest ones, Frederick I andFrederick II, tried to unite north-ern Italy and Germany under asingle ruler with a strong centralgovernment in the 1100s and1200s. The popes fought againstthese plans because they did notwant the emperor to controlthem. They banded togetherwith Italys cities to resist theemperors forces. As a result,both Germany and Italyremained divided into smallkingdoms until the 1800s.

Explain Whowere the Vikings, and why did theyraid Europe?

The Rise of the Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church spread Christianity

through Western Europe.Reading Focus Do you have a goal you would devoteyour life to reaching? Read to learn the goals of theCatholic Church in the early Middle Ages.

Both religion and geography played animportant role in shaping life in Europe. Bythe time the Western Roman Empire col-lapsed, Christianity had become the officialreligion of Rome. After the Roman govern-ment fell apart, the Roman Catholic Churchbegan to play an important role in the growthof a new civilization in Western Europe.

Why Were Monks Important? At thetime Rome fell, much of northwest Europewas not yet Christian. One exception wasIreland. In the A.D. 400s, a priest namedPatrick traveled to Ireland, where he spreadthe Christian message and set up churchesand monasteries. For several hundred years,

Pope Gregory I helped spread Christianity in a numberof ways. Here he is shown teaching boys the songs thatbecame known as Gregorian chants. Which area ofnorthwest Europe had accepted Christianity before thefall of the Western Roman Empire?

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Irish monks played an important role inpreserving Roman learning and passing iton to the people of Europe.

Patricks success inspired others, includ-ing Pope Gregory I, or Gregory the Great.Gregory I was pope from A.D. 590 to A.D.604. He wanted all of Europe to becomeChristian, and he asked monks to becomemissionaries (MIH shuh NEHR eez)peoplewho are sent out to teach their religion.

In A.D. 597 Gregory sent 40 monks tosouthern Britain to teach Christianity. Themonks converted Ethelbert, ruler of thekingdom of Kent. Ethelbert allowed themissionaries to build a church in his capitalcity of Canterbury. Meanwhile, Irish monksbrought Christianity to northern Britain. ByA.D. 800, monks were spreading Christianitythroughout Europe. Most people in WesternEurope had become Catholics by 1050.

Monasteries played an important role inmedieval Europe. Monks schooled people,provided food and rest to travelers, andoffered hospital care for the sick. Theytaught carpentry and weaving and devel-oped better methods of farming. They alsohelped to preserve knowledge.

Many monasteries had scriptoria, or writ-ing rooms, where monks made copies ofimportant works. The monks copiedChristian writings, including the Bible, as

well as works of Roman and Greek writers.The literary efforts of these monks helpedto preserve the Latin language.

Over time, monasteries began to play arole in Europes politics. Monks took a vowof poverty, wore simple clothes, and ate sim-ple food, but their monasteries could makemoney. Each monastery produced goodsand owned land, and over time many ofthem became wealthy. The leader of amonastery is called an abbot (A buht), andmany abbots became involved in politics.They served as advisers to kings and actedas rulers of the lands near their monasteries.

Why Is Gregory VII Important? Thegrowing role of abbots and other Churchleaders in politics caused many argumentsover who was in charge. Kings wantedChurch leaders to obey them, while thepope claimed he could crown kings.

In 1073 Gregory VII was elected pope.He wanted to stop nobles and kings frominterfering in Church affairs. He issued adecree, or order, forbidding kings fromappointing high-ranking Church officials.

The popes decree angered Henry IV, theHoly Roman emperor. For many years, theHoly Roman emperor had appointed bish-ops in Germany. Without them, Henry IVrisked losing power to the nobles.

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Monks eatingtogether in amonastery

The monastery at Mont St. Michel in France is a beautifulwork of architecture that took several hundred years tocomplete. How did monasteries help local people in Europe?

Illustratedpage createdby monks

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Reading SummaryReview the During the Middle Ages, Europes

geography affected where peoplelived, their ways of life, and theirrelations with other people.

The Angles and Saxons invadedBritain, the Franks created anempire in Western Europe, andthe Saxons created a Germankingdom that became the HolyRoman Empire.

Monks helped spread Christianitythroughout Europe, and theCatholic Church became strongin the early Middle Ages.

1. What happened at the Battleof Tours, and why is the battlesignificant?

2. Why were monasteries impor-tant to medieval Europe?

Critical Thinking3. Summarizing Information

Draw a diagram like the onebelow. Use it to describe therole of monks in medievalEurope.

4. Analyze How didCharlemagne demonstrate his support for education?

5. Describe Imagine you live incentral Europe in medievaltimes. Prepare a poster thatdescribes the Vikings and thedangers they pose to yourtown.

6. AskingQuestions Henry IV stoodbarefoot in the snow to gainthe popes forgiveness. If you were asked to interviewHenry IV about this experience,what three questions wouldyou ask?

What Did You Learn?

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CHAPTER 15 Medieval Europe 521

Henry refused to obey Gregory. Hedeclared that Gregory was no longer pope.Gregory then stated that Henry was no longeremperor. He excommunicated (EHK skuh MYOO nuh KAY tuhd) Henry. This means toexclude a person from church membership.Catholics believed that if they were excom-municated, they could not go to heaven.

When the German nobles defended thepope, Henry backed down. He traveled toItaly and stood barefoot in the snow outsidethe popes castle asking to be forgiven.Gregory forgave Henry, but the Germannobles still chose a new king. When Gregoryaccepted the new king as emperor, Henrywent to war. He captured Rome and named anew pope. Gregorys allies drove out Henrysforces, but the dispute was not resolved.

In 1122 a new pope and the Germanking finally agreed that only the pope could

choose bishops, but only the emperor couldgive them jobs in the government. This deal,called the Concordat of Worms, was signedin the city of Worms. A concordat (kuhn KAWR DAT) is an agreement between thepope and the ruler of a country.

By the time Innocent III became pope in1198, the Catholic Church was at theheight of its power. Innocent was able tocontrol kings. If a ruler did not obey,Innocent would excommunicate him orissue an interdict (IHN tuhr DIHKT) againstthe rulers people. An interdict forbidspriests from providing Christian rituals to agroup of people. The pope hoped that byusing an interdict, local people would pres-sure their ruler to obey.

Contrast How did GregoryVII and Henry IV disagree?

Monks

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