SECTION 1: GERMANIC KINGDOMS UNITE UNDER CHARLEMAGE

MAIN IDEA: Many Germanic kingdoms that succeeded the Roman Empire were reunited under Charlemagne’s empire

Why it matters now? Charlemagne spread Christian civilizations through northern Europe, where it had a permanent impact

Setting the Stage Gradual decline of the

Roman Empire ushered in an era of European history called the MIDDLE AGES (or MEDIEVAL PERIOD)

Timeline= 500-1500

New institutions slowly emerged to REPLACE the fallen Roman Empire

Medieval Europe remained FRAGMENTED

Invasions Trigger Changes in Western Europe

GERMANIC GROUPS overran the western half the Roman Empire

New Trends:

1. Disruption of Trade

2. Downfall of Cities

3. Population Shifts

1. Disruption of Trade Merchants faced

INVASIONS from both land and sea businesses collapsed

This breakdown of trade destroyed Europe’s cities as economic centered

Money was scarce

2. Downfall of Cities After fall of the Roman

Empire, cities were abandoned as centers of administrations

3. Population Shifts As Roman centers of trade

collapsed so did GOVERNMENT

Nobles MOVED TO THE RURAL AREAS

Roman cities were left WITHOUT LEADERS

Population in western Europe become mostly RURAL

The Decline of Learning Germanic invaders who

stormed Rome could NOT READ OR WRITE (few people except priests and church officials were literate)

Germanic tribes, had oral tradition of songs and legends, had NO WRITTEN LANGUAGE

Knowledge of GREEK was almost LOST

Loss of a Common Language When German-speaking

peoples MIXED with the Roman population, LATIN BEGAN TO CHANGE

It wasn’t understood from region to region

Different DIALECTS emerged

By 800s, French, Spanish and other Roman-based languages had evolved form Latin

Many different languages was a SYMBOL of the breakup of the Roman Empire

Germanic Kingdoms Emerge Between 400 and 600,

small Germanic kingdoms replaced Roman provinces

Border of kingdoms constantly changed

What survived the fall of the Roman Empire? The Church

The Concept of Government Changes

Germanic people lived in small communities and were governed by UNWRITTEN RULES AND TRADITIONS

Germanic chiefs led bands of warriors

Warriors were loyal to their leaders

They would fight and die for him

No obligation to a king they didn’t know

Franks= Germanic power held power

Clovis= leader, would eventually bring Christianity to this region

The Franks Under Clovis Clovis’ wife, Clothilde, urged him

to convert to her faith, Christianity

Clovis was fearful going into battle, so he appealed to the Christian God

Tide of the battle shifted and the Franks were able to win

Church in Rome, welcomed Clovis’ conversion

Clovis had united the Franks into one kingdom

Germanic Peoples Adopt Christianity

Frankish rulers had converted many Germanic peoples

These converts had settled in Rome’s former land

Missionaries were successful in spreading Christianity

Many feared coastal attacks by Muslims, so they converted

Monasteries & Convents MONASTERIES= religious

communities, best-educated communities

MONKS- Christian men gave up their private possessions, became servants of God

Opened schools, maintained libraries, copied books

NUNS- women who followed this religious life, lived in CONVENTS

Gregory I Expands Papal Power

Gregory I= Gregory the Great, became pope in 590

Broadened the authority of the papacy (pope’s office) beyond its spiritual role

Papacy became SECULAR (worldly, power in politics)

A European Empire Evolves After the Roman Empire fells,

small kingdoms sprang up all over Europe

Franks controlled the largest and strongest of all Europe’s kingdoms (in the area of Gaul)

By the time of Clovis’ death, he extended his rule over most of what is now FRANCE

MEROVINGIAN DYNASTY

Clovis’s Descendants Major domo= or major of the

palace, became the most powerful person in the kingdom

Charles Martel (Charles the Hammer) held more power than the king

Charles extended the Franks’ reign

Defeated a Muslim raiding party from Spain at the BATTLE OF TOURS in 732 (if Muslims had won, Europe might have become part of the Muslim Empire)

Clovis’s Descendants PEPIN THE SHORT (Clovis’s

son)

Pepin wanted to become king and allied with the pope to get this

Pepin agreed to fight the LOMBARDS (who were invaded Italy)

CAROLINGIAN DYNASTY

Charlemagne Extends the Frankish Rule

Pepin left a strengthened Frankish kingdom to his 2 SONS: CARLOMAN and CHARLES

After Carloman’s death, Charles, aka CHARLEMAGNE, or Charles the Great, seized control the of the EMPIRE

Charlemagne

Was an imposing figure, stood 6’4

Charlemagne Takes Center Stage Charlemagne built an empire greater than

any since Rome

Throughout his conquests, he spread Christianity

He reunited western Europe for the first time since Roman Empire

Charlemagne became the most powerful king in western Europe

Charlemagne traveled to Rome to crush an unruly mob that attacked the mob

In gratitude, Pope Leo III crowned him emperor

Conferred the title “Roman Emperor” at coronation

Charlemagne’s Government Charlemagne strengthened

his power by limited the power of the other nobles

To govern his empire, he sent out ROYAL AGENTS

He made regular visits to every part of his kingdom, keeping a close watch on his followers and estates

Cultural Revival One of his greatest

accomplishments:

Encouragement of LEARNING (Charlemagne surrounded himself with English, German, Italian, and Spanish scholars)

Palace school was opened

Opened monasteries to open schools and train future monks and priests

Expanded libraries

Monks labored to make copies of Latin books

Charlemagne’s Heirs Are Weak Rulers Before Charlemagne died, he

crowned his only surviving son, LOUIS THE PIOUS, emperor

Louis was devoutly religious

Might have been a better monk than emperor

All Louis’ sons (LOTHAIR, CHARLES the BALD, and LOUIS the GERMAN) all fought for power

Brothers signed the Treaty of Verdun= divided empire into 3 kingdoms

Section 2: Feudalism in Europe

Main Idea: Europeans divided feudalism, a political and military system of protective alliances and relationships

Why it matters now? The rights and duties of feudal relationships helped shape today’s forms of representative government

Setting the Stage After the Treaty of Verdun,

Charlemagne’s 3 feuding grandsons broke up the kingdom even further

With all the political instability and warfare, it led to the rise of FEUDALISM (a military and political system based on land ownership and personal loyalty)

New Invasions Trouble Western Europe

Between 800 and 1000, invasions completely destroyed the Carolingian Empire

Muslims, Magyars, Huns and Avars, invaded from all areas

Vikings: Raiders, Traders and Explorers

VIKINGS= Germanic people, called Northmen or Norsemen, from a region called Scandinavia

Worshipped warlike gods

Carried out their raids with speed

Amazing warships

Also traders, farmers and explorers

LIEF ERICSON- Viking explorer, most likely reached North America around 1000, 500 years before Columbus

Invaded Europe at the same time as the discovery of Americas

Magyars & Muslims MAGYARS= group of nomadic

people, attacked from the east

Superb horseback riders

Invaded western Europe

Did NOT settle conquered land; instead they captured people to sell as slaves

MUSLIMS= struck from the south

Crossed the sea and disrupted trade

Tried to conquer and SETTLE

Feudalisms Structures Society 911, Peace Ceremony

VIKINGS (Rolly, head of Viking army)

FRANCE (Charles the Simple, king of France)

France gave Vikings gave a huge piece of French territory (known as Normandy)

In return, Rollo swore a pledge of loyalty

A New Social Order System of feudal system emerged

(similar system emerged in China during the Zhou Dynasty)

Based on MUTUAL OBLIGATIONS

In exchange for military protection and other services, a LORD, or landowner, granted LAND called a FIEF

The person received a fief was called a VASSAL

Feudalism depends on the control of LAND

The Feudal Pyramid

Social Classes Are Well Defined

In feudal system, STATUS determined a person’s prestige and power

3 Groups:

Those who FOUGHT (nobles and knights)

Those who PRAYED (men and women of Church)

Those who WORKED (Peasants)

Manors: The Economic Side of Feudalism

Manor= Lord’s estate

Basic economic arrangement

Sets of rights and obligations between lord and serfs

Lords provided serfs with housing, strips of farmland, and protection

In return, serfs tended the land, cared for estate

A Self-Contained World Peasants rarely traveled more

than 25 miles from their own manor

Manor usually consisted of manor house, church and workshops

Manors were largely SELF-SUFFICIENT (everything you needed could be found on the manor)

The Harshness of Manor Life Peasants paid a high price

to live on the manor

Paid a tax ground on the lord’s mill

Tax on marriage (weddings could only take place at the lord’s consent

TITHE= church tax (1/10 of their income)

Serfs lived in crowded COTTAGES

Reading:

Sections 3 & 4 of European Middle Ages