Middle Ages (13:1-2)

2. 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

3. 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

4. InvasionsTrigger Changes in
Western Europe
 GERMANIC GROUPS
overran the western half the
Roman Empire
 NewTrends:
 1. Disruption ofTrade
 2. Downfall of Cities
 3. Population Shifts

5. 1. Disruption ofTrade
 Merchants faced
INVASIONS from both
land and sea 
businesses collapsed
 This breakdown of trade
destroyed Europe’s cities
as economic centered
 Money was scarce

6. 2. Downfall of Cities
 After fall of the Roman
Empire, cities were
abandoned as centers of
administrations

7. 3. Population Shifts
 As Roman centers of trade
collapsed so did
GOVERNMENT
 Nobles MOVEDTOTHE
RURAL AREAS
 Roman cities were left
WITHOUT LEADERS
 Population in western
Europe become mostly
RURAL

8. The Decline of Learning
 Germanic invaders who
stormed Rome could NOT
READ ORWRITE (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

9. Loss of a Common Language
 When German-speaking
peoples MIXED with the
Roman population, LATIN
BEGANTO 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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)

16. 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

17. 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)

18. Clovis’s Descendants
 PEPINTHE 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

19. 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

20. CharlemagneTakes 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. Charlemagne’s Heirs AreWeak
Rulers
 Before Charlemagne died, he
crowned his only surviving son,
LOUISTHE 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 theTreaty of
Verdun= divided empire into 3
kingdoms

24. 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

25. Setting the Stage
 After theTreaty ofVerdun,
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)

26. New InvasionsTroubleWestern
Europe
 Between 800 and 1000,
invasions completely
destroyed the Carolingian
Empire
 Muslims, Magyars, Huns
and Avars, invaded from
all areas

27. 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

28. 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

29. Feudalisms Structures Society
 911, Peace Ceremony
 VIKINGS (Rolly, head ofViking
army)
 FRANCE (Charles the Simple, king
of France)
 France gaveVikings gave a huge
piece of French territory (known
as Normandy)
 In return, Rollo swore a pledge of
loyalty

30. A New Social Order
 System of feudal system emerged
(similar system emerged in China
during the Zhou Dynasty)
 Based on MUTUALOBLIGATIONS
 In exchange for military protection
and other services, a LORD, or
landowner, granted LAND called a
FIEF
 The person received a fief was
called aVASSAL
 Feudalism depends on the control
of LAND

31. The Feudal Pyramid

32. Social Classes AreWell 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)

33. 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

34. A Self-ContainedWorld
 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)

35. 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

36. Reading:
Sections 3 & 4 of
European Middle Ages