Post on 27-Apr-2018
MAIN IDEA:
EMPIRE BUILDING
Many Germanic
kingdoms that came
after the Roman Empire
were reunited under
Charlemagne’s empire
WHY IT
MATTERS NOW
Charlemagne spread
Christian civilization
through Northern
Europe, where it had
a permanent impact
Setting the Stage
Invasions of Western Europe
• 5th century: Germanic invaders overran the western Roman empire
• Repeated invasions caused changes such as:
– Disruption of trade
– Downfall of cities
– Population shifts
– Decline of learning
– Loss of a common language
• *These changes altered the economy, government, and culture of Western Europe!*
Germanic Kingdoms Emerge
• 400-600: Major upheaval; Germanic kingdoms replaced Roman provinces
• Borders changed constantly with each battle’s victory
• Concept of government changes: emphasis on personal loyalties (unwritten rules & traditions)
• Germanic stress on personal ties made it IMPOSSIBLE to establish orderly government for large territories
Clovis Rules the Franks
• The Franks, a Germanic tribe, hold power former Roman
province of Gaul
• Leader, Clovis, converts to Christianity to get divine help
with battle victories
• Church in Rome support of Clovis
– welcome’s Clovis’ conversion and supports his military
campaigns against other Germanic peoples
• 511: Clovis has united the Franks into one kingdom
• *This strategic alliance between Frankish kingdom &
the Church was the start of a powerful partnership!
Spread of Christianity
• Church as an institution survived the fall of the
Roman Empire; provided security in times of
political chaos
• Church became secular (worldly) and involved in
politics
• Politics helped spread Christianity; Church &
Frankish rulers help many people convert
• Missionaries risked their lives to travel & spread
Christian beliefs
Christianity, continued
Church built religious communities called monasteries
• Christian men called monksgave up their private
possessions and devoted their lives to serving God by hard
work, prayer, and study
• Women who followed this way of life were called nuns and
lived in convents
• Monks and nuns opened schools, maintained libraries,
copied books & helped the poor
Illuminated Manuscripts
• Monks devoted much time to making
manuscripts, beautiful copies of religious
writings, decorated with ornate letters and brilliant pictures
• This was a way of keeping learning alive in
a time when learning wasn’t important
Charles Martel Emerges
• Major domo – “mayor of the palace”, an official that has more power than the king
• 719: Charles Martel was major domo of the Frankish kingdom united by Clovis
• Extended the Frankish kingdom to the north, south, and east
• Battle of Tours, 732: defeated Muslim raiders (extremely important for Christian Europeans)
• Martel passed power to his son, Pepin the Short (wanted to be king)
• Pepin cooperated with the pope; pope anointed Pepin “king by the grace of God”
• Carolingian Dynasty: ruling family of the Franks 751-987
Charlemagne Becomes Emperor
• 768: Pepin the Short passes strong kingdom to
sons
• Charles, “Charlemagne” (Charles the Great) rules
kingdom
• Built an empire greater than any known since
ancient Rome!!!
• Fought Muslims in Spain, other Germanic tribes,
and conquered new lands to the south and east
• Spread Christianity and reunited Western
Europe for the first time since the Roman Empire
Charlemagne’s Excellent Reign
• Charlemagne strengthened his power by limiting the power of the nobles
• Sent out royal agents to ensure counts (powerful landholders) were governing their counties justly
• Regularly visited every part of his kingdom
• Encouraged learning!
– Surrounded himself with scholars
– Opened a palace school for upper class children
– Ordered monasteries to open schools to train future monks & priests
Fall of the Carolingian Dynasty
• 814: Charlemagne on his deathbed; crowns son Louis the Pious emperor
• Louis the Pious was very religious but an ineffective ruler
• He left the kingdom to his three sons, who fought each other for power
• 843: the brothers signed the Treaty of Verdun, splitting the empire into three kingdoms
• Central authority broke down & the last Carolingian kings lost power
• Lack of strong rulers would lead to a new system of governing and landholding… FEUDALISM
Summarize What We’ve Learned
Today
3 paragraphs
Due tomm.
Have the rest of the class period to
begin…