Charlemagne

Unites

Germanic

Kingdoms

Chapter 7, Section 1

10/17 Bell-Ringer

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

Europe in the 6th Century

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 Empire: 768-843

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…

10/17 Close

What do the

sword & cross

symbolize in

this painting of

Charlemagne?