Germanic Kingdoms Unite under Charlemagne

Main Idea: 

• Many Germanic kingdoms that succeeded the Roman Empire were reunited under Charlemagne's empire

Why is matters now? 

• Charlemagne spread Christian civilization throughout northern europe, which is where many of us came from 

Setting the Stage

• middle ages- medieval period
• 500-1500 AD
• medieval europe is fragmented 

A.  Invasions trigger changes in Western Europe

     1. invasions and constant warfare spark new trends 

        a. disruption of trade 

           i. Europe's cities are not longer economic centers 

          ii. money is scarce 

       b. downfall of cities

          i. cities are not longer centers of administration 

       c. popular shifts

         i. nobles retreat to the rural area

         ii. cities don't have strong leadership

    2. decline of learning

            a. Germanic invaders are illiterate, but they communicate through oral tradition

            b. only priests and church officials could read and write

            c. knowledge of Greek (and literature, science, philosophy) is almost lost

   3. loss of a common language

            a. dialects develop in different regions

            b. by the 800s, French Spanish and other roman- based languages are evolving from Latin

***main language was Latin***

B. Germanic kingdoms emerge 

• the concept of government changes
• Roman Society- loyal to public government 
• Germanic Society loyal to family 
• Germanic chief led warriors 
• During peace, he provided food, weapons, treasure, a place to live (the Lord's hall) 
• During wartime, warriors fought for the Lord 
• They do not know or care for the king
• Franks live in the Roman province of Gaul - their leader is Clovis 
• The Franks under Clovis
• another battlefield conversion 
• Clovis and 3000 of his warriors are baptized by the bishop 
• The Church in Rome approves of this "alliance" 
• Clovis and the church begin the work together

Clovis' military expertise + the Church's support and money = a strategic alliance between two powerful forces!

collect tithes (like taxes)

 C. Germanic peoples adopt Christianity

• (Pope) Gregory I expands papal power
• papacy- pope's office 
• Secular Power - worldly power
• Papal power (power of the pope) is political power, presented from the Pope's palace) 
• the church can use church money to 
• raise armies 
• repair road
• help the poor
• Gregory the Great began to act as mayor of Rome, as head of an earthly kingdom (Christendom) 
• 511 AD- Clovis unites Franks into one kingdom 
• 600 AD- Church and Frankish rules convert many 
• Fear of muslims in southern Europe spur many to become christians 
• Monasteries and Convents
• 520 AD- Benedict wrote the rules for monks and monasteries 
• poverty, chastity, obedience, study 
• his sister Scholastica did the same for nuns in convents
• 731 AD- the Venerable Bede wrote a killer history of England 
• Monks opened schools, maintained libraries and copied books (Bibles, Greek texts)