Notes

Setting the Stage!

• Middle ages= medieval period
• 476-1453 AD

This is a new society

• This new society has roots in:
• Classiucal heritage of Rome
• Beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church
• Customs of various Germanic tribes.

5th Century Germanic invaders

• Overrun the western half of the Roman Empire
• Causing
• Disruption of trade
• Downfall of cities
• Population shifts to rural areas

Effects of Invasion

• Decline of learning
• Tribes had oral tradition, songs, but couldn’t read Greek or Latin
• Romance languages evolve (French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian)
• Few besides priests were literate

Germanic kingdoms

• Germanic Kingdoms emerge: AD 400-600
• Germanic warriors' loyalty is to the lord of the manor he provides them with food, weapons, treasure
• Result:
• No orderly government for large areas
• Small communities rule

Even so….Clovis riles the Franks

• Clovis riles the Germanic people of Gaul, known as the Franks (which is where "France comes from)
• In 496 he has a battlefield conversion- he and 3000 of his warriors become Christians
• The Church in Rome likes this
• By 511 the Franks are united into one kingdom, with Clovis and the Church working as partners.

Spread of Christianity

• Church + Frankish rulers= rise in Christianity
• In 520, Benedict write ruled for monks"
• Vows of poverty (live simply in monasteries )
• Chastity (no marital relations)
• Obedience (listen to church superiors)
• His sister Scholastica writes similar rules for nuns
• They operate schools, maintain libraries, copy books

Pope Gregory and Papal Power Play

• Pope Gregory I (Gregory the Great) goes secular (worldly power)
• Church revenues are used to help the poor, build roads, and raise armies
• This is theocracy
• Gregory's spiritual Kingdom (Christendom) extends from Italy to England, from Spain to Germany

Who's running Europe?

• CLovis riles the Franks in Gaul until his death in 511
• Most of the rest of Europe consists of smaller kingdoms (seven in England alone)
• Clovis' descendants include Charles Martel, known as Charles the Hammer
• Hammer defeats a Muslim raiding party from Spain at the Battle of tours in 732 (If he hadn't won, western Europe could have become part of the Muslim Empire- that's huge!)

How do you follow the Hammer?

• Charles Martel's son is Pepin the Short
• He works with the Church and is named "king by the grace of God by the Pope (Popes can do that?)
• Pepin the Short dies in 768, leaving 2 sons
• Son #1- Charloman- dies in 771
• Son #2 is Charles, known as Charlemagne, meaning Charles the Great
• Six feet four inches and a well-known warrior