Germanic Kingdoms Unite under Charlemagne

Main Idea

- Germanic kingdoms were reunited under Charlemagne's empire

- Charlemagne spread Christianity to northern Europe

Setting the Stage

- Middle Ages = medieval period (AD 476-1453)

- fragmented

Roots of New Society

- classical heritage of Rome

- beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church

- customs of various Germanic tribes

Causing

Germanic invaders overrun the Roman Empire (5th century)

- disruption of trade

- downfall of cities

- population shifts to rural areas

Effects of Invasion

- decline of learning

tribes cannot read Greek or Latin

Romance languages evolve

few were literate

Germanic Kingdoms

- emerge AD 400-600

- warriors' loyalty to the lord of manor (provides food/weapons/treasure)

- result

no orderly government for large areas

small communities rule

Clovis

- rules Germanic people of Gual (Franks)

- in 496 had a battlefield conversion (Christians)

- by 511 Franks are united into one kingdom (Clovis and the Church)

Spread of Christianity

- church + Frankish ruler = rise in Christianity

- rules for monks (Benedict in 520)

vows of poverty

chastity

obedience

- similar rules for nuns (sister Scholastica)

- they operate schools, maintain libraries and copy books

Theocracy
- Pope Gregory I (Gregory the Great) goes secular
- church revenues for helping poor, building roads and raising armies
- Christendom extends from Italy to England from Spain to Germany

Europe
- Clovis rules Franks until his death (511)
- rest of Europe consists of smaller kingdoms
- Charles Martel known as Charles the Hammer
- Battle of Tours in 732 (Hammer defeats a Muslim raiding party from Spain)

Follow the Hammer
- Pepin the Short (son)
- works with Church and is named "king by the grace of God" by the Pope
- dies in 768, leaving 2 sons
- Carolman (dies in 771)
- Charles, known as Charlemagne (Charles the Great)