Germany Adopts Christianity
Monasteries, Convents and Manuscripts
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Monks and nuns devoted their lives to serving God
Monasteries – where monks lived
Convents – where nuns lived
Benedict – a monk who wrote a set of rules for monks and nuns called
Scholastica
 Monasteries are the best-educated communities
 Monasteries/churches - highest education, created schools and kept
libraries
Papal Power Expands Under Gregory
 Gregory I becomes pope
 His mission – expand church power and made it more secular (worldly)
by becoming involved in government
 Church kingdoms ruled by pope which will cause a lot of conflict
 He blends Church power with secular (worldly) government
An Empire Evolves
 As the Roman empire dissolves (disappears) many tiny kingdoms spring
up or evolve
Charles Martel Emerges
 Major domo or mayor of the palace – the most powerful person
 Charles Martel was major domo, Pepin’s father, and famous for
defeating the Muslims
 He defeated the Muslims which kept Christianity together
 His nickname was “Charles the Hammer”
Charlemagne Becomes an Emperor
 Pepin dies and the kingdom is left to his two sons
 One son dies and Charles the Great gets everything and is now in power
Charlemange Extends Frankish Rule
 Charlemagne builds a powerful empire
 He is crowned “Roman Emperor” by the pope which causes the church
and government to join it also joins the Germanic power and the church
 Conquered new lands spreading Christianity which unites the lands