Ch. 13: European Middle Ages
Charlemagne Unites The Germanic Kingdoms
I.
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II.
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Invasions of Western Europe
Germans migrated into the land of the disintegrating Western Roman
Empire and set up large regional kingdoms across Europe.
The blending of Roman, Christian, and Germanic societies under regional
Germanic Kings created a new European society—The Middle Ages
Repeated invasions and constant warfare caused a series of changes that
altered the economy, government, and culture in the 5th century A.D.
1. Disruption of trade —businesses collapsed due to invasions
of the land and sea
2. Downfall of Cities—with the fall of Rome, cities were
abandoned as centers of administration
3. Population Shifts—people moved from cities to the rural
country; Western Europe became mostly rural
a) The Decline of Learning
 Germanic invaders of Rome could not read or write so level of
learning shrank, especially when nobles retreated to the
countryside; Greek language was almost lost
 Priests and other church officials, along with few other people,
were left literate;
 Mostly illiterate, no written language; rich oral history of songs
and legends; LOSS of COMMON LANGUAGE LATIN>>>>???
b) Loss of a Common Language
 Latin changed as a result of German-speaking peoples mixing
with Romans—by 800s, French, Spanish and other Romanbased languages had evolved from Latin
 The development of new languages shows the breakup of a
once unified Europe.
Germanic Kingdoms Emerge
Between 400-600 small Germanic kingdoms replaced Roman provinces,
constantly changing boundaries because of war, Catholic Church survived
the Fall of the Roman Empire and during this time of political chaos
provided people with order and security
c) The Concept of Government Changes
 In Roman times-loyalty to government and written law unified
society
 Germanic times1. family ties and personal loyalty held Germanic society
together
2. people lived in small communities that were governed
by unwritten rules and traditions
 Germanic stress on personal ties made it impossible for an
orderly government to be set up for large territories
III.
IV.
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d) Clovis Rules The Franks
 Franks- Germanic people who ruled in the Roman province of
Gaul
 Clovis was leader of the Franks—he brought Christianity to the
region so the Church in Rome supported his military
campaigns against other Germanic people
 By 511, Clovis united the Franks (all those he conquered) into
one kingdom which set up an alliance between Clovis’s
Frankish kingdom and the Church—powerful alliance
 After Roman empire collapsed, Franks controlled the largest
and strongest of Europe’s kingdoms
Germans Adopt Christianity
Politics played a key role in spreading Christianity. By 600, the Church,
with the help of the Frankish rulers, had converted many Germanic
peoples; converts had settled into former Roman lands
e) Monasteries, Convents, and Manuscripts
 Monasteries- religious communities built by the Church to adapt
to rural communities where Christian men called monks gave up
their private possessions and devoted their lives to serving God.
Women who did this were called nuns and lived in convents
 Monasteries served as centers for learning; Preserved the GrecoRoman literature.
 Education was traditionally for the aristocracy and members of
religious orders.
 Many monks because of their education, served as advisors and
administrators in the king’s bureaucracies.
f) Papal Power Expands Under Gregory I
 In 590-Gregory I became pope (head of the Church in Rome)
 He broadened the authority of the papacy beyond religious
matters they were now involved in politics
1. pope’s palace—center of Roman government
2. church revenues (money) was used to raise armies,
repair roads, and help the poor
3. negotiated peace treaties with the Lombards (Italy)
 Idea of a churchly kingdom, ruled by a pope, would be a central
theme of the Middle Ages
An Empire Evolves
g) Charles Martel Emerges
 Roman empire dissolves so small kingdoms sprang up all over
Europe
 Charles Martel- 719 he ruled the Franks as mayor of the palace
(more power than the king) and extended the Franks’ reign all
over Europe, he defeated Muslim raiders from Spain at the
Battle of Tours in 732 which made him a Christian hero
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V.
Pepin the Short- son of Charles Martel—wanted to be king so
he made a deal with the pope—agreed to fight the Lombards
who were threatening Rome—and then the pope anointed
Pepin “king by the grace of God.” = This began the Carolingian
Dynasty—family that ruled the Franks from 751-987
Charlemagne Becomes Emperor
 son of Pepin the Short, aka Charles the Great, ruled the Franks
h) Charlemagne Extends Frankish Rule
 Charlemagne conquered many lands and built a large empire
while spreading Christianity, he reunited western Europe for the
first time since the Roman Empire, by 800 his empire was larger
than the Byzantine Empire and he had become the most powerful
king in western Europe
 In 800- Charlemagne went to Rome to crush the mob who attacked
the pope-so Pope Leo III crowned him emperor to say thank you.
This was a historic coronation because the pope claimed the right
to give the title “Roman Emperor” on a European king—this event
signaled the joining of Germanic power, the Church, and the
heritage of the Roman Empire
i) Charlemagne Leads a Revival
 He strengthened his power by limiting the nobles’ power
 He sent royal agents to govern his empire to make sure
powerful landowners (counts) governed their counties justly
 One of his greatest accomplishments was the encouragement
of learning—his children were taught, opened a school for
children at court and had monasteries open schools to train
future monks and priests
j) Charlemagne’s Heirs
 Before Charlemagne died in 814 he crowned his son, Louis the
Pious, emperor but he was an ineffective ruler
 Louis the Pious had 3 sons who fought one another for control
of the Empire…in 843 the 3 brothers signed the Treaty of
Verdun dividing the empire into three kingdoms which
resulted in a loss of power and central authority for the
Carolingian kings. This lack of strong rulers led to a new
system of governing and landholding called feudalism.
 The Treaty of Verdun essentially divided Europe into three
regional kingdoms
 Charles the Bald received what we know as France
 Louis the German received what is now Germany
 Lothar received what is known now as Italy
 This division of Charlemagne’s empire among his grandson’s
weakened the dynasty
 It foreshadowed the early modern map of Europe
Feudalism in Europe
VI.
VII.
Invaders Attack Western Europe
 After the Treaty of Verdun and the breakup of the Carolingian Empire
there was constant warfare and political turmoil. This led to the rise
of European feudalism- a political and economic system based on land
ownership and personal loyalty
k) The Vikings Invade from the North
 Vikings invade from the North-from Scandinavia, called Northmen or
Norsemen and were a Germanic people, worshipped warlike gods
1. led many raids against villages and monasteries
2. were warriors, traders, farmers and explorers-Leif
Ericson, an explorer reached North America around 500
years before Columbus
3. reign of terror ended around time of exploration and
they gradually accepted Christianity
l) Magyars and Muslims Attack from the East and South
 Magyars-nomadic people who attacked from the east, superb
horsemen who invaded and attacked villages and monasteries around
the late 800s, they did not settle the lands, but instead took captives to
sell as slaves
 Muslims attacked from the south (600s and 700s they wanted to
conquer and settle Europe, but 800s and 900s goal was plundering)
 Invasions by Vikings, Magyars, and Muslims caused disorder and
suffering, people lived in constant danger
1. kings could not defend their lands from invasion so
people began looking elsewhere for protection
2. people turned to local rulers who had their own armies
for security
3. leaders whose armies could fight the invaders gained
political strength
A New Social Order: Feudalism
m) Feudalism Structures Society
 850-950—worst years of invaders’ attacks
 Rulers made agreements all over Europe for protection, this
system of governing and landholding called feudalism emerged in
Europe
1. System based on rights and obligations
2. In exchange for protection and other services, a lord
(landowner) granted land called a fief to a vassal
3. Feudal Pyramid
i. King
ii. Powerful vassals—wealthy landowners (nobles
and bishops)
iii. Knights-mounted horsemen who pledged to
defend their lords’ lands in exchange for fiefs
iv.
Peasants
n) Social Classes are Well Defined
 Social classes were inherited
 Most people were peasants
 most peasants were serfs-people who could not lawfully leave
the place where they were born, they were bound to the land,
but were not slaves, lords could not buy them or sell the, but
what their labor produced belonged to the lord
VIII. Manors: The Economic Side of Feudalism
 Manor- the lord’s estate, it rested on the rights and obligations
between a lord and his serf
i. lord provides housing, farmland and protection to the serf
ii. serf tends the lords lands, cared for his animals and maintains
the estate
iii. peasant women shared the farm work with their husbands
iv.
all peasants (free or serf) owed the lord certain duties
o) A Self-Contained World
 Most peasants never traveled more than 25 miles from their manor
 Manor contained the lord’s manor house, a church and workshops
 15-20 families lived in the village on the manor
 Manor was self-sufficient-produced everything needed for daily life
p) The Harshness of Manor Life
 peasants paid high taxes on grain
 paid taxes on marriage—could only get married with the lord’s
consent
 owed village priest a tithe (church tax) which was 1/10 of their
income
 serfs lived in crowded quarters
 serfs’ lives revolved around work
 many children did not survive to adulthood
 disease and malnutrition were common
IX. The Age of Chivalry
 During the Middle Ages, nobles constantly fought one another; the
feuding kept Europe in a fractured state
 Feudal lords defended their estates, seized new territories, and
increased their wealth; It was a violent society that prized combat
skills
q) Knights: Warriors on Horseback
 Soldiers mounted on horseback became valuable in combat
during the reign of Charles Martel in the 700s
 Martel observed that the Muslim cavalry often turned the tide
of battles; organized the Frankish troops of armored horsemen
or knights
r) The Technology of Warfare Changes
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Leather saddles and stirrups changed the way warfare was
conducted in Europe during the 700s
 The saddle kept a warrior firmly seated on a moving horse;
stirrups enabled him to ride and handle heavier weapons
s) The Warrior’s Role in Feudal Society
 By the 11th Century, western Europe was a battleground for
warring nobles vying for power
 Feudal lords raised private armies of knights; in exchange for
military service, lords gave land away (fiefs)
 Wealth from the fiefs allowed knights to devote their lives to
war
 As a lord’s vassal, the knights’ main obligation was to serve in
battle; 40 days of combat a year
 Always training for war; Wrestling and hunting helped them
gain strength and practice the skills needed on the battlefield
X. Knighthood and the Code of Chivalry
 By the 1100s, the code of chivalry, a complex set of ideals, demanded
that the knight fight bravely in defense of three masters
1. Feudal lord
2. Heavenly lord
3. Chosen lady
 The chivalrous knight protected the weak and poor; was loyal, brave,
and courteous; most failed these standards
t) A Knight’s Training
 At age 7, a boy would be sent off to the castle of another lord; acted as
page, practicing fighting skills
 At age 14, he became a squire, acting as a servant to a knight; around
21, the squire became a full-fledged knight
 After being dubbed a knight, most young men traveled for a year or
two, gaining experience fighting in local wars
 Some participated in tournaments, which combined recreation with
combat training
u) Brutal Reality of Warfare
 By the 1100s, massive walls and guard towers encircled stone
castles; fortress designed for defense
 Siege of a castle was gory; Defenders of a castle used boiling
water, hot oil, or molten lead on enemy soldiers
 Archers fired deadly bolts that could pierce full armor
v) Epic Poetry
 In the 1100s, the themes of medieval literature downplayed
the brutality of knighthood and feudal warfare
 Feudal lords and their ladies enjoyed listening to epic poems;
recounted a hero’s deeds and adventures
 The Song of Roland is one of the earliest and most famous
medieval epic poems
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It praises a band of French soldiers who perished in battle
during Charlemagne’s reign; transforms it into a struggle; A
few brave knights led by Roland battling Muslims from Spain in
which they are outnumbered
 The code of chivalry promoted a false image of knights making
them more romantic than brutal
XI. Women’s Role in Feudal Society
 Most women in feudal society were powerless, just as most men
were; but with the added burden of being inferior to men
 This was the view of the Church and was generally accepted in
feudal society
 Under the feudal system, a woman could inherit an estate from her
husband
 When the husband was off fighting, she acted as military
commander and a warrior; defended the castle by hurling rocks
and firing arrows
 Peasant women performed endless labor around the home and
often in the fields;
 Bore children and took care of the family; young peasant girls
learned practical household skills from their mother at an early
age; poor and powerless
XII. The Power of the Church
 Without strong central governments in feudal Europe, the Church
emerged as a powerful institution; shaped the lives of all social
statuses
 Strong rulers began to question the pope’s authority
w) The Structure of the Church
 In crowning Charlemagne as the Roman Emperor in 800, the
Church sought to influence both spiritual and political matters
 It was recognized earlier that conflicts could arise between the
Church and the state
 God had created two symbolic swords—the pope held the
spiritual sword and the emperor held the political one
 The pope should bow to the emperor on political matters and
emperor should yield on religion
 If in his own realm, the two leaders could share power in
harmony; disagreements on the boundaries
 Throughout the Middle Ages, the Church and various European
rulers competed for power
 Like the system of feudalism, the Church had its own
organization; power based on status
1. Pope – headed the Church from Rome
2. Cardinals
3. Bishops – supervised priests
4. Priests – contact between people and the Church
x) Religion as a Unifying Force
 Feudalism and the manor system created divisions among
people, but the shared beliefs in the teachings of the Church
bonded people together
 Stable force in a constant state of turmoil
 Provided sense of security and belonging
 Priests provided sacraments; rites paved the way to salvation
in harsh times
 Church served as the religious and social center
y) The Law of the Church
 All medieval Christians, kings, and peasants alike were subject
to canon law (Church law) in matters such as marriage and
religious practices
 The Church also established courts to try people accused of
violating such law; serious offenders were excommunicated
 Popes used the threat of excommunication, or banishment
from the Church, to wield power over political rulers
 Excommunication would free all vassals from their duties to
the king
 Interdict -- many sacraments and religious services could not
be performed in the king’s lands
XIII. The Church and the Holy Roman Empire
z) Otto I Allies with the Church
 Crowned king in 936, Otto I an effective ruler from Germany,
formed a close alliance with the Church; invaded Italy on
Pope’s behalf
 Otto’s rewarded by being crowned emperor by Pope
 The German-Italian empire Otto created later became known
as the Holy Roman Empire; strongest state in Europe until
1100
 Future Popes and Italian nobles resented German power over
Italy
 The Church was not happy that kings, like Otto, had control
over clergy; resented the practice of lay investiture, a
ceremony in which kings and nobles appointed church officials
 Power was in naming bishops; Church reformers felt that kings
should not have that power; in 1075, Pope Gregory VII banned
lay investiture
aa) The Emperor Clashes with the Pope
 Furious, German Emperor Henry IV ordered Pope Gregory VII
to step down from the papacy
 Gregory then excommunicated Henry IV
 German bishops and princes sided with the pope; to save his
throne, Henry IV tried to win his forgiveness
bb) Showdown at Canossa
 In January 1077, Henry IV crossed the Alps to the Italian town
of Canossa to ask for the pope’s forgiveness
 The Pope was obligated to forgive any sinner, but still made
Henry IV wait in the snow for three days before ending his
excommunication
 Nothing was solved, but the pope had humiliated Henry IV, one
of the proudest rulers in Europe
cc) Concordat of Worms
 The fight over lay investiture lasted until 1122; Worms,
Germany
 A compromise was reached known as the Concordat of Worms
between representatives of the Church and the Emperor
 The Church alone could appoint a bishop, but the emperor
could veto the appointment
dd) The Reign of Frederick I
 By 1152, Frederick I was chosen as the strong leader Germany
needed to keep the peace
 He was the first ruler to call his lands the Holy Roman Empire
 Region was not united; a patchwork of feudal territories
 Dominated the German princes, but when he left disorder
always returned
 Frederick repeatedly invaded the rich cities of Italy and his
brutal tactics caused Italian merchants to unite against him
 Eventually defeated in 1176 at Battle of Legnano; defeat
undermined his authority with the German princes
 Drowned in 1190 and his empire fell apart
 German kings after Frederick I, including his grandson,
attempted to revive Charlemagne’s empire and his alliance
with the Church
 Feudal states of Germany did not unify during the Middle Ages
 Never gained the base of power the French and English kings
were able to have