Download The Age of Charlemagne

The Age of Charlemagne:
 800, Western Europe had a moment of unity when the
grandson of Charles Martel built an empire reaching across
France, Germany and part of Italy.
 The founder of this empire is known to history, as
Charlemagne (SHAHR luh may), or Charles the Great.
 He spent much of his 46-years reign fighting the Muslims
in Spain, the Saxons in the north, the Avars and Slavs in the
east, and Lombard’s Italy.
 Charlemagne was a successful conqueror who reunited
much of the old Roman Empire in Europe.
Emperor of the Romans:
 In 800, Pope Leo III called on the Frankish king for help
against rebellious nobles in Rome.
 Charlemagne marched south and crushes the rebellious
Romans.
 At a service on Christmas Day 800, the pope showed his
gratitude by placing a crown on Charlemagne’s head and
proclaiming him as emperor.
 The ceremony would have enormous significance.
 A Christian pope had crowned of a Germanic king
successor to the Roman emperors.
 In doing so, he revived the ideal of a united Christian
community.
 To the emperor of the eastern Roman empire in
Constantinople, however, the pope’s action as absurd.
 The eastern emperor saw himself, and not some backward
Frankish king, as the sole Roman rule.
 In the long run, Leo’s crowning of Charlemagne helped to
widen the split between the eastern and western Christian
world.
 It also laid the ground for desperate power struggles
between the Roman Catholic popes and the future
Germanic emperors.
Government:
 Charlemagne tried to exercise control his many lands and
create a united Christian Europe.
 He worked closely with the Church, helped the spread of
Christianity to the conquered peoples on the fringes of his
empire.
 During his reign, missionaries won converts among the
Saxons and the Slavs.
 Charlemagne appointed powerful nobles to rule local
regions.
 He gave them land so that they could offer support and
supply soldiers for his armies.
 To keep control of these provincials rulers, he sent out
officials called Missi Dominici, listen to grievances, and see
justice was done.
A Revival of Learning:
 Charlemagne hoped to make his capital at Aachen, a
second Rome.
 To achieve this goal, he made determined effort to revive
Latin learning throughout his empire.
Keeping accurate records:
 Charlemagne saw the need for officials who could keep
complete and accurate records and write clear reports.
 Education had decline so much that even the educated
clergy were often ignorant.
Promoting education and learning:
 To ensure the supply of educated officials, he set up a
palace school at Aachen.
 He then asked a reported scholar, Alcuin of York, to run
the school.
 Alcuin set up a curriculum of study based on Latin learning,
which became the educational model medieval Europe.
 It included the study a grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic,
geometry, music and astrometry.
 Alcuin also hired scholars to copy ancient manuscript,
Bible and Latin works of history and science.
 These manuscripts served all over Europe for 700 years.
Charlemagne’s Legacy:
 After Charlemagne died in 814, his empire soon fell apart.
 His heir’s battled for power for 30yrs.
 In 843, Charlemagne’s grandson drew up the Treaty of
Verdun, which split up the empire into three regions.
 He extended Christian civilization into northern Europe
and furthered the blending of German, Roman, and the
Christians traditions.
 He also set up a strong, efficient government, and later
medieval rulers looked to his example when they tried to
centralize their own kingdoms.
New Attacks:
 After the defeat at Tours in 732, Muslim forces kept up
their pressure on Europe.
 In the late 800s, they conquered Sicily, which became a
thriving centre of Islamic culture.
 In the mid 900s, when power struggles in the Middle East
diverted from Europe, that Muslims attacks subsided.
 896, a new wave of nomadic people, Magyars, settled in
Hungary.
 They overran Eastern Europe, Germany, France and Italy.
 After about 50yrs, they were push back into Hungary.
 The most destructive raiders were the Vikings.
 They snapped the last threads of unity in Charlemagne’s
empire.
 These expert sailors and furious fighters burst out of
Scandinavia, including Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
 They looted and burned communities along the coasts and
rivers of Europe, Ireland and Russia.
 They were traders and explore around the Mediterranean
Sea and crossed the Atlantic Ocean.
 Leif Erikson set up a short lives Viking colony on the
continent of North America for about 1000yrs.
 Vikings also settled in England, France Ireland and Russia,
for trading.
Questions
1) Explain how Charlemagne blended the
Roman, Germany and the Christians traditions.
Pgs 188-189.
2) What steps did Charlemagne take to improve
governments and unify his empire? Pgs 189191.
3) Why did Charlemagne appoint the Nobles part
in his empire? Pg 188.
4) Explain how Charlemagne’s promoting
education and learning?