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Notes Ch. 1 Sec. 2: The Early Middle Ages
I. The Early Middle Ages
a. Europe was divided by the Rhine-Danube frontier.
i. North & east: Barbarians.
ii. South & west: Civilized provinces.
iii. Africa: Tunisia-Algeria.
iv. Asia: Asia Minor peninsula.
II. The Disintegration of the Roman Empire.
a. Emperor Constantine founded a new capital at Greek’s Byzantium, named
Constantinople.
i. Now known as Istanbul.
b. Barbarians were defined as people who spoke neither Greek nor Latin.
c. Barbarians began to mingle with the Eastern Empire.
d. The Western Empire fell into decrepitude.
III. The Byzantine World, the Arabic World, and the West about 700.
a. The Empire included the Asia Minor peninsula, the Balkan peninsula, and
some of Italy.
i. Eastern Roman Empire.
ii. Later Roman Empire.
iii. Greek Empire.
iv. Byzantine Empire.
b. The Arabs inhabited Spain to the Pyrenees, North Africa, Arabia, Syria,
and the East.
c. The caliph was called the true religious and military successor to
Muhammad.
d. The Arabs learned from and went beyond the Greeks.
i. Geographers.
ii. Algebra.
iii. Arithmetic.
e. Latin Christendom did not look very promising.
i. Included some of Italy, France, Belgium, the Rhineland, and
Britain.
f. The Western barbarians were Germanic.
i. Intricate folklore.
ii. Agriculture.
iii. Knowledge of crafts.
g. The Germanic people were divided into different tribes.
i. Enjoyed freedom.
ii. Loyal to their tribe.
iii. No loyalty to large or general institutions.
iv. Had no real form of jurisdiction.
h. The Germanic tribes that took over the old Roman provinces held no large
form of government.
i. Guarded different villages they used for food.
ii. Money went out of circulation.
IV. The Church and the Rise of the Papacy.
a. The framework of the Christian Church still stood in its network of
bishoprics.
b. Monasteries were being built everywhere, separate ones for men and
women.
c. St. Benedict became the Christian leader.
i. Generally governed by an abbot.
d. The bishop took over ruling the Roman Empire.
i. Sent out missionaries.
ii. Gave advice.
e. Caesaropapism grew in the East.
f. The “Donation of Constantine”
i. Emperor Constantine gave endowed St. Peter with the government
of Rome.
ii. Later on proved to be a forgery.
g. The church sent out Ulfilas to convert the Goths and:
i. The Franks
ii. Southeast England
iii. The Christian border was about the same as that of the Roman
Empire.
V. The Empire of Charlemagne, 800-814.
a. The Pope needed protection and made a deal with the Frankish kings.
i. The Pope crowned Charlemagne as emperor of the West.
b. He conquered northeastern Spain, northern Italy, and Bohemia.
i. Coexisted with the Latin Christian world.
c. His capital was in northern Europe at Aix-la-Chapelle, or Aachen.
d. Dispatched embassies to the Byzantine Empire and to Harun al-Rashid,
the Muslim Baghdad capital.
e. Revived learning and spread education.
i. Disintegrating ancient manuscripts were saved.
ii. Carolingian minuscule.
f. Wanted a more reliable coinage of silver and gold coins.
VI. Ninth-Century Invasions; Europe by 1000.
a. Magyars “Hungarians” terrified various parts of Europe.
b. Germanic tribes “Norse, Vikings, and Danes” uprooted themselves.
c. The barbarians reached Kiev in Russia and discovered Iceland, and even
touched America.
i. Large groups formed in Danelaw, England and Normandy, France.
d. The Arabs raided France and Italy.
e. The Pope sent a golden crown to the Magyars to crown St. Stephen as
their king.
i. Christianity not permeated every corner.
f. The Great Schism of East and West.
i. Became definite in 1054.
ii. Divided the Latin or Roman Catholic and the Greek Orthosox
churches.
g. Small Christian kingdoms emerged throughout the Western Empire.
i. In Germany, Spain, France, and Italy
ii. Scotland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden united as one kingdom.
h. In the east rose Poland, Bohemia, and Hungary.