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Picking up the
Pieces
A cultural mix:
Classical, Christian and Germanic
Medium Aevum
• Distillation process between the classical
world and the modern
• Writers of the Italian Renaissance coined the
term Middle Ages to describe the millennium
between the 5th and 15th centuries.
• Later historians would refer to this period as
the “dark ages” for several reasons.
– Knowledge
– The Church
– Political Unrest
The Medieval
Misconception
• Renaissance saw themselves as carrying the
torch of civilization
• They were enamored by the classical culture of
Greece and Rome and worked to restore that
culture
• They felt that the Middle Ages had ignored the
classical world and thought it was a millennium
of ignorance and superstition
• In their harsh judgment they ignored the cultural
complexity
– A jigsaw puzzle of cultural traits that needed to be
woven together into a consistent fabric
Three Strands of Culture
• The Classical World
– Greek Ideas
– Roman politics and techniques for organization
• The Catholic Church
– When Rome lost its grip in the West, the Church was left behind to
fend for itself
– It created a new worldview that focused on the human soul and its
preservation
– Challenged from the 7th century on by a new breed of “people of the
book”- Islam
• Germanic Culture
– Teutonic People become the political successors of the empire
– Each group is staking its territorial claim
• The Middle Ages become a period of fusion
Germanic Successors
to Rome
• The disintegration of political unity caused
instability in western Europe
• There was no longer a Mediterranean axis of
power
• Germanic Tribes: three main groups
– West Germans: Franks, Alamans, Angles, Saxons,
Jutes, Frisians, and Thuringians
– East Germans (distinct in dialect and customs):
Goths, Vandals, Burgundians, Gepids, and
Lombards
– North Germans: Scandinavians (discussed in
Subsequent chapters)
Transitions in Government
• From City-State with civic religion to a theocratic monarchy
in alliance with Christianity
• Constantine’s burial (among 12 empty sarcophagi) created
the image of caesaro-papism
• Wide spread Christian conversion became a new mission
• At the same time there was a decline in municipalities and
urban life
• Rural landowners were able to capture an authoritative
role and the social basis of Europe became agrarian
• The senatorial class (owned latifundia) established itself
as the aristocracy and took action to solidify its hold
• Without an empire, slavery was in decline while peasants
became more attached to the land as serfs
German Contributions
• Five major contributions to medieval law
– Organization of folk by kindred
– Holding assemblies of folk to make important decisions
– The idea of comitatus- a sworn band of followers to a
chief (early from of feudalism)
– The original Germanic settlers saw themselves as guests
in the Empire and sought to make the most of the land
rather than destroy it
– Religion- most tribes were founded in or around their
common religion
• Ulfilas- The apostle to the Goths- translated the bible into gothic
but he was Arian so the Gothic people became Arian Christians
Unsuccessful Kingdoms
• The Vandals: 1st to from, 1st to perish
– Economic reasons: they cut off supplies of corn and oil to Italy
– Religious reasons: they were Arian and were persecutors of
Catholics
– As a result, Justinian defeated them in the 6th century
• Ostrogoths: ruled in Italy under the thumb, in a sense, of the
east
– Theodoric defeated the Hun Odovacer at the request of the Zeno in
the east and ruled as a Roman and did what he could to restore it
– In exchange he was given much of the vacant lands north of Italy
which put him at odds with the Franks (Clovis).
– Justinian banned all heretics from office (Theodoric was an Arian)
and battle ensued. Ostragoths were driven out.
• Burgundians: Shortest history of all- sat between Arian
Goths and Catholic Franks
– Combined with the Franks to fight the Goths and eventually were
absorbed
More Unsuccessful
Kingdoms
• The Visigoths: Spain and Aquitane
– Nature of Kingship changed from “sacred line” to election by bishops
and nobles
– Spanish geography encouraged separatism (one group started to piss
off the Franks) Justinian and the Franks defeated them.
– Established Catholicism and tried to stamp out Arianism causing
further unrest
• The Lombards: after Justinian restored order in Italy, he was
too exhausted to maintain it so the Lombards took advantage
– They lost their kinship and were divided throughout Itay, ruled by
Dukes (one of the dukes acting as king)
– 600-774 becomes a period of struggle between 4 main powers:
Lombard King, The Byzantine Emperor, the pope, the dukes of Spoleto
and Benevento
– The fifth power was decisive: the franks who worked with the pope to
defeat the Lombards