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Vocabulary
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Charlemagne
Vikings
Curriculum
Medieval
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The Early Middle Ages
After the fall of Rome, Germanic
tribes divided Western Europe into
many small kingdoms.
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After the fall of Rome
• Invaders swept across
Europe
• Trade slowed to a trickle
• Towns emptied out
• Learning virtually ceased
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Middle Ages
• From 500 to 1000 A.D. – Europe was a
backwards place
– Cut off from civilizations of the east, China and
India
• New civilization would emerge
– Blend of Greco-Roman, Germanic and Christian
traditions
• Called ‘medieval’ from the Latin for middle
age
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Geography of Western Europe
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Resources
• Considered frontier land
– Sparsely populated
– Outskirts of civilization
• Better suited for raising crops
• Mineral resources
• Transportation for trade
– Rivers
– Sea
• Mountain streams could turn
water wheels
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The Germanic Kingdoms
• Tribes different from
the Romans
– No cities
– No written laws
– Governed by unwritten
customs
– Elected kings to lead
them
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The Franks
• Strongest kingdom to emerge
during Medieval age
• Clovis, king of the Franks,
conquered the Roman
province of Gaul
• Clovis converted to
Christianity
– Religion of the people of Gaul
Clovis
• Gained a powerful ally in the
Christian church of Rome
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Europe and the Muslim World
• Islam is born in 622 A.D.
• Muslims build an empire that stretches to
Spain from the Middle East
– Known as the Moors of Spain
• Frankish warriors turned back an Islamic
invasion of Gaul (France) in 732 B.C.
• Muslim presence was a source of anxiety
– Began a constant source of hostility
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Islamic Empire
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The Age of Charlemagne
• 800 A.D – Charlemagne
(Charles the Great) built
an empire across France,
Germany and part of Italy
• Reigned for 46 years
– Conquest reunited much of
the old Roman Empire
Charlemagne
or
Charles the Great
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A Christian Emperor
• Pope Leo III asked Charlemagne for
help with rebellious nobles
• Frankish troops crushed the
rebellion
• Pope crowned Charlemagne
Emperor of the Romans
– Revived the idea of a united Christian
community
• Outraged the Eastern Roman
Emperor
Pope Leo III
– Further divided the Christian church
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Government
• Created a united Christian Europe
– Worked with church to spread Christianity
• Missionaries converted the Saxons and Slavs
• Appointed nobles to rule over local regions
– Land in exchange for support and soldiers
• Assigned officials called missi dominici, to
administer the law
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Revival of Learning
• Charlemagne set up his capital, Aachen as a
second Rome
– Set out to revive Latin learning in his empire
• He could read but not write!
• Curriculum based on Latin learning
• Grammar, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, music, and
astronomy
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After Charlemagne
• 814 B.C – Charlemagne died and his empire
fell apart.
• His legacy:
– Extended Christian civilization into northern
Europe
– Set up strong efficient government
– Furthered the blending of Roman, German and
Christian traditions.
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Homework Questions
• How did the culture of the Germanic tribes
differ from that of the Romans?
• How did Clovis increase the power of the
Frankish Kingdoms?
• What steps did Charlemagne take to improve
government and unify his empire?
• What was the lasting legacy of Charlemagne?
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