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Post-Classical Era
500-1000 CE (Unit 3)
[CHAPTER 17]
Foundations of Christian Society in Western Europe
I
EARLY MEDIEVAL W EUROPE (500-1000 CE)
Background
- “Middle Age” “Dark Age”
- Early Medieval Europe time of recovery
o Fall of Rome
o Invasions
- Political Disunity
o No centralized authority
o Local & regional rulers
o No Germanic state possess military &
economic resources to dominate others
o Lack social & political organization to
create centralized rule
- Disengaged hemispheric trade & exchange
o 900s after effective political authority &
productive agricultural economy – trade
 Increase land under cultivation
 New tools & techniques
o No large cities
o No powerful industry
- Christianity
o Main basis of cultural unity & authority
GERMANIC SUCCESSOR STATES
Background
- Late 400s Germanic invaders end Roman empire
o 476 CE Germanic general Odoacer depose
last W Roman emperor
 WRE did not immediately
disappear
 Provincial governors continue rule
 Roman bureaucrats & tax collectors
aid governors
 Roman generals continue army
o 400s-700s continued invasions & conflicts
o W Europe in shambles
 Declining population
 Invasions & conflicts over power
disrupt trade & economy
- Visigoths (Late 470s-Early 700s)
o Conquer Spain
o Survive until Muslim invasions in early 700s
- Ostrogoths (400s-530s)
o Dominate Italy
o Justinian reassert imperial authority 530s
- Lombards (Mid500s-Mid700s)
o Byzantine departure of Italy leave power
vacuum – Lombards take over
o No centralized monarchy
- Burgundians (Mid 400s
o Gaul, S & E Europe
- Franks (Mid 400s-early 800s)
o N & W Europe
o Temporarily restore imperial authority
o Profound influence on dev. of W Europe
o Did not participate in commercial world but
drew on agricultural resources of Europe
o Help develop decentralized political
institutions that last over millennium
o Firm alliance w/ W Christian church ensure Roman Christian cultural & religious
primacy
o Fall victim to internal power struggles
- Angles & Saxons
o From Germany & Denmark
o Cross English Channel & dominate Britain
as regional kingdoms
- Late 800s new invasions
o Muslims, Hungarian Magyars, Vikings
- Return to local/regional authorities
Impact of WRE
- Germanic ppl replace authority & insitutions of WRE
- Absorb much of Roman empire
o Many convert to Christianity
o Adapt Roman law
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Post-Classical Era
500-1000 CE (Unit 3)
[CHAPTER 17]
Foundations of Christian Society in Western Europe
I
FRANKS: MEROVINGIAN DYNASTY (Mid 400s – 751)
Background
- Little experience in govt.
- Little exposure to Roman society
- Since 200s ancestors live in Roman boundaries but
few convert to Christianity
- 200s develop group identity much later than other
Germanic states
- 400s strong military & political leader emerge
Clovis (481-511 CE)
- 486 Clovis wipe out last vestiges of Rome in Gaul
- Franks become most powerful state in W Europe
- Conversion
o Franks rapid rise due to Clovis’
conversion
 Most Franks polytheists
 Many Germanic invaders settled
and convert to Arian Christianity
 Both Rome & Constantinople
condemn Arians as heretics
 Most Franks pagans before Clovis
conversion to Roman Christianity
 Clovis’ conversion due to influence
of Christian wife Clotilda
o Political Implications of Conversion
 Attract allegiance of Christian
population of former WRE
 Support from pope
 Alliance w/ church strengthen
Franks
Decline (Early 700s)
- Clovis death
o Frankish kings lose much authority
o Aristocratic warriors seize control
o Rule Frankish kingdom until early 700s
FRANKS: CAROLINGIAN DYNASTY (751-987 CE)
Background
- Carolingians displace line of Clovis
- Frankish aristocratic clan
Charles Martel
- “Charles the Hammer”
- Founder of dynasty
o Never serve as king of the Franks
o Serve as deputy to last Clovis’s descendants
- Military prowess
- 732 Battle of Tours
o Turned back Muslim army from recently
conquered Spain by N African Muslims
o Martel’s victory persuade Muslim rulers of
Spain to cease further conquests in W
Europe
- 751 Charles’s son claim throne
Charlemagne (768-814 CE)
- Background
o “Charles the Great”
o Temporary reestablishment of central
authority
o Enormous energy – empire personal
accomplishment
o Barely literate but very intelligent
o Capital at Aachen
o Diplomatic relations w/ Byzantine &
Abbasid
- Imperial realm & Conquest
o Most of France, Belgium, Netherlands, SW
Germany, NE Spain, Bavaria, Italy
o 32 yr military campaign to impose rule on
Saxons of N Germany & repress rebellions
o Rulers in E Europe & S Italy pay tribute
- Politics
o Constant travel
 Necessary due to lack of financial
resources to maintain elaborate
bureaucracy
o Counts
 Relied on aristocratic deputies
 Hold local political, military, legal
authority
 Sometimes ambition led to pursuit
of policies contrary to imperial
authority
o Missi Domnici
 “envoys of the lord ruler”
 New group of imperial officials
sent to keep check on counts
 Travel every year to all local
jurisdictions to review accounts of
local authorities
- Coronation (800 CE)
o Hesitate to call himself emperor
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Post-Classical Era
500-1000 CE (Unit 3)
[CHAPTER 17]
Foundations of Christian Society in Western Europe
I
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Direct challenge to Byzantine
authority
Byzantine emperors saw
themselves as sole legitimate
successors of Roman empire
800 Pope Leo III proclaim
Charlemagne emperor
Coronation public recognition of
Charlemagne’s accomplishments
Decline
- Internal Pressures
o Louis the Pious (814-840 CE)
 Charlemagne’s only surviving son
 Lack strong will & military skills
 Lose control of counts & local
officials
 Before Louis’s death 3 sons dispute
over inheritance – bitter wars
o 843 Louis 3 sons divide empire in roughly
equal portions
- External Pressures
o Late 800s 3 groups of invaders pillage
Frankish realm
o Muslims (Mid 800s-Late 900s)
 S Europe, Mediterranean
 Seize Sicily, S Italy, S France
o Magyars (Late 800s-Mid 900s)
 Descendants of nomads of C Asia
settled in Hungary
 Expert horsemen – raid Germany,
Italy, S France
o Vikings (790s-900s)
 Background
 From Norway & Denmark
 Raids in N France during
Charlemagne
 Most feared of all invaders
 Most merchants or
migrants seeking land to
cultivate
 Some use maritime skills
for raiding & plunder
 Term originally from
group raiding British Isles
from home at Vik – later
loosely used for all Norse
mariners
 Causes of Norse Expansion
 Reflect pop. growth as
result of agriculture in
Scandinavia
 Possible lashing out
against Christian
missionaries
o
Principle cause – quest for
wealth through trading &
raiding Carolingian
empire & neighbors
 Maritime Skills (600s-700s)
 Remarkable shipbuilding
techniques & sea skills
 Rugged boats outfitted w/
sails – travel safely in
open ocean
 Shallow draft boats cross
heavy seas & also
navigate internal rivers
 Coordinate ships’
movements and time
attacks to advantage of
tides
 Overseas Settlements
 Shetland Islands
 Faeroes
 Iceland
 Greenland
 1000 CE colonies in
Newfoundland, N
America
 By 1500s cooling global
climate – colonies
disappear
 Viking Invasions
 790s First Vikings attack
unprotected monasteries
 Mount larger more daring
raids
 Large scale of hundreds of
fleets
 W Europe, Mediterranean,
Constantinople
 Carolingian Response
 No navy
 No protection for
vulnerable sites
 Defense rest on local
forces to respond rapidly
After 800s regional & local authority
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Post-Classical Era
500-1000 CE (Unit 3)
[CHAPTER 17]
Foundations of Christian Society in Western Europe
I
REGIONAL AUTHORITIES AFTER CAROLINGIANS
Background
- Fall of Carolingian empire
- Regional kingdoms in response to Viking invasions
England
- Bore brunt of initial Viking attacks
- Viking invasions prompt small kingdoms established
by earlier Angles, Saxons & other Germanic ppl to
merge into single larger realm
- King Alfred (871-899 CE)
o Expand base in S England to N held by
Danish invaders
o Built navy to challenge Vikings
o Fortresses on land
o Mid 900s successors establish themselves as
kings of all England
Germany
- Carolingians unable to prevent Magyar invasions
- Local lords take over
- King Otto I of Saxony (936-973 CE)
o Most successful lord in fighting the Magyars
o 955 Magyar defeat end threat
o Impose authority over all Germany
o 2 armies into Italy to support papacy against
Lombards
o 962 Otto’s coronation as Holy Roman
Emperor – imperial title last until 1800s
o Kingdom rather than empire
France
- Effective local rule
o Counts & official withdraw alliance to
Carolingians or other central authorities
o Vikings settle in N France – small
independent states
o 900s power of local authorities encourage
decentralization
o Establish stable political order & end
invasions
COMPLEXITY
Feudalism
- Political & social order of Medieval Europe
- Local political & military elites use ad hoc ways to
organize territory & maintain order in absence of
central authority
Social Hierarchy
- King or emperor
- Lords or Nobility
o After Carolingian – decentralized society
 Protect lands
 Maintain public order in times of
invasions/weak central authority
 Nominal allegiance to higher
authority (most often Carolingian
king descended from Louis the
Pious)
o Administration
 Became increasingly independent
& enhance own authority
 Collect rents & fees
 Administer local affairs
 Decide legal disputes
 Mobilize armed forces
o Military
 Built military/political relations w/
other prominent individuals in
territory
 Drew on military talent starting
later WRE and early Frankish
kingdom
 Private armies by attracting
retainers into service for land or
money
- Retainers
o Serve lords as military officers
o 800s-900s revive practice after fall of
Carolingian empire
o Grants by lords enable retainers to
support family - more time for service
rather than domestic tasks
 Usually grants parcels of land
 Right to income generated by mill
 Right to receive rents or payments
from a village
 Payment of money
 Resources to maintain horses
 Expensive military equipment,
armor, weapons
o Exchange
 Loyalty, obedience, respect,
counsel & military service
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Post-Classical Era
500-1000 CE (Unit 3)
[CHAPTER 17]
Foundations of Christian Society in Western Europe
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o
o
Stronger Relations
 Rights over land
 Pass down land as inheritance
o Growing power
 Land ownership make retainers
responsible for organization of
local public works, resolution of
disputes, administer justice
 Increasingly lords & retainers
merge into hereditary noble class
o Complications
 Complex web of relationships
between multiple lords & retainers
 Retainers w/ many retainers of their
own may pursue own interests
 Tight control & monitoring of
retainers necessary
- Serfs & Slaves
o Most of population in W Europe
o Serfs - semi-free peasants
o Slaves & serfs work on same agricultural
tasks
o Frequent intermarrying among serfs &
slaves
o Serf Rights
 Right to work certain lands
 Pass rights to heirs
o Serf Obligations
 Labor services
 Males – 3 days/wk –
additional labor during
planting/harvesting
 Women – churn butter,
make cheese, brew beer,
spun thread, wove cloth,
sewing, keep cattle
 Payment of rent
 Portion of harvest,
livestock
 Delivered at specified
times in a year
 Limitations
 Landlords provide land,
tools & animals
 Little opportunity to move
to different lands
 Move only w/ permission
by lord
 Pay fees for right to marry
a serf of a different lord
Agriculture
- Background
o Economic activity slower than in other
regions
-
-
-
Agriculture suffer due to invasions by
Germanic ppl, Magyars, Muslims, Vikings
o Decay of urban centers diminish industry
o 900s begin economic recovery after political
stability
Rural Society
o Agricultural surplus not sufficient to support
cities
o Medieval Europe mostly rural
o Little commerce
o Manors & local communities produce most
manufactured goods
o Towns sparsely populated
Manors
o Early middle ages serfdom encourage dev.
of manors
o By Carolingian, manors dominate
 France, W Germany, Low
Countries, S England, N Italy
o Manor principle form of agricultural org.
 Large estates
 Largely self-sufficient communities
 Limited industry & crafts
 Serfs bound to estates
 Lord of manor prominent political
or military figure
 Provide govt. admin.
police, justice
 Deputies maintain order,
investigate, determine
resolution
 Many lords right to
execute serfs for serious
crimes
Technology
o Agricultural tools of classical Mediterranean
didn’t transfer well in heavy moist soils of N
Europe
o Heavy Plows
 After 700s iron plows w/ mouldboard turn soil to aerate thoroughly
 Break up root network of weeds
 Known as early as 100 CE but not
used until Carolingian era
 More expensive & require energy
to pull – hitched to oxen & draft
horses – increased agriculture
o Organized Public Works
 Clear new lands under direction of
lords
 Construction of water mills –
renewable source of inanimate
energy – free humans/animals for
other work
o Special Horse Collar
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Post-Classical Era
500-1000 CE (Unit 3)
[CHAPTER 17]
Foundations of Christian Society in Western Europe
I
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o
Trade
-
-
Rely less on slow-moving oxen
Speedier horses – increase
cultivated land
New methods of crop rotation
 Cultivate land more intensively
Trade did not entirely disappear
Local markets & fairs for small scale exchange
Mediterranean
o Maritime trade flourish despite Muslim
conquests in Medit.
o Christian merchants of Italy & Spain
regularly trade w. Muslims
o 1000 CE end of early Medieval era food
crops spread throughout Medit. Europe
o W Europe not as prominent as E Europe
Norse Merchant Mariners
o Maritime trade flourish in N Sea and Baltic
o Norse seafarers one of most active
merchants of Medieval period
o Back and forth between plunder & trade
o Ports from Russia to Ireland
o Travel through Russian rivers to Black Sea
o Active trade w/ Byzantine & Abbasid
o Brought silver from Abbasid & trade w/
Carolingians
 Principle source of bullion used for
minting coins
 Crucial for W Europe
CHRISTIANITY IN WESTERN EUROPE
Background
- Before Clovis
o After fall of WRE, Christianity principal
authority
o N Europe (Gaul/Germany/British
Isles/Scandinavia) attracted little converts
o Some Germanic invaders convert to Arian
Christianity
- Clovis’s conversion
o One of most important dev. in early middle
ages was conversion of W Europe to Roman
Catholicism
o Franks, popes & monasteries play key roles
in conversion
o Inherit crucial elements of classical Roman
society: Latin language & institution of
church
Politics of Conversion
- Advantages of Clovis’s Conversion
o Won support by church hierarchy
o
Support by Christian population of former
Roman empire
o Alliance w/ church give access to educated
literate individuals for political service
o Scribes, secretaries, record keepers come
from ranks of churchmen – very few others
educated
- Franks & Church
o Hallmark of Franks – deep commitment to
Roman Christianity
o Carolingians – Protectors of the Papacy
 Military campaigns to destroy
Lombards who threatened popes &
Rome since 500s
 Bring C & N Italy into empire
 Exchange for military & political
support, Carolingians receive
backing from popes and legitimate
title to imperial throne
 Charlemagne spread Christianity in
N Europe
Spread of Christianity: Carolingians
- Education
o Charlemagne encourage Christianity
through education
o School at Aachen
 Most prominent scholars
 Correct texts
 Copies of Bible
 Copies of Latin literature
 Taught Christian doctrine
 Prepare careers as priests or church
officials
o Order monasteries to establish schools
 Advanced instruction available in
large monasteries
 Prepare for priesthood of high
ecclesiastical positions
 Some have libraries & scriptoria
where monks copy classical
literature & philosophy
 Latin literature survive due to
copies made by medieval monks
o Persuade village priests to teach for free in
reading & writing – not successful
o Increased literacy in Latin & popular
understanding of doctrine
o Explosion of writing
- Military Expansion
o Spread Christianity by force
o 772-804 campaign against Saxons of N
Germany – violent resistance
 Saxons eventually adopt
Christianity
o Paganism didn’t disappear
 Continue for several centuries
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Post-Classical Era
500-1000 CE (Unit 3)
[CHAPTER 17]
Foundations of Christian Society in Western Europe
I
 Esp. in out of the way areas
 Scandinavia resist until 1000
- Christianity eventually won allegiance of W Europe
Papacy in W Europe
- Background
o Papacy benefit from support by Franks and
strong papal leadership
o Papacy survive as spiritual authority after
fall of WR
o Cooperate w/ Byzantine church for 100 yrs
o Late 500s popes act more independently &
strengthen W Christian church w/ base at
Rome
o 1054 Great Schism – split between Roman
Catholic & Eastern Orthodox church
- Pope Gregory I (590-604 CE)
o “Gregory the Great”
o Most important figure in Roman church for
sense of direction
 Strengthen church by extending its
appeal in winning converts
o Challenges
 Late 500s Lombards consolidate
hold on Italy, menace Rome &
church
 Organize local resources
for defense against
Lombards
 Bishops act independently of the
pope – reassert papal primacy
 Bishop of Rome ultimate
authority in Christian
church
o Theology
 Emphasize sacrament of penance –
require confession of sins – atone
for sins by penitential acts
prescribed by priests
 Sacrament of penance increase
influence of the Roman church
o Missionaries
 Most effective missionaries were
monks
 Gregory himself was a monk
 Most important missionary
campaign was to Angles, Saxons &
others in England
Monasticism in WE
- Background
o Christian monasticism begin in Egypt
 100-200 CE devout Christians seek
ascetic holy lives in deserts of
Egypt
o 300s Monasticism become popular once
Christianity becomes legal
o
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-
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Early days monasteries develop own rules,
procedures & priorities
 Some demand extremely strict
lifestyles
 Some didn’t establish clear
expectations – monks waste time
and move from one monastery to
another
o Many forms of monasticism
o Benedictine monasticism most prominent
St. Benedict of Nursia (480-547 CE)
o Strengthen early monastic movement
o Provide discipline & sense of prpose
o 529 Rule
 Rules for his monastery at Monte
Cassino
 Did not permit extreme asceticism
 Require monks to take vows to lead
communal celibate lives under
absolute direction of the abbot
 Poverty, chastity & obedience
prime virtues
 Spend time - prayer, meditation,
work
 Monasteries throughout Europe
adopt the Rule as standard code of
conduct
St. Scholastica (482-543 CE)
o St. Benedict’s sister
o Adapted the Rule to apply to religious life of
women
Cultural Dominance
o After stability of Benedictine monasticism,
monasteries become dominant feature of life
o Social Services
 Provide order in countryside
 Serve as orphanage
 Medical treatment
 Set up schools
 Preserve Latin literature
 Talented individuals provide
crucial admin. service for govt.
 Missions
 Preach Christianity
 Tend to spiritual needs of rural
 Offer only opportunity to
participate in religious activity
o Expand agricultural production
 Teams of monks & serfs clear
forests, drain swamps, prepare land
for cultivation
 Organize labor that expanding
agriculture in medieval Europe
o Accumulate large landholdings
 Authority over serfs in their lands
7
Post-Classical Era
500-1000 CE (Unit 3)
[CHAPTER 17]
Foundations of Christian Society in Western Europe
I
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Wealthy individuals contribute land
to monasteries
8