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Bellwork
• Write down anything you know about the
Middle Ages of Europe.
World History
Middles Ages, pt. 1
Germanic Kingdoms and the
Church
Objectives
• Identify the consequences of the fall of Rome
on Europe
• Describe the role and power of the Catholic
Church in post-Rome Europe
• Describe the rise of Charlemagne and
Germanic rule
• Describe what caused a breakdown of the
Carolingian Empire
• Identify the connection between the Catholic
Church and early Germanic kingdoms.
Middle Ages
• The gradual decline of the Roman Empire
ushered in an era of European history called
the Middle Ages– or medieval period.
• This period spanned from 500 to 1500 and,
during this time, new institutions slowly
emerged to replace those of the fallen
Roman Empire.
• Unlike previous empires, however, medieval
Europe was highly fragmented.
Effect of Invasions
• By the end of the fifth
century, invaders from
many different
Germanic groups overran half of the Roman
Empire.
• Repeated invasions
and constant warfare
sparked new trends.
Effect of Invasions
• A series of changes altered the way of life of
these people:
1. Disruption of trade– merchants faced invasions
and their businesses collapsed. Economic centers
fell and money became scarce
2. Downfall of cities– cities were abandoned as
Rome fell.
3. Population shifts– as centers of trade collapse,
cities were left without leaders. Dwellers fled into
the countryside and the population of Rome
became mostly rural.
Effect of Invasions
• The Germanic invaders
who stormed Rome
could not read or write .
• Among Roman subjects
themselves, the level of
learning sank sharply as
more and more families
left for rural areas.
• Few people, including
priests and church
officials, were literate.
Effect of Invasions
• Knowledge of Greek and Roman culture was
almost lost.
Question: What groups saved Greek and Roman
culture?
– It would be because of Byzantine and Arabic
scholars that Greek and Roman scholarship would
be saved.
• Few people could still read Greek works and
the Germanic tribes, while having a rich oral
tradition of songs and stories, couldn’t share
their culture without a written language.
Effect of Invasions
• As German-speaking peoples mixed with
the Roman population, Latin changed.
• It was no longer understood from region to
region.
• Different dialects developed– by the 800’s,
new languages– French and Spanish, for
example– developed from Latin.
– These new languages mirrored the breakup of a
once unified empire.
Germanic Kingdoms
• In the years between 400
and 600, small Germanic
Kingdoms began to replace
the large empire.
• The borders continued to
change with every new war.
• The Church was the only
institution to survive the
fall of Rome.
• During this time of chaos,
most groups turned to the
Church for order and
security.
Germanic Kingdoms
• The entire concept of government changed
during this time period.
• Loyalty to public government and written
law had unified Roman society. However,
family ties and personal loyalty is what
bound German society together.
• As well, unlike the Romans, Germans lived
in small communities which were governed
by unwritten rules and traditions.
Germanic Kingdoms
• Every Germanic chief led a band of warriors
who had pledged their loyalty to him.
• In peacetime, these warriors would be fed
and protected by their chief. In battle, they
would fight to the death for him. To many, it
was a disgrace to outlive one’s chief.
– Because of these personal ties, Germanic
peoples felt no loyalty towards a king or
impersonal government. In this, settling large
territories with a orderly government became
practically impossible.
Franks
• In the Roman province
of Gaul, a Germanic
people known as the
Franks held power.
• Their leader, Clovis,
would bring
Christianity into the
region.
Franks
• Prior to Clovis, many Germanic tribes– even
those who attacked Rome– adopted
Christianity in a different form. This meant
that the Church was able to survive.
• However, Clovis was the first to accept
Catholicism.
Franks
• In 496, Clovis led his army
into battle against another
army. Fearing defeat,
Clovis is said to have
prayed to a Christian God–
a god he was introduced to
by his wife.
• After this, the tide of
battle shifted and the
Franks won.
• Afterward, Clovis and
3,000 of his warriors asked
a bishop to baptize them.
Franks
• The Church in Rome welcomed Clovis’
conversion and supported his campaigns
against other Germanic tribes.
• By 511, Clovis had united the Franks into
one kingdom.
• The strategic alliance between Clovis’
Frankish kingdom and the Church marked
a beginning of a union between two
powerful forces.
Spread of Christianity
• Politics played a key role
in spreading
Christianity.
• By 600, the Church
converted many
Germanic peoples and
new converts had settled
in Rome’s former lands.
• Missionaries succeeded
in spreading
Christianity.
Spread of Christianity
• Missionaries, who risked their lives
spreading their faith, worked among the
Germanic and Celtic groups that bordered
the Roman Empire.
• In Southern Europe, missionaries were
successful in converting people who feared
coastal attacks by Muslim groups.
Spread of Christianity
• To adapt to rural
conditions, the Church
built religious
communities known as
monasteries.
• There, Christian men
called monks gave up
their possessions and
became servants to God.
• Nuns, women who
followed this lifestyle,
lived in convents.
Spread of Christianity
• In 520, Benedict– an Italian monk- began
writing a book which set strict but practical
rules for monks and nuns.
• These guidelines became the model for
many other religious communities.
• The guidelines described that monks and
nuns must emphasize a life of work and
study and must devote themselves to prayer
and good works.
Spread of Christianity
• Monasteries also
became Europe's besteducated communities.
• Monks opened schools,
maintained libraries,
and copied books.
• Many of the books and
manuscripts produced
became the best
preserved pieces of
Rome’s intellectual
heritage.
Spread of Christianity
• In 590, Gregory I became Pope.
• As head of the Church in Rome, Gregory
broadened the authority of the papacy–
pope’s office.
• Under Gregory, the papacy became a
secular– or worldly– power involved in
politics.
Spread of Christianity
• Gregory made the Pope’s
palace the center of
Roman government. He
used Church revenues to
raise armies, repair roads,
and help the poor.
• He also negotiated a peace
treaty with invaders.
• Gregory had practically
become the mayor of
Rome--- and his power
had begun to extend
beyond the city’s
boundaries.
Spread of Christianity
• According to Gregory, the entire region
from Italy to England, and from Spain to
western Germany or Western Europe fell
under his responsibility.
• He wanted to strengthen the vision of
Christendom. For him, it was a spiritual
kingdom that fanned out from Rome to the
most distant Churches.
Spread of Christianity
• The idea of a churchly kingdom, ruled by a
pope, was a central theme of the Middle
Ages.
• Meanwhile, more secular rulers set their
sights on expanding their own political
kingdoms.
Kingdoms
• After the Roman Empire
dissolved, small
kingdoms sprang up
throughout Europe.
• The Franks controlled
the largest and strongest
of them all– the Roman
province Gaul.
– The Franks first Christian
king, Clovis, established
foundations for this
kingdom.
Kingdoms
• By the time Clovis died
in 511, he had extended
his rule over most of
what is now France.
• Clovis greatly
strengthened the
Merovingian Dynasty,
which he named after
his ancestor.
The Merovingian Kingdoms–
making up much of present day
France and Germany- were all part of
the larger Dynasty and each was
ruled by a member of the family.
Kingdoms
• By 700, an official who was known as the
mayor of the palace became the most
powerful official in the kingdom.
– Officially, the mayor could control royal
households and estates.
– Unofficially, he could command the army and
make policy.
– In this, the mayor ruled the kingdom.
Kingdoms
• In 719, a mayor of the palace known as
Charles Martel (Charles the Hammer) held
more power than the king. He extended the
Franks reign to the north, south, and east.
He also defeated a Muslim raiding party in
Spain.
• The battle was significant, as it halted
Muslim invasion into Europe.
Kingdoms
• At his death, Charles
Martel passed his power
to his son, Pepin the
Short.
• Pepin wanted to be king
and shrewdly
cooperated with the
pope. On behalf of the
Church, Pepin agreed to
fight the Lombards, a
Germanic group
threatening central Italy
and Rome.
Kingdoms
• In exchange, the pope anointed Pepin “king
by the grace of God.”
• This appointment began the reign of
Frankish rulers known as the Carolingian
Dynasty, which ruled from 751 to 987.
– Since the Carolingians (Pepin) had the support
of the pope, the last king of the Merovingian
Dynasty was essentially pushed out of his role
and replaced.
Kingdoms
• Pepin the Short died in 768.
• He left a strong Frankish kingdom to his
two sons, Carloman and Charles.
• After Carloman’s death in 771, Charles–
known as Charlemagne (Shar-lah-mayn),
seized control of the entire kingdom.
Kingdoms
• Charlemagne was an
imposing figure and
built an empire greater
than any known since
Rome.
• Each summer,
Charlemagne led his
armies against the
enemies around his
kingdom.
– He fought Muslims and
tribes throughout the
lands.
Kingdoms
• Through these conquests, he spread
Christianity.
• He reunited western Europe for the first
time since the Roman Empire. By 800, his
empire exceeded the size of the Byzantine
Empire.
– It included France, parts of Spain, most of Italy,
and most of Germany.
Kingdoms
• Charlemagne had
become the most
powerful king in
western Europe.
• In 800, he went to Rome
to crush an unruly mob
that had attacked the
pope.
• In gratitude, Pope Leo
III crowned him
emperor.
• The coronation was
historic.
Charlemagne being crowned Emperor
Government
• The pope, in giving title
of “Roman Emperor” to
Charlemagne,
unintentionally gave
himself the power to
declare who the
Emperor of Rome was.
• In this event, it signaled
the joining of Germanic
power, the church, and
the heritage of Rome.
Government
• Charlemagne strengthened his royal power
by limiting the power of nobles.
• To govern his empire, he sent out royal
agents who ensured that landholders–
“counts”– governed their counties justly.
• He also regularly visited every part of his
kingdom.
Government
• Charlemagne also judged cases, settled
disputes, and rewarded faithful followers.
• He also kept a close watch on the
management of his huge estates, for they
were the source of Carolingian wealth and
power.
Cultural Revival
• One of Charlemagne’s
greatest achievements was
the encouragement of
learning.
• He surrounded himself with
English, German, Italian,
and Spanish scholars.
• For his many sons and
daughters– and other
children of the court– he
opened a palace school. He
also ordered monasteries to
open schools that trained
future monks and priests.
Cultural Revival
• Under Charlemagne, monasteries expanded
their libraries. Monks labored to make
handwritten copies of Latin books in
various languages.
• However, this rise of power and glory under
Charlemagne would not last.
Death
• A year before
Charlemagne’s death
in 814, he crowned his
only surviving son,
Louis the Pious, as
emperor.
• Louis was devoutly
religious.
– In this, he might have
been a good monk, but
was a poor ruler.
Louis the Pious
• Louis left his empire to
three sons– Lothair,
Charles the Bald, and
Louis the German.
• Louis’ sons fought one
another for the
empire. The civil war
ended in 843 when the
brothers signed the
Treaty of Verdun.
Question: What do you think will
happen to the unity of the
empire?
• The Treaty of Verdun
broke the empire into
three kingdoms.
• After this treaty, the
Carolingian kings lost
power as central
authority broke
down.
• Without a central
authority and a lack
of strong rulers,
Europe would have to
come to form a new
system of governing
and landholding.
Treaty of Verdun
Closure
• With this lesson in mind, how would you
say Europe changed following the fall of
Rome?
Review Objectives
• Identify the consequences of the fall of Rome
on Europe
• Describe the role and power of the Catholic
Church in post-Rome Europe
• Describe the rise of Charlemagne and
Germanic rule
• Describe what caused a breakdown of the
Carolingian Empire
• Identify the connection between the Catholic
Church and early Germanic kingdoms.
Question
• If you have any questions, please ask now
Next Lesson
• In the next lesson, we will be getting into
the Rise of Feudalism and Chivalry
Reading Review
Please read the following
article,” How
Charlemagne Changed
the World” and answer
the questions on the
paper.