Download The early medieval states in West and Central Europe

Lesson 3.
The early medieval states in West and Central Europe
Learning tasks: by completing this unit of study, the student will be able to:
 Identify and retain the most important moments of the evolution of
the early medieval states of Western and Central Europe between the
5 th century and the 11th century: the Ostrogothic Kingdom; the
Langobard Kingdom; the Visigothic Kingdom; the Vandal Kingdom;
the Frankish State (The Frankish Kingdom; The Carolingian Empire)
and the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.
1. The Ostrogothic Kingdom
The Ostrogoths domination in Italy lasted more than half a century
(493-554).
The Ostrogothic Kingdom encompassed the central and northern Italy,
northwestern Balkans and Pannonia. In 497 was reached the agreement
between Theoderic the Great (493-526) and Emperor Anastasius, in which
Theodoric was recognized as king of the Ostrogoths and empowered of the
Eastern Roman Empire to Italy with the rank of patrician and supreme
commander. But, in reality Theoderic led Italy as a real sovereign. In 523
takes place a conspiracy of the Roman nobility, in conjunction with the
Eastern Roman Empire. Three years later, Theoderic dies and as leader of the
Ostrogothic kingdom followed his daughter Amalasuntha, who held the
power during the nonage period of her son. Between 526 and 535 have
increased clashes between the groups of pro-Roman and anti-Roman
Ostrogothic aristocracy, which led to the weakening of royal authority and
the Ostrogothic Kingdom.
Between the fourth decade and the six decade of the sixth century,
during the reign of the Emperor Justinian (527-565), the Eastern Roman
Empire started the actions to the reconquest of the provinces of the West
Roman Empire, in order to restore the unity of the Roman Empire. On the eve
of the reconquest, in the Ostrogothic Kingdom the Roman nobility and the
Catholic Church continued to maintain secret relations with the Eastern
Roman Empire.
The war between the Byzantines and the Ostrogoths took place over
three stages:
Daniel Flaut, Introduction in Medieval History



In the first stage of the war (535-541), the Roman armies have
achieved significant successes occupying Dalmatia, Sicily, the Italian
Peninsula up to Pad, including Rome and Ravenna.
In the second stage (541-552), Baduila (Totila) (541-552),
the
penultimate king of the Ostrogoths, took measures to weaken the
position of the great Roman landowners who sustained Justinian's
reconquest efforts and to attract the masses of free peasants, settlers
and slaves.
In the last stage of the war (552-562), the Eastern Roman Empire
armies defeated remnants of the Ostrogothic army and retook the
entire Italy. Thus, Justinian put an end to an ephemeral existence of
the Ostrogothic Kingdom.
*
2. The Langobard Kingdom
The Langobards, a tribe originally from the Lower Elbe region, settled
in the middle of the sixth century in Pannonia. In the spring of 568, under the
reign of the king Alboin (ca. 560-572), they have left their settlements from
Pannonia, because of the Avars, and were established in Italy.
At the beginning of the seventh century, after several wars, was done a
condominium of power between Langobards and Byzantines. The Byzantines
possessed the Exarchate of Ravenna, the Duchies of Istria, Venice, Genoa,
Pentapolis, Rome and Naples, while the Langobards controlled Northern,
Central and a part of Southern Italy. The Langobard conquest was
accompanied by the destructions and confiscation of the properties of the
Roman nobility. In the Langobard Kingdom, the political power belonged to
the king and the Langobard aristocracy. The papacy asks for help to Franks
under the conditions in which the kings of the Langobards wanted to annex
the papal territories from Italy. In 754 and 756, Pepin the Short, the king of the
Franks (752-768), defeated the Langobards and forced them to cede to the
Pope the Exarchate of Ravenna, thus forming the Pontifical State. In 772, the
siege of Rome led by Desiderius, the king of the Langobards (756-774),
occasioned a last intervention of the Franks.
Thus in 773 and 774 Charlemagne besieged and conquered Pavia and
then he annexed the Langobards Kingdom to the Kingdom of the Franks.
*
3. The Visigothic Kingdom
Until the beginning of the sixth century, the Visigothic Kingdom
encompassed southern and central Gaul and most of the Iberian Peninsula.
After the Franks conquered central and southern Gaul (507-508) in the
possession of the Visigoths remained only Spain, except its northwestern
2
Daniel Flaut, Introduction in Medieval History
region, where had been set, since the beginning of the fifth century, the Suebic
Kingdom and Septimania, a region of coast from southern Gaul. In this way,
the Visigothic kingdom was transformed from a Gallo-Hispanic Kingdom,
with its capital at Toulouse, into an almost Iberian Kingdom, with the capital
at Sevilla and then in Toledo. After the defeat at the Battle of Vouillé (507) the
Visigothic Kingdom went into decline. Taking advantage of the internal
struggles from the Visigothic Kingdom the armies of the Eastern Roman
Empire occupied southeastern Spain, with the cities Cordoba and Cartagena
(550-554). At the beginning of the eighth century, the Moors from North
Africa broke in Spain, they defeated the Visigoth army (June 711) and in a
few years they conquered almost the entire Iberian Peninsula, which
remained under the Arab rule for several hundred years.
*
4. The Vandal Kingdom
In the first decades of the sixth century, the Vandal Kingdom from
northwest Africa was weakened by clashes between groups of the vandals
aristocracy, the Roman nobility conspiracies and by the attacks of the Berber
tribes on the kingdom borders. The army of the Eastern Roman Empire
landed in northern Africa and defeated the Vandals near Carthage, in the
autumn of 533, in the battles of Ad Decimum and Tricamarum. In the spring of
534, the imperial army occupied the entire Vandal Kingdom, Sardinia, Corsica
and the Balearic Islands.
*
5. The Frankish State
a) The Frankish Kingdom
In the late fifth century and at early sixth century the Frankish
kingdom was established under the Merovingian dynasty. Later, the Franks
conquered Thuringia (531) and Burgundy (532-534) and took advantage of the
difficulties of the Ostrogothic Kingdom, at war with the Byzantine Empire,
forcing the Ostrogoths to cede Provence. By the middle of the sixth century,
the Franks imposed their domination over the Saxons, the Bavarians and the
Suebi, thus becoming the strongest and most extended Kingdom from the
Western Europe. At the death of the King Chlodovec (481-511), his four sons
divided the French state into four separate kingdoms, then regrouped into
three kingdoms, Neustria, Austrasia and Burgundy. Under the conditions of
decay of the royal authority, the effective power was exercised by the mayors
of the palace, who represented especially the interests of the great aristocracy
of the palace. In the last decades of the seventh century, an important role had
the Arnulfing mayors of Austrasia and especially Pepin II of Herstal (680-714).
In 715, after the death of Pepin II of Herstal, mayor of Austrasia became his
3
Daniel Flaut, Introduction in Medieval History
son, Charles Martel (715-741). He restored the unity of the Frankish kingdom
and through the victory gained over the Arabs at Poitiers (732), stopped the
Arab expansion to the north of the Pyrenees. His son, the mayor Pepin the
Short (741-751) replaced the Merovingian dynasty with the Carolingian
dynasty.
b) The Carolingian Empire
In November 751, with the support of the Pope, Pepin the Short
convoked at Soissons a meeting of the high prelates and the aristocracy which
deposed the last Merovingian king Childeric III and elected Pepin the Short as
King (751-768).
His son, Charlemagne (768-814)co nducted several campaigns of
conquest. After the campaign of 773-774 from Italy, he incorporated the
Longobard Kingdom in the Frankish kingdom. In 778, taking advantage of
internal struggles from Spain, Charlemagne undertook an expedition to the
south of the Pyrenees, but the failure from Zaragoza forced him to retreat.
During withdrawal, the Frankish rearguard, led by Hruotland, the prefect of
Brittany, was destroyed in the Roncevaux defile. Following the new
expeditions, made between 785-812, Charlemagne conquered north east of
Spain, with Barcelona, which was under the Arabs domination, and created
the Spanish March. After an almost uninterrupted war, between 772 and 804,
Charlemagne annexed Saxony. Between 791 and 797, the Franks organized
several expeditions against the Avars, who had their dominion center in
Pannonia. Following the defeat of the Avars, a part of the territories ruled by
them were filled, forming the nucleus of the Eastern March (the future
Austria). Following these conquests, at the end of the eighth century, the
French state included Gaul, northern and central Italy and northeastern Spain
and vast territories from the east of the Rhine. On 800, December 25th , when
Charlemagne arrived in Rome, the Pope crowned him as Roman Emperor.
“Renovatio Romani Imperii” was only a nominal restoration of the Roman
Empire. The new empire was actually the Frankish Carolingian Empire, a
continuation of the Merovingian Frankish kingdom. During the
Charlemagne's successor, Louis the Pious (814-840) and to the Louis sons have
been weakening and dismantling of the Carolingian Empire. After a period of
dynastic struggles in which clashed Louis the Pious and his sons Lothair, Pepin
and Louis the German (830-840) and then his sons Lothair, Charles the Bald and
Louis the German (840-843), they decided the division of the empire of
Charlemagne.
By the Treaty of Verdun (843), the Carolingian Empire was divided into
three separate states. Lothair I (Louis' eldest surviving son) became the ruler
of the Middle Frankish Kingdom (or Middle Francia), known as King of the
Central or Middle Franks; Louis the German (Louis' second son) became King
of the East Frankish Kingdom (or East Francia); Charles the Bald (Louis' third
4
Daniel Flaut, Introduction in Medieval History
son) became the ruler of the West Frankish Kingdom (or West Francia). The
principle of the unity of the empire continued to maintain, theoretically, by
holding the title of Emperor by Lothair. Nevertheless, Lothair I don't have an
effective authority over his two brothers, but only an honorary precedence.
For a short time, a restoration of the unity of the Carolingian Empire was
made by Charles the Fat. Between 876 and 884 he unified Germany, Italy and
Western Francia and reigned as emperor between 884 and 888. His
dethronement (888) ended the last attempt to restore of the unity of the
Carolingian Empire. The three branches of the Carolingian dynasty gradually
faded: in Italy and Lotharingia in 875, in Germany in 911 and in France in 987.
*
6. The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms
Under the name of Anglo-Saxon are included the Germanic tribes from
Holstein, Schleswig and Jutland which in the second half of the fifth century
started to migrate to Britain. Withdrawal of the Roman administration and
army from Britain in 407, facilitated their penetration in Britain.
The penetration of the Anglo-Saxons in Britain took place in two main
stages and resulted in the formation of several kingdoms:
 In the first phase, between 449 and 519, were established the following
kingdoms: Kent, Sussex, Wessex and East-England. The victory of the
Celts, who were led by their legendary King Arthur, in the Battle of
Mons Badonicus (520) was followed by termination, for nearly three
decades, of the Anglo-Saxon attacks.
 In the second stage of the conquest (552-600) were formed the
kingdoms of Mercia, Essex and Northumberland. The Celts who was not
subjected were pushed to the west and north, in Wales, Devon,
Cornwall, Cumbria and Scotland, where they continued to fight. A
large number of Celts migrated to the mainland and they settled in the
province of Armorica (Brittany).
The existence of Heptarchy has made Northumbria, Kent, Mercia and
Wessex to fight to primacy and the battles result was the unification of
territorial under one Bretwalda (the ruler of Britain).
Wessex imposed the real suzerainty in 823, during the reign of King
Egbert (802-839). In 827, after conquered East-England, Mercia and
Northumberland, Egbert took the title of "King of the Angles''. In 837, Egbert
rejected a Danish army.
In 871, his nephew, Alfred the Great (871-899) had several battles, the
last one, at Askdown, assured him the crown of the kingdom of Wessex.
Later, Alfred the Great was forced to cede East-England, Mercia and
Northumberland to the Danish but Wessex retained the independence. In 955
5
Daniel Flaut, Introduction in Medieval History
the unity of England was restored and Edgar the Peacemaker (955-975) took the
title of "Emperor of the entire England''.
In the eleventh century (1013), England fall under the Danish
dominion, being included in the empire of Cnut the Great (1013-1035). In 1042,
England removed the Danish dominion and Edward the Confessor was elected
king (1042-1066).
*
Homework
Elaborate an essay with the title: Charlemagne: Father of a Continent
References:
 Barbero, Alessandro, Charlemagne: Father of a Continent, translated by Allan
Cameron, Berkeley, University of California Press, 2004.
 Becher, Matthias, Charlemagne, translated by David S. Bachrach, New Haven,
Yale University Press, 2003.
 Collins, Roger, Charlemagne, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 1998.
 McKitterick, R., Charlemagne: The Formation of a European Identity, Cambridge,
UK, Cambridge University Press, 2008.
 Pirenne, Henri, Mohammed and Charlemagne (Dover ed.), Mineola, N.Y., Dover
Publications, 2001.
 Russell, Charles Edward, Charlemagne, first of the moderns, Boston and New York,
Houghton Mifflin Co., 1930.
 Sypeck, Jeff, Becoming Charlemagne: Europe, Baghdad, and The Empires of A.D. 800.
New York, Ecco/HarperCollins, 2006.
 Wilson, Derek, Charlemagne: The Great Adventure, London, Hutchinson, 2005.
Bibliography
 Blair, John, The Anglo-Saxon period (c. 440-1066), in The Oxford History of Britain,
edited by Kenneth O. Morgan, Oxford University Press, 1991, p. 60-111.
 Blair, P. H., An introduction to Anglo-Saxon England, Cambridge University Press,
1970.
 Collins, Roger, Visigothic Spain, 409-711. History of Spain, Malden, MA, Oxford,
Blackwell Pub, 2004.
 Flaut, Daniel, Evul mediu apusean (secolele V-XV). Repere cronologice, Ed. Ex
Ponto, Constanţa, 2002, p. 17-34.
 Ganshof, F. L., The Carolingians and the Frankish Monarchy: Studies in Carolingian
History, translated by Janet Sondheimer, Ithaca, N.Y., Cornell University Press,
1971.
 Langston, Aileen Lewers and J. Orton Buck, Jr (eds.), Pedigrees of Some of the
Emperor Charlemagne's Descendants, Baltimore, Genealogical Pub. Co., 1974.
 Madaule, Jacques, Istoria Franţei, vol. I, Bucureşti, 1973.
6
Daniel Flaut, Introduction in Medieval History
 Manolescu, Radu (ed.), Istoria medie universală, Ed. Didactică şi Pedagogică,
Bucureşti, 1980, p. 26-51.
 Maurois, Andre, Istoria Angliei, Bucureşti, 1997.
 Oman, Charles. The Dark Ages, 476–918 (6th ed.), London, Rivingtons, 1914.
 Painter, Sidney, A History of the Middle Ages, 284-1500, New York, Knopf, 1953.
 Riché, Pierre, The Carolingians: A Family Who Forged Europe, Middle Ages Series,
Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993.
 Salin, Edouard, La civilisation merovingienne, vol. I-IV, Paris, 1949-1951.
 Stenton, F. M., Anglo-Saxon England, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1950.
 Tierney, Brian, The Crisis of Church and State 1050-1300, Toronto, University of
Toronto Press, 1964.
*
* *
7