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Early Middle Ages
500-1000
NOTES
Key Terms/People-Good Stuff to Know for Quest
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Medieval
Middle Ages
Clovis
Charles Martel (the
Hammer)
The Franks
Charlemagne
Vikings
Feudalism
Manorialism
Fief
Vassal
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Serfs
Tithe
Chivalry
Monastery
Illuminated manuscripts
Saint Benedict
Secular
Pope Gregory I
Carolingian Dynasty
Objectives
Students will be able to…
Explain how the fall of Rome and the authority of the
Church shaped the early Middle Ages.
Describe the creation of the Holy Roman Empire.
Europe After Rome
The Fall of Rome
 Rome united Europe for the first (and only)
time
 Fall of Rome caused many changes
 Decline of central authority
 Decline of cities
 Decline of learning
 But not in Eastern Europe. Why not?
Decline of Central Authority
 Why?
 Empire
destroyed
 Lots of invasions
 Germanic tribes were loyal to individual
leaders
Decline of Central Authority
 So what?
 Benefits
of empire are lost
Education
Security
Economy
Trade
Decline of Cities
 Why?
 No
jobs
 No food trade
 Centers of people and wealth are not safe
Decline of Cities
 So what?
 Population
shifted to rural areas
 People become dispersed
 “Progress” stalls
Decline of Learning
 Why?
 Germanic
tribes have no written language
 People focus on farming
 People are disconnected
Decline of Learning
 So what?
 Knowledge
of Greek lost
 Latin changes
 “Progress” stalls
 The Dark Ages
The Church in the Middle Ages:
Expanding Influence of the Church
 Christian Church has become an important political,
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economic, spiritual and cultural force in Europe
Leading officials of Church were the Pope and
Patriarch
Banning of heresy (holding beliefs that contradict
the official religion)
conversion by force
Eventually in 11th Century, Church split into two
independent branches Eastern Orthodox (Greek)
based in Constantinople and Roman Catholic in
Rome
Church Power Grows
 People turn away from the secular
 Local priests much closer than distant kings
 Missionaries convert the Germans
 Teach
them writing
Monks and Education
 Monasteries (places where monks live)
preserve learning
 No one else could read
 No one else had time
 Mostly translation, few new advances
 Also translated Arabic works
 Eventually create Europe’s universities
You scratch my back…
I’ll scratch yours….
 Church was granted favors by
Roman Emperors / Kings (land, exemption from
taxes, immunity in courts, positions in courts) and in
return the Church would endorse kings to help secure
their rule
 Kings looked to Church to supply educated
administrators to help run kingdoms and in return
kings would enforce laws that prohibited other
religions
Monasticism and
Saints
 Monks were people who gave up worldly
possessions and devote themselves to
a religious life
 Established between 400 -700 communities called
monasteries which became centers of education,
literacy and learning
 Strict codes of monastic conduct called Rule of St.
Benedict
 Saints- one who performs miracles that are
interpreted as evidence of a special relationship
with God
 St. Augustine- wrote “Confessions” which discussed
ideas of ethics, self knowledge, and the role of free
will which shaped monastic tradition and the
influence of Church
The Holy Roman Empire
Merovingians
 Merovingian is derived from the leader of the
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tribe of Franks
First dynasty after the Romans and ruled for 300 years
Leader in 481 CE was Clovis I- he united Frankish tribes and
expanded territory
His conversion to Christianity won him support from the Church
Clovis I wrote Salic Law - assigned a specific financial value to
everyone and everything; concept of trial options (trial by oath
and trial by ordeal)
Merovingian's founded and built many monasteries, churches
and palaces and spread Christianity throughout Western Europe
 IMPACT = Eventually dynasty declined as kings relaxed power
and became more like figure heads whereas the real power lay
with the powerful officials and leading aristocracy
A Frankish Dynasty
 Franks were one of the Germanic tribes
 Clovis converted to Christianity
 Charles Martel (Charles the Hammer)
 Unites
the Franks
 Wins an important battle
Battle of Tours
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztoNq
erMrd8
Byzantine Empire in 6th Century
Carolingians
 Rise of aristocratic Charles Martel who dominated
Frankish kingdom in 8th century
 He confiscated land given to Church and began Church
reforms that would restore spirituality to clerical life
 His son Pepin the Short continued
Church reforms and eventually
with the support of reformed
Church, removed last
Merovingian king from throne
 Established the Carolingian
dynasty, named to protect the
papacy and establish the pope
and bishops are the makers of kings
 Greatest legacy was Charles
the Great, or Charlemagne
Carolingian Dynasty
Ruled by the Franks
Centered in France
Started by Charlemagne in 800
Lasted until about 900
The Holy Roman Empire
& Charlemagne
 Charlemagne (Charles the Great) who was a military
general and restored Pope Leo III who had been exiled
 In return, Leo placed a crown on Charlemagne and
named him the “Emperor of the Romans” which secured
the relationship between Frankish kings and the papacy
 Charlemagne became the first ruler of the Holy Roman
Empire, a dynasty that would last for more than 700
years
 Charlemagne- imposed order on empire through the
Church and state
 Ordered the standardization of Latin, textbooks, manuals
for preaching, schools for clergy and people, new form of
handwriting
 All these promoted education and scholars and produced
a precise written language (Latin)
Charlemagne: 742-814
 Charles the Hammer’s grandson
 Expands the Frankish Empire
 Largest
empire in Europe since
Rome
 Reunited Western Europe
 Enforces the law (good at running
his empire)
 Spreads Christianity
 Revived learning
 Builds roads, schools, churches, etc.
Coronation
 Charlemagne saves
the pope from a
mob in Rome
 Pope crowns him as
Holy Roman
Emperor on Dec.
25, 800
 Powerful
political
force (both him, and
the church!)
Charlemagne’s Legacy
 Son: Louis the Pious
 “an ineffective ruler”
 Three grandsons
 Fight amongst themselves
 Divide into three kingdoms
 Central authority declines again
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djctvp_
pC4o
Charlemagne’s Castle in Aachen, Germany
Treaty of Verdun, 843
A Contradiction
 The Holy Roman Empire is not…
 Holy
 Roman
 An Empire
A crown from the Holy Roman Empire.
• After the death of
Charlemagne, the Holy Roman
Empire was the strongest
kingdom that arose from the
ruins of his empire.
– When Pope Leo III crowned
Charlemagne emperor in
800, he unknowingly set
the stage for future conflicts
between popes and
emperors.
– Otto I, a German leader,
allies with the church and
creates the Holy Romany
Empire.
 Feudalism and the manor system created divisions
among people. Shared beliefs in the teachings of the
Church bonded people together.
 Priests and other religious officials administered the
sacraments, or important religious ceremonies.
 Kings and peasants were subject to canon law, or the
law of the Church, in matters such as marriage and
religious practices.
Invaders
Invaders
 Muslims
 Magyars
 Come from central Asia
 Settle in Hungary
 Vikings
 From Scandinavia
 Settle in Russia and England (Angles and Saxons)
Effects of Invaders
 Strengthen feudalism
 Really need those knights
 Manor walls are helpful
 Disrupts trade
 No strong central government, so no strong army
 But many invaders, so they need one
 Invent a new type of government: feudalism
 A social/governmental structure based on loyalty and land