CHARLEMAGNE UNITES GERMANIC KINGDOMS
Middle Ages – Era of European history after the decline of
the Roman Empire from about 500 to 1500
- Also called Medieval Period
-Often divided into 3 parts:
1. Early Middle Ages (500-1000) – Dark Ages
2. High Middle Ages (1000-1300) – Some advances
made
3. Late Middle Ages (1300-1500) – Advances are
threatened by disasters
Invasions of Western Europe
-Germanic invaders cause major changes to Europe:
1. Disruption of Trade – merchants faced invasions,
businesses collapsed, money became scarce
2. Downfall of Cities – cities were abandoned when
businesses collapsed
3. Population Shifts – people moved from cities to
countryside to grow food
4. Decline of Learning – Germanic invaders could not
read or write; Romans move to rural areas and
had no schools
5. Loss of Common Language – Germanic people
had different languages; Romans had spoken
Latin, but begin to mix it with Germanic languages
(French and Spanish develop)
Germanic Kingdoms Emerge
The Concept of Government Changes
-From 400 to 600, Germanic kingdoms replaced Roman
provinces
-Germanic kingdoms had no written laws, just unwritten
rules and traditions
-Germanic chiefs led bands of warriors who had pledged loyalty to him
- Warriors felt no need to obey or pay taxes to
an emperor or a king
Clovis Rules the Franks
-In the old Roman province of Gaul (modern France), a
group called the Franks ruled
-Their leader, Clovis, had become a Christian
Result: 1. 3,000 of his warriors become Christians
2. Many other Franks become Christians
3. Kingdom of the Franks and the Church in
Rome become united
An Empire Evolves
- Clovis dies in 511 after gaining control of the Frankish
Kingdom
- Other Christian kings ruled the Franks for the next
200 years
- In 719, man named Charles “The Hammer” Martel takes
control of the Franks
- The Hammer conquers more land for the Franks
- Defeats Muslims in Spain at Battle of Tours
Importance: Keeps Muslims from getting into
rest of Europe
- Europe would have become part of the Muslim Empire
-After Charles Martel dies, his son Pepin the Short
takes over the Franks
- Pepin agreed to fight off invaders for the pope in
exchange for being named king
-Carolingian Dynasty – starts with Pepin the Short,
family rules for 236 years
Charlemagne Becomes Emperor
-Pepin the Short dies in 768 and leaves kingdom to his
son, Charlemagne or Charles the Great
-Charlemagne conquers lands and reunites western
Europe for first time since Roman Empire
- By 800, Charlemagne’s empire was larger than
Byzantine Empire
-Charlemagne appoints royal agents to govern smaller
areas of the empire
-He also encourages learning and opens a school at
the palace
Charlemagne’s Heirs
-Charlemagne’s son, Louis the Pious was a religious man
but a poor ruler
-When Louis died, his three sons fought for power
- They divided the kingdom into 3 kingdoms
- Kings lose power and lack of strong leader
leads to a new system of government called
feudalism
FEUDALISM IN EUROPE
Invaders Attack Western Europe
- After Charlemagne’s grandsons split up the kingdom,
the kingdom faced several threats from invaders
1. Vikings – seafaring warriors that invaded from
the North
2. Magyars – nomadic horsemen that attacked from
the East
3. Muslims – religious group in Africa that attacked
from the South
- People in Europe lived in constant danger, but kings
were unable to protect them
- People began to look to local rulers who had their own
armies for protection
A New Social Order: Feudalism
1. Lord – landowner : granted land to someone in
exchange for military protection
2. Vassal – military leader : received land from a lord,
but had to protect the lord
The Feudal Pyramid
- The structure of the feudal system was like a pyramid
1. King (top)
2. Lords and Vassals
3. Knights
4. Peasants
Social Classes Are Well Defined
- People in the Middle Ages belonged to one of three
social classes
1. Those who fought (nobles and knights)
2. Those who prayed (church leaders)
3. Those who worked (peasants) – most peasants
were serfs
- Serfs – could not legally leave the place where
they were born
- were not slaves, but anything they
produced belonged to the lord
Manors
- The lords (landowner) not only needed protection from
vassals, but also needed people to work their land
- Most peasants and serfs worked the land of the lord
- The lord’s estate was called a manor
- The manor usually included the lord’s house, a village
church, peasants’ cottages, and farm land
- Serfs worked long hours, lived in overcrowded
cottages, and were give very little food
CHURCH REFORM AND THE CRUSADES
The Crusades
What were they?
- Series of wars fought to conquer and control the Holy
Land (Israel) for the West (Europe)
- Other goals: 1. Reconquest of Spain from Muslims
2. Expansion of Christianity
3. Conversion / Elimination of European
Jews
How did they begin?
1. Charles Martel defeats Muslims at the Battle of
Tours – sparks Reconquista of Spain
2. The Holy Land was controlled by Muslims, but visiting
Christians were treated fairly – In 1078 Seljuk Turks
(Muslims) capture Jerusalem and begin threatening
visiting Christians
3. Muslims begin to threaten Constantinople – Byzantine
Emperor Alexius Comnenus asked Pope Urban II for
help against the Muslims
- Pope gets European Christians fired up about
regaining the Holy Land – included knights and
all other social classes
What happened during the Crusades?
1st Crusade – Crusaders make it to Jerusalem and for
over a month have extremely bloody
battles with the Turks
- July 15, 1099, Crusaders capture Jerusalem
- Several years later the Turks regain the city
2nd & 3rd Crusade – Christians fail to recapture Jerusalem
4th Crusade – Crusading knights do not reach the Holy
Land – they get to Constantinople and
loot the city
- Showed fading religious spirit and growing
search for personal gain
* All other Crusades proved to be unsuccessful
A Spanish Crusade
- A group of Muslims called the Moors controlled most
of Spain
- Charles Martel started the Reconquista or reconquest
of Spain for Christians in 732
- In 1492 the Christian army of Spain pushed the Muslims
completely out of Spain
-Inquisition – Court held by the church in Spain
- The king and queen of Spain would use the
Inquisition to eliminate people who had
different beliefs from the church
Results of Inquisition:
1. People accused of heresy were questioned and
tortured for weeks
2. Once suspects confessed, they were often burned at
the stake
3. All Jews and Muslims either converted to Christianity
or were expelled from Spain
The Effects of the Crusades
What happened as a result of the crusades?
1. Christians failed to regain the Holy Land
2. The Byzantine Empire was weakened
3. Relationship between Christians and Muslims worsened
CHANGES IN MEDIEVAL SOCIETY
Europe in the High Middle Ages (1000-1300)
What was different about the High Middle Ages?
-Europe began to become advanced again
Why did it happen?
1. A Growing Food Supply
- Europe experienced warmer temperatures and more
land could be farmed
-People began to use horses to plow fields and pull
wagons instead of oxen
-Using the three-field system
- farming on two fields and letting one rest for
a year
Results: 1. An increase in the food supply
2. An increase in the population
2. Commercial Revolution
- Commercial Revolution – an expansion of trade and
business
- Merchants from all over Europe would visit towns
to trade goods with local peasants
ex. bacon, salt, honey, cheese, wine, leather, dyes, knives, rope
- Goods were also brought from western Asia and
northern Africa
3. Urban Life Flourishes
- Because there was plenty of food and trading in towns,
people began moving to towns and small cities formed
-Cities offered new jobs and an escape from feudalism
- serfs who ran away from manors became free
by living in a town for a year and one day
4. The Revival of Learning
- During the Crusades, Europeans came into contact with
Muslims and the Byzantines
-Muslims and Byzantines had libraries full of writings of Greek philosophers
- Western Europeans began visiting these
libraries and translating the writings into
languages they could understand
-Creation of universities – start as meetings of groups
of scholars