Charlemagne

Charles the hammer's son - Pepin the Short

1. Possibly named for his unusual short haircut
2. Working for and with the pope, Pepin fought for the bombards
3. Pope Stephen II named Pepin "king by the grace of God" - beginning the Carolingian Dynasty
4. 751-987 AD
5. Pepin the Short had two sons: Carolman and Charles
6. Carolman died, leaving Charlemagne takes center stage

Charlemagne - Charles the Great

1. Six foot four
2. Built the greatest empire since Rome
3. Fought the Muslims in Spain
4. Fought Germanic tribes
5. Spread Christianity
6. Reunited western Europe
7. Became the most powerful king in western Europe
8. Pope Leo III crowned his emperor in 800 AD after he defended him from an unruly roman mob
9. This signaled the joining of the Germanic power, the church, and the heritage of the roman empire

Charlemagne's Government

1. He limited the authority of the nobles
2. He regularly visited every part of his kingdom
3. Kept close watch on his huge estates
4. Cultural revival
1. Encouraged learning
2. Ordered monasteries to open schools
3. Opened a palace school
5. His son Louis the Pious was ineffective
6. Louis' three sons - Lothair, Charles the bald, & Louis the German - split up the kingdom at the treaty of Verdun in 843 AD

Germanic Kingdoms unite with Charlemagne
- middle ages - medieval period
- 500-1500 ad
- medieval Europe is fragmented

A. invasions trigger changes in western Europe
       1. invasions and constant warfare spark new trends
             a. disruption of trade
                  i. Europe cities are no longer economic centers
                  ii. money is scarce
             b. downfall of cities
                  i. cities are no longer centers of administration
             c. population shifts
                  i. nobles retreat to the rural areas
                  ii. cities don't have strong leadership
       2. decline of learning
              a. Germanic invaders are illiterate, but they communicate through oral traditions
              b. only priests and church officials could read and write
              c. knowledge of Greek is almost lost
        3. loss of common language
              a. dialects develop in different regions
              b. by the 800s, french, Spanish, other roman based languages are evolving from Latin
 B. Germanic kingdoms emerge
        1. the concept of government changes
              a. roman society: loyal to public government
              b. Germanic society: loyal to family
                   i. Germanic chief led warriors
                   ii. during peace, he provided food, weapons, treasure, a place to live
                   iii. during wartime, warriors fought for the lord
              c. the franks live in the Roman province of Gaul - their leader is Clovis
        2. the franks under Clovis
              a. another battlefield conversion
              b. Clovis and 3000 of his warriors are baptized by the bishop
              c. the church in Rome approves of this alliance
              d. Clovis and the church begin to work together
 C. Germanic people adopt Christianity
         1. pope Gregory expands papal power
               a. papacy = popes office
               b. secular power = worldly power
               c. under Gregory the great
          2. 511 ad - Clovis unites Franks into one kingdom
          3. 600 ad - church + Frankish rulers convert many
          4. fear of Muslims
          5. monasteries and convents
               a. 520 AD - Benedict wrote the rules for monks and monasteries
                    i. poverty, chastity, obedience, study

Feudalism: a political, military and economic system based on land holding and protective alliances

The Feudal Pyramid
- king
- powerful vassals and nobles/bishops
- knights - mounted warriors who received fiefs for defending their lords land
- peasants/ serfs - landless, powerless, money less, right less just working the land for the lord

Manor: the lords estate
- the lords manor
- a church
- some workshops
- 15-30 families
- all on a few square miles

peasants are poor and pay high taxes
- tax on grain
- tax on marriage
- church tax (tithe= 10%  of their income)
they live in crowded cottages
live with animals and insects
eat very simply

today in class i did the homework that I didn't do last night. we were supposed to take notes on page 151 and copy the chronology on page 152.

- two centuries after the fall of Rome was a time of turmoil
- Germanic kingdoms
- cities were no longer trade spots
- Christianity started to spread outside of the Roman Empire
- franks took over most of land
- eastern Rome would get attacked by barbarians frequently
- became more Greek than roman
- changed name back to Byzantium
Chronology
- 5th century - angles and Saxons invade Britain
- 527-565 - reign of emperor Justinian in the eastern empire
- 542 - plague hits Egypt, then spreads throughout the Mediterranean area and much of western Europe
- 569 - Lombards conquer most of northern Italy
- 570-632 - life of Muhammad
- 595 - missionaries sent by the people begin to convert the pagans of England
- 711 - Muslim invasion of Spain
- 800 - Slavs occupy almost all of eastern europe

Two Emperors

Diocletian
- he rules from 284-303
- its cool to persecute Christians
- Rome needs a big army
- Rome needs a big government
- divided into the west and east
Constantine
- rules from 306-337
- its cool to be a christian
- conversion to Christianity
- 313 - his edict of Milan proclaims freedom of worship
- built a new castle in the east
- Byzantium, soon to be known as Constantinople
Life in the Fourth Century
- country dwellers are getting bankrupted by endless tax collection
- new farming systems; peasants work for elite landlords on large farms
- peasants can avoid paying taxes, but they are getting hit just as hard by the landlords
- paying off debts and being "allowed" to live on the land, in exchange for endless back breaking work
- landowners hold local power counts and bishops, wielding more real power than the faraway empire
- foreshadowing feudalism
The Western Empire Crumbles
- Romes power is decreasing, while nomadic barbarians gain power
- western empire is too poor, begins to be neglected
- Huns migrate from china to eastern Europe
- Visigoths take over Spain, and actually capture and loot Rome itself in 410
- Vandals control Carthage and the western Mediterranean
- Ostrogoth in Italy
- franks in Gaul
- Angles and Saxons in Britain
End of an Era
- 500 BC - the monarchy is abolished
- 450 BC - the Twelve Tables are established
- 44 BC - end of the line for Julius Caesar
- 27 BC-180 AD - the Roman peace
- constant fifth century invasions by barbarians tribes left the western Roman empire shattered and crumbling
- the last emperor was a teenage boy installed in 475 by his father
- barbarians deposed Romulus augustulus without bothering to kill him

Fall of the Roman Empire

Rise of Christianity
- Jesus spends three years preaching
- killed by roman leaders
- people believe he was the messiah
- Saul spread the word
- Christianity evolves from a cult to a established religion
- priest, bishops, pope
- Christians and Jews were monotheistic
- conflicted with roman beliefs
- persecution against Jews and Christians
- roman leaders embraced Christianity
- AD 313 - Constantine has a battlefield conversion
- he issues the Edict of Milan
- made it the official religion
Decline of the Roman empire
- economic problems, taxes were too high, food supply was dropping
- military was getting worse
- Diocletian divide the empire into two languages
- Greek speaking in the east
- Latin speaking in the west
- Constantine becomes emperor over both halves of the empire
- moves capital from Rome to Byzantium and renamed it Constantinople
- after his death empire divided again
- barbarian invaders, Huns, Vandals, Visigoths, Angles, Saxons, Franks
- Empire ended in 476