The Early Middle Ages Part 1

The Early Middle Ages Western Europe in Decline Why the Dark Ages? •Europe entered period of economic, political & social decline after fall of the Roman Empire •500 – 1000 AD politically divided, rural, cut off from other advanced civilizations in Middle East, China & India •Learning & trade basically ceased •Invaders swept across the land •This culture / medieval civilization from Latin word for Middle Ages After the Fall of the Western Roman Empire Germanic Kingdoms took control of Europe from 400 – 700 AD. The Frankish Kingdoms being the most long lasting. •486, Clovis, king of Franks, conquered former province of Gaul (now France) •Clovis converted to Christianity, religion of his subjects •Gained powerful ally in the Pope, leader of Christian Church in Rome Because of lack of a central government, the church played an important role & Christianity spread throughout Europe CAROLIGNIAN EMPIRE •732 Charles Martel rallied Frankish warriors defeated Muslim invaders at Battle of Tours – became great Christian Victory •Victory was “sign that God was on their side” •Muslims continued to try & force Islam on the people CAROLIGNIAN EMPIRE In 756, Charles Martel’s son Pepin defeated the Lombards in central Italy & donated captured land to Pope – creating PAPAL STATES – called THE DONATION OF PEPIN •Germanic Peoplelived along Rhine River •Clovis converted to Christianity in 481 •Created large empire of self-sufficient manors •Counts kept order in his kingdom (Missi Dominici – officials that administer law) •Kingdom divided into 3 parts after his death in 814 - weakened Empire’s unity caused collapse of Kingdom God Himself has made me King By authority of the Church, I, Pope Leo, crown thee Holy Roman Emperor Christmas Day 800 AD Brutally put down a Saxon Revolt Prevented Muslims from expanding into Europe Converted Germanic people to Christianity through warfare Charlemagne established schools in monasteries bringing a Revival of Education - Carolingian Renaissance After years of fighting, Charlemagne’s grandsons, under the TREATY OF VERDUN divided CHARLEMAGNE’S empire into 3 separate parts- and the Frankish Kingdoms fell to invaders Following division of the Empire – Europe was invaded for two centuries by nonChristian invaders – The Muslims from the south, the Magyars from the east, & the Vikings from the north •The Magyars attacked isolated settlements and killed or carried everyone off – selling them into slavery. •Many thought they were the Huns returning & begin calling them Hungarians (Hungary today) •The Muslims were biggest challenge to Christian Europe. They came from northern Africa through Spain. •They captured people as slaves and considered Christians their most serious religious rivals As Vikings settled into Europe, they adopted Christianity – as did the Germanic Tribes Lifestyle based on Sea VIKING = PIRATE Tribal Units (Jarl)- Values: culture of war- Religion: polytheistic Two main reasons that the Vikings left their homelands: 1) overpopulation; not enough land 2) ship and weapon improvements; very fast ships that could carry large numbers of warriors Raided coastal villages throughout Europe • Europe was weak after Charlemagne's Empire fell apart • We could stop the Viking raids if we had a strong central government Danes attacked France, Germany and England ; the Norwegians attacked Scotland, Ireland and other North Atlantic islands; the Swedes attacked Russia and the Byzantine Empire •Viking’s power kept many people in a state of terror •Looked to local Lords to protect them – this contributed to the development of feudalism •Viking culture influenced some aspects of life in Europe