German Successor States

THE POST-ROMAN WEST and THE CRUSADING MOVEMENT HIST 1301 | History German Successor States The political power of the successor kingdoms took the role of Roman rule. Through the process of acculturation, which is the merging of cultural traditions, the Germanic peoples and the Roman populace they conquered were able to build a new civilization in three different ways. First, the two groups' differences were lessened when one of them converted to Christianity. Second, the Christian Church and the Roman nobility provided the successor kingdoms with a helpful model of diplomatic relations and bureaucratic structure. Eventually, the Middle Ages saw the emergence of a new society due to the collapse of Roman civilization. These three types of acculturation are best shown by the Germanic kingdoms founded by the Franks, Ostrogoths, and Visigoths, but there were other Germanic kingdoms as well. Romans used the term "German" to refer to all peoples living outside of their borders; nevertheless, they also considered it to be synonymous with "barbarian," which denotes nonRomanization, despite the fact that there was extensive cultural contact between the two groups. There is a complicated relationship between the peoples to whom the label "German" has been used. Some of the people that invaded the Roman Empire were Avars and Huns, who spoke no Germanic language at all. There were no strict ethnic boundaries between the groupings, and fighters from different tribes were frequently incorporated in the army of any chieftain. In most cases, the Germanic peoples passed on knowledge and customs verbally rather than via reading or writing. Spoken epics gave rise to well-known stories that were subsequently recorded in writing, such the Song of Hildebrand and the Song of the Nibelungs. Real possibilities in this society were mirrored in oral culture, which celebrated soldiers confronting their fate on the battlefield and disdainful queens plotting retribution. Warfare was a key means of establishing social status in all Germanic nations. Since there were no official hierarchies, anybody who was prepared to serve a strong chieftain or king may rise in the ranks. Leaders promised plunder and the opportunity to perform heroic exploits in exchange. A monarch would lose supporters and be unlikely to be followed if he could not provide social or material resources. Fighters and monarchs were driven by riches and glory, but Germanic law and custom attempted to break the harmful cycles of violence by establishing wergild, or the "blood price," which paid injured people based on their social standing. We can learn a lot about Germanic civilization from these laws. For example, women of reproductive age were valued more than older women, while chieftains and men of fighting age had a larger blood price than older men. Especially when men were called to battle or travel, women were frequently in charge of managing the home and performing the majority of the agricultural labour. Men might hunt, but they also frequently contributed in the form of war booty, such as enslaved prisoners of war who worked in the home. Tribes such as the Alemanni beat women whose clothing was considered immodest (revealing the leg above the knee) in the totally patriarchal Germanic society. Germans were also frequently polygynous, meaning that while women had very few alternatives, males may have several spouses at once and could divorce at any time. The gods Wodan, a god of battle, knowledge, and death, and his spouse Frigg, a goddess of childbirth, marriage, and magic, were among the many gods that the polytheistic Germans worshipped. Individual Germans were already becoming Christians by the third century. Many embraced Arian Christianity, following the doctrine that Jesus and the Father were not the same person. These groups included the Goths and Vandals. Once inside the Roman Empire, they came into opposing branches of the faith that would lead to more strife between Christians and non-Christians. Theodoric the Great, the Ostrogoth monarch, was one of the most influential figures in the post-Roman world and a prime example of acculturation. He depended on Roman nobles, like the writer and scholar Cassiodorus and the historian and philosopher Boethius, to run his realm after ascending to the throne of Italy in 493. In addition, Theodoric restored the Roman city walls and aqueducts across his realm. Through marriages, he frequently utilised diplomacy to forge ties with other German rulers. He personally married Audofleda, the sister of Clovis I, king of the Franks, in order to forge an alliance with them, and he also offered his daughters in marriage to other Germanic monarchs. He kept in touch with the eastern Roman emperors and worked to restart commerce with the eastern Mediterranean region, seeing himself as the successor apparent to the Roman throne in the west. The majority of kings made an effort to communicate with far-off civilizations and picked up knowledge from the local populace despite the difficulty of upholding order. Theodoric included the Ostrogoths into the Roman populace in an attempt to forge links between the Germanic and Roman populations, yet their theological differences prevented them from assimilating completely. In the early Middle Ages, tolerance was both conceivable and even encouraged, yet mistrust between religious communities may lead to open hostilities and persecution. Although Theodoric was an Arian Christian, he tried to reduce tensions between the two communities by tolerating the Catholic population in Italy until the end of his rule, when his mistrust of Catholics drove him to persecute them. Following his death in 526, the Lombards and Byzantines both invaded Italy, causing destruction and division in the kingdom of the Ostrogoths. Frankish civilization was the most prosperous of the Germanic kingdoms. The kingdom was established in the early sixth century by Clovis I, a member of the Merovingian dynasty, who stands in stark contrast to Theodoric. Even though Clovis was brutal and vicious, he was a crafty leader who understood the value of cooperation and the backing of the Catholic Church. Until he converted to Catholicism, he was also accepting of other religions. Additionally, he collaborated with Gallo-Roman clergy and nobility to fortify his kingdom's governance and guarantee the survival of Roman institutions in those areas where they could. He called the first council of Catholic bishops to Orleans just before he passed away, and the council's decisions were enforceable against the Franks as well as the Gallo-Roman populace. Here, faith had a role in bringing the two groups together. The Merovingian kings were overthrown by bloody internal strife over time, leaving their sons or nephews as immature and sometimes incompetent heirs. The custom of partible inheritance, in which each son got an equal portion of his father's fortune, was a major cause of strife. As a result, estates shrank with each generation until additional territory was acquired, sometimes by stealing from relatives, inlaws, or siblings. Kings that had neither wealth or land to give as a prize were unable to draw in warriors. The aristocracy held true authority, and ultimately the Frankish kingdom was ruled by a new dynasty known as the Carolingians. Pépin le Bref, often known as Pippin the Short, overthrew his Merovingian opponent to become the first Carolingian king of the Franks with the pope's backing. He acknowledged giving the pope land in Italy in exchange. This donation—known as the Donation of Pepin—helped guarantee that the papacy, a collection of administrative structures connected to the Catholic Church's government, was not only a religious authority but also a territorial one by giving the Papal States their legal foundation. The Carolingian monarchs' ambition to expand their realm and resurrect the concept of empire was greatly aided by their partnership with the popes, which permitted them to operate independently of the Byzantine Empire. It also shows that opportunities, conflicts, religious movements, and diplomacy continued to bind the Mediterranean region and western Europe during the turbulent years after the fall of Roman rule. Known as Charlemagne ("Charles the Great"), Pépin's son Charles was one of the most well-known and most powerful kings of early mediaeval Europe. Like his father, Charlemagne had the good fortune to not have to contend with his siblings for the throne. He was a tall, gregarious man who firmly believed in his authority as a Christian monarch. He was also driven to conquer and convert people to Catholicism. Almost every year of his rule saw him go on campaigns, capturing territory and enslaving populations throughout central Europe. In an effort to revitalise education, reform the church, and broaden his sphere of influence, he reorganised his administration. In the end, his enormous empire encompassed not just modern-day France but also Germany, northern Italy, sections of northern Spain, and central Europe, bringing western Europe together for the first time since the fall of Roman rule. Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Emperor of the Romans on Christmas Day in the year 800. The Byzantine authorities were incensed by this coronation, which paved the way for strife between the east and west as they fought for dominance and territory. It also made it possible for popes and emperors to cooperate and clash since they both believed that uniting against common foes would be advantageous. Charlemagne was more than just a conqueror, much like Theodoric. His goals were to reform the church, bring back the Roman institutions, and win over people to Christianity. The term "Carolingian Renaissance," which alludes to Charlemagne, refers to the era of intellectual activity and restructuring of educational and ecclesiastical institutions that started during his reign. The term "rebirth" of culture and learning describes this period of time. The Carolingian nobility encouraged the construction of new palaces and monasteries and encouraged artists to decorate these structures in addition to illustrating (or "illuminate") books. The greater emphasis on education served to guarantee that the Carolingians' court was populated with highly educated advisors and associates. Scholars and monks came to the court of Charlemagne, where they used their skills to transcribe the classic writings of ancient Greek and Roman authors and serve in the emperor's office. Among these academics of great importance was Alcuin of York, an Anglo-Saxon who developed the Carolingian script, which was extremely small. Compared to older Roman and Merovingian versions, this standard handwriting was simpler to read and more plain. Additionally, Carolingian intellectuals popularised punctuation, such as the period at the conclusion of a phrase. These developments facilitated Latin learning and aided in the resurgence of classical education. Additionally, Charlemagne was a worldly ruler. He was in communication with the Abbasid caliph, exchanged presents with the Byzantine emperors, and allowed the slave traffic between Al- Andalus (modern-day Spain) and his eastern boundary.