gradual decline of roman empire ushered in the Middle Ages- the medieval period, from years 500-1500
new society emerged & had roots in:
- classical heritage of Rome
- beliefs of Roman Catholic Church
- customs of various Germanic tribes
Invasions of Western Europe
- in the fifth century, Germanic invaders overran the western half of the Roman Empire, this caused many changes
- disruption of trade: merchants faced invasions from both land and sea, businesses collapsed, money was scarce
- downfall of cities: cities were abandoned as centers of administration
- population shifts: nobles retreated to rural areas, cities had no strong leadership, city dwellers fled to the countryside, western Europe became mostly rural
- decline of learning
- Germanic invaders couldn't read or write, few people were literate, knowledge of Greek was almost lost
- the invaders had a rich oral tradition of song and legends but no written language
- loss of common language
- german speaking people mixed with rome, latin changed and was no longer understood
- different dialects developed
- by the 800s French, Spanish, and other Roman based languages evolved from Latin
Germanic Kingdoms Emerge
- they replaced Roman provinces
- the Church provided order and security
- concept of government changes
- family ties and personal loyalty instead of citizenship in a public state held germanic society together
- germanic people lived in small communities governed by unwritten rules and traditions
- every germanic chief led a band of warriors who pledged their loyalty to him, he fed them and they fought to death at his side because it was considered a disgrace to outlive him
- they felt no obligation to obey a king they didn't know
- Clovis rules the Franks
- in Gaul a germanic people called the Franks held power
- leader was Clovis
- he brought Christianity to the region because he believed God helped him in battle and his wife urged him to
- the Roman Church welcomed his conversion and supported the military campaigns
- by 511 Clovis had united the Franks into one kingdom
Germans Adopt Christianity
- politics, coastal attacks of muslims in southern Europe and missionaries helped spread the religion (missionaries often risked their lives)
- the church built monasteries
- religious communities including monks and nuns
- around 520 a monk named Benedict began writing a book describing the rules for monasteries and his sister Scholastica adapted the same rules for the nuns
- these became Europe's best-educated communities
- the religious manuscripts that were made here preserved some of Rome's intellectual heritage
- Papal Power Expands Under Gregory I
- also called Gregory the Great
- head of the church in Rome
- the papacy (pope's office) became a secular, a worldly power involved in politics
- papacy was also the center of Roman government
- the region from Italy to England and from Spain to Germany fell under his responsibility
An Empire Evolves
- after the Roman empire dissolved, small kingdoms spread everywhere, some no larger than Connecticut
- the Franks controlled the kingdom formerly known as Gaul
- when Clovis died in 511 he had extended Frankish rule over most of what's now France
- Charles Martel emerges
- by 700 an official known as the mayor of the palace (major domo) had become the most powerful out of the Frankish kingdom
- the mayor in 719, Charles Martel (Charles the Hammer)
- held more power than the king
- he extended the Franks reign
- he defeated Muslim raiders in the Battle of Tours, made him a Christian hero
- passed power to Pepin the Short after he died
- he wanted to be king
- this began the Carolingian Dynasty, a family that ruled the Franks from 751-987
Charlemagne Becomes Emperor
- Pepin died in 768
- kingdom was left to his sons Carloman and Charles or Charlemagne or Charles the Great
- Carloman died and Charlemagne ruled, he achieved:
- extended Frankish rule, he built an empire greater than any known since ancient Rome
- conquered new lands and spread Christianity
- reunited western Europe
- Pope Leo III crowned him emperor
- all the powers joined together
- he lead a revival
- he made sure royal agents and landholders governed justly
- he opened a palace school
- ordered monasteries to open schools to train future monks and priests
- his heirs
- a year before he died in 814 he crowned his only surviving son Louis the Pious as emperor
- Louis was devoutly religious but ineffective as a ruler
- he left his three sons Lothair, Charles the Bald, and Louis the German to fight for control of the empire
- they signed the treaty of Verdun dividing the empire into 3 kingdoms which led to feudalism
Feudalism in Europe
the broken up territory by the three brothers began feudalism
Invaders Attack Western Europe
- from about 800 to 1000 invasions destroyed the Carolingian Empire, vikings came
- Vikings Invade from the North
- set sail from Scandinavia
- raided with ships and swords and struck quickly, then left again before the locals could defend themselves
- the largest ship held 300 warriors and 72 oars and weighed 20 tons
- they were warriors, traders, farmers, and explorers
- journeyed from Russia to the North Atlantic
- as they accepted Christianity they stopped raiding monasteries
- warm climate made Scandinavia farming easier
- Magyars and Muslims attack from East and South
- viking invasions declines and the Magyars began attacking western Europe in the late 800s
- took captives to sell as slaves
- Muslims struck from the south and the plan was to conquer and plunder Europe
- they were excellent sea farers so they were able to attack settlements on Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, struck as far as Switzerland
- these invasions caused widespread suffering, kings couldn't defend the land
A New Social Order: Feudalism
- in 911 two former enemies faced each other in a peace ceremony
- Rollo was head of a Viking army and had been plundering the rich Seine River valley for years
- Charles the Simple was the king of France but held little power and granted Rollo a huge piece of French territory that became known as Normandy and Rollo swore a pledge of loyalty to the king
- Feudalism Structures Society
- leaders like Charles and Rollo made similar agreements in many parts of Europe
- feudal system was based on rights and obligations & depended on the control of land
- in exchange for military protection, etc a lord (landowner) granted land (known as a fief)
- the person receiving a fief was a vassal
- Feudal pyramid
- at the peak was the king, then powerful vassals, then knights (mounted horsemen who pledged to defend their lord's lands in exchange for fiefs), then peasants
- Social Classes
- status determined a persons's prestige and power
- three groups
- those who fought
- those who prayed
- those who worked
- most peasants were serfs, people who could not lawfully leave the place they were born but not slaves
Manors: The Economic Side of Feudalism
- the manor was the lord's estate
- the manor system was the basic economic arrangement rested on a set of rights and obligations between a lord and his serfs
- a self contained world
- peasants rarely traveled more than 25 miles from their own manor
- typically consisted of the lord's manor house, church, and workshops
- 15-30 people generally lived here with streams and farms
- serfs and peasants made everything they needed themselves
- the harshness of manor life
- the privilege of living on the lord's land peasants paid a tax on all grain ground in the lord's mill, marriage, and they owed the village priest a tithe (church tax)
- tithe represented 1/10 of their income
- serfs lived in crowded cottages with only one or two rooms and had a simple diet
- for most serfs men and women, life was work and more work
- day resolved around family and farming
- children were put to work right away and often didn't reach adulthood because of illness and malnutrition
- average life expectancy was about 35 years and most never traveled more than 25 miles from home
- believed God determined their place in society
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