AKS 37a: Terms, People, Places, &

Events

Middle Ages

• Era between the fall of the Western Roman Empire & the Renaissance.

• It had roots in:– 1. The heritage of Rome.– 2. The beliefs of the Roman

Catholic Church.– 3. The customs of Germanic tribes.

Disruption of Trade

• Merchants faced invasions.• Businesses collapsed.• Europe’s cities were no longer

economic centers for trade.• Money became scarce.

Downfall of Cities

•Cities were abandoned as centers of administration.

Population Shifts

•Nobles & city dwellers fled to rural areas & started growing their own food.

•No strong leaders were left in the cities.

Decline in Learning

•Germanic peoples: – Oral tradition. No written language,

illiterate.

•Roman peoples: – Level of learning sank when families left

cities for rural areas.

•Priest & Church officials were literate.•Greek was almost lost forever!!

Loss of a Common Language

•German-speaking peoples mixed with Roman Latin-speaking peoples.

•Latin changed!! It was no longer understood!!

•French, Spanish, etc. all came from Latin.

•This also helped to break-up the empire.

Gaul

•Roman province where the Franks lived.

Franks

•Lived in Gaul.•Leader was Clovis who brought

Christianity to the region.

Clovis

• Leader of the Franks.• During war, he prayed

to the Christian God & won the battle!!! He then converted to Christianity.

• He went on to united the Franks into one kingdom.

Monasteries

• Home to the Monks. Located in Rural areas & became Europe’s best-educated communities.

Convents

•Religious communities for nuns.

Monks

• Lived in monasteries.• Gave up their private possessions &

devoted their life to serving God.• Opened schools, maintained libraries,

& copied books using incredible details.

Nuns

•Lived in convents •Gave up their private possessions

& devoted their lives to serving God.

Benedict

• Italian monk who wrote a book of strict rules for monks to live by.

• Said they should work & pray evenly.

• Established the Benedictine Order of Monks.

Scholastica

•Twin sister of Benedict.•Devoted her life to the

church.•First nun of the

Benedictine order.•They both died the

same year & were buried in the same grave.

Venerable Bede

•An English monk.•Wrote a history

of England.•Considered the

best historical work of the Middle Ages.

Pope Gregory I(AKA Gregory the Great)

• Made Pope’s office spiritual & political.

• Pope’s palace was the center of Government.

• Used church money to raise armies, repair roads, and help the poor. Signed peace treaties with invaders.

Secular Power

•Concern with worldly matters and spiritual matters.

Major Domo

•AKA “Mayor of the Palace”.•He was the most powerful person in

the Frankish Kingdom.•Officially: In charge of the royal

household & estates.•Unofficially: Led armies & made

policy. •Basically: He ruled the Kingdom!!!

Charles MartelAKA Charles the Hammer

• He was the “Mayor of the Palace”.

• Had more control than the king.

• United the Franks!!

Battle of Tours

• 732: Charles Martel defeated the Muslim raiders from Spain.– This stopped the

spread of Islam, saving the Western Church.

Pepin the Short

• Son of Charles Martel. Wanted to be King.

• Helped the Pope defeat the Lombards, when they were threatening Rome.

• In return, the Pope anointed Pepin “King by the Grace of God”.

Carolingian Dynasty

• The family that ruled the Franks from 751 – 987.

• Pepin had 2 sons– Carloman (the oldest son)– Charles (younger)

• Pepin died in 768– His oldest son, Carloman

died a few years later.– In 771 Charles became the

King

Charlemagne (Slide 1 of 7){AKA Charles the Great}

•771: Charlemagne ruled the entire Kingdom.

•Two Goals:– 1st goal: Control all of Western

Europe– 2nd goal: Convert all of

Western Europe to Christianity

•1st Goal: Control all of Western Europe• First he beat the Lombards in Italy.• Then he attacked the Saxons & won.

– He defeated the Saxons-they fled to an island off the coast of Europe…

– Britain…– They became the Anglo-Saxons

(English)

Charlemagne (Slide 2 of 7){AKA Charles the Great}

•2nd Goal: Convert all of Western Europe to Christianity– He did this through conquests!!!

Charlemagne (Slide 3 of 7){AKA Charles the Great}

Charlemagne (Slide 4 of 7){AKA Charles the Great}

• November 24th, 800 Pope Leo III asked Charlemagne to help him get the support of the people back of his people … And he did.

• Christmas Day, 800– Charlemagne was worshiping at St.

Peter’s Church in Rome when the Pope put a crown on his head & gave him the title of “Roman Emperor”.•The Roman Empire in the West had been reborn and Charles was the 1st Roman Emperor since 476.

• Charlemagne accepted … but was not happy– It made it look like his power came

from the Pope & he believed that his power came from God.

– He said that he never would have came to Rome had he known that the Pope was going to crown him.

– The Pope did this because he wanted the people to know that Charlemagne owed him his crown…

Charlemagne (Slide 5 of 7){AKA Charles the Great}

Charlemagne (Slide 6 of 7)AKA Charles the Great

•Strengthened his royal power by limiting the authority of the nobles.– Royal agents made sure that the

powerful landholders governed their counties justly.

•Charlemagne regularly visited every part of his Kingdom.

•Greatest accomplishment: The encouragement of learning!!!

Charlemagne (Slide 7 of 7)AKA Charles the Great

•Greatest accomplishment: The encouragement of learning!!!

•He kept English, German, Italian, & Spanish scholars around him constantly.

•He opened a Palace School & ordered monasteries to open schools to train future monks & priests.

Louis the Pious

• 814: Emperor Charlemagne died & left power with Louis.

• Louis was a devoutly religious man, but an ineffective leader!!!

• Made a really bad mistake before he died. . . he left the Frankish Empire to his three sons. . . Uh-oh. . .

Lothair, Charles the Bald, & Louis the German

•What do you think happened????•They fought one another for

control of Europe!!! DUH!!!

Treaty of Verdun

• 843: The brothers signed this treaty that divided the Frankish Empire into three Kingdoms.

• As a result, Carolingian Kings lost power & central authority broke down!

• The lack of strong rulers led to a new system of governing & landholding

--- feudalism!!!!