What Would Life Be Like? • Historical Situation… • Your Task: Today you will complete four tasks in order to help you create a new kingdom. As you finish each task, bring them to me to get your next task… • What do you think this activity simulated? – Why do you think my grammar became progressively worse? – Why do you think the emphasis was continually placed on safety & security?
Transcript
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Historical Situation Your Task: Today you will complete four
tasks in order to help you create a new kingdom. As you finish each
task, bring them to me to get your next task What do you think this
activity simulated? Why do you think my grammar became
progressively worse? Why do you think the emphasis was continually
placed on safety & security?
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Constituted by the years between Classical Antiquity and the
Modern Era End of antiquity = collapse of Roman Empire The
Renaissance ushered in the Modern Era. Roughly 500 until 1500 AD
Also known as the Medieval Times
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Also known as Dark Ages (500-1000AD) Scholars named this as a
time when the forces of darkness (barbarians) overwhelmed the
forces of light (Romans) After the fall of Rome, Western Europe was
left with a power vacuum a condition that exists when someone has
lost control of something and no one has replaced it
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Government- No single power of authority Several Germanic
tribes formed a patchwork of small kingdoms that are governed by
kings Difficult for the kings to maintain control Rise in power of
the Catholic Church Economy- Breakdown in trade -- Led to bartering
-- Cities no longer centers for markets -- Money is scarce
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Cultural Aspects- Germanic societies dominated Germanic customs
followed Illiterate society Population Declines Decline by about
20% Increase in people moving from cities to rural areas Reading,
writing, and art begin to disappear Latin changes Local vernaculars
with German elements develop
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The Franks came into Gaul fighting some of the other Barbarians
They pushed the other Barbarians out and divided into many tribes
of Franks, each with their own king Merovich was one of the leaders
of the tribes of Franks and began his kingdom
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Clovis becomes the most important ruler of the Merovingian
Dynasty Considered to be the founder of the French state
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Ruthless ruler Murdered any relative that might have claim to
the throne Converts to Christianity to help unify his kingdom
Clotilda, his wife, was a convert
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Clovis died in 511 Kingdom was divided among his four sons
Causes weakness Not able to establish control Clovis sons were
mainly ineffective All the kings after them too The Merovingian
kings became known as the Do- Nothing Kings
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After a series of ineffective do-nothing kings, a new position
takes charge Mayors of the Palace Been the power behind the throne
for many years Job was to keep the Merovingian king on the throne
This position was passed from father to son
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Charles Martel (a.k.a. Charles the Hammer) becomes Mayor of the
Palace in 714 C.E. Consolidated military control over regions of
the kingdom Gave land acquired to the Church and established the
close relationship between the church and the state that continued
into the 20 th century Defeated the Muslim invasion force in 732 at
the Battle of Tours
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Battle of Tours Significant victory for Christianity because it
stopped Islamic invasion from spreading any further than Spain
Charles used this victory to help him establish his sons to be the
first Carolingian king of the Franks
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Was the son of Charles Martel Sought popes approval to take the
throne from the incompetent Merovingian king Pope granted this
Pepin unites all of Gaul under one When Pepin died, he divided his
kingdom between his two sons Carolus (Charlemagne) &
Carolman
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In 768, at age 26, Charlemagne (a.k.a. Charles the Great) and
his brother Carloman inherited kingdom of the Franks In 771
Carloman died, and Charlemagne became sole ruler of the kingdom
Franks falling back into barbarian ways, neglecting education &
religion North: Saxons were still pagans South: Roman Catholic
Church fighting to recover land confiscated by barbarian Lombard
kingdom in central Italy Europe was in turmoil!
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772 he launched a 30-year military campaign to reunite Europe
and bring order Defeated Lombards (in present-day northern Italy)
The Avars (in modern-day Austria and Hungary) Conquered Bavaria and
the Slavs (Germany) 782 (Massacre of Verden) Charlemagne
slaughtered some 4,500 Saxons Forced Saxons to convert to
Christianity, declared that anyone who didnt get baptized or follow
other Christian traditions be put to death HARSH!
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For his help defeating the Lombards and driving them out of
papal lands, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Holy Roman Emperor on
Christmas Day in 800 in Rome.
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Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor of the Romans on
December 25, 800, at St. Peters Basilica in Rome. 800 Charlemagne
undisputed ruler of Western Europe Established central government
over Western Europe, thereby restoring unity of the old Roman
Empire and paving the way for the development of modern Europe
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It was at the time he received the title of emperor and
Augustus, to which at first he was so averse that he remarked that
had he known the intention of the pope, he would not have entered
the church on that day. Einhard
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Hes GRRREATT! Yes, I know I am GRRREAT! Look at this crown on
my head!
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Changed Europe then and for hundreds of years after Conquests
Relationship with the Church Government Cultural Developments
(Carolingian Renaissance)
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Controlled more land than other Frankish king. Realm
encompassed France, Switzerland, Belgium, & Netherlands
Included half of present-day Italy and Germany, & parts of
Austria, Spain. The land he acquired affected European politics
throughout the medieval years and into modern era Gave him
prestige
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When Pope Leo crowned Charlemagne, it sealed the deal that
papacy approval was needed for kings for hundreds of years Marks
the arrival of a new inheritor of Rome and a competitor to the
Byzantines The inheritor would be the Holy Roman Empire Marks the
emergence of Western Christian society
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Created new offices or adapted old positions to maintain his
kingdom. Counts Dukes Missi Dominici (servants of the lord) -like
government spies Created books of law that were published and
enforced
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Recognized that learning in his day was in disrepair, and he
deliberately gathered the leading intellectual lights of his age at
his court Many of the intellectuals came from monasteries Kept
learning alive by copying books Almost 90% of the works of ancient
Rome that we possess exist in their earliest form in a Carolingian
manuscript, and almost nothing that survived up to 800 has
subsequently been lost
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Three grandsons proceed to fight and weaken the empire Invading
Vikings demolish the efforts of Charlemagne Vikings: skilled
sailors and tough warriors who came from Scandinavia