Transcript Chapter 13 The Rise of the Middle Ages Section 1. The Rise of

Chapter 13
The Rise of the Middle Ages
Section 1.
The Rise of
The Franks
The Franken Rulers
• For the hundreds of years following the fall
of the Western Roman Empire, Europe
was in a state of disorder and change
• Gradually Europe began to restore order
• This period was known as the Middle
Ages or the medieval period of Europe
• {A Germanic tribe that plundered Europe
and had a lasting impact on the culture,
were the Franks}
Clovis and the Merovingians
• In 481 a ruler named Clovis became king of one of
the Frankish tribes and conquered and absorbed other
Frankish tribes
• Clovis and his successors were called Merovingians
• {Because Clovis and his Merovingians were Christians
they had the support of the church}
• After Clovis died his successors were generally weak.
Until eventually the chief of the royal kingdom aka
“mayor of the palace” became the real ruler. Even
though the title king still existed, they did not have
much pull in the kingdom.
• One of these mayors was Pepin II who ruled from
A.D.687 to 714. Pepin and his successors united the
Frankish kingdoms
Charles Martel and Pepin the Short
• Pepin II died and his son Charles Martel aka Charles
the Hammer became mayor
• Martel’s cavalry defeated the Spanish Moors when
they tried to invade France
• When Martel died in 741, his son Pepin III called “the
short” became joint ruler with his brother Carloman
• Pepin overthrew the actual king, Childric III, and
established the Carolingians, a new line of Frankish
rulers.
• Having the Pope’s blessing, Pepin had no problems
establishing the new Carolingian dynasty
• This paved the way for the rise of Pepin’s son,
Charlemagne, the greatest of all Frankish kings
Coronation of Pepin the Short
Charlemagne’s Empire
• Charlemagne held the Frankish throne between A.D.
768 to A.D. 814
• Charlemagne defeated the Lombards in Italy, the
Saxons in Germany, the Avars in central Europe. He
tried to conquer all of Muslim of Spain but was only
able to push them back across the Pyrenees
• On Christmas Day of the year 800 {Charlemagne was
in Rome to pray at St. Peter’s Basilica when Pope Leo
III declared him “Emperor of the Romans”}
• Although the Roman Empire was long gone this
gesture indicated Charlemagne’s importance to
Europe
Charlemagne
Government under Charlemagne
• Charlemagne’s empire was divided into separate
regions. Each region was governed on behalf of the
emperor by counts
• {He established his capital at the Frankish city of Aixla-Chapelle} (today the German city of Aachen)
• Charlemagne put into effect a policy of checks and
balances with officials called missi dominici they
traveled through the empire listening to complaints,
making sure the laws were effective and ensuring the
counts were ruling in the empire’s best interest rather
than their own
Education and Learning
• Charlemagne placed a great emphasis on education
• Scholars- usually monks- were brought in from all over
Europe to teach at the schools
• {Schools established by Charlemagne were based on
Roman schools} emphasizing grammar, rhetoric,
logic, math, music and astronomy
• He also brought together scholars to make a readable
version of the Bible, which was called Caroline
Minuscule
A page from the Caroline
Minuscule
The Decline of the Frankish Empire
• After Charlemagne’s death in 814 the empire started
to decline
• {Charlemagne’s grandsons Lothair, Charles the Bald,
Louis the German agreed to divide the empire
amongst themselves. This agreement signed in 843
became known as the Treaty of Verdun}
• {the Treaty of Verdun contributed to the fall of
Charlemagne’s empire} because the grandsons fought
amongst themselves rather than uniting.
• The fall of the empire came with invasions by the
Muslims from Africa, the Slavs from the east, the
Magyars (nomads also from the east) and the most
feared of the invaders the Vikings
The division of Charlemagne’s
Empire
The Vikings
• The Vikings were Germanic people from the
present day countries of Norway, Sweden and.
• The Vikings customs and myths were centered
on pagan gods
• Their government, although ruled by kings and
nobles, was quite democratic
• Vikings would sail down rivers and raid and loot
cities and take the survivors back to
Scandinavia to be used as slaves
Viking ship
Review
• Why did Clovis and his Merovingians have
the support of the church?
• On Christmas Day of the year 800 what
did Pope Leo III declare Charlemagne?
• What were the schools that Charlemagne
established based on?
• What was the agreement where Lothair,
Charles the Bald, Louis the German
agreed to divide the empire amongst
themselves called?
Ewa Laurance the Striking Viking