Early Middle Ages (Rome Charlemagne)

The Middle Ages- The Basics

1. The Roman Catholic Church (based in Rome) became more important as the Roman Empire declined in
importance
2. The church played the role of the government, taking care of their political, social and religious needs
3. The Pope picked emperors to rule people
4. Missionaries spread Christianity to Germanic tribes

Ends Are New Beginnings

1. Middle Ages start with the fall of the Western Roman Empire
2. 476 A.D. Rome falls to German invaders
3. Western Roman Empire doesn’t exist but Roman Catholic Church still survives

German Invaders

1. With the Western Roman Empire done, there was no one to defend people from invaders
2. Invaders swept into towns and people fled to the countryside
3. Time period a.k.a. “Dark Ages” because there was little learning or trade

Mini-Kingdoms

1. These Germanic invaders took over lands and set up kingdoms run by kings
2. Kingdom of Franks had a king, Clovis who took over what used to be Roman Gaul (France)
3. Converted to Christianity and made friends with the Pope in Rome

Battle of Tours

1. Christian vs. Muslim battle in France

2. Charles Martel leads Christian Franks versus Muslims moving into France
3. Martel and Christians win, Muslims go back to Spain
4. Saves western Christianity in Europe, prevents the spread of Isalm

Charlemagne

1. Charles Martel’s grandson, Charles I, eventually becomes King of the Franks

2. Built empire through France, Italy and Germany
3. In 799 Pope asks Charles for help dealing with a gang of Romans who were after him
4. Charles goes to Rome, exiles the gang after the Pope, puts the Pope back in charge
5. Pope thankful to Charles, on Christmas Day, 800, crowns Charles “Emperor of the Romans” and he’s now called
Charlemagne
6. Important because now Rome is controlled by a Germanic king, protecting Christianity
Charlemagne’s Legacy

1. Charlemagne sent missionaries through Europe to spread Christianity

2. Those missionaries carried Christianity and the Latin alphabet to other Germanic tribes
3. Kept fighting off invading Muslims
4. Fought off Magyars- people from Hungry- invaders

Age of Charlemagne

1. The Franks (Charlemagne’s people) became a major force in Europe, with most of Western Europe in the empire
2. The power of the church began to seep into political life- the two were connected
3. Churches, roads, and schools were built to unite this Christian empire
4. Re-interpretation of Roman culture

Monastic Life

1. Monks spent most of their day either working the land, praying or copying texts.
2. They preserved Greco-Roman cultural achievements by copying the works of Greek and Roman historians and
poets.
3. In western Europe most of the classical texts were Roman.
4. Greek texts were preserved by the Byzantine scholars.

Who’s the Boss?

 Pope: head of the Church, noble

 Cardinal: advisor of the pope, noble
 Archbishop: head of an archdiocese = several dioceses
 Bishop: head of a diocese = several parishes
 Parish Priest: head of a parish (locality)

Power of the Church

1. Catholic church provides for social and religions needs of the people
2. Priests do sacraments: marriage, last rites
3. Provided education
4. Care for the poor
5. Kept money flowing

Feudalism: The Basics

1. With the end of the Roman Empire, people in Western Europe had no defense against invasion
2. In order to stay safe, people entered into feudal agreements with landowning lords
3. The deal between the people and landowners was in exchange for work, the lord would provide protection
Feudalism

1. With no Roman Empire to provide defense of citizens people were constantly getting invaded
2. No government exists to stop them
3. People created system called Feudalism to protect themselves from invaders

How Feudalism Works

1. An incredibly rigid class structure: everyone has a place and a role and it doesn’t change or vary
2. Lords= powerful men who are rich and own a lot of land
3. Lords give out chunks of their land to lesser lords called Vassals
4. Vassal= Someone who manages a chunk of land (fief) for a lord
5. Fief= land given to a vassal from a lord
6. In exchange for the fief and protection, vassals pledge their loyalty and military service to their lord
7. Deal is called Feudal Contract

The Manor

1. Manor was the basic unit of the feudal system

2. Manor= the lord’s estate
3. Usually one or more villages and the land around it
4. Serfs are the backbone of The Manor
5. Serfs= peasants who are tied to the land but not slaves
6. Serfs are tied to the land, so if you get the land, you get the serfs
7. The Manor is a self-sufficient structure- everything you need is there

Serfs

1. Serfs work the land several days a week and do the manual labor around The Manor
2. Serfs had to ask for permission to leave the estate or marry
3. Serfs paid the lord several times a year
4. In exchange for this work, they received protection from the lord

The Movement of People

1. There’s a lot of movement of people around Europe at this time- migration from one area to another.
2. Angles and Saxons move from Northern Europe into the British Isles (England)
3. Magyars moved from Central Asia into Hungry
4. Vikings migrated from Scandinavia
5. All of this movement and invasion meant that manors were important for safety, and the source of resources
because trade wasn’t safe