May 19

• Germanic Kingdoms Unite Under Charlemagne
• Main Idea
• Many Germanic kingdoms that succeeded the Roman Empire were reunited Charlemagne's empire
• Why it matters
• Charlemagne spread Christian Civilization through northern Europe. Which is where many of us came from
• Setting the Stage
• Middle ages = medieval period
• 476-1453 AD
• medieval Europe is fragmented
• Invasions trigger changes in western Europe
• Invasions and constant warfare spark new trends
• Disruption of trade
• Europe's cities are no longer economic
• Money is scarce
• Downfall of cities
• Cities are no longer centers of administration
• Population shifts
• Nobles retreat to the rural areas
• Cities don't have strong leadership
• Decline of learning
• Germanic invaders are illiterate but they communicate through oral tradition
• Only priests and church officials could read and write
• Knowledge of Greek (and literature, science, philosophy) is almost lost
• Loss of a common language
• Dialects develop in different regions
• By the 8005, French, Spanish, other Roman-based languages are evolving from Latin \
• Germanic kingdoms emerge
• the concept of government changes
• Roman society: loyal to public gov't
• Germanic society: loyal to family
• Germanic chief led warriors
• During peace, he provided food, weapons, treasure, a place to live(the lord's halt
• During wartime, warriors fought for the lord
• "The King? Who's that? You want you collect taxes from me? Who the heck are you?"
• Franks live in the Roman province of Goal - their leader is Clovis
• The Franks under Clovis
• Another battlefield conversion (Just like Constantine)
• Clovis and 3000 of his warriors are baptized by the bishop
• The Church in Rome approves of this "alliance"
• Clovis and the Church begin to work together

Clovis' military expertise + The church's support and money = A strategic alliance between two powerful forces.

• Germanic peoples adopt Christianity
• 511 AD - Clovis unites Franks into one kingdom
• 600 D - Church + Frankish rulers convert many
• fear of Muslims in southern Europe spur many to become Christians
• Monasteries and convents
• 520 AD - Benedict wrote he rules for monks and monasteries
• Poverty, Chastity, obedience, study
• His sister Scholastica did the same for nuns in convents
• 731 AD - the Venerable Bede wrote a killer history of England
• Monks opened schools, maintained libraries, and copied books (Bibles, Greeks Texts)
• Pope Gregory 1 expands papal power
• papacy = pope's office
• Secular power = worldly power
• So... under Gregory the Great
• Papal Power (power of the papal) is political power, presented from the pope's palace
• The church can use church money to:
• Raise armies
• repair roads
• Help the poor
• Gregory the Great began to act as mayor of Rome and as head of an earthly kingdom (Christendom)