Christianity Germanic Tribes and Charlemagne Fall of Rome
Christianity, Germanic Tribes, and Charlemagne
Fall of Rome • The prevailing theory today does not view the end of the Roman Empire as a fall, but as a transformation. • Over several centuries, cultural, economic, political, and religious changes all worked together to transform Rome and its people. New peoples, such as the Germanic tribes, altered the cultural make-up of the empire. • The most popular date for the fall of Rome is 476, when Romulus Augustulus, the last Western Roman emperor, was overthrown by Germanic warriors.
Changes in Society • With German chiefs assuming power and the fall of Rome, several changes occurred: ▫ 1. Trade is disrupted and money became scarce ▫ 2. Cities are abandoned as centers of administration ▫ 3. Populations shifted as people moved to rural areas • Germanic people who invaded could not read or write • They: ▫ Stressed personal ties and family loyalty over allegiance to a ruler or king. ▫ Lived by unwritten laws and traditions. ▫ Didn’t care about citizenship in a public state.
Clovis • He ruled the Franks as part of the Merovingian Dynasty • Accomplishments: ▫ He untied the Franks into one kingdom ▫ He converted to Christianity and brought that religion to the region
Christianity and Gregory I • The Church provided order and security without a strong central government in Europe • Gregory the Great: ▫ Expanded the power of the Church to include secular roles ▫ Raised armies, repaired roads, helped the poor, and negotiated treaties ▫ Believed that he ruled a spiritual kingdom called Christendom which covered all of Europe
Monasteries • Monasteries were places where Christian men called monks gave up all their private possessions. Nuns lived in convents. • Monks opened schools, maintained libraries, and copied books. They wrote histories (like Venerable Bede) and created illuminated manuscripts.
Example of Illuminated Manuscript
Charles Martel • Charles Martel is a leader of the Franks who defeated the Muslims at the Battle of Tours in 732. This prevented Western Europe from becoming part of the Muslim Empire.
Pepin the Short • Pepin the Short fought the Lombards who were invading central Italy and threatening Rome. This began a long relationship of the Frankish Empire and the Church helping each other and also started the Carolingian Dynasty. Coronation of Pepin the Short by the Pope in 751
Charlemagne • He was a very able leader of the Franks who united Western Europe for the first time since Rome and spread Christianity throughout Europe. • On Christmas Day in 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor. Although the coronation was primarily a ceremonial gesture without any legal basis, it symbolically associated the seat of political and military power in Western Europe with the Roman tradition. • This signaled the joining of Germanic power, the Church, and the Roman Empire's heritage
Carolingian Renaissance • Charlemagne ▫ Surrounded himself with English, Spanish, German, and Italian scholars ▫ Opened a palace school ▫ Ordered monasteries to open schools which allowed them to expand their libraries • Charlemagne fostered a cultural renewal that reintroduced the traditions of the Roman Empire: organized government, the rule of law, literacy, art, and architecture.
Treaty of Verdun (1843) • Charlemagne crowns his son, Louis the Pious, emperor a year before he dies in 814. • But he was ineffective. • Louis’ three sons, Lothair, Charles the Bald, and Louis the German fought each other for control. • In 843, this civil war ends with the Treat of Verdun which split up the kingdom and effectively broke down central authority, leading to the rise of Feudalism.
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