Before we go any further, where are we? Talked about Alexander the Great, who was he? Great Greek Conqueror Who took over Europe following Alex the Great? Romans Who was the first leader of note in Rome? Caesar What happened to him? Assassinated What made Rome so great? Architecture (Roads, Aqueducts, Baths, Coliseum) Laws, Legions, Tradition, & Legacy What made Rome not-so-great? Greed & corruption

Where we are part 2… Who were the people who were responsible for the “sacking” of Rome? Barbarians Following the fall of Rome, what was the ‘era’ known as and why? Dark Ages, people fell into a more less structured, primitive state What was responsible for the re-shaping of Europe? Spread of Religion What Religions & why? Judaism, Christianity, & Islam; because they all followed similar principal & belief in a similar God. Who were the most notable, and successful of these Barbarians? The Franks Who led the Franks (family name), and where did they go? Merovingians & into Gaul (France)

Okay now we can move to Charlemagne… Who, what, where, and when… 768 AD Became leader of the Frankish Merovingian Empire following the death of his father, the last of the Merovingian rulers Pepin, the Short Mistranslation of Pepin, the Younger Also known as Charles the Great Charlemagne’s goal was to rebuild civilization (remember we were in the “dark ages”), he had the intelligence and the power to do so…

What did he do? Using his power and intelligence, along with military power, he expanded the “old” Merovingian Empire in every direction He was crowned the Emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III. The Carolingian Empire, as it was known, gave Western Europe a brief rest from the wars that had torn it apart

How’d he do it? Governed from modern day Germany, in a place known as Aachen Gave local governments freedom, all the while sent out his agents to ensure that the people we being treated properly Developed a code of laws for the whole empire He tried to make things better for the serfs and tradespeople, unlike anyone else before him Developed a more successful education program New schools and encouragement of learning

What he did… Aside from new schools and higher levels of learning Charlemagne achieved much more… Succeeded in brining a rebirth of learning and the arts His time has been referred to as the Carolingian Renaissance Wasn’t always the “nice, reformed guy” Number of Saxon (other Barbarians) we captured, he insisted that they converted to Christianity – Saxons said no – up to 4000 Saxons executed in one day…

Charlemagne’s Renaissance Characteristics of his renaissance included: Encouraged learning of Latin Established new schools in monasteries Took an interest in architecture Many stone churches & palaces built in Germany

As with Rome, things come to an end… Charlemagne died following 46 years of ruling, at the age of 72 The Peace and security that he had worked for fell apart Much like the Merovingians of the past, his empire fell apart due to bickering and in-fighting of his heirs They showed weakness just in time for these guys to show up…