2 SECTION 1 Clovis SECTION 2 Charles the Hammer SECTION 3 Charlemagne

3 Places to Locate Charles Martel Pepin Charlemagne Roland Louis the Pious Paris Terms to Learn converted anointed counts lords serfs minstrels Clovis People to Know Tours Aachen

4 Clovis During this period, a Germanic people called Franks, who lived along the Rhine River, began to build a new civilization. The Franks were divided and without a common ruler until 481, when one Frankish group chose Clovis as king. Clovis brought all the Franks under one rule, and part of his kingdom later became France, which took its name from the Franks.

5 Clovis (cont.) Clovis was the first Germanic king to accept the Catholic religion when, after a battle victory, he and 3,000 of his soldiers converted, or changed religion, to Christianity. Before long, all the people in Clovis's kingdom practiced the same religion, spoke the same language, and felt united. Clovis extended his rule over what is now France and western Germany and set up his capital in Paris.

6 The Frankish kings who followed Clovis were weak rulers who divided the kingdom among their sons. The sons lost much of their power to local nobles, and the Franks began to accept the leadership of a government official known as the “Mayor of the Palace.” Charles Martel, known as “The Hammer” because of his victory at Tours, was the most powerful Mayor, and he had the support of the Church. Charles the Hammer

7 Pepin was the first Frankish king to be anointed, or blessed with holy oil, by the Pope. Pepin helped the Pope by leading an army into Italy when he was threatened by a group of Germans known as Lombards. Pepin defeated the Lombards and gave the land they held in central Italy to the Pope, making him the political ruler of much of the Italian Peninsula. When Charles Martel died, his son Pepin became Mayor of the Palace. Charles the Hammer (cont.)

8 Charlemagne When Pepin died in 768, his kingdom was divided between his two sons. His son Carloman died within a few years; the other son, Charles, better known as Charlemagne (“Charles the Great”), became king of the Franks. One key warrior in Charlemagne’s army was a soldier called Roland. By 800, Charlemagne had created a large empire.

9 Charlemagne (cont.) This empire included most of the Germanic peoples who had settled in Europe since the early 400s.

10 Both Charlemagne and the Pope wanted a new Christian Roman Empire in western Europe. On Christmas day in 800, the Pope declared Charlemagne as the new Roman emperor. Charlemagne was a wise and just ruler who issued many laws and chose officials called counts to run the courts, stop feuds, protect the poor and weak, and raise armies for Charlemagne. A Christian Empire

11 Charlemagne ruled his empire from Aachen, but he often journeyed throughout the empire with his advisers and servants. Such visits ensured the loyalty of local officials and people to Charlemagne’s government. A Christian Empire (cont.)

12 Charlemagne appreciated learning, believed in education, and was proud of his own ability to read Latin.  As Charlemagne wanted his people to be educated, he encouraged churches and monasteries to found schools.  One of the many tasks of the scholars was to copy manuscripts which led to the model for the lowercase letters used today. Education

13 Descendents of Frankish warriors and Roman landowners known as lords, or nobles, were the most powerful people in Charlemagne's empire. Farmers lived in simple wooden houses on the estates and worked in the fields owned by the lords or on small pieces of land the lords had given them. The farmers gradually did more for the nobles and less for themselves, becoming serfs, or people bound to the land. Estate Life

14 Neither the nobles nor the farmers had much time to learn to read or write or to think about religion daily. Both groups accepted Christianity, but the new religion had little to do with their daily lives. Yet, on religious holidays, both rich and poor sang, danced, feasted, and listened to traveling musicians called minstrels. Estate Life (cont.)

15 The glory of the empire did not last long after Charlemagne's death in 814. Many counts and lords refused to obey Louis the Pious, Charlemagne's son. Louis the Pious weakened the empire further when he divided it among his three sons. In 843, the brothers agreed to the Treaty of Verdun. The Collapse of the Empire

16 The brothers were weak rulers who allowed the counts and nobles to have most of the power and divided Europe again into smaller territories. The Collapse of the Empire (cont.)