1. AKS 37a: Terms, People, Places, & Events

2. Middle Ages
Era between the fall of the Western Roman Empire & the Renaissance.
It had roots in:
1. The heritage of Rome.
2. The beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church.
3. The customs of Germanic tribes.

3. Disruption of Trade Merchants faced invasions. Businesses collapsed.
Europe’s cities were no longer economic centers for trade.
Money became scarce.

6. Downfall of Cities
Cities were abandoned as centers of administration.

7. Population Shifts
Nobles & city dwellers fled to rural areas & started growing their own food.
No strong leaders were left in the cities.

8. Decline in Learning Germanic peoples: Roman peoples:
Oral tradition. No written language, illiterate.
Roman peoples:
Level of learning sank when families left cities for rural areas.
Priest & Church officials were literate.
Greek was almost lost forever!!

9. Loss of a Common Language
German-speaking peoples mixed with Roman Latin-speaking peoples.
Latin changed!! It was no longer understood!!
French, Spanish, etc. all came from Latin.
This also helped to break-up the empire.

10. Gaul
Roman province where the Franks lived.

11. Franks
Lived in Gaul.
Leader was Clovis who brought Christianity to the region.

12. Clovis Leader of the Franks.
During war, he prayed to the Christian God & won the battle!!! He then converted to Christianity.
He went on to united the Franks into one kingdom.

13. Monasteries
Home to the Monks. Located in Rural areas & became Europe’s best-educated communities.

14. Convents
Religious communities for nuns.

15. Monks Lived in monasteries.
Gave up their private possessions & devoted their life to serving God.
Opened schools, maintained libraries, & copied books using incredible details.

17. Nuns
Lived in convents
Gave up their private possessions & devoted their lives to serving God.

18. Benedict
Italian monk who wrote a book of strict rules for monks to live by.
Said they should work & pray evenly.
Established the Benedictine Order of Monks.

19. Scholastica Twin sister of Benedict. Devoted her life to the church.
First nun of the Benedictine order.
They both died the same year & were buried in the same grave.

20. Venerable Bede An English monk. Wrote a history of England.
Considered the best historical work of the Middle Ages.

22. Pope Gregory I (AKA Gregory the Great)
Made Pope’s office spiritual & political.
Pope’s palace was the center of Government.
Used church money to raise armies, repair roads, and help the poor. Signed peace treaties with invaders.

23. Secular Power
Concern with worldly matters and spiritual matters.

24. Major Domo AKA “Mayor of the Palace”.
He was the most powerful person in the Frankish Kingdom.
Officially: In charge of the royal household & estates.
Unofficially: Led armies & made policy.
Basically: He ruled the Kingdom!!!

25. Charles Martel AKA Charles the Hammer
He was the “Mayor of the Palace”.
Had more control than the king.
United the Franks!!

26. Battle of Tours
732: Charles Martel defeated the Muslim raiders from Spain.
This stopped the spread of Islam, saving the Western Church.

27. Pepin the Short Son of Charles Martel. Wanted to be King.
Helped the Pope defeat the Lombards, when they were threatening Rome.
In return, the Pope anointed Pepin “King by the Grace of God”.

28. Carolingian Dynasty The family that ruled the Franks from 751 – 987.
Pepin had 2 sons
Carloman (the oldest son)
Charles (younger)
Pepin died in 768
His oldest son, Carloman died a few years later.
In 771 Charles became the King

29. Charlemagne (Slide 1 of 7) {AKA Charles the Great}
771: Charlemagne ruled the entire Kingdom.
Two Goals:
1st goal: Control all of Western Europe
2nd goal: Convert all of Western Europe to Christianity

30. Charlemagne (Slide 2 of 7) {AKA Charles the Great}
1st Goal: Control all of Western Europe
First he beat the Lombards in Italy.
Then he attacked the Saxons & won.
He defeated the Saxons-they fled to an island off the coast of Europe…
Britain…
They became the Anglo-Saxons (English)

31. Charlemagne (Slide 3 of 7) {AKA Charles the Great}
2nd Goal: Convert all of Western Europe to Christianity
He did this through conquests!!!

32. Charlemagne (Slide 4 of 7) {AKA Charles the Great}
November 24th, 800 Pope Leo III asked Charlemagne to help him get the support of the people back of his people … And he did.
Christmas Day, 800
Charlemagne was worshiping at St. Peter’s Church in Rome when the Pope put a crown on his head & gave him the title of “Roman Emperor”.
The Roman Empire in the West had been reborn and Charles was the 1st Roman Emperor since 476.

34. Charlemagne (Slide 5 of 7) {AKA Charles the Great}
Charlemagne accepted … but was not happy
It made it look like his power came from the Pope & he believed that his power came from God.
He said that he never would have came to Rome had he known that the Pope was going to crown him.
The Pope did this because he wanted the people to know that Charlemagne owed him his crown…

35. Charlemagne (Slide 6 of 7) AKA Charles the Great
Strengthened his royal power by limiting the authority of the nobles.
Royal agents made sure that the powerful landholders governed their counties justly.
Charlemagne regularly visited every part of his Kingdom.
Greatest accomplishment: The encouragement of learning!!!

36. Charlemagne (Slide 7 of 7) AKA Charles the Great
Greatest accomplishment: The encouragement of learning!!!
He kept English, German, Italian, & Spanish scholars around him constantly.
He opened a Palace School & ordered monasteries to open schools to train future monks & priests.

37. Louis the Pious 814: Emperor Charlemagne died & left power with Louis.
Louis was a devoutly religious man, but an ineffective leader!!!
Made a really bad mistake before he died. . . he left the Frankish Empire to his three sons. . . Uh-oh. . .

38. Lothair, Charles the Bald, & Louis the German
What do you think happened????
They fought one another for control of Europe!!! DUH!!!

39. Treaty of Verdun
843: The brothers signed this treaty that divided the Frankish Empire into three Kingdoms.
As a result, Carolingian Kings lost power & central authority broke down!
The lack of strong rulers led to a new system of governing & landholding
--- feudalism!!!!