Germanic Kingdoms unite under Charlemagne

• Main Idea
• Many Germanic kingdoms that succeeded the Roman Empire were reunited under Charlemagne's empire.
• Why it matters
• Charlemagne spread Christian civilization throughout northern Europe, which is where many of us came from.
• Setting the stage
• Middle Ages = medieval period
• 500 - 1500 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 centers
• 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 a strong leadership. 
• Decline in learning
• Germanic invaders are illiterate, but they communicate through oral tradition
• Only priests and church officials could real and write
• Knowledge of Greek (and literature, science, philosophy) is almost lost
• Loss of a common language
• Dialects develop in different regions
• By the 800's French, Spanish and other Roman-based languages are evolving from Latin.
• Germanic kingdoms emerge
• The concept of gov. changes
• Roman society: loyal to public gov
• Germanic society: loyal to family
• Germanic chief led warriors
• During peace, he provided food, weapons, treasure, a place to live
• During wartime, warriors fought for the lord
• "The king? Who's that? You want to collect taxes from me? Who the heck are you?"
• Franks lived in the Roman province of Gaul - their leader is Clovis.
• The Franks under Clovis
• Another battlefield conversion (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 AD - Church + Frankish rulers convert many
• fear of Muslims in southern Europe spur many to become Christians
• Monasteries and convents
• 520 AD - Benedict wrote the rules for monks and monasteries
• Poverty, chastity (virgin), 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, Greek 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 pope) 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)