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GO TO WEBSITE “RESOURCES” TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OPTIONAL BONUS POINTS ON CHAPTER 8 TEST

CHAPTER 8 LESSON 1 NOTES: THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES: THE RULE OF

THE FRANKS

A.D.

476…….

Ancient Times ends when

Rome, capital of the Western Roman

Empire, falls;

Medieval Times begin.

500……The Merovingian Dynasty of the

Christianized tribe called the

Franks begins to rule [France] Gaul,

western German lands, and central Italy,

including Rome.

600s….

The 7th century introduces a new world religion from Arabia called

Islam whose followers are called

Muslims.

700……The Merovingian dynasty weakens so severely, real power rests with a government official called the

Major Domo (mayor of the palace);

Pepin I makes this position hereditary.

714…..

Pepin I’s son, Charles Martel inherits the

position of Major Domo and

“hammers” the Muslims out of Christian France at the Battle of Tours.

But the Muslims continue to control

Palestine, North Africa, and Spain.

750…..Martel’s son, Pepin II (the Short)

inherits the title of “Major Domo;” to secure the title of king from the Merovingians,

he seizes the French throne as “King of the Franks by the grace of God” by receiving the Roman Catholic pope’s blessing in exchange for giving the pope valuable Italian lands that become known as the Papal States;

Why, Pope Zachary, I bestow upon you your own lands that you can call the Papal States! And I will protect those lands for you at all costs!

Tell me again, Major Domo Pepin…What

do I get for crowning you “King

of the Franks?”

• Who will rule the Papal States?

the pope

• On what peninsula are the Papal States located?

Italian

• What major city is a part of the Papal States?

Rome

RESULT OF THIS EXCHANGE:

political power appears to rests with the approval of the papacy [or papal authority; anything relating to a pope]

768……Pepin the Short’s son, Charles (the Great) inherits the title, “King of the Franks,”

(his French name is

Charlemagne; his Latin name is

Carolus Magnus) and he begins the

Carolingian dynasty; he defends and spreads

Christianity throughout his empire by the sword, earning him the nickname the

“Holy Barbarian.”

800……Charlemagne is crowned “Emperor of the Romans” on

Christmas Day

by the Catholic pope

(angering the Byzantine emperor in the East);

Charlemagne builds an empire from Spain to the North Sea and names Aachen [in Germany] as his capital;

he begins a cultural Renaissance of learning not seen in Western Europe since the Pax Romana time period.

814……Charlemagne dies, leaving his empire to his son Louis the Pious who divides the empire among his three sons who eventually cause a

civil war by fighting among themselves for self-rule of the entire empire.

843……The Treaty of Verdun ends the civil war but the empire is too weak to fight off attacks from the outside:

Muslims from North Africa

Slavs from Eastern Europe

Magyars from Asia and

Vikings (called Normans by the Franks) from Scandinavia (Norway, Denmark, Sweden):

-Norwegians settle Greenland and Iceland;

-Danes hold England and Normandy (N.W. France);

-Swedes settle in Ukraine and Russia.

1. From which earlier Merovingian political position did Charlemagne’s initial success derive?

MAJOR DOMO

2. How did the Battle of Tours encourage European Christians? THEIR VICTORY OVER THE MUSLIMS, THEY BELIEVED, WAS A SIGN THAT GOD WAS ON THE SIDE OF CHRISTIANITY

3. What political precedent was set when Pepin the Short gave the Papal States to the pope in exchange for Pepin being crowned “King of the Franks?” THE POSITION OF “KING” CAN ONLY BE APPROVED BY A POPE, LEADING TO FUTURE POWER STRUGGLES BETWEEN CATHOLIC POPES AND EUROPEAN RULERS.

4. Why was the Byzantine emperor angry that Charlemagne was crowned “Emperor of the Romans?” SINCE THE RULES OF ROMAN EMPERORS DIOCLETIAN AND CONSTANTINE, EMPERORS IN CONSTANTINOPLE HAD ALWAYS BEEN CONSIDERED THE SOLE ROMAN RULERS.

5. What is the result, more often than not, of civil war? THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND ARE SO WEAKENED BY WAR THAT THEY ARE OFTEN ATTACKED AND CONQUERED BY OTHERS.