The Foundations of Christian Society in Western Europe

Chapter 10

Germanic Successor States

▪Germanic kingdoms: Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Lombards, Burgundians, Angles/Saxons ▪The Franks: center of gravity shifted from Italy to northern lands

The Franks and Empire

▪ Clovis ▪Led the Franks and wiped out the last vestiges of Roman authority in Gaul ▪Military campaigns against other Germanic peoples

▪ Clovis's conversion ▪Many other Germanic peoples converted to Arian Christianity ▪The Franks converted to Roman Christianity ▪Alliance with the Roman church greatly strengthened the Franks

▪ The Carolingians ▪Carolingians, an aristocratic clan, asserted authority in the early eighth century ▪Charles Martel's son claimed the throne for himself, 751

▪Charlemagne (reigned 768-814 C.E.) ▪Grandson of Charles Martel, founder of Carolingian empire ▪Control extended to northeast Spain, Bavaria, north Italy

▪Administration ▪Capital city at Aachen (in modern Germany) ▪Relied on aristocratic deputies, known as counts ▪Used missi dominici to oversee local authorities

▪Charlemagne as emperor ▪Pope Leo III proclaimed Charlemagne emperor, 800 ▪The coronation strained relations with Byzantine emperors

Decline and Dissolution of the Carolingian Empire

▪ Louis the Pious (reigned 814-840) ▪Charlemagne's only surviving son; lost control of the counts ▪His three sons divided the empire into three kingdoms, 843

▪ Invasions ▪Muslims raided south, seized Sicily, parts of northern Italy and southern France ▪Magyars invaded from the east ▪Vikings invaded from the north

Vikings

▪ Norse expansion; Scandinavian homelands were Norway, Denmark, and Sweden ▪Motives: population pressure, resisting Christian missionaries ▪Most were merchants and migrants ▪Some mounted raids in many European regions from Russia to Spain ▪Outstanding seafarers; even established a colony in Canada about 1000 ▪Fleets could go to interior regions via rivers, attacking towns and villages

Establishment of Regional Authorities

▪ In England small kingdoms merged into a larger realm against Scandinavian raids ▪ King Alfred (reigned 871-899) expanded to the north ▪ Alfred's successors controlled all England about the mid-tenth century

▪ Germany: after Carolingian empire, local lords took matters into their own hands ▪ King Otto I (reigned 936-973) defeated Magyars in 955 ▪ Imposed authority in Germany; led armies to support the papacy in Italy ▪ Otto's coronation by the pope in 962 made him the Holy Roman Emperor

▪ In France counts and other local authorities became local lords

Feudalism

▪ After Carolingian empire dissolved, local nobles built decentralized states ▪ Lords and vassals (retainers) ▪ Lord provided vassal with a grant known as a benefice (usually land, called fief) ▪Enabled vassal to devote time and energy to serve the lord ▪Provided resources to maintain horses and military equipment ▪Vassals owed lord loyalty, obedience, respect, counsel, and military service ▪ Lord/vassal relationships become stronger; vassal status became hereditary

▪ Potential for instability ▪Multi-tiered network of lord-retainer relationships ▪Sometimes conflicting loyalties led to instability ▪But powerful states were built on foundation of lord-retainer relationships

Manorialism

▪ Serfs ▪Slaves and peasants took agricultural tasks and frequently intermarried ▪ Free peasants often turned themselves and their lands over to a lord for protection ▪Serfs as an intermediate category emerged about the mid-seventh century

▪ Serfs' obligations ▪ Labor service and rents in kind ▪Could not move to other lands without permission ▪Once their obligations were fulfilled, serfs had right to work on land and pass it to heirs

▪Manors were a principal form of agricultural organization ▪A manor was a large estate, controlled by the lord and his deputies ▪Manors were largely self-sufficient communities

The Economy of Early Medieval Europe

▪ Agriculture production suffered from repeated invasions ▪ Heavy plows ▪Heavy plows appeared in the sixth century; could turn heavy northern soils ▪Became common from the eighth century; production increased ▪Cultivation of new lands; watermills; and rotating crops

▪ Rural society--agricultural surplus not enough to support large cities ▪ Mediterranean trade--Italian and Spanish

merchants trade with Muslims

▪ Norse merchant mariners in North and Baltic Seas ▪Followed routes of Vikings ▪Traded actively with Byzantine and Abbasid empires ▪ Imported Abbasid silver used in European coinage

▪ Population: 36 million in 200; down to 26 million in 600; back up to 36 million in 1000

Age of Faith

• Every aspect of life was dominated by the Church

• All answers to questions were dictated largely by faith

• Popes, clergy held enormous power• Social Hierarchy of the Church• Symbols of the Post-Classical Age of

Faith• The Cathedral• The Crusades• The Pilgrimage• The Monastery

The Politics of Conversion

The politics of conversion ▪ The Franks and the Church ▪Frankish rulers viewed themselves as protectors of the papacy ▪Charlemagne also worked to spread Christianity in northern lands

▪ The spread of Christianity ▪Charlemagne's military campaigns forced the Saxons to accept Christianity ▪Pagan ways did not disappear immediately ▪By 1000 C.E., all western Europe had adopted Roman Christianity

The Papacy

▪ Pope Gregory I (590-604 C.E.) ▪Organized defense of Rome against Lombards' menace ▪Reasserted papal primacy over other bishops ▪Strongly emphasized the sacrament of penance--confession and atonement

▪ The conversion of England--by 800, England in the Roman church

Monasticism

▪ Origin ▪ Devout Christians practiced asceticism in deserts of Egypt, second and third century ▪Monastic lifestyle became popular when Christianity became legal, fourth century

▪ Monastic rules ▪ St. Benedict (480-547 C.E.) provided a set of regulations ▪ Virtues of Benedictine monks: poverty, chastity, and obedience

▪ St. Scholastica (482-543 C.E.) ▪ St. Benedict's sister, a nun ▪ Adapted the Rule, and provided guidance for religious life of women

▪ The roles of monasteries ▪Became dominant feature in social and cultural life of western Europe ▪Accumulated large landholdings ▪Organized much of the rural labor force for agricultural production ▪Provided variety of social services: inns, shelters, orphanages, hospitals, schools ▪Libraries and scriptoria became centers of learning