World History: Patterns of Interaction

Germanic tribes were significantly different from the Romans. ◦ Loyalty to public government and written law had

unified the Roman society.◦ Family ties and personal loyalty, rather than

citizenship in a public state, bound Germanic society together.

◦ Germanic peoples lived in small communities and were governed by unwritten rules and traditions.

Germanic chief led a loyal band of warriors whom he gave food, weapons, treasures.

Warriors fought to the death at their lord’s side. For these warriors, it was better to die first before their chief.

Germanic warriors willingly died for a leader they respected.

What does this infer? The Germanic tribes stress on personal ties that made it impossible to establish orderly government for large territories.

In the Roman province of Gaul, a Germanic people called the Franks held power. Their leader was Clovis.

Clovis would be known as that leader who would bring Christianity to the region.

“For I have called on my gods but I find they are far from my aid...Now I call on Thee. I long to believe in Thee. Only, please deliver me from my enemies.” (Clovis, 496AD)

The Church in Rome welcomed Clovis’s conversion. They supported his military campaigns against other Germanic peoples. By 511, Clovis had united the Franks under one kingdom.

By 600 BC, the Church, with the help of Frankish rulers, had converted many Germanic peoples. The newly-converted Christians had settled in Rome’s former lands.

MONASTERIES AND CONVERTS◦ What is the difference between these two?

These are religious communities built by the Church to adapt to rural conditions.

Christian men called monks gave up all their private possessions to become servants of God. Nuns, women, also followed this religious way of life.

And did they live in a monastery with the monks? The answer is NO.

Benedict (480?-543)“We must prepare our hearts and bodies for

combat under holy obedience to the divine commandments...We are therefore going to establish a school in which one may learn the service of the Lord.”

Monasteries also became Europe’s best-educated communities. Monks opened schools, maintained libraries, and copied books. ex. Venerable Bede, an English monk, wrote a history of England.

Gregory I- pope, became Gregory the Great. He broadened the authority of the papacy,

or pope’s office, beyond its spiritual role. Papacy became secular (worldly, power

involved in politics) Pope’s palace- center of Roman government The idea of a churchly kingdom ruled by a

pope-> central theme of the Middle Ages.

The Franks controlled the largest and strongest European kingdoms in an area formerly known as Gaul. By the time Clovis died, he had extended his rule over most of what is now France.

Clovis strengthened the Merovingian Dynasty, named after his legendary ancestor.

Major domo or Mayor of the Palace had become the MOST POWERFUL PERSON in the kingdom by 700 AD.

Officially: In-charge of the royal household and estates

Unofficially: He commanded armies and made policies.◦ Ex. Charles Martel (Charles the Hammer)

Charles Martel extended the Franks’ reign to the north, south, and east.

Defeated a Muslim raiding party from Spain at the Battle of Tours in 732. The outcome of this battle held great significance for Christian Europeans.

Charles’s victory halted Muslim invasion in Europe.

Charles Martel

Pepin the Short – anointed by the Pope as “the king by the grace of God; began the Carolingian Dynasty.

(Carloman) and Charlemagne

Vikings Feudalism (Social Order, Pyramid) Manors Knighthood and Chivalry The Church and the Holy Roman Empire