Germanic Kingdoms Unite under Charlemagne

So basically for the class we went over the same stuff that we did before on the slides throughout the week.

• 476-1453 AD: Romulus Augustulus: 13 year old emperor was told to step down, deposed as emperor. no more emperor, no more empire.
• this new society has roots in:
• classical heritage of Rome
• beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church
• customs of various Germanic tribes
• overturn the western half of the Roman empire
• causing: (TEST QUESTION)
• disruption of trade
• downfall of cities
• population shifts to rural areas,
• decline of learning
• tribes had oral tradition, songs, but couldn't read Greek or Latin
• Romance languages evolve (French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian)
• few besides priests were literate
• Germanic warriors' loyalty is to the lord of the manor he provides them w/food, weapons, treasure
• result:
• no orderly government for large areas
• small communities rule
• Clovis rules the Germanic people of Gaul, known as the Franks (which is where "France" comes from)
• in 496 he has a battlefield conversion-he and 3000 of his warriors became Christians
• the Church in Rome likes this
• by 511 the Franks are united into one kingdom, with Clovis and the Church working as partners
• Church + Frankish rulers  = rise in Christianity
• in 520, Benadict writes rules for monks:
• vows of poverty (live simply in monasteries)
• chastity (no marital relations)
• obedience (listen to church superiors)
• Pope Gregory 1 ( Gregory the Great) goes secular (worldly power)
• church revenues are used to help the poor, build roads, and raise armies
• this is a theocracy
• Gregory's spiritual kingdom (Christendom) extends from Italy to England, from Spain to Germany
• Clovis rules  the Franks in Gaul until his death in 511.
• most of the rest of Europe consists of smaller kingdoms (seven in England alone)
• Clovis' desendants include Charles Martel, known as Charles the Hammer (great name!)
• Hammer defeats a Muslim raiding party from Spain at the Battle of Tours in 732
• (if he hadn't won, western Europe could have become part of the Muslim Empire - that's huge!)
• Charles Martel's son is Pepin the Short
• he works with the church and is named "king" by the grace of God by the pope (Popes do that?)
• Pepin the Short dies in 768, leaving two sons
• Son #1 - Carloman - dies in 771
• Son #2 - is Charles, known as Charlemagne, meaning Charles the Great
• six feet four inches of rocking ruling warrior greatness!
• Treaty of Verdun - the three grandsons of Charlemagne split the empire up into three parts