Middle Ages

1
Middle Ages

• 500-1500 AD

2
Characteristics of a Nation

• Established boundaries
• Strong central government
• Strong feeling of loyalty

3
Europes geography

• Rich farmland
• Waterways
• Superior location
• Forests
• These will support the development of Europe

4
Europe is really a peninsula of Asia

• Long coastline
• Available rivers
• Mountains and mountain passes
• These will encourage trade and commerce
• The dividing line is the Ural and Caucus Mts.

5
Barbarians at the Gate

• Barbarians will shape the culture of the Middle
  Ages
• Ostrogoths, Franks, Vandals, Slavs,
  Goths,Burgundians, Lombards, Angles and the Saxon.

6
The Franks

• Capital is at Aix la Chapelle
• CloviskingChristian
• Merovingian dynasty
• Worked hand in hand with the Pope
• Clovis protected Christian land and helped aid in
  the spread of Christianity
• The Pope encourage Catholics to obey the king

http//www.historyforkids.org/learn/medieval/histo
ry/earlymiddle/merovingians.htm
7
Successors of Clovis

• Not many were very good
• They preferred pleasure than work
• Mayors of the Palace were put into place to help
  run the empire
• Charles Martel ( Charles the Hammer) was the most
  influential of these men

8
Pepin the Short 747-768 AD

• Son of Charles Martel
• Pope helped keep him in power
• In return Pepin protected the Pope from enemy
  invasions
• Pepin is also responsible for giving land to the
  Pope that would become known as the Papal States.
  (Vatican)
• Pepin set in motion a great empire building age

9
Problems begin

• Because the Pope now owned land he not only had
  religious authority, he now had power over land.
  
• Both religious and political authority
• This will become a problem between many emperors
  and the Pope.

10
Charlemagne 768-814 AD

• Aka Charles the Great
• On Christmas Day 800 AD, he is crowned emperor by
  the Pope.
• This is an important event because through this
  single act we see that the Pope has power over
  the emperor because he is responsible for the
  crowning.
• http//www.kidspast.com/world-history/0200-frankis
  h-empire.php

11
Death of Charlemagne

• This will see the demise of the empire
• Charlemagnes sons split the empire between them
  through the Treaty of Verdun
• Charles the Bald
• Lothar
• Louis the German
• Charlemagne is remembered for his advancement of
  learning

12
Importance of Charlemagne

• Loyal to church and Pope
• Required Saxons that he conquered to either
  convert or die
• 4,500 beheaded
• Divided empires into counties
• Head of the civil govt was a count
• Each county had a bishop or archbishop

13
Importance cont

• Countys landowners met several times a year to
  pass laws and act as a court
• Missi Domenicispecial agents for the king, they
  checked on local officials and made sure that
  they were not taking bribes or abusing people