-Middle Ages = medieval period
-476 – 1453 AD
-(from the end of the Roman Empire to the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks)
-medieval Europe is fragmented
-this new society has roots in:
           -classical heritage of Rome
            -beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church
           -customs of various Germanic tribes
overrun the western half of the Roman Empire
  causing:
    -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

"I would die for my chief, but I see no reason to 

pay taxes to a king I don't even know.  So there."

-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 become 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, Benedict writes rules for monks:

-vows of poverty (live simply in monasteries) 

-chastity (no marital relations)

-obedience (listen to church superiors)

-His sister Scholastica writes similar rules for nuns

-they operate schools, maintain libraries, copy books

-Pope Gregory I (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' descendants 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 can 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!