Middle Ages Notes
- Germanic Kingdoms unite under Charlemagne
- Charlemagne spread Christian civilization throughout northern Europe
- Middle Ages equals the medieval period, lasted from 500-1500 A.D. (medieval Europe is fragmented)
- Invasions changed the way things were in western Europe
- Disruption of trade- Europe's cities no longer were the center of trade and money was scarce
- Downfall of cities- Cities no longer were the center of administration
- Population shifts- Nobles retreat to rural areas and cities don't have strong leadership
- Decline of learning- many invaders were illiterate but they communicated through oral tradition, only priests and church officials could read and write, knowledge of Greek literature; science; and philosophy was almost lost
- Loss of common language- dialects develop in different regions, by the 800's French, Spanish and other Roman-based languages are evolving from Latin
- Germanic Kingdoms emerge- Roman society was loyal to the local public government
- Nobody cared about the king and nobody really paid attention to him
- Franks who were settling in Gaul had a leader named Clovis
- Clovis had a battle conversion like Constantine, he had a bishop baptize him and his 3,000 warriors after winning a key battle, the church approved of Clovis and began to support him
- A powerful alliance came into existence between Clovis and the church
- A pope named Gregory expanded the power of the pope which allows the church to use church money to raise armies, repair roads, and help the poor
- Gregory the Great begins to act like a mayor of Rome and as the head of an earthly kingdom
- the Church is more like a government at this time
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