1. AP World History POD #9 – Medieval Europe
Age of Charlemagne

2. Class Discussion Questions
McKay- The Frankish Kingdom and the Emergence of the Carolingians”, pp
McKay- “The Empire of Charlemagne”, pp

3. 1. What steps were taken by the Merovingian Dynasty to rise to power?
Clovis- Frankish king, defeats the Germanic tribes, acquired wealthy provinces of Roman Gaul
Conversion to Christianity garnered the support of the Roman papacy and the Bishops of Gaul
Comites (Count)- senior government and administrative official – collected taxes (power of the purse) and enforced justice and raised troops (power of the sword)
Mayor of the Palace- governed in the absence of the king- second in power after the king

4. 2. What led to the decline of the Merovingian Dynasty and the start of the “Dark Ages”?
Divided the empire between his four sons – land divided based on crop yield – there was conflict and violence between these new kingdoms
The violence was so extreme that the term “Dark Age” became synonymous with this time period

5. 3. How did the Carolingian Dynasty become the protector of the Christian world?
Pipin I- became the Mayor of the Palace and made it a hereditary position
Acquired greater power through a series of marriages
Approached Pope Zacharias seeking the title of king – the Pope needing protection from the Lombards in northern Italy shifted loyalty from the Byzantines to the Franks and made Pipin king
Charles Martel- defeats the Muslim army at the Battle of Tours making the dynasty the defender of Western Christiandom (732 AD)

6. 4. What was the historical significance of Charlemagne?
AD – Charles the Great
Crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III in 800 AD
Became the Christian king responsible for the safety and protection of the Christian people
The coronation shows the power of the pope and indicates a decisive break between Rome and Constantinople
Charlemagne and his government represented a combination of Frankish practices and Christian ideals – the two basic elements of medieval European society
Held his empire together through fierce fighting and harsh justice by distributing land to lesser nobles in exchanges for loyalty and through oaths of loyalty
Greatest legacy was to the advancement of learning and scholarship through his encouragement of monastery’s collection of manuscripts

7. Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Emperor Pope is more powerful
5. What does the coronation of Charlemagne indicate about the power of the king versus the power of the pope?
Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Emperor
Pope is more powerful
This ultimately did not sit well with Charlemagne as he was the protector of the Pope
Papal threat to kings that they could be removed from power at the whim of the pope

8. 6. What happened to Charlemagne’s empire after his death?
Charlemagne left his empire to Louis the Pious
817 Louis the Pious divided the empire among his three sons
Dissatisfied with their land claims and jealous of the imperial title given to Lothar (oldest) the sons fought among themselves

9. 7. What impact did the Treaty of Verdun have on the power, unity, and defense of Europe?
843 AD
Ended the violence of Charlemagne’s descendents
Officially divides the empire
Charles the Bald / Western Kingdom (France)
Lothar / Middle Kingdom and Italy (HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR)
Louis the German / Eastern Kingdom (Germanic States)
By the 9th Century the power of local counts was the cause of most civil war as they attained and held real political power

10. 8. How did the Kievan Principality rise and fall?
The Vikings in an effort to protect trade declared themselves rulers of the Eastern Slavs
Oleg established residence in Kiev and ruled as a loosely united confederation of Slavic states until 1054
Vikings and Eastern Slavs were converted to Orthodox Christianity by Byzantine missionaries
AD – chaos reigned as Kiev was repeatedly divided between the sons of Great Prince Iaroslav – the empire was further divided by future generations each claiming to be the rightful heir and political leader
Boyars (nobles) – descendants of the original Viking warriors who held their land as free private property
Primogeniture – the king’s eldest son received the crown and inheritance upon his father’s death

11. 9. What contributions did Venerable Bede make to Feudal Europe?
Monk- symbolic of Charlemagne’s Age of Learning
Ecclesiastical History of the English People – main source of information about early Britain
Began dating events from the birth of Christ (anno domini) rather than from the foundation of the city of Rome
Learning was designed to create a greater understanding of the scriptures and Christian thought
Modern scholarship has portrayed the “scholar monk” when in reality the “agricultural monk” is more accurate