2. The Barbarianization of the West and the Dawn of the Early Middle Ages, 400 - 900 AD

3. I. Barbarians and the Transformation of the Classical World A. West Germanic Revolution, 200 - 400 AD Historical Dialectic at Work ThesisAntithesis Synthesis

4. B. Origins 1. Indo-European

5. 2. Cosmology animistic trees, nature, tricentric

6. 3. Warrior-based society a. status based on cattle-raising, fighting Odin b. households, clans, tribes “bloodfeuds” c. WEREGELD - manipulated by Romans

7. B. Imperial Germans 1. Role in Roman politics, society 2. Comitatus Hermann Arminius 3. West Germanic Revolution

8. C. The Germanic West

9. 1. Germans take over a. Early 400s, Roman generals German b. 487, Ostrogoths occupy Italy 2. Germans use Roman aristocracy a. Gallo-Romans b. Germanic chieftains sought Roman titles

10. By 500 AD, the western half of the Roman Empire was under the control of Germanic chieftains… …but at the local level society still governed by Roman laws and aristocrats

11. II. Germanic Kingdoms, 500 - 900

12. A. The Frankish Kingdom

13. 1. Clovis kills last Gallo-Roman general, 486 2. Appointed “patrice” by Byzantine Emperor 3. Married a Christian woman and converted 4. Established “Merovingian” Dynasty

14. B. Living in the Early Middle Ages 1. Roman slavery disappears a. Manses, manorial system 2. Single family household - marriage depended on permission - economic, not “sacred”

15. 3. Peasant culture gradually becomes Christian a. prior to 500, Christianity was urban b. Venerable Bede, (600-700s) blending pagan/Christian rituals

16. C. the new Aristocracy 1. Land (Roman) and warfare (German) 2. Liege-lord grants fiefs * origins of Germanic loyalty a. vassal serves lord in exchange for fief

17. 3. Love-hate relationship with Germanic kings 4. Status of women

18. 4. Constant need to pursue honor “Quest” myths popular in medieval Europe Beowulf - 6th Century Nordic; pagan mysticism oral tradition, oldest epic in vernacular Old English

19. Arthurian Legend Celtic King who fought Anglo Saxons Might does not make right Quest for the Holy Grail

20. Between 500 - 700, Germanic tribes establish Kingdoms in the West based on Roman land- use patterns and Germanic customs …as these kingdoms solidify, powerful Germanic kings try to reconstitute the Roman Empire under their rule

21. III. The Carolingian Achievement

22. A. Carolingian power 1. 700s, rebellious nobles 2. Charles Martel Battle of Tours, 732 AD Saved the West? Christianity? 3. Gregory III declares Charles “Protector of the Church”

23. 4. Martel’s son, Pippin, named “King of the Franks” Frankish Kings and Church relying on each other to establish legitimacy

24. B. Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Empire “The Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire…discuss.”

25. 1. Reformed the clergy church feared pagan influences 2. Forcibly converted non-Christians Einhard, The Life of Charlemagne

26. C. Christmas Day, 800 1. Pope declares Charlemagne the Holy Roman Emperor the Empire Restored?

27. 2. The Carolingian Renaissance, post 800 AD Charlemagne established universities, monasteries Unifies Europe long enough to withstand new invasions Desire to centralize Europe (Roman) contends with tendency to resist centralization (Germanic)