The Frankish Kingdoms

Gaul and the Franks As the Romans receded into their Eastern Roman Empire, numerous tribes competed over the landholdings that were now vacated. Gaul → territory north of Italy inhabited by numerous tribes. The Franks → tribe that would conquer Gaul and establish their kingdom in the late 5th Century

Clovis and the Merovingians Merovingians → first dynasty to rule the Franks. Clovis would be the most important Merovingian king. Clovis would conquer the outer regions of Gaul spanning as far as Spain to the west and modern day Germany in the east.

Clovis (cont.) Clovis' biggest contribution outside of conquest to the Franks was his own conversion to Christianity. Clovis would convert during a battle after he believed his prayers were answered leading to his victory. Clovis would then engage in Christianizing the Franks and the Frankish Kingdom

Charles Martel - Carolingians Charles Martel, a mayor of the palace, would be responsible for one the biggest victories in Western European history. Muslims advanced from Spain and attempted to invade the Frankish Kingdom. Martel would meet the Muslims in the Battle of Tours in 732 → battle would be a victory over the Muslims and prevented Islam from moving into Central Europe

Pepin the Short Martel would pass on his position as mayor of the palace to his son, Pepin. Pepin would not be satisfied with just being mayor of the palace and sought to become king of the Franks. Pepin would ask the pope to crown him king → pope would ask for help against the Lombards in exchange. Lombards → tribe that attempted to conquer Italy from the 5th Century to the 12th Century

Pepin the Short (cont.) As a result of defeating the Lombards, Pepin was crowned king of the Franks by the pope. Pepin in turn, would also cede to the popes, the Papal States. Papal States → territories in Italy under the control of the popes until the 1870's.

Charlemagne a.k.a. Charles the Great a.k.a. Carolus Magnus Upon Pepin's death in 768, his son Charles would take up the throne. Charlemagne would engage in numerous campaigns to extend the Frankish kingdom. He would defeat the Saxons and Bavarians to acquire portions of Spain and Eastern Europe. With these victories he was able to unify the territories of Gaul and Eastern Europe for the first time since the Romans had vacated the territory in 476

Charlemagne and the Pope Charlemagne would Christianize many of the tribes he conquered → usually did this through what was known as 'baptism by the sword'. Charlemagne would maintain the relationship that his father held with the pope. After defeating the Lombards, the pope would crown him Holy Roman Emperor → ruler of all of the territories previously held by the Romans.

Consequences of the Crowning Charlemagne being crowned emperor was an achievement but also had consequences: Gave the pope a measure of papal supremacy → power over secular rulers. Made the Roman Catholic Church a government institution since one now had to ask the pope to be crowned emperor. Made Charlemagne the protector of not only the Franks but also of Christendom. Created a rift between the Roman Catholic Church and the Byzantine Empire and Church since emperors were now being crowned in former Roman lands.

Innovations in Education and the Arts Charlemagne sought to improve the literacy rate in his kingdom to help speed up Christianization; he would be responsible for the construction of the first curriculum → plan for learning. The improvement in learning led to a growth in monasticism → monks began to find ways to improve the copying of books

The End of Charlemagne and theTreaty of Verdun Upon the death of Charlemagne, his grandchildren would not follow in his footsteps. The three grandchildren would divide the territory through the Treaty of Verdun in 843. Treaty of Verdun → split the Frankish Kingdom into three separate parts

Results The dissolution of the Frankish kingdom ended any hopes of a unified Europe for now. The Franks would slowly lose more and more power over time as the empire was weak and could not repel foreign invasion. The title of Holy Roman Emperor would filter over to the Germanic kings and would not return until the 990's.