THE GERMANIC KINGDOMS

Global 9 Mrs. Hart, Mrs.Costello, and Ms. Soddano

GERMANIC TRIBES•Migrated across Europe

•Farmers and herders

•No cities

•No written law

•Led by king

•Warrior nobles swear loyalty to king in exchange for weapons/ loot

WESTERN EUROPE CARVED INTO SMALL KINGDOMS

•Franks

•King , Clovis 486 A.D.

•Converted to Christianity

•Allied with powerful Christian church of Rome

THE AGE OF CHARLEMAGNE•800 A.D. Charlemagne- Charles the Great

•Empire across France, Germany, Italy

•Pope Leo III wants help with rebellious nobles in Rome

•Charlemagne crushes rebellion

•Pope appoints him Emperor of the Romans

•United Christian community

•Eastern Roman Empire in Constantinople outraged

CHARLEMAGNE DIES 814 A.D.•Empire split into 3 regions

•Came under attack form Muslims, Magyars, and Vikings

FEUDALISM•No law and order

•A political, economic and social system/ based on ownership, protection and working of the land

•King divided land among powerful lords

•Lords split land (fiefs/ estates) to vassals who pledged military service and loyalty to lord

•Peasant farmers (surfs) worked the land

WORLD OF NOBLES•Warfare was a way of life

•Rival lords constantly battled for power

•Many nobles trained from boyhood (age 7) to be a knight

•As warfare decreased tournaments became fashionable

•Knight code of conduct – Chivalry-brave, loyal, true to word

NOBLEWOMEN

•Lady of the manor

•Active in medieval life

•In charge when men were away fighting

•Supervised vassals

•Managed household

•Performed farming and medical tasks

•Even went to war to defend her estate

•If husband died first she retained right to land

MEDIEVAL MANOR

•Lord’s estate

•One or more

villages and surrounding

land

PEASANTS•Peasants (serfs) – majority of population

•Live and work on manor

•Not slaves to be bought and sold/ but were not free

•Serfs went with land, could not leave or marry without lord's permission

•Serfs and lords tied together by mutual rights and obligations

•Entitled to lord’s protection, could not be forced off land

•Had to pay lord for services and give part of crops to lord

•Almost no money in circulation, used products- grain, honey, eggs, chickens

LIFE ON THE MANOR•Manors were self-sufficient (produce everything they need right there)

•Peasants had no schooling or knowledge of outside world

•Mill, church, manor house were surrounded by fields for crops

•Peasants (man, women, children) work sun up till sundown

•Ate bread and vegetables

•Lived in one room hut with animals

•Winter, hunger and disease hard to make it through, most die before reaching 35 years of age

THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH•Most powerful force in Europe

•Priest of parish ( local region) in contact with most people

•Guided people on issues of values and morality

•Helped sick and poor- married, baptized, and buried people

•Church place of worship and social center

•Tithe- pay 1/10 of income to support church

PEOPLE OF THE CHURCH•Monks- men, monasteries

•Nuns- women, convents

•Devoted lives to spiritual goals

•Provide basic services- look after poor and sick, set up schools

•Provide manual labor- build roads, clear land

•Kept learning alive

•Copied many ancient manuscripts

POWER OF CHURCH•Most powerful spiritual and secular (worldly) force in medieval Europe

•Pope spiritual leader of Roman Catholic Church

•Pope claimed authority over all secular rulers

•Headed an army of churchmen

•Church owned vast amounts of land

•Own law- canon law (applied to religious teachings, clergy, marriages, morals) and courts

•Many penalties for not obeying, excommunication ( cut off from church life- no sacraments, or Christian burial)

•Nobles could face interdict- whole town, region, or kingdom excommunicated

JEWS IN EUROPE•Jewish communities existed across Europe

•Muslim Spain- center of Jewish culture and scholarship

•Lived side by side with Christian communities, but were taxed heavily

•Anti-Semitism( prejudice against Jews) worsened by 1000 A.D.

•Forbidden form owning land or having occupations

•Many migrated to Eastern Europe

Medieval manuscript-Jews being burned at stake @ 1515 A.D.