THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE

AND THE CHURCH IN THE

MIDDLE AGES

INVASIONS TRIGGER CHANGES

IN EUROPE

The period from 500 to 1500 is known as

the Middle Ages or medieval period

From the fallen Roman Empire emerged

new institutions

Invasions and warfare led to new

changes in government, economy,
and culture.
Merchants were very much affected with
the invasions

Business collapsed
Money became scarce

Cities were abandoned as a result of

destroyed trade, forcing the nobles to
retreat to the rural areas.
Cities were without strong leaders
Population of Western Europe became
mostly rural
Knowledge was almost lost among the
Romans.

The invaders who attacked Rome were

illiterates-they had no written language.

Few people, except for the priest and

priest officials, were literate.

The mixture of German and Roman

speaking people ushered in the
development of new words and phrases.

Latin began to change.

THE EMERGENCE OF
GERMANIC KINGDOMS
Years 400-600,small Germanic kingdoms
replaced Roman provinces.
Borders of these kingdoms changed
constantly with the fortunes of war.
The church-the institution that survived
the fall of the Roman empire ; they
provided order and security

GOVERNMENT CHANGES

Family ties and personal loyalty rather

than citizenship bound Germanic society
together

Germanic people were governed by

unwritten laws and traditions.

Germanic chief led a band of warriors who

had pledged their loyalty to the chief.

IN PEACETIME
followers lived in the lords hall
was given food, weapons and treasures
IN BATTLE
Warriors fought to the death at their
lords side

Germanic warriors willingly died for a

leader they respected. Yet, they felt no
obligation to obey a king they didnt know,
nor any official to taxes or administer
justice in the name of an emperor they
have never met.

Germanic people called Franks held

power in Roman province of Gaul-their
leader is Clovis who brought Christianity.

THE RISE OF THE FRANKS

By 530CE, the Franks controlled much of
the land in what is now France and
Germany.
Clovis was converted into Christianity
Many Germanic peoples were converted
into Christianity.

The Frankish kingdom was divided into

smaller kingdoms.

In 717, a leader named Charles Martel

reunited the Frankish kingdom.

His name Charles means the Hammer

described him well.

He put down all his rivals and enemies.

CHARLES MARTEL
Known as the mayor of the palace who
became so powerful
The Muslim raiding army from Spain was
defeated by him at the Battle of Tours in
732-this battle was most significant
because Europe was spared from being
ruled by the Muslim
His power was passed on to his son
Pepin the Short

Pepin wanted to become king so he

cooperated with the Pope.
In exchange, the pope anointed Pepin
King by the grace of God this began
the reign of Frankish rulers called the
Carolingian Dynasty

Pepin the Short died in 768.

He left a strengthened Frankish kingdom
to his two sons, Carloman and Charles.
After Carlomans death in 771,Charles
known as Charlemagne or Charles the
Great quickly seized control of the entire
kingdom.

THE RULE OF CHARLEMAGNE

Charles became king in 768 when he was
about 26.
He was a devout Christian who wanted to
build a Christian empire in Europe.
Charlemagnes fiercest campaign was the
30 year struggle against the pagan Saxons
in Northern Germany.
The defeated Saxons had to convert to
Christianity or be killed.

Charlemagnes army also crossed the

Pyrenees to attack the Muslim rulers of Spain.
By the year 800,Charlemagnes empire
included most of central and western Europestretched from Atlantic Ocean to Adriatic Sea.
The Carolingian Empire exceeded the
Byzantine Empire.
He became a very powerful king in Western
Europe.
He was able to crush a mob that attacked the
Pope and, in turn, the Pope Leo III crowned
him emperor.

His coronation was historic because it

signifies the unification of Germanic
power, the Church and the Roman Empire.

GOVERNMENT
Charlemagne ruled his empire personally
by riding on horseback from one place to
another.
IN BATTLES-he depended on his nobles not
on his professional army.

Charlemagne in governing his empire.

He sent out royal agents
Make sure that landowners called
counts governed counties justly
He visited regularly part of his kingdom
He judged cases
Settled disputes
Rewarded loyal followers
Kept a close watch on the management
of his large estates

CULTURE
He enjoyed music and set to a palace
school and library
He invited English, German, Italian, and
Spanish scholars
He ordered monasteries to open schools
that trained future monks and priests

END OF CHARLEMAGNES
EMPIRE

Charlemagne died in 814

After 40 years, Charles the Bald and Louis the
German fought one another for the empire.
The civil war ended in 843 when they signed
the Treaty of Verdun.
This pact divided into three kingdoms
After, Carolingian kings lost power, central
authority broke down, lack of strong rulers led
to a new system of governing & landholding

Charles the Bald

Louis the German

THE CHURCH IN THE

MIDDLE AGES
Faith in God
Church prominent feature; more than a
place of worship; powerful institution with
its own government, laws, courts, and
system of taxation.
Feudal society from king to peasant was
influenced by the teachings of the church.

Church in the Middle Ages

THE CHURCHS GROWING

INFLUENCE
In

the Northern and Eastern Europe,

missionaries who preached the gospel, like
Patrick in Ireland and Augustine in England,
won many converts.
Boniface carried Christian teachings to
Germanic people in Saxony in700 CE.
Dedicated people converted the Slavs,
Magyars, and Vikings.

Augustine in England

Patrick in Ireland

 Several

parishes made up a see or diocese;

the district was ruled by a bishop.
Archbishop administered several dioceses
Bishops and archbishops are nobles
Parish priests were generally commoners
Pope in Rome was the spiritual leader in the
Christian World
Papal Estates lands ruled by the pope
Priest celebrated mass; helped care for
the sick and poor; collected the tithe/10%
tax; only teacher in the village

THE SOCIETY AND THE

CHURCH

The clergy gained great influence in political

affairs
High church officials owned feudal lands
with their own fiefs and vassals
As nobles, some were also vassals to a
king/other lord
As churchmen, they weren't required to
fight in battle, but they had to decide
between loyalty to a feudal lord and loyalty
to the church.

Documents were sworn before a member of

the clergy
So that those who travel and those who
remain at home may enjoy security and
peace.
The church declared that fighting must stop
between Friday and Sunday each week and
during religious holidays Peace of God
It contributed to the decline of the feudal
warfare in 1100CE

CHRISTIAN SALVATION
Christians

believed life on Earth was less

important than salvation and everlasting life
in heaven
The route to salvation was through
sacraments, the seven sacred rites, which
were administered by the church through
priests
They used harsh measures to enforce
discipline

Christians who disobeyed were threaten

with excommunication
People who were excommunicated could
not receive sacraments; lost their property
and were treated as outcasts
A king who defied the church could also be
excommunicated just like Martin Luther
Heresy holding a belief that differed from
those of the church

Martin Luther

 Luther

was excommunicated by the Roman

Catholic Church

As

a monk, he struggled to find peace with

God

RELIGIOUS ORDERS
Best way to serve God was to withdraw
from the world.
St. Benedict established a monastery in
Monte Casino in Italy at 6th century
Shall not have anything of his own neither
a book nor a pen.
Monk took vows of chastity/purity, and of
absolute obedience to the Abbot head of
the monastery

St. Benedict

Women were allowed to become nuns

A bell summoned monks and nuns to pray

at dawn and at set hours during the day

Two teaching orders became prominent

Francis of Assisi dedicate his life to

poverty and service; founded the Franciscan
Order of Monks
Franciscans owned no property or worldly
goods; survived on charity and worked to
help the poor
Dominic founded a new order of monks
Dominicans teachers who set up schools
in new towns

Dominic

Francis of Assisi

LATIN TEXTS
The medieval church helped preserve
ancient learning
Charlemagne ordered monks to copy
classical Greek and Latin texts
By carefully copying Greek and Roman
works, they preserved the traditions of the
ancient world for future generations

THE CHURCH-A CIVILIZING

FORCE

Great monasteries and convents flowered as

centers of learning and the arts
One problem of the church was how to control
the clergy
Corruption and immorality was felt
The Abbot of Cluny banned simony or the
buying and selling of religious offices
He stressed the virtues of hard work and service
to God
The Cluny reforms helped restore discipline
among the clergy.

CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE
CHURCH
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Unity and Stability

Humanitarianism
Civilizing Influence
Preservation of Classical Culture
Field of Agriculture and Industry
Emphasis on justice, mercy, brotherhood,
peace and salvation