Carolingian Europe – Flashcards

Some people consider Carolingian beginning of middle ages b/c. 1.) barbarian and roman identity: Carolingians craft a new "roman identity" distinctly medieval and tied to church. 2.) concept of Christendom: Scholars are actively thinking about Europe as a social/cultural/political entity. Idea of Europe tied to western christian religious community. diff w Byzantium stronger. Unified christian Europe becomes a reality.

Charles Martel Church Reform a deal with Rome

the effort by historians to divide the past into internally coherent chunks

Powerful Nobles- "Mayors of the Palace" originally Royal Stewards, gradually becomes hereditary. Increasingly power behind the Throne. Kingship still contains power, but Kings don't. Lots of Child Kings! Regent queens could be ousted by Nobles.

Founder Pippin mayor of palace in Austrasia. Every generation only has one son! try a coup in 680's, fail. After coup, take control of other kingdoms and reunite under a figurehead Merovingian king.

"Charlesians" for Charles Martel. so powerful that people forget the Merovingian king. Connected to reform/conversion movements in Germany, especially Anglo-saxon missionaries.

8th century Pippinid. won battle of tours, became mayor of the palace in Austrasia. Status as a war-leader... So golden boy, he even got to give followers land from the church.

son of Charles Martel, shared mayor-ship of palace. Had to put in place another puppet king. Gets everything, is only Mayor of the Palace. Sends Mission to Rome to ask if it's okay to have a powerless king. So pippin packs last Merovingian king off to a monastery.

son of Charles Martel, shared mayor-ship of palace. Had to put in place another puppet king. Decides he really wants to go to Rome, become a monk.

Called in by Pippin and Carloman to reform church. Anglo-saxon; re establishes connection between Frankish/Roman church, incl Roman religious supremacy. had to re-teach the franks Latin! Eventually martyred by his intended converts lmao.

Pope who calls Pippin the king. Can't go to byzantine emperor, so he goes to Pippin! "last pope of the Byzantine Papacy"

754 Deal that Pippin is king of Frankland if he comes to conquer the Lombards. Also anoints Pippin's son Charles.

Lands in central Italy that become the secular dominion of the Papacy. Donates land to St. Peter that become Papal states.

Promise of Quierzy

Spain/Portugal are too linked to Islam, Africa.

Because Europe is Christian!

1.) Partible inheritance: power steadily erodes. 2.) 7th century Breakdown of Roman administration, which they relied on. Socioeconomic problems, like decline of med. trade. Failing taxation/taxes declines power. Merovingian kingdom breaks into multiple smaller kingdoms, incl Burgundy, Austrasia, Neustria, Aquitaine.

1.) Pippin and Carloman overthrow the Merovingian dynasty by allying with the church. Get ecclasiastical support by promoting church reform and pippin arranges a deal w pope to get approval for taking kingship. 2.) Does the rise of Carolingians really mark a watershed in history of Medieval Europe?

Pippin the short had defeated Lombards, Charlemagne did too, and est. Italy, fought in Aquitaine, al-Andalus, Saxony, Demnark and Hungary. Created a very big empire! Concerned w Northern Saxon pagans. religious/military advance! Required conversion. Christian empire. Solved admin problems by... --Moving royal agents around... Not where they were born! Created loyalty to emperor.

mostly happened under Charlemagne himself. (term applied later) First important renaissance! Preserved ancient texts and manuscripts. influenced heavily by religious hangups of Anglo-Saxon church reformers abt Rome. Uniformity/Authenticity embodied in rule of St. Benedict (pop in Rome via Gregory) Charlemagne implemented Benedictine! Also tried to recover real roman script!

Tied to efforts of Carolingian Renaissance. King is "Sacred," Charlemagne ran french church. Delegated authority to regional admin (Counts)

Not powerful for very long. Much of Carolingian success based on military expansion Charlemagne divides kingdom, but lives so long that only one son is alive. Still, personal power also a problem. Emperors lose control and loyalty!

"carlous magnus" Charles the Great son of Pippin (the short?) Ruthless, Physically big! Intellectually curious. Very energetic and invested in imperial affairs. Wanted to know about and improve everything! Also lived for a really long time, and most of his achievements happened in last 20 years. longevity!

Caroline new script, intended to look like roman, but better. Diff from Merovingian. Upper/Lower, punctuation, believed by Italians to be authentic Roman!

Carolingian regional admin, responsible for justice, administration, military defense and finance of districts

Imperial agents sent out yearly to each county to hear complaints, correct abuses, and ensure law and justice are carried out according to central standards. Not hereditary! Could be revoked by King!

Records of imperial legal decisions, copied and sent out to counts to ensure uniformity

Is in trouble, fighting w Roman aristocracy. He's attacked, loses ears and tongues. Flees north, is received by Charlemagne! Charles brings an army and sorts aristocrats. Crowns Charlemagne! Byzantines are seen as possibly heretical bc icons and female Queen. Calls him Roman Emperor! Self conscious attempt by Carolingians to appear like Roman Emperors. Reversal of power- Precedent that Pope can make an Emperor (contrast to constantine presiding over council of Nicea) Even Constantine recognized this.

Female ruler of Byzantium!!! But Franks don't like it. When she's empress, Franks see Byzantines as without emperor Byzantines are pissed.

Crowned by Charlemagne himself (in Byzantine ceremony) Prevented pope from doing that. Deposed and restored by sons 2x When wife dies, he wants another wife. Marries Judith, who has a son- Charles the Bald! Judith also had affairs Civil war among sons.

"ordination of the Empire" est Louis the Pios Follows partible inheritance!

Gets imperial title. Other two are kings.

Has Aquitaine from Ordination Imperii (died before father)

Allies w Charles the Bald! Swears in French ...Indicative of cultural divide.

Son of Judith. possibly illegitimate?? Ordinatio Imperii reorganized to include him. Allies w Louis the German. Swears in German! ...Indicative of cultural divide.

843- Splits Europe up! Creates a disupted border between France and Germany. Lothar keeps "middle kingdom" and empire title. Louis gest Eastern Frankland/germany Charles the Bald gets western frankland/france (Pipin is dead) Sucessive franks try to restore empire, but always fail. Power increasingly in Nobles. Civil war opens way for Vikings.

Charlemagne goes to church, Leo slaps a crown on his head! He's crowned "Emperor of the Romans"

Ordinatio Imperii

Treaty of Verdun

Whether or not Carolingians mark a new era in Europe, they have enormous influence over later europe Renaissance preserves all sorts of classical texts, which will be used by later medieval scholars to ussures in a whole new form of renaissance. For a few moments, christian europe was united again unders a single empire. Echoes of rome were deliberate. But Leo III does give popes power to name emperors. Charlemagne lives in Medieval and modern imagination as ideal King. Even hitler counted his reign as a "reich" But all this power fell apart because it couldn't be sustained from generation to generation. Too much political fragmentation, which left europe vulnerable. (a lot like fall of Roman empire!)

Who are the vikings? Raiders or Traders? Originally traders. What made them violent? Source problems: Viking Sagas written in 13th century. Mythical! Archaeology suggests that... --Population boom. From 8th century, demo takeoff in scandi that creates a shortage of economic support at home. Landless sons who have to seek fortunes abroad, turn to piracy --Things are politically fragmented in scandi and elsewhere: lots of scandi political exiles, and no one to stop them. Civil war going in in Baghdad disturbed flow of silver to the north. --Paganism! Have different taboos about attacking monasteries. --Also it was SO EASY. The 9th century economy? Actually evidence a healthy economy. Or else there wouldn't have been much to take. Ties into Carolingian! 7th century med. trade declines, but by 8th century it's reversing! Pop growing and climate improving. Enough agricultural surplus to keep animals alive through winter; better fertilization and food for people!

Patterns of raiding: Vikings part of a larger onslaught from 3 distinct groups, muslim pirates from south, and magyars from easy (hungarians) Hit N. British isles and Frankland first So relentless that monasticism almost extinct in Northumbria. Irish fared a little better- more source. Dublim and Limerick started as viking ports. Movement of Irish scholars and books to frankland maybe encouraged Carolingian ren. pushed Irish culture into center of island, but helped economy! In Frankland, Louis the Pious' succession battle in 830's. When civil war breaks out, there's a viking raid in northern arc trading spot. Raiders mistaken for merchants. Evidence that vikings were aware of European politics, acted accordingly. When Louis fortified, they left, and when he died, they came back. Western Frankland suffered the most! Ended the commercial boom from charlemagne. Vikings raided (780-850), settled (850-950) and conquested. Raiding is hit and run, and did it quick! Learned how to travel via horses. Settling started w/ "wintering" on safe Islands, like the island of Mann. Conquest by force and gift from kings. Never really got to Medeterranian bc muslim fleets too skilled!!!!! peasants so desperate they even created warbands and were oft slaughtered. Also tried to pay off--acted as a lure, and had to be repeated. Lothar magically saved middle kingdom from most vikings. He had harold and rorick settle, and protect till they died. Viking legacy: Get loot out of monasteries! this might have actually helped get money moving. influx of money towards N. europe helps statebuilding and eventually conversion to christianity in scandi. initially legacy of destruction. only later, with settlements and organized campaigns that they make technological, economic, and agricultural contributions to western European society. Created closer connection w scandi and rest of europe. Profound impact on fate of carolingian empire after charlemagne.

Pagan peoples from Scandinavian Norwegians (fur trading on arctic circle to Scotland and Iceland) Danes: Go south to Frankish coast and Sweden Swedes: Baltic sea, to Ukraine, all the way to Constantinople

Swedes in Byzantine (means traders)

Caspian sea, russian rivers, baltic sea, north sea, english channel. Trading route that vikings used. Vikings traded raw goods for manufactured goods. Even linked into East asian luxury trade routes through Abbasid Caliphate.

Buddha found in Helgo, Sweden. Indirect trading links all the way up there!

Vikings really good at building ships. Fjords, lakes and inlets and islands. Really good at shipbuilding!!! Innovations: Use of sails AND oars- can travel further. 65' long but shallow draft: can do rivers! Light enough to be picked up and carried across portages!!!! omg

Parallel to Northern Arc. Est through looking at movements of people! (opposite view of Pierenne, who said all trade stopped. didn't consider local)

Europeans trade slaves to Islamic world! Might be POW or peasants. (bc population boom) Numbers being sold aren't large enough to stifle European development. Actually stimulates economy by providing influx of money. Takeoff of euro economy which led to viking raids!!!

Under Charlemagne, commerce revived in W. Europe. Active trading on n/s arcs is visible. This is part of why vikings came. viking raids evolved into settlement/conquest, but chaos and terror of raiding period exposed weakness in structure of euro power and drained w. European wealth towards the north.

Lordship is an aristocratic value system that becomes the dominant form. Everywhere you look in the pre-modern world. ie: Beowulf! "Lord = giver of bread/rings/we"

king to dukes/counts to lesser nobles to castellans to knights. Not all knights are nobles. Nobles have to hold land and/or be from high birth. Other knights have the battle skills, but no social status. Nobles lead in battle, knights fight! king was defender of his people and christian leader; expected to care for widows and orphans and give alms AND defender of the church; responsible for church reform, upholding its authority, and protecting its subsistence. counts: had a county! Charlemagne built links between central and local authorities. Principal link; an official in charge of a geographic area. position given in exchange for oath of fidelity, and given a benefice! Also had to defend the county with his own men, all free men, etc and owed military service to king* supervised by king* and other officials (mici dominici), *sons of louis unable to do that, so they indirectly did. ie: free people take oath to king, gave some people exemption from the count's rule, right to hold court. Distant benefices to keep an eye? Bishops also do that? bc theoretically they're the king's nominees. vikings exploited weaknesses in this system, undermined king's authority as protector of his people. most striking aspects of king's power inoperative by 9th century. in frankland, many didnt return till 12th century. things that were once only for the king were now done by bishops and counts, like coin minting! which stopped in 9th cen. King seen as symbol of supreme authority!

a system where a weaker but free person seeks protection from a stronger person, and receives protection in exchange for service and loyalty. (usually owed military service)

something given in return for service, increasingly often land. in theory, if service isn't performed, it can be retracted.

a benefice of land.

Term for the person who owes service to lord.

part of ritual for becoming a vassal. means "manning" becoming their man. kneel before ur lord, put ur hands in front w palms together, and they put their hands around! retained as how people pray bc ur paying homage to lord god. (which used to be people standing up)

faith- fidelity. an oath of loyalty. and then u kiss on the mouth!

what a lord and vassal owe each other: council and (physical) aid!

a special summons requiring a count to bring his men to serve in the king's army. last known instance in 888 against vikings.

by mid 9th century, replaces term vassal. means "soldier" or "knight" which happens when benefices become hereditary!

raised hopes that he would revive the Carolingian dynasty.

10 year old boy, last Carolingian left. had been passed over 2x already. Split into halves, East/West

Elected by Western Frankland, coronated. Represents Carolingian failure- first non Carolingian or Merovingian. Fought a civil war for charles the simple, who did succeed him, but then after charles, Odo's relative. He was a count- shows how much power counts have acess to!

- despite centralization and efficiancy of charles' administration, power still personal. lordship becomes an even more powerful aspect of politics and culture after charles' death - Carolingian empire would have likely collapsed and faded without vikings. But king's failure to protect probably hastened the process.