middle ages

The new society has roots in:

• Classical heritage of Rome
• Beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church
• Customs of various Germanic Tribes

5th Century Germanic Invaders

• Overrun the western half of the Roman Empire causing:

1. Disruption of trade
2. Downfall of cities
3. Population shifts to rural areas

Effects of Invasion

Decline of Learning:

• Tribes had oral tradition, songs, but couldn’t read Greek or Latin
• Romance Languages evolve (French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian)
• Few besides priests were literate

Germanic Kingdoms emerge: AD 400-600

• Germanic warrior's loyalty is to the lord of the manor he provides them with food, weapons, treasure
• The result: no orderly government for large areas and small communities rule

Clovis rules the Franks

• Clovis rules the Germanic people of Gaul, known as the Franks (which is where "France" comes from)
• In 496 he has a battlefield conversion- he and 3000 of his warriors become Christians
• The church in Rome likes this
• By 511 the Franks are united into one Kingdom, with Clovis and the Church working as partners

Spread of Christianity

• In 520, Benedict writes rules for monks:

1. Vows of poverty (live simply in monasteries)
2. Chastity (no marital relations)
3. Obedience (listen to church superiors
4. His sister Scholastica writes similar rules for nuns
5. The operate schools, maintain libraries, and copy books

Pope Gregory and Papal Power Play

• Church revenues are used to help the poor, build roads, and raise armies.
• This is a theocracy- ruled by one dominant religion
• Gregory's spiritual kingdom (Christendom) extends from Italy to England, from Spain to Germany

Who's running Europe?

• Clovis' descendants include Charles Martel, known as Charles the Hammer
• Hammer defeats a Muslim raiding party from Spain at the Battle of Tours in 732
• If he hadn't won, western Europe could have become part of the Muslim Empire

How do you follow the Hammer

• Charles Martel's son is Pepin the Short
• Son #1 was Carolman- died in 771
• Son #2 was Charles, known as Charlemagne

Charlemagne- Charles the Great

• Six foot four
• Built the greatest empire since Rome
• Fought the Muslims in Spain
• Fought Germanic Tribes
• Spread Christianity
• Reunited Western Europe
• Became the most powerful king in western Europe
• Pope Leo III crowned him emperor in 800 AD after he defended him from an unruly Roman mob
• This signaled the joining of Germanic power, the Church, and the heritage of the Roman Empire

• Charlemagne's government

• He limited the authority of the nobles
• He regularly visited ever part of his kingdom
• Kept close eye on his huge estates

• Cultural revival

• Encouraged learning
• Ordered monasteries to open schools
• Opened a palace school

• But, his heirs were weenies

• His son- Louis the Pious- was ineffective
• Louis' three sons- Lathiar, Charles the Bald, and Louis the German- split up the kingdom at the Treaty of Verdun in 843 AD

notes

• Germanic kingdoms that succeeded the Roman Empire was reunited under Charlemagne's empire
• Charlemagne spreed Christian civilization throughout northern Europe, which is where many of us came from 

• Middle ages= medieval period
• 500- 1500 AD
• medieval Europe is fragmented 

A. Invasions trigger changes in Western Europe

• invasions and constant warfare spark new trends

a. Disruption of trade

• Europe's cities are no longer economic centers
• money is scarce

b. Downfall of cities

• cities are no longer economic centers

c. population shifts

• nobles retreat to the rural areas
• cities don't have strong leadership 

2. Decline of learning 

• Germanic invaders are illiterate, but they communicate through oral tradition
• only priests and church officials could read and write
• knowledge of Greek(and literature, science, philosophy) is almost lost

3. Loss of common language

• dialects develop in different regions
• by the 8005, French, Spanish, other Roman-based languages are evolving from Latin 

B. Germanic kingdoms emerge

•  the concept of government changes
• Roman society: loyal to public gov't

b. Germanic society: loyal to the family 

• Germanic chief led warriors
• during peace, he provided food, weapons, treasure, a place to live (the lord's hall)
• during wartime, warriors fought for the Lord

c. Franks live in the Roman province of Gaul- their leader is Clovis 

2. The franks under Clovis

• another battlefield conversion 
• Clovis and 3000 of his warriors are baptized by the bishop 
• the church in Rome approves of the "alliance" 
• Clovis and the church begin to work together

C. Germanic peoples adopt Christianity

• (Pope) Gregory 1 expands papal power
• Papacy= pope's office
• Secular power = worldly power
• Papal Power (power of the Pope) is political power presented from the Pope's palace

d. the church can now use church money to: 

• raise armies
• repair roads
• help the poor

e. Gregory the Great began to act as mayor of Rome, and as head of an earthly kingdom (Christendom) 

absence

i was not in class today because i was very sick, i will be taking the test in friday.

todays notes

Decline of the Roman Empire

AD 180: Rome has problems

• Economic (trade became risky; taxes were too high; food supply was dropping)
• Military (frontiers were hard to patrol; Roman generals fought for control; soldiers' loyalty declined and mercenaries appeared)
• Mercenaries- soldiers that work for money

Diocletian divided the empire into 2

• Greek-speaking East (had more resources)
• Latin-speaking West (Rome, tradition)

Decline Part 2

• AD 324- Constantine becomes emperor over both halves of the empire
• Moves the capital from Rome to byzantium (renamed Constantinople), where Asia met Europe (now Turkey)
• After his death, empire is divided again
• This time, "barbarian invaders" (Huns, Vandals, Visigoths, Angles, Saxons, Franks) overrun the empire's frontiers
• That's it for the Roman Empire (AD 476)

Diocletian

• Ruled from 284-303
• It's cool to persecute Christians
• Rome need a big army (400,000 strong)
• Rome needs a big government (20,000 officials)

Constantine

• Ruled from 306- 337
• It's cool to BE a Christian
• Conversion to Christianity

Via cross in the sky (conquer by this!)

• 313-His Edict of Milan proclaims freedom of worship
• Built a new capital in the East
• Byzantium, soon to be known as Constantinople

The struggle of peasants

Life in the fourth century

• Country dwellers are getting bankrupt by endless tax collection
• New farming system: peasants work for elite landlords on large farms
• Peasants can avoid paying taxes, but they are getting hit just as hard by landlords
• Paying off debts and being "allowed" to live on the land, in exchange for endless back- breaking work (such a deal!)
• Landowners hold local powers as counts and bishops, wielding more real power than the faraway empire
• Foreshadowing feudalism

The western Empire crumbles

• Rome's power is decreasing, while nomadic barbarians gain power
• Western Empire is too poor, begins to be neglected
• Huns migrate from China to east Europe
• Visigoths take over Spain, and actually capture and loot Roman itself in 410
• Vandals control Carthage and the western Mediterranean

Other Barbarian tribes:

• Ostrogoths in Italy
• Franks in Gaul
• Angles and Saxons in Britain

End of an Era

• From the beginnings…..
• 500 BC- the monarchy is abolished
• 450 BC- the 12 tables are established
• …through the glory days…
• 44 BC- end of the line for Julius Caesar
• 27 BC- 180 AD- the Roman Peace (Pax Romania)
• To the bitter end…
• Constant 5th century invasions by barbarian tribes left the western Roman Empire shattered and crumbling
• The last emperor was a teenage boy installed in 475 by his father
• Barbarians deposed Romulus Augustulus without bothering to kill him

notes

Rise of Christianity

• Jesus' followers believe he is the Messiah and Savior who has risen from the dead
• Saul (the persecutor) becomes Paul 9the evangelist), spreading Jesus's message.
• Christians and Jews were monotheistic (believing in one God)
• This conflicted with Roman beliefs
• Persecution against both was common
• Christianity appealed to the poor, and since there were many poor, their numbers grew
• As it grew, even some roman leaders embraced Christianity
• AD 313: Constantine has a battlefield conversion
• He issues the Edict of Milan
• Not only no persecution, but actual approval of Christianity, eventually making it official religion of Rome
• The Roman Empire and Christianity are now linked in power and influence

class notes

The word spreads about the risen Jesus

• Paul is instrumental in telling the world about Jesus' life, death, resurrection, and message
• He travels far and wide: Cyprus, Anatolia, Athens, Corinth, Macedonia, Rome, Jerusalem, and maybe even Spain and Britain
• He writes letters to many of those he spoke to- these epistles are part of the New Testament
• if not the efforts of Paul, it is likely that Jesus remains an obscure preacher, instead of the central figure of the world's largest religion

Caligula- good start

• in addition to being Germanicus' son, he was Tiberius' adopted grandson and great- nephew- putting him next in line for emperor
• he started of well: granting bonuses to those in the military, declaring treason trials a thing of the past, and made government spending a matter of public record
• all in all, the first seven months of Caligula's reign were "completely blissful" (according to the historian Philo) 

bad finish for Caligula 

• he began to fight with the Senate 
• he claimed to be  god, and had statues displayed in many places- including the Jewish temple in Jerusalem(sacrilege) 
• other examples of cruelty and insanity: he slept with other men's wives and bragged about it, indulged in to many spending and sex, and even tried to make his horse a consul and a priest (at least that's what the critics said)  
• assassinated by his own aids, AD 41 (pg. 28) 

Next in line: Claudius

• ostracized by his family because of his disabilities (limp, slight deafness, possible speech impediment- thought to be cerebral palsy or polio) he was the last adult male in his family when Caligula was killed
• he rose to the occasion: he conquered Britain; he built roads, canals, and aqueducts, he renovated the Circus Maximus
• Had an awful marriage to Messalina, who was quite often unfaithful to him, even plotting to seize power for her lover Silius through a coup- so Claudius had them killed 

Meanwhile- religious troubles

• Christianity and Judaism: monotheistic
• romans had many gods, plus at times the emperor was viewed as a god
• AD 66: a group of Jews called the Zeolots tried to rebel, but Roman troops put them down and burned their temple ( except for one wall)
• the western wall today is the holiest of all Jewish shrines
• half a million Jews died in the rebellion 

Persecution of Christians

• Romans were harsh toward those who would not worship the emperor
• especially Christians who were viewed as followers of a new, upstart religion (cult)
• often used for "entertainment" purposes in the Colosseum (thrown to the lions etc.)
• despite the opression, Christianity grew quickly- by AD 200 , around 10 percent of the people in the Roman empire were Christians 

rome notes

• 44 B.C. Caesar secured a vote from the senate making him dictator for life
• his death produced another crop of warlords and more bouts of civil war
• mark Antony and Octavian were the rival loyalists of Caesar
• they joined forces against Caesar's assassins
• Marcus Lepidus formed into a group with them and he was a lesser warlord
• they then divided the roman world 
• Octavian was based in Rome
• Lepidus was in north Africa
• and Mark Antony was sin Alexandria 
• in 31 B.C. the two halves of Rome's empire went to war
• the Roman version of Greco- Roman civilization prevailed in Western territories 
• LO1- the Rule of the Emperors
• princeps- a traditional name for prominent leaders who were considered indispensable to the Republic
• 27 B.C. Augustus was confirmed as commander
• After Augustus won supreme power, Greek city- states in Anatolia began building shrines and sacrificing to "Rome and Augustus 
• When Augustus died the Senate declared him a Devine Being like Julius Caesar
• Vespasian was known for cynical sense of humor
• Praetorian Gaurd- legion sized part of his army
• Augustus was convinced that if their peace and stability will last, the changes he made must continue after his death
• Domitian- was Vespasian's son was assassinated near the end of the first century 
• the philosopher- statesman was Marcus Aurelius
• he was also called the best of rulers, the cultured and energetic Hadrian, and the wise and dutiful Antoninus