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After the Roman empire fell, Western Europe was cut off from
advanced cultures in Asia, overrun by invaders, and divided. The
period from 500 to 1000 is sometimes called the Dark Ages. However,
it was a time when Greco-Roman, Germanic, and Christian traditions
slowly blended to create a new, medieval civilization called the
Middle Ages.
In the early Middle Ages, Germanic tribes, such as the Franks,
divided Western Europe. In 486, Clovis, king of the Franks, conquered Gaul, later to become France. Clovis followed his own customs but also kept Roman customs and converted to Christianity. In
the 600s, Islam began in Arabia. Muslims, or believers in Islam, created a huge and expanding empire. When a Muslim army crossed
into France, Charles Martel and his Frankish warriors fought them
at the battle of Tours in 732. Muslims ruled in Spain, but did not
advance farther into Western Europe.
In 768, Charles Martels grandson, also named Charles, became
king of the Franks. He built an empire covering what are now France,
Germany, and part of Italy, and he was known as Charlemagne, or
Charles the Great. Later, the pope crowned him the new emperor of
the Romans. Charlemagne worked, in his 46-year rule, to unite his
kingdom by fighting off invaders, conquering peoples, spreading
Christianity, and further blending Germanic, Roman, and Christian
traditions. He set up an orderly government, naming nobles to rule
locally. Charlemagne regarded education as another way to unify
his kingdom. He brought back Latin learning across his empire and
encouraged the creation of local schools.
After Charlemagnes death in 814, his sons battled for power and
his grandsons split up the empire. About 900, nomads called
Magyars settled in what is present-day Hungary. They overran
Eastern Europe and moved into Germany, France, and Italy, but
they were eventually pushed back. Also, in the late 700s the Vikings
from Scandinavia began to invade towns along coasts and rivers in
Europe. The Vikings were skilled sailors and explorers. They settled
and mixed with local peoples in England, Ireland, northern France,
and parts of Russia, bringing their culture with them.
Review Questions
1. Name three things that Charlemagne did to unify his kingdom.
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