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The Early Middle Ages The Germanic Kingdoms: The Carolingian Empire

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viknesh thilak

The document summarizes the Early Middle Ages in Europe following the fall of the Western Roman Empire. It describes the rise of Germanic kingdoms like the Frankish Kingdom and the eventual establishment of the Carolingian Empire under Charlemagne in the 8th century. It then discusses Charlemagne's conquests across Europe and how he revived the concept of a unified Western empire before the empire declined after his death due to weak leadership and civil wars between his heirs over the divided lands.

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The Early Middle Ages The Germanic Kingdoms: The Carolingian Empire

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viknesh thilak
99 views12 pages
The document summarizes the Early Middle Ages in Europe following the fall of the Western Roman Empire. It describes the rise of Germanic kingdoms like the Frankish Kingdom and the eventual establishment of the Carolingian Empire under Charlemagne in the 8th century. It then discusses Charlemagne's conquests across Europe and how he revived the concept of a unified Western empire before the empire declined after his death due to weak leadership and civil wars between his heirs over the divided lands.

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Germanic kingdoms

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The document summarizes the Early Middle Ages in Europe following the fall of the Western Roman Empire. It describes the rise of Germanic kingdoms like the Frankish Kingdom and the eventual establishment of the Carolingian Empire under Charlemagne in the 8th century. It then discusses Charlemagne's conquests across Europe and how he revived the concept of a unified Western empire before the empire declined after his death due to weak leadership and civil wars between his heirs over the divided lands.

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© All Rights Reserved
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
99 views12 pages

The Early Middle Ages The Germanic Kingdoms: The Carolingian Empire

Uploaded by

viknesh thilak
The document summarizes the Early Middle Ages in Europe following the fall of the Western Roman Empire. It describes the rise of Germanic kingdoms like the Frankish Kingdom and the eventual establishment of the Carolingian Empire under Charlemagne in the 8th century. It then discusses Charlemagne's conquests across Europe and how he revived the concept of a unified Western empire before the empire declined after his death due to weak leadership and civil wars between his heirs over the divided lands.

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The Early Middle ages

The germanic kingdoms: the carolingian empire


The fall of the western roman empire
The fall of the Western
Roman Empire after the
conquest of Rome by the
Ostrogoths in the year
476 A.D. meant the
break-up of
Mediterranean unity and
the arose of new powers
and civilizations as the
Germanic Kingdoms, the
Byzantine Empire and
the Islamic Empire.
The break-up of Mediterranean unity
The germanic kingdoms: The frankish kingdom
• After the fall of the
Western Roman
Empire, the Franks
expelled the Visigoths
from Gaul and
established there the
Frankish Kingdom.
• But Frankish kings were
weak so they handed
power over to officials
called Mayors of the
Palace.
• One of the most
important mayors was
Charles Martel because
he strengthened the
frontiers and stopped
the Muslims from
invading the Frankish
kingdom.
• Charles Martel’s son,
Pippin the Short was
mayor of the palace
until he deposed the last
Frankish monarch and
became king himself.
• He was annointed by the
Pope. In exchange,
Pippin gave the Pope the
lands he had conquered
in Italy to the Lombards.
Those lands became the
Papal States.
The Carolingian empire
• Pippin’s son, Charlemagne, succeeded
him. He was an able military leader that
wanted to unite the Germanic tribes into a
single Christian state and restore the
Western Roman Empire.

• He conquered the Lombard kingdom in


Italy, annexed Bavaria and the Danube,
defeated the Saxons and attacked the
Muslims in Spain capturing the northeast
section of the Iberian Peninsula.

• The Pope annointed Charlemagne as


emperor. The Carolingian Empire showed
itself as the successor of the Western
Roman Empire. This angered the
Byzantine Empire.
Carolingian empire
The Carolingian Empire: Government
• The empire was
divided into:
– Counties ruled by
counts who were
usually men of noble
families.
– Marches ruled by
margraves who were
counts and military
men as this territories
were located in
frontier areas.
The carolingian empire: culture
• The reign of Charlemagne is
distinguished as a time of
culture.
• A lot of buildings and
churches were built reflecting
both Roman and Byzantine
influence.
• The emperor established
centers of learning, libraries
and famous scriptorium so
that ancient manuscripts
could be preserved an copied
by monks.
The Decline of the Carolingian Empire
• After Charlemagne, his son Louis
the Pious was crowned emperor.
He was a weak leader that could
not hold together the vast
territories.
• He divided the empire among his
three sons: Charles, Louis and
Lothair. They signed the Treaty of
Verdun, which divided the empire
into three kingdoms.
• Nevertheless, they soon began to
fight over the lands. Civil wars and
poor leadership weakened the
empire until it could not longer
resist foreign invasions. The last
Carolingian emperor was deposed
by the Vikings.

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