Transcript Empires and Borderlands: The Early Middle Ages, 750-1050

Empires and Borderlands: The
Early Middle Ages, 750-1050
The West
CHAPTER 8
The Leadership of
Charlemagne
• Established an empire covering most of
western Europe
• Coronation as Roman emperor, 800:
conscious imitation of antiquity; exchanged
protection of papacy, in return for divine
sanction of rule
• Government was personal, rather than
institutional
The Carolingian Renaissance
• Need for governmental efficiency
propagation of Christianity
• Intensification of study of Latin
classical texts
• Alcuin of York (ca. 732-804) headed
palace school at Aachen
• Europe became the geographical
cultural heart of a new civilization
and
and
the
and
The Division of Western
Europe
• Charlemagne’s rule depended on personal
ability
• Frankish custom dictated equal division of
property between sons
• 843: Treaty of Verdun divided the Frankish
empire
• Political fragmentation and vulnerability
The Polytheist Invaders
• Magyars - nomadic people from central Asia
• Vikings - seaborne raiders from Denmark, Norway
and Sweden
• Lasting Viking influence, in British Isles and
along North Atlantic coast of France
• Establishment of centralized monarchies, in
Hungary and Scandinavia, as well as conversion to
Christianity, ended raids, by eleventh century
Lords and Vassals
• Personal, reciprocal relationship between a lord
and a vassal formed basis of authority
• In exchange for obedience and military service, a
vassal received protection and, often, land (a fief)
- feudalism
• Lordship implied property rights, and political and
legal jurisdiction
• In theory, a hierarchy of feudal authority
descended from the king
Feudal Kingship
• Feudal kingship combined the personal
authority of lordship with the legal authority
of the king
• Development of notions of sacred kingship
- kings represented God on earth
• Separation of the idea of kingship and the
kingdom from the mortal person of the king
After the Carolingians: The
West European Kingdoms
• Saxon (Ottonian) dynasty in East Francia
• Otto I (936-973) was crowned emperor in 962 foundation of the Holy Roman Empire
• Capetian dynasty in West Francia
• Intertwining of church and monarchy
• Norman conquest of England
• Linkage of England with French affairs
The Common People
• Agricultural Revolution, in eleventh century, led
to better nutrition, greater population and more
stable community life
• Manor system bound serfs to the land, in exchange
for protection
• Revival of cities, fueled by population increase,
led to demands for urban autonomy
• Cities began to become important cultural and
economic centers again
The Spread of Christianity in
the Latin West
• Conversion usually began with a monarch
or chief
• Institution of bishoprics to teach and
enforce uniform Christianity
• Role of saints as patrons and protectors
• Latin language and liturgy helped to forge a
common cultural identity in western Europe
The Reform of Christianity in
the Latin West
• Political pressure and immense wealth of
church led to corruption
• Drive for reform emerged from monasteries
- the Cluniac movement
• Reform aimed to enforce clerical celibacy,
and to eliminate simony and lay investiture
Byzantium
• Economic and cultural revival, under the
Macedonian dynasty (867-1056)
• New alliances with converted Slavs
• Continuing decline in relations with western
Europe and the papacy
• Decay of the imperial army, due to land
seizures by aristocracy - only free
landholders could be soldiers
The Borderlands in Eastern
Europe
• New kingdoms and cultural identities began
to emerge ca. 1000
• Bulgaria: Orthodox Christianity and
Slavonic liturgy
• Kievan Russia: Orthodox Christianity and
Slavonic liturgy
• Poland: Catholic Christianity and Latin
liturgy
The Abbasid Caliphate
• Reinforced division between Shi’ite and Sunni
Muslims
• Acceptance of all Muslims, regardless of ethnicity,
fostered a distinct Islamic identity and civilization
• Abbasid caliph held military and economic power,
but was not responsible for public infrastructure
• Arabic translations preserved classical learning
lost in Europe
Islamic Civilization in Europe
• Settlement of Sicily and Spain, from North
Africa
• Formed a borderland of intense cultural and
commercial interaction - Arabic learning
filtered into western Europe
• Caliphate of Córdoba - a golden age of
literature, science and architecture
Legends of the Borderlands
•
•
•
•
•
Song of Roland (ca. 1100)
Digenes Akritas (tenth century)
The Poem of El Cid (twelfth century)
Legends that expressed values of valor and loyalty
The borderlands produced a class of professional
warriors who enriched themselves, in the
perpetual conflict between Islam and Christendom
An Emerging Unity in the Latin
West
• Lasting distinction between western and eastern
Europe
• Emergent cultural and religious unity of western
Europe
• Decline of Byzantium and fragmentation of Islam
into competing caliphates
• Emergence, in west, of bonds of vassalage, an
improved agricultural economy, and revived cities