Transcript Early Medieval Europe

Early Medieval Europe
(ca. 300-900)
Early Medieval Europe

How was Europe different now from the
classical past?
 Politically?
 Religiously?
 Culturally?
Western Europe
• Barbarians!
– What do you think of?
– Do certain images come to mind?
Western Europe
Western Europe
• The Germanic Kingdoms
– Farmers
– Complicated relations with Rome
• The Good
– Served in Roman military
– Imitated Roman customs
– Settled in Roman territory
• The Bad
– Military conflicts
– Sack of Rome (410)
Western Europe
Sack of Rome (410)
Western Europe
• The Huns
– Nomadic fighters
– Under rule of ATTILA
THE HUN (r. 443-454)
– Goal: western empire in
Gaul and Italy (451-52)
– Hunnic Empire
disintegrated 454
Leo the Great and Attila
Western Europe
Western Europe
• “Fall of Rome”
Romulus Augustulus
– Last western emperors
(455-476)
– Ruled fragments of
western Europe
– Romulus Augustulus
(r. 475-76) deposed
Western Europe
• The Germanic
Kingdoms
–
–
–
–
The Visigoths
The Ostrogoths
THE FRANKS
THE ANGLES AND
SAXONS
– The Vandals
The Germanic Kingdoms (ca. 530)
Western Europe
• Questions?
Western Europe
• The Papacy
– Office of bishop of Rome
– One of five “patriarchal” bishops
– “First among equals,” according to Greek
bishops
– Filled “power vacuum” in west
Western Europe
• Pope Gregory the
Great (r. 590-604)
– “Servant of the
servants of God”
– Supreme spiritual
leader in West
– Concerned about
affairs in east
– Temporal authority
Western Europe
• Monasticism
– Solitary asceticism
away from “the world”
– Began in Egypt
– Reaction to
worldliness of imperial
church
– Kinds of monks:
hermits, communal
monks
A stylite
Western Europe
• Benedictine
Monasticism
– Benedict of Nursia
(ca. 480-543)
• Began as hermit
• Became reluctant abbot
• Established
monasteries
– Detailed, successful
Rule
– For women too
Western Europe
Abbey of Monte Cassino, Italy
Western Europe
• Spread of Christianity
– St. Patrick converted
the Celts
– King Clovis I baptized
 Franks converted
– Angles converted by
Augustine of
Canterbury
Baptism of Clovis
Western Europe
• Kingdom of the
Franks
– Dominant in western
Europe
– Unified by 700
– Merovingians deposed
by Carolingians
Western Europe
• Charlemagne
(r. 768-814)
– Devoutly Christian
– Promoted education
– His government
• Ruled “by God’s will”
• Local rule: counts
• Missi dominici
Western Europe
• Emperor Charlemagne
– Pope in trouble, fled to
Charlemagne
– Pope returned to Rome
with Frankish escort
– Charlemagne followed,
crowned “augustus” (800)
– Emperor Charlemagne and
“new” Roman Empire?
Western Europe
• Questions?
The Byzantine Empire
• Byzantine Empire?
– Eastern Roman
Empire lived on
– Capital:
CONSTANTINOPLE
– Greek in culture,
maintained Roman
traditions
Constantine and Constantinople
The Byzantine Empire
• Emperor Justinian
(r. 527-565)
– Theodora: his “partner
in counsel”
– Accomplishments
• Code of Justinian
– Collection of all
imperial edicts
– Updated, simplified,
codified
• Partial reconquest of
western Europe
The Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire
• Justinian and Religion
– Emperor was directly involved in religion
– Sought unified “orthodox” Christianity 
divine favor!
– Persecuted heretics, pagans
– Ordered construction of HAGIA SOPHIA (537)
The Byzantine Empire
Hagia Sophia
The Byzantine Empire
• Mosaics
– Common in antiquity
– Bits of stone, glass  unified image
The Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire
• The Iconoclastic
Controversy
– Emperor ordered
destruction of icons (726)
– Controversy: iconoclasts
vs. iconodules
– Iconoclasm condemned at
Nicaea II (787)
– Iconoclasm resurged,
condemned for good 843
Virgin and Child between
Sts. Theodore and George,
6th or early 7th cent.
Early Medieval Europe

How was Europe different now from the
classical past?
 Politically?
 Religiously?
 Culturally?