Transcript Middle Ages -Germanic Tribes and Clovis

Middle Ages: Tribes of Europe
With the Roman Empire gone, the world became a very different place.
Without unification, lands became self-governed and wars for power and
Influence started. Today we will look at some of the effects this had on
Europe and what happened after the Fall of Rome.
New Germanic Kingdoms
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After the fall of Rome, Germanic people started
to move in and overrun lands once occupied by
the Roman Empire.
By 500 AD, the Western Roman Empire had been
replaced by a number of German kingdoms.
Constant fighting disrupts trade and government;
people abandon cities. They are no longer safe.
New kings carved up the Roman Empire and
made new kingdoms which were decentralized,
meaning power was not all in one location.
Marks the beginning of the Middle Ages —
period from 500 to 1500 AD.
The next 1000 yrs will be filled with war and
many of the advances of the Greeks and Romans
will be lost.
The Decline of Learning
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As cities are abandoned, level of learning
declines. No cities = no schools= no learning. 
Knowledge of Greek language and culture is
almost completely lost. Without education and
learning, Greek and Roman culture is lost as well.
Without a common culture, different areas
develop different customs, use different languages
other than Latin, and often resort to the sword
over talking things out.
Introduction of German language and mixing with
Latin helps develop different dialects (Romance
languages), but makes trade, negotiation, and war
much more interesting because few really know
what is being said for about two generations.
(Time for culture to learn the languages of the
other.)
Upheaval in Europe
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Germanic people were constantly
at war over kingdoms.
Wars continually change borders
between kingdoms, unclear.
During this time of upheaval, the
Christianity continues to grow and
offers hope to many.
Small churches offers shelter to
those who do not want to be in
wars, some start of the priesthood
and nuns.
Many of the Germanic tribes start
to hear about Christianity…
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Although there was constant fighting in most of what had been
Roman territory, Christianity began to gain in popularity among
many of the Germanic barbarian tribes…
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Christianity in Chaos: “The Church” Organizes.
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Priests help keep the idea of Christianity alive as Rome
declined and eventually fell. Christianity still is a weak
religion at this point, no central authority, could fall apart.
Leaders among priests were known as bishoprics, or bishops.
One bishop, The Bishop of Rome, became to seen as the
leader of all the other bishops, and later they were seen as
decedents of the apostle Peter, who was said, according to
some forms of Christianity, to hold the keys to Heaven.
These powerful Bishops of Rome got a new name, Pope. He
was and still is considered the leader of the Catholic Church.
Remember: At this time if you were Christian, you were
Catholic, all other Christian churches stem from the Catholic
church way back in history.
Kingdom of the Franks
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Only one Germanic kingdom proved to be a lasting one, the largest and
most powerful – the kingdom of the Franks.
The kingdom was established by Clovis, a strong military leader around
500AD.
Clovis united the Franks as well as other Germanic tribes into one
kingdom. First time any area was unified since Fall of Rome.
Clovis was also the first Germanic ruler to convert to Christianity. The
struggling and new Catholic Church crowns him king!
This was a risk, many Germanic tribes had not converted to Chrisitianity
and didn’t trust it. Clovis himself wasn’t too wild about the idea at first,
but more of his people were becoming Christian.
His conversion gained him the support of a small, yet growing sect, the
Roman Catholic Church, who was eager to have the friendship of a
powerful ruler.
Class Activity: A Modern Day Clovis
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Clovis, King of the Franks, decided to convert to Christianity
for several different reasons.
Working in pairs, you are going to answer the following
three questions about why you think Clovis did convert
and why that was important at this time.
Then you are going to answer the next three questions on
how Clovis’ actions might look similar in our time and
see what it might look like today if a politician took take
a large risk and change their mind and their position.
Questions: One sentence per question,
and be ready to share your answers.
What is so important about Clovis converting to Christianity?
 What did he gain and what did he risk by doing this?
 What did his conversion do for the Catholic church?
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Compare this to politicians nowadays. What would
something this look like today?
 What would be some of the LARGE issues that might reflect
a new world if a politician/leader changed his support for
a growing popular idea in US culture.
 Create a short example of how this would look today.
( 3 sentences for the last one)
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Dark Ages Video
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzmK4snasgQ
Start 8:33