Germanic Kingdoms unite under Charlemagne

• Many Germanic kingdoms that succeeded the Roman Empire were reunited under Charlemagne's empire
• Charlemagne spread Christian civilization throughout northern Europe, which is where many of us come from 
• Middle Ages=medieval period 
• Invasions trigger changes in western Europe
• invasions and constant warfare spark new trends 
• distribution of trade
• Europe's cities are no longer economic centers 
• Money is scarce
• Downfall to cities
• Cities are no longer centers of administration 
• Population shifts
• Nobles retreat to rural areas
• Cities don't have strong leadership 
• Invasions trigger changes in western Europe
• Decline of learning
• Germanic invaders are illiterate, but they communicate through oral tradition 
• Only priests and church officials could read and write
• Knowledge of Greek (and literature, science, philosophy) is almost lost
• Lost of a common language
• Dialects develop in different regions
• By the 800s, French, Spanish, and other Roman-based languages are evolving from Latin 
• Germanic kingdoms emerge
• The concept of government changes
• Roman society: loyalty to public government 
• Germanic society: loyal to family
• Germanic chief led warriors
• During peace, he provided food, weapons, treasure, ad place to live (a lord's hall)
• During wartime, warriors fought for the lord
• "The kings? Who's that? You want to collect taxes from me? Who the heck care you?"
• Franks lived in the Roman province of Gaul-their leader is Clovis
• The Franks under Clovis
• Another battlefield conversation 
• Clovis and 3000 of his warriors are baptized by the bishop 
• The church in Rome approves of this "alliance" 
• Clovis and the Church begin to work together 
• Clovis' military expertise + the Church and money = A strategic alliance between two powerful forces 
• Germanic peoples adopt Christianity 
• (Pope) Gregory I expands papal power
• Papacy=pope's office
• secular power=wordy power
• So... under Gregory the Great... Papal Power (Power of the Pope) is Political Power, Presented from the Pope's Palace
•  The Church can use church money to:
• Raise armies
• Repair roads
• Help the poor
• Gregory the Great began to act as mayor of Rome, and as head of an earthy kingdom (Christendom)