Franks and Carolingians

TERMS:
Lombards
Clovis
Merovingians
Franks
"one" vs "many"
count
mayor of the palace
Neustria
Austrasia
Burgundy
Carolingian
Charlemagne
Holy Roman Empire
Donation of Constantine
Charles Martel
Papal States
Pepin the Short
manor
demense
three field system
Louis the Pious
Lothar
Charles the Bald
Louis the German
Treaty of Verdun
feudal society
vassalage
fief
fealty
 
DATES:
496 Franks under Clovis convert to Catholicism
732 Charles Martel held off Arabs at Tours
751 Carolingians took over Franks, Pepin III
800 Charlemagne crowned emperor by Pope Leo III (795-816), on Christmas Day

TOPICS:
1. Europe begins to re-unify (and thus leave the Dark Ages) under the Franks.  This Germanic tribe had converted to Arian Christianity, and under the Merovingian dynasty (led by Clovis) converted to Roman Catholicism.  This made them allies with the Bishops of Rome, and as he establishes himself as the Pope (head of the western Church), he helped the Merovingians dominate the region of Gaul.  The Franks conquered other German tribes (Burgundians, Alemannias, etc.) and extended their control over more territory.

2. The Franks use two tools in unifying the people of Western Europe:  Catholicism (one culture, one church, one spiritual leader in the Pope for the people to rally around) and the counts, wherein he rewards his best military men with land, and a title.  The land is only "borrowed" from him, so he retains ultimate control over  his territory while still having warriors he can call on to fight for him.  This is the basic structure of feudalism:  Clovis is the lord, the counts are his vassals, and the land he "loans" is called a fief.  The fiefs are worked by serfs, vassals of the counts, and they are tied to the land.

3. In 800 a new Empire is created in Europe when the Carolingian dynasty replaces the Merovingians.  Charles the Great, or Charlemagne, is crowned Emperor by the Pope. Eventually his empire is called the Holy Roman Empire.  But the empire doesn't survive for long:  when Charlemagne dies his son Louis the Pious inherits all of it.  But Louis has three sons, and according to Frankish tradition, all three divided up the empire:  Charles the Bald gets France, Lothar gets the Low Countries and Italy, and Louis the German gets Germany.  Lothar is eventually overrun by his brothers who divide up his territory.