The Empire Strikes Back?: Carolingian Europe

Transcription

1 The Empire Strikes Back?: Carolingian Europe How to Make Glow-in-the-Dark Ink, 1661 "Letters that are not to be read but in the night, must be written with the Gall of a Tortois, or Fig milk, if you put it to dry at the fire, or else [with] Water of Glow- Wormes." Johann Jacob Wecker, Eighteen Books of the Secrets of Art & Nature (1661)

2 What we re doing today? Precis Conference Preparation Before During Fine Print The Kingdom of the Franks & Charlemagne More transformations & migrations! The Norse Medieval Kingship? Emperors?

3 The Timeline meline/

4 Conferences Preparation Precis You are responsible for 1 document for Conferences ALL documents for exam & midterm Preces are A summary of the document (1/2) An analysis of its SIGNIFICANCE to the theme of the Conference AND the Course (1/2) Marked out of 2 0 you didn t do it; 1 summary is ok, but significance isn t; 2 you ve thought about and indicated WHY it s important NO more than 1 page quality over quantity Crib-sheet for Conferences 50% of your participation mark

5 Conferences In Class Conferences... Groups of 5-6 students, each with a different document QUICKLY present your document to the others Discuss and answer the questions for the class CAREFULLY record your discussion and answers Group discussion is worth 50% of your participation Hints: Record disgreements! Don t just jot down one word answers, write and record answers that have an ARGUMENT, and use examples from your documents. Think of this as practice exam / midterm question answering. Hand in your preces and groupsheet at the END of class

6 Conferences Fine Print & Hints Document Analysis Use the document analysis guide to help think, but don t answer every question Read and use RAMPOLLA Chapter 3! If you miss class: 3 strikes your out unexplained attendance policy mandatory Inform your TA and discuss absences ASAP Missing preces due by Dec 3 430pm. Group work required as well in order to get other 50%, but you need to read the other documents and use them in your answers Exchange addresses with your group Study groups Exchange notes & thoughts Help each other out

7 The Kingdom of the Franks Germanic tribe who move into N. of Gaul Clovis I converts to Christianity (496) Merovingian dynasty (from Clovis to 751) Carolingian family takes over 751 Carolingian dynasty rules Frankish Empire, separation of East, Central and Western Francia

8 The Kingdom of the Franks AD

9 The Kingdom of the Franks 526AD

10 The Kingdom of the Franks 7 th Century

11 The Coup Merovingian Kings are ineffective Carolingian family cultivates patronage links with Papacy, with Catholic Bishops, and Benedictine monasteries As palace mayors, they enforce allegiance to these larger networks of authority Patronage mechanisms: rewards for retinues Carolingian family one of wealthiest in Francia Importance of communication networks (and writing) Charles Martel ( ), from a large Frankish aristocratic family becomes maior domus (mayor of the palace) 717 consolidates Frankish territories (Aquitaine; Alsace) battle of Tours/Poitiers (732) against Andalusian Muslim army during an interregnum, takes title dux et princeps francorum (737-41) his son Pepin III/Pippin the Short (Pépin le Bref) deposes Childeric III (751), becomes King of the Franks (751) (d. 768)

12 Charlemagne (Karl the Great), r Son of Pepin the Short Consolidates Frankish kingdom, subdues and converts Saxons Extends territory to most of Western Europe (except Spain) Crowned by Pope (800) as Roman Emperor (Augustus)

13 Charlemagne Coronation (centuries later) Rome, Christmas Day, 800 AD: Pope Leo III crowns Charlemagne emperor and Augustus Pope Leo III under attack Asserting independence from Byzantines Lombard pressures from the North Unpopular in Rome itself Empress Irene in Constantinople ( ) Dynastic quarrels; pressure from Arabs Charlemagne needs to impress Saxons and other conquered lords Jean Fouquet, Grandes chroniques de France, c. 1460

14 Charlemagne s Empire e. 9 th Century

15 Charlemagne s Reign Emperor and Pope: special relationship War with Saxons, Avars, etc. (conquest, conversion) Meritocracy Counts & Governors Inspectors (missi dominici) Sent to monitor Counts Christian Kingship Reform, renovatio, correctio Practical aspect of Christian kingship -- patronage Literacy, the Word: Schools attached to Monasteries The Court (in Aachen) as secular monastery?

16 Charlemagne s Kingship Karolus Magnus (Charles the Great) King of the Franks 768-, Emperor of the Romans, 800-died 814 Words for King : Polish: król, Czech: král, Slovak: kráľ, Hungarian: király, Lithuanian: karalius, Latvian: karalis, Russian: король, Macedonian: крал, Bulgarian: крал, Serbian: краљ, Croatian: kralj, Turkish: kral

17 Charlemagne s Kingship - Aachen

18 The Carolingian Renaissance? literacy and power monastery schools (Fulda, Tours, etc) for elite boys copying and collecting classical Greek & Roman texts development of vernaculars (using Latin alphabet) codification of laws Alcuin, monk (from Britain) Einhard, court writer

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20 Charlemagne s Kingship The image: An idea of European unity based on Christendom and revived Empire A new model of Christian kingship Revival of the Roman Empire in the West? The reality: Improvised and fragile; need for legitimacy

21 Charlemagne s Kingship - Einhard Einhard: b. c. 770, d. 840 Fulda monastery school, then Aachen court Close advisor to Charlemagne Writes the Vita Karoli,? or ? Influenced by Latin histories (Suetonius, Lives of the Caesars) The model emperor: Augustus

22 Einhard What makes a good king? Models inherited from the Roman past Stability in kingdom, and expansion Wars (or defence) against pagan invaders (Vikings, Saxons) Defence of Christianity Sponsorship of learning Taking wise counsel / respect for the elites Magnificent (and generous) spending Good diplomacy with other kings

23 Carolingian Collapse Frankish Inheritance partible; from meritocracy to inherited aristocracy Louis the Pious (sole heir to Charlemagne) Unlike his father legalisitic, reforms monastic life, expels illegitimate (many brothers!) Court life boring Treaty of Verdun in 843 Charles II the Bald the west Louis the German the east Lothair the middle Factionalism - with 100 years of Frankish empire = dozen of principalities Economic problems infrastructure (bridges & roads); no exports End of hope for restored central European government

24 Carolingian Collapse

25 Norse Migration the Vikings Viking migrations & raids population pressures in Scandinavia? A new technology the longboat; shallow, allows river travel England 789, kill King of Wessex, Beorhtric Raid Monasteries Lindisfarne (793), Jarrow (794), Iona (795) 830s more raids; take control of Dublin, 850; full invasion in England in 860s; 890s Kingdoms of Northumbria & East Anglia overrun. Century of Danish invasion eventually Dane becomes king of Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex 1013; Cnut king in East: From 860s/880s: Kievan Rus. Normandy, Sicily (1059) (Norman kingdom) England (1066) (Norman conquest) Orkneys, Shetlands, Faroes Iceland (860/950-) Greenland (981-), Newfoundland (1000-)

26 Norse Migrations & Raids 8 th -10 th Centuries

27 The Magyars Pagan nomads from central Asia Attack the eastern Carolingian Empire Settle in modern Hungary Fight on horseback - great cavalry warriors.

28 Ottonian Empire Successor to Louis the German s kingdom Ottonian dynasty ( ): kings of saxony and Holy Roman Emperors, founded by Henry I, proclaimed Emperor in 933 Otto I Uses church men as ministers, and founds institutions along the Rhine Invades Italy, reclaims lands 962 Coronation at Rome by Pope John XII as Holy Roman Emperor - start of the Holy Roman Empire, which lasts until 1806 Roman pretensions 11 th century Emperors start using title King of the Romans Emperor more important than Pope; sets up later conflict

29 Europe at c. 1050

30 Otto III as Emperor, c. 1000AD

31 Rex Imago Christi Otto II (reigned ), in majesty, depicted in the Aachen Gospel (c. 973) Imagery from the Apocalypse: Christ s return in judgement

32 Twin Nature of Kings We thus have to recognize [in the king] a twin person, one descending from nature, the other from grace... One through which, by the condition of nature, he conformed with other men: another through which, by the eminence of [his] deification and by the power of the sacrament [of consecration], he excelled all others. Concerning one personality, he was, by nature, an individual man: concerning his other personality, he was, by grace, a Christus, that is, a God-man... The power of the king is the power of God. (Anonymous of York, On the Consecration of Bishops and Kings, c. 1100)

33 Two Bodies? Ernst Kantorowicz ( ) The King's Two Bodies: a study in mediaeval political theology (Princeton, 1957). Legalistic & theological explanation of polity & kingship 1. Physical body dies, is human 2. Political body doesn t die, is social, is supernatural, fount of justice, continued association of polity Not clearly separated! Political Theology

34 Take Away Charlemagne attempts to turn the Frankish kingdom into the Roman Empire, restoring the unity of the Western Empire in some form. Makes pretenses and claims on Roman-ness - in his building projects (Aachen and elsewhere), his coronation (800AD), alliances with the Pope, re-establishment of a centralized administration based on merit, not inheritance, emphasis on education and intellectual life (Carolingian Renaissance). Like Byzantine Emperor fuses kingship with Christianity Carolingian Empire collapses due to partible inheritance, unstable economics and infrastructure, and squabbling. Exacerbated by new migrations which result in refashioning of empire. 919 new Dynasty in East forms Holy Roman Empire, Otto I crowned in Rome 962. Makes claims of Christ-like Kingship - king has two bodies, natural and political / mystical As a result of disintegration Europe needs new way of forming and maintain social stability - feudalism & manorialism Terms Vikings Charlemagne Missi Dominici Einhard Aachen Treaty of Verdun 800AD