History Final (Middle Ages in Europe) Flashcards
who was the powerful king of the franks and in what year?
Charlemagne, in 800 CE
what was Charlemagne crowned for and by who?
crowned Roman Emperor of the West by the pope.
why was it weird that the pope crowned Charlemagne
This was strange because the pope or the catholic church had nothing to do with selecting Roman Emperors in antiquity
what does the scene of the pope crowning Charlemagne represent
represents is the new kind of order that was establishing itself in this medieval period.
what years did this medieval period last
500s - 1500
In the years after the collapse of the Roman West, there had been years of chaos and violence that historians refer to as _____ and what years?
“Dark Ages” from 500-900
what kingdoms came and went? and how did they function?
Various Germanic kingdoms came and went. These were weakly organized and mostly used plunder as their way of functioning.
Was charlemagnes kingdom stable? and how did Charlemagne view his kingdom?
Rulers like Charlemagne believed that their kingdoms were their personal property. Such kingdoms tended to be very unstable.
what was the one pole of stability?
was the catholic church which had kept its institutions (so bishops in every city… clercs capable of writing and administering).
what happened in 800, What did Charlemagne promise and what were the circumstances
these two sides of the elites in the West came together: Charlemagne promised to protect the pope and his church with military might - while the pope gave Charlemagne “spiritual” legitimacy by claiming that god had chosen him to rule over the West.
what deal characterizes the whole of the middle ages
This deal between religious power and secular might
who are the elite two groups that go together?
Princes/kings + Catholic church. (these two elite groups are complementary).
What happened after the Charlemagne empire fell?
for another 200 years, there are more invasions (vikings, magyars…) that caused strife and disorder in European societies.
