Creating Western Europe

III. Western Europe: A Medley of Kingdoms

A. Frankish Kingdoms with Roman Roots

1. Blending the Roman Past with the Frankish Present — During the sixth century, the Franks established themselves as the dominant power in Roman Gaul. In the western areas that were once part of the Roman Empire, cities retained Roman features and served as centers of church administration. However, many cities were depopulated and lost economic and cultural vitality. Gradually the surrounding forests and pastureland reflected the farming and village settlement patterns of the Franks.

2. Frankish Peasants and Elites — In the countryside, where most elites lived, lords controlled families of peasants, many descended from Roman coloni. Peasants owed dues and labor to the landowner in return for living on and working the land. Roman and Frankish culture merged, as dialects of Latin emerged. Frankish elites cultivated military skills and dress.

3. Saints and Relics — Villages often formed around sacred sites. Churches housing the remains of saints offered an example of a new cultural value, the veneration of dead saints and martyrs. Whereas in the classical world the dead were banished from the presence of the living, in the medieval world the holy dead held a place of high esteem.

B. Economic Activity in a Peasant Society

1. Subsistence and Gift Economies — The agricultural economy was weak, and subsistence was the economic norm for most. Food supplies were limited by colder temperatures and limited agricultural technologies. Surpluses were subsumed into a gift economy: booty was seized, tributes demanded, and wealth hoarded by the elites, all to be redistributed to friends and dependents.

2. Trade and Traders — Some European merchants engaged in long-distance trade, offering slaves and raw materials for luxury goods such as silk and paper. Contact with the Byzantine Empire and beyond was tenuous and was often conducted through intermediaries.

3. Jews in Merovingian Society — Although dominated by Christians, Merovingian society integrated Jews into all aspects of secular life. Some Jews were rich landowners, while others were independent peasants. Some lived in towns with a small Jewish quarter, but most lived on the land like their Christian neighbors. Only later did the status of Jews change, marking them out from Christian society

C. The Powerful in Merovingian Society

1. The Aristocrats — The aristocracy enjoyed considerable wealth. They administered their estates and cultivated a military ethic, perfecting the virtues and skills of a warrior. Marriage and family life were important to the aristocracy, as the production of heirs was important for the survival of aristocratic families and their property. Religion was an important part of aristocratic life and education, and Irish-founded monasteries had a particular appeal for some aristocrats.

2. The Bishops — Bishops were powerful and influential. Although many bishops were married, they were expected to abstain from sexual relations.

3. Women of Power — Aristocrats controlled the marriages of their daughter to strengthen the family through dowries and family connections. Women were allowed to receive property bequests and many were wealthy. Some nuns or abbesses controlled considerable property. Legally subordinate to their husbands, Merovingian women still retained a great deal of power and influence, often through their sons.

4. The Power of Kings — Merovingian kings cooperated with bishops and the aristocracy. They administered justice and led in war. They used their court culture and the distribution of offices to control the aristocracy, creating by the seventh century the stable kingdoms of Austrasia, Neustria, and Burgundy.

D. Christianity and Classical Culture in the British Isles

1. Competing Church Hierarchies in Anglo-Saxon England — Christianity was introduced to northern England by Irish monks. Irish monasteries were organized around traditional rural clans and were headed by abbots. Since monasteries, rather than cities, were the centers of population settlement, northern bishops were under the authority of abbots. In contrast, Christianity was brought to southern England by papal missionaries who emphasized loyalty to the pope and the hierarchy of bishops. The Roman and Irish churches disagreed on many points, but Roman Christianity dominated in the end, as illustrated by the 664 Synod of Whitby’s selection of the Roman date for celebrating Easter.

2. Literary Culture — Roman Christianity offered access to books and a long literary tradition. Anglo-Saxon and Celtic monasteries became centers of learning where Latin and pagan texts were copied and closely studied. The Anglo-Saxon oral tradition was adapted to Christian culture, and the written Anglo-Saxon language was used in every aspect of English life.

E. Unity in Spain, Division in Italy

1. Spain under the Visigoths — In Spain, the Visigothic king Leovigild (r. 569–586) established rule by military might. To maintain control, his son Reccared converted from Arianism to Roman Catholic Christianity, along with most of the Arian bishops. This  launched an era of unprecedented close cooperation between kings and bishops, including the anointing of the king by the bishops at Toledo. This unity and centralization made the Visigothic kingdom vulnerable to conquest when the Arabs arrived in 711.

2. Lombard Royal Power in Italy — In Italy, Lombard kings faced a hostile papacy in Rome and independent dukes in the south. Some Lombard rulers were Arian, and the kingdom lacked religious unity, although the Lombard king’s rich estates and military ability strengthened the kingdom. Taking advantage of the weakened but still urban culture of Italy, Lombard rulers assigned dukes to govern cities and set up a capital at Pavia, engaging in the building of churches and city walls in the tradition of Constantine and Justinian. Lombard territory was never fully united, and Lombard expansion led the pope to seek Frankish aid against them.

3. The Papacy and Politics — The pope’s political power was ambiguous, as the office combined secular and religious power

F. Political Tensions and the Power of the Pope

1. Gregory the Great — Ambiguous papal power was strengthened during the papacy of Gregory the Great (r. 590–604). Gregory became the greatest landowner in Italy, organizing the army and defenses of Rome while working to expand the power of bishops and the influence of the church throughout Europe. Gregory increased papal involvement with secular matters across Europe, urging secular support for spiritual reforms and authoring many spiritual works and biblical commentaries.

2. The Papacy and the Byzantine Emperors — As a bishop, the pope was in theory subordinate to the Byzantine emperors, who ruled from Constantinople. However, in 691 Pope Sergius I (r. 687/9–701) rejected certain church regulations promulgated by Justinian, which led to Justinian’s efforts to arrest the pope. Local Italian armies sided with the pope and prevented his arrest, which led to a waning of the influence of the Byzantine emperors over the papacy. By the early eighth century, the pope led a tax revolt against Emperor Leo III, and conflict over icons also weakened the emperor’s influence.

3. The Papacy and the Lombards — The popes also struggled to control Lombard expansion, and Pope Zachary (r. 741–752)  resisted their territorial ambitions by appealing to the Carolingian King, Pippin III (r. 751–768), to intervene and fight the Lombards