The Carolingians

I. The Carolingian Empire

A. The Rise of the Carolingians

1. Charles Martel — Charles Martel, a palace “mayor” of the Merovingian kings, used his position and his victory over a Muslim invasion from al-Andalus in 732 to gain support and establish his family as leading aristocrats. He gained power and influence by turning other aristocratic factions against each other and allying his family with influential religious and political institutions.

2. The Carolingians and Partnership with the Church — The Carolingians cooperated with the Roman papacy to extend its influence and the hierarchical structures of the church. Charles Martel’s son Pippin III (d. 768) deposed the Merovingian king in 751, and Pope Zachary legitimized the act. The papacy and the Carolingians depended on each other for support, ending the papacy’s close connection to the Byzantine Empire and establishing the pope as a territorial monarch over parts of Italy. The Carolingian dynasty’s partnership with the papacy gave the dynasty a Christian aura.

B. Charlemagne and His Kingdom, 768–814

1. Charlemagne’s Complex Character — Charles the Great or Charlemagne (r. 768–814) had a complex, contradictory, and sometimes brutal character. He had a unifying vision of an empire that would unite the Germanic, Roman, and Christian worlds.

2. Territorial Expansion — Charlemagne’s early career was marked by conquests. He invaded Lombard Italy and annexed northern Italy by 774. In the north he fought a difficult but victorious thirty-year war against the Saxons, converting them to Christianity at swordpoint.  In the southeast, he fought the Avars in a campaign that brought booty and riches. In the Southwest he created a buffer zone between his kingdom and al-Andalus.

3. Imperial Coronation — By the 790s, Charlemagne ruled a vast territory. He imitated the Roman imperial model by sponsoring symbolic building programs and patronizing science and the arts. To discourage corruption he appointed special officials, missi dominici, who oversaw the activities of regional governors. In return for his support of Pope Leo III against the adultery and perjury claims leveled against him in 799 by the Roman aristocracy, Leo proclaimed Charlemagne emperor, although he claimed to not want the title.

C. The Carolingian Renaissance, c. 790–c. 900

1. Revival of Learning and Art — The Carolingians inaugurated a revival of learning designed to enhance the glory of the kings, educate their officials, reform the liturgy, and purify Christianity. Roman learning was revived by scholars, and the English scholar Alcuin was recruited with others to form a center of study and bring Anglo-Saxon scholarship to the Carolingian court. Churches and cathedrals were ordered to teach reading and writing to all, although the plan never advanced. Art in the service of the king, influenced by Byzantine practices, also thrived.

2. The Legacy of the Renaissance — Long after the Carolingian dynasty had ended, their mode of inquiry and scholastic endeavors continued in monastic schools for generations. Manuscript handwriting was standardized, making manuscript study easier for future scholars

D.  Charlemagne’s Successors, 814–911

1. Louis the Pious and Rebellion — Charlemagne’s son Louis the Pious (r. 814–840) came to the throne when his father died of fever. He took his role as the leader of Christian empire very seriously, and was a strong promoter of Benedictine monasticism. His firstborn son, Lothar, was made co-emperor, and other sons Pippin and Louis were made sub-kings. When Louis remarried after his wife’ Ermengard’s death and had another son, Charles, in 823, his other children rebelled and fought their father and one another for more than a decade.

2. The Treaty of Verdun — After Louis’s death in 840, the Treaty of Verdun (843) divided the empire among his three remaining sons. Charles the Bald (r. 843–877) received the western third (present-day France); Louis the German (r. 843–876) received the eastern third (present-day Germany); and the “Middle Kingdom” was given to Lothar (r. 840–876), along with the imperial title.

3. Dissolution of Charlemagne’s Empire — The success of Charlemagne’s empire had been based on the loyalty of a small group of privileged aristocrats, laymen, and churchmen alike, with lands and offices across the realm. Their loyalty was based on shared values, friendship, expectation of gain, and formal ties of vassalage and fealty. Once the empire had been divided into three realms and the borders fixed, the aristocrats lost their expectations of new lands and offices. They put down roots in particular regions and began to gather their own followings. Many had never shared the vision of a powerful Christian empire and instead valued family and local loyalties more. Powerful local traditions, including different languages, also undermined imperial unity.

E. Land and Power

1. Carolingian Trade — Carolingian wealth came largely from booty and conquest, but trade with the Abbasid caliphate was also important to the economy. The collapse of that empire may have weakened the Carolingians.

2. Carolingian Agriculture — Land was the most important source of wealth and power. Carolingian aristocrats held many estates scattered throughout the Frankish Empire that were reorganized into productive units that modern historians call “manors.”

3. Manor Life — On Carolingian manors, families of peasants worked the land of their lords as well as their own small plots. Parents subdivided their plots to provide land for their adult children. Peasants used the more efficient three-field system, leaving a third of their land fallow as opposed to half, which had been the custom. Peasants owed dues and services to their lords. Farming was profitable but provided little in the way of surplus, and the system of scattered manors weakened the defense of the empire.

F. Viking, Muslim, and Magyar Invasions, c. 790–955

1. Viking Expansion and Settlement in the North of Europe — Vikings moved westward out of the Gulf of Finland from the end of the eighth century, seeking prestige, profit, and land, and often traveling in family groups. They were expert navigators, venturing as far as Iceland, Greenland, and North America. They settled in northeast England and raided the British Isles regularly until they were defeated by Alfred the Great in 878. Vikings settled and traded where they originally raided, and by 850 they began to control some regions. Rollo, a Viking leader in France, accepted Christianity and gained control of the region of France that was called Normandy. Christian missionaries had also begun to move into Scandinavia. Danish kings who had converted to Christianity created the kingdom of Denmark, and during the tenth and eleventh centuries the Danes expanded their control to parts of Sweden, Norway, and England.

2. Muslim Invasions of Southern Europe — Around the same time, Muslims began to attack southern Europe, setting up bases in the Mediterranean and a stronghold in Provence for a time, before they were expelled by Christians outraged at the kidnapping of Abbot Maiolus of Cluny.

3. Magyars Invade to the West — To the east, Magyars raided into Germany, Italy, and Gaul from 899–955 until the German King Otto I defeated them at the battle of Lechfeld. The Magyars were contained and later converted to Christianity. All of these invading groups, similar to those that had attacked the Roman Empire, came for wealth but later adopted aspects of Western culture as they remained in the region.

II. After the Carolingians: The Emergence of Local Rule

A. Public Power and Private Relationships

1. Vassals, Lords, and Ladies — Personal and local loyalties were most important in this era. The Carolingian system depended on networks of relationships between kings and their fideles, or “faithful men,” who received a share of the revenues of their administrative districts as well as fiefs, or “land grants.” Carolingian counts distributed fiefs to loyal supporters, and by the end of the ninth century fiefs were often passed on to heirs.

2. Lords and Peasants — Warriors increasingly became vassals of local lords, creating the social and economic system some historians call feudalism. Society was divided into those who prayed, those who fought, and those who worked. Vassalage, which also involved lords serving as the vassals of others, strengthened what remained of public power, allowing local lords to muster troops, collect taxes, and administer justice. Vassalage offered the poor some opportunity for protection and reward. Women participated in the system as wives and mothers of vassals, who promised loyalty (or fealty) by offering “homage,” or service, in exchange for protection, all in a public ceremony.

3. Village Life — “Those who worked,” peasants who made up the majority of the population, were at the bottom of the social scale. Peasants increasingly became dependant on the lords of manors as serfs, which was an inherited rather than a voluntary dependency. This inherited status involved serfs laboring on their lord’s land and paying taxes to him. The standard of living for all gradually improved as the climate warmed and better agricultural techniques came into use. Some peasants began to pay money to landlords rather than goods and labor, a change that worked to the advantage of both landlords and peasants.

4. The New System of Local Rule — Bounded villages surrounded by farms and with a strong sense of community grew up around churches. These were interdependent communities of peasants, although they often had conflicting loyalties and obligations in relation to local lords. Authority and power became increasingly localized as it fell into the hands of aristocrats, many of them based in castles. In southern France, virtually independent Castellans extended their authority in some cases, conquering other castles in order to dominate a region and subjecting all near their castles to vassalage, serfdom, taxation, and their judicial regime. Castellans formed relationships with other large landowners, supported local monasteries, and appointed local priests. The development of virtually independent local political units, dominated by a castle and controlled by a military elite, meant that the social, political, and cultural life of Europe was now dominated by landowners who were both military men and regional rulers

B. Warriors and Warfare

1. Knights — Although knights and their lords were differentiated by rank, they all shared a common way of life. Knights and their lords were warriors who fought on horseback and wore armor. Their armor and the adoption of horseshoes and stirrups allowed knights to fight better, travel farther, and use heavier weapons than ever before. Lords and their vassals often lived, ate, hunted, and fought together. They also competed against one another in military games. Unmarried knights who lived with their lords were called youths no matter their age. Their perpetual status as bachelors reflected a change in families and inheritance.

2. Primogeniture and the Patrilineal Family — Diminished opportunities to own land because of primogeniture (which recognized the primary claim of a family’s oldest sons on the family’s landed property) left younger sons seeking careers as knights or in the church. This patrilineal system caused aristocratic women to lose power, although widows and daughters could inherit property and wives might act as lords while their husbands were away. Marriage still played an important part in offering women an important social role.

C. Efforts to Contain Violence

1. The Peace of God — This social system increased violence, which devastated cities and the countryside. Bishops, counts, and peasants all attempted to limit conflict by imposing the Peace of God, a movement that began in France around 990 and quickly spread (by 1050) over a wide region. Excommunication was threatened for those who stole property or seized peasants.

2. The Truce of God — A second set of agreements, the Truce of God was designed to prevent fighting between warriors and prohibited fighting on days of religious significance. It was meant to be enforced by local lords who took a sacred oath. Other efforts were made locally to limit violence, including assemblies where lords and vassals mediated wars and feuds

D. Political Communities in Italy, England, and France

1. Urban Power in Northern and Central Italy — In Italy, cities remained the primary centers of power. Italian elites tended to build estates within walled cities that also contained churches, with the cities controlling the surrounding countryside. A currency economy thrived here, and the cities became centers of commerce and trade. Italian family life rejected primogeniture and shared opportunities among its male members, a model for later Italian business and banking ventures.

2. Alfred and His Successors: Kings of All the English — England remained rural. Alfred the Great, the king of Wessex, fortified settlements and built a mobile army and navy. He reformed religion and supported scholarly translations of religious works into Anglo-Saxon, although Latin remained the language of governance and the church. He issues a law code, and he and his successors rolled back Danish control over parts of the country. England became united and organized under a strong ruler. His grandson Edgar (r. 957–975) had the sworn loyalty of the great men of the kingdom and controlled ecclesiastical appointments. Still, royal control was tenuous, and the Danish king Cnut conquered England and ruled from 1017–1035, reinforcing the cultural connection between England and Scandinavia.

3. Capetian Kings of Franks: Weak but Prestigious — France was a larger realm and struggled to cope with invasions. As the Carolingian dynasty waned at the end of the tenth century, Hugh Capet, a powerful aristocrat, was chosen by the most powerful dukes, counts, and bishops to rule in 987. He reigned until 996, establishing the Capetian dynasty. The Capetian monarchs had scattered estates and limited power, as independent castellans controlled many areas. But they represented the idea of unity inherited from Charlemagne, and therefore enjoyed considerable prestige.

E. Emperors and Kings in Central and Eastern Europe

1. Ottonian Power in Germany — Germany was consolidated by its Ottonian kings, who styled themselves as emperors. Ruling over five large duchies, these kings were elected by the dukes, in part to better resist Magyar invasions from the east. Otto I was a great military hero who conquered Lombard Italy in 951 and defeated a Magyar army in 955, solidifying his dynasty, which continued to resist Slavic invasion. He claimed the Middle Kingdom carved out by the Treaty of Verdun, and had himself proclaimed emperor in 962. His successors, Otto II and Otto III, chosen through patrilineal descent, had to cope with family revolts supported by aristocratic factions. Ottonian monarchs had harmonious relations with the church, empowering bishops as royal officials and participating in their selection. The Ottonians (and their Salian successors) supported learning, and German noblewomen were well-educated and even supported artists and scholars. The monarchy made use of ministerials, specially designated serfs, to administer the kingdom. German influence expanded to the east.

2. The Emergence of Catholic Bohemia, Poland, and Hungary — Supported by the church, German kings created new Catholic polities on their eastern frontier. The Czechs. under the rule of Vaclav (r. 920–929), converted and came into the German sphere of influence. The Polanians, under Mieszko I (r. 963–992), accepted baptism to forestall German attack and placed their people under the protection of the pope. Under Mieszko’s son, Boleslaw, Poland’s borders expanded to Kiev, and Boleslaw became a king with the pope’s blessing. Magyars settling Hungary under Stephen I (r. 997–1038) also accepted Christianity , and Stephen was crowned in 1000 or 1001 by the pope.