The Franks 3 rd -9 th Century(843)

1. The Franks3rd-9th Century(843) Emily Volovitz

3. Basic History/Imp. figures • In the Rhine, lived the Franks who were a confederation of Germanic tribes and they eventually became the French. • Because loyalty for the tribes came before loyalty for the confederation, the Franks were weak. • The Franks aimed to take over Roman territory in present day France. • When the Western Roman Empire fell, the Franks established the strongest barbaric kingdom. • When the Roman empire fell, the tribes of the Franks came together under a new group called the Merovingians (descended from the Salians.) This then became the Merovingian Dynasty. • Merovechwas one of the rulers of the Salian Franks but before him, Childeric’s father, Clovis was the first leader. Merovech and Childeric (successor) spread the Frankish territory to larger parts of Europe in 481. • He took the Visigoths into Spain and he also converted to Christianity. Because of this, the pope praised him as king of the Franks.

4. Carolingian Dynasty • Before the Carolingians took power, the Merovingians made sure that Christianity remained in Europe and wasn’t invaded by the Muslim army in the Battle of Tours (732.) They used Christianity to win the Battle (God’s will.) • Charles Martel (general of Carolingians) beat the Muslims in the battle. • After 700 A.D, the Merovingians were losing dominance and the power was turning to the Carolingians (Frankish noble family.) They eventually became the rulers. • Pepin the Short (son of Charles Martel) became king of Frankish nobles with actual votes. When he took over Lombard land, they then became the Papal states and were given the pope. (Donation of Pepin) • Charles the Great became the first emperor of the West since the fall of the Roman Empire (800.) He was one of the most significant and impacting Frankish rulers because he converted most individuals to Christianity. The decline of the Carolingian Dynasty began when he died.

5. The Fall/Religion/Culture • In 843, the Treaty of Verdun was signed after the Carolingian Civil War that lasted 3 years. • The last remaining adult Carolingians (sons of Louis the Pious) signed the treaty and that was when the dynasty was separated into 3 kingdoms. • Because of Charles’ conversion to Christianity, that is what was practiced. • Fine arts and pieces thrived at the end of the 8th century and the Carolingians followed classic models in their culture. Those models affected and influenced the Carolingian vocabulary and arts. There were also many altars because of the increased reforms of Christianity.

6. Economy • The Carolingian dynasty was based on a rural economy. • Most of the population lived in places were everyone was self sufficient and they all lived on what their lands offered. • Trade was not frequent or popular and there weren’t many types of communication networks. • The main parts of the economy were stockbreeding and agriculture. • Society was looked at as if it was a pyramid. Peasants were at the bottom and emperors were at the top.

8. THE VISIGOTHS 410-722 • They were branches of Germanic nomadic tribes and they migrated very frequently. • Eventually they took rule over Gaul (Visigothic Kingdom) in the 5th-7th centuries but the Franks defeated them in a battle and they lost power. • In 350 C.E, the Visigoths around the Danube River were invaded by nomadic tribes from East Asia (Huns. )  When they invaded, the Visigoths moved onto Roman territory (Bulgaria.) When Constantinople commanded the Visigoths for tribute, they didn’t pay in any way. However, the Romans then took violent measures and forced the tribute out of them. In 378, an army of Visigoths battled with an army from Constantinople (they won.) In 410, the Visigoths attacked Rome but before that went into Greece and attacked them as well. • First proper king was Theodoric and the successor was his son Euric. • The Goths practiced Germanic Paganism (polytheistic.) • The main economic activities were stockbreeding and agriculture. • The Visigothic Kingdom ended under the Muslims. They also ended because of disorganized centralization, natural occurrences, and ethnical arguments as well.

10. Ostrogoths 3rd-6th century • The Ostrogoths are the Eastern subgroup of the Goths who settle in Ukraine. • King Ermanarich was the King and he established a kingdom. However, this kingdom was defeated and taken over by the Huns in 370. • Theodoric the Great was one of the most significant Ostrogoth leaders (493-526.) When he became the ruler of Italy, the kingdom prospered. • They then moved along to Italy and that is where they picked up Roman culture and practiced Arianism. • The Ostrogothic kingdom ended in 6th century because Emperor Justinian overtook their Kingdom.

12. The Vandals • The Vandals were a Germanic people from Jutland. In 429, they were under the rule of King Genseric. This is when they went into African territory and began their Kingdom there. • They practiced Arianism. • When Genseric died, Huneric took over. In 428 he persecuted Catholics and that was the decline of the Vandals.