World History, Ch. 9, Germanic Societies

Manors, Lords, and Serfs: economy, society

Manors, or landed estates, were worked by peasant farmers. Under this arrangement, later called manorialism, each noble typically owned at least one manor. Peasants lived on the manor in a village and farmed the surrounding fields. They were typically required to give the lord a portion of their crop, and perhaps labor several days a week on land set aside to feed the lord and his family. Some peasants remained free, and a few prospered. Most peasants became serfs, bound to the manor and under the control of its lord. Serfs could not own/inherit property, leave the manor, or get married without the lord's permission. Serfs had rights: they did not have to serve in the army, they were not supposed to be bought and sold apart from the land, and the lord was expected to provide them with plots of land to farm. In practice serfdom differed little from slavery: there were few restraints on the lord, who could punish his serfs by flogging and beating them, sometimes to death. Peasant life centered on fields, family, and church.

East-West Schism of 1054 C.E.

1054 C.E. the patriarch of Constantinople issued an insulting letter to a Western bishop that found its way to the dying Pope Leo IX (1049 - 1054 C.E.), who then sent envoys to Constantinople to press the patriarch for an apology. The envoys had several tense meetings with the patriarch and then issued an edict of "excommunication", formally banning him from Christian worship and from the Christian community. The Great Schism of 1054 C.E. was rooted in the conflict of whether the pope should have total supremacy over the entire Church. 1059 C.E., to ensure that future popes would not be chosen by powerful families or rulers, Pope Nicholas II decreed that new popes must henceforth be elected by a group of specially designated bishops called cardinals. In 1073 C.E., the cardinals elected a radical reformer named Hildebrand who had spent time at Cluny. As Pope Gregory VII (1073 - 1085 C.E.), he extended the concept of papal primacy into secular affairs, holding that all lords and princes were his subjects and that he could depose or punish them if he judged their conduct immoral. To free the clerics from family attachments/distractions, he made celibacy the rule for all priests and bishops in the Western Church and he insisted that only the pope could appoint Church officials. When Pope Gregory VII banned lay investiture, a practice in which secular ("lay") rulers conferred on new bishops the symbols of spiritual authority, the German emperor Henry IV openly defied him, refusing to forsake this practice. The pope responded in 1076 C.E. by excommunicating and deposing Henry, giving German nobles a convenient pretext to rebel against him. In January 1077 C.E., the deposed emperor went to Canossa in Italy and reportedly stood barefoot in the snow to beg forgiveness of Gregory, who was compelled as a priest to pardon the penitent prince. Henry regained his title and later drove Gregory into exile. The specter of an emperor humbling himself before the pope reinforced the notion of papal authority over secular rulers. 1095 C.E. Pope Urban II proclaimed a great crusade, or holy war, calling on Europe's lords and princes to restore christian control over "holy lands" in Palestine where Christ had lived and died.

Empire of the Franks

799 C.E. Pope Leo III (795 - 816 C.E.) escaped Rome and was restored to the papacy in Rome by Charlemagne. Christmas Day 800 C.E., as Charlemagne knelt in worship during a visit to Rome, the pope crowned him "Charles Augustus, Emperor of the Romans". Charlemagne's realm was still a Germanic kingdom. Its capital was at Aachen in northwestern Germany, not Rome. Charlemagne compelled the Saxons and other polytheists in his realm to adopt Christianity. Alcuin, an English Benedictine monk, helped Charlemagne assemble scholars who copied manuscripts, founded libraries, and set up schools at monasteries and cathedrals throughout Europe. Alcuin's curriculum was divided into a trivium of grammar, rhetoric, and logic and a quadrivium of arithmetic, astronomy, geometry, and music. This became the standard for medieval European education. Charlemagne died in 814 C.E. and in 843 C.E. his grandsons divided the realm into 3 kingdoms. The middle kingdom fragmented further, the western became medieval France, and the eastern became medieval Germany.

Church Scandal, Reform

963 C.E. Pope John XII became pope through his powerful father's influence. He was deposed by a council of bishops for adultery, incest, and murder. Declaring the council illegal, he violently reclaimed his throne, but died of a stroke soon after. 1043 C.E. Pope Benedict IX became pope through his father's influence, but was ousted by the people of Rome, who replaced him with their own choice as pope. 1044 - 1049 C.E. had a rapid succession of popes. Benedict regained the papacy, sold it to another man, and then later claimed it back. Holy Roman Emperor Henry III placed several of his handpicked German bishops on the papal throne. Cluny was Europe's most influential monastery. German bishops picked by Henry III had close connections to Cluny and restored the papacy as Europe's preeminent institution. Cluny leaders pushed for strict priest celibacy, or abstinence from marriage and sex, and an end to simony, the sale of Church offices.

Germanic Kingdoms, emergence

At the start of the Middle Ages, the Germans were still grouped in tribes. Most tribes practiced farming and lived in villages. Wealth was measured in cattle and land. As farming increased food supplies, supporting population growth, some Germanic groups--including Ostrogoths and Lombards in Italy, Visigoths in Spain, Angles and Saxons in England, and Franks in France--set up Germanic kingdoms. The national monarchies that grew out of these kingdoms eventually became Europe's main form of governance.

Early Medieval Church

Central institution of the Early Middle Ages was the Christian Church. The Church Christianized the Germans and Celts, usually by working through tribal chiefs or kings and by blending Christian beliefs with local customs. Mid-400s C.E. a bishop from Britain named Patrick converted Ireland's Celtic tribes. 496 C.E. King Clovis of the Franks adopted Christianity. 597 C.E. a Roman monk named Augustine baptized one of the Anglo-Saxon's kings and thousands of his people in England. Celts and Germans converted their old shrines into Christian churches and modified their festivals into Christian holy days. Monasticism was a religious movement in which especially devout men/women (monks/nuns) withdrew form secular society to live in religious communities, where life was characterized by prayer and self-denial.

Vikings, Muslims, and Magyars

Christian Europe was invaded by Vikings in the 800s - 900s C.E. Many Norseman settled along European coasts, trading with Muslims and Byzantines and eventually adopting Christianity. Some Norsemen, known as Normans, took control of the region now called Normandy in northwestern France, from which their successors in 1066 C.E. conquered England and became its kings and nobles. Other Norsemen, called Varangians, served as early rulers of Kievan Rus. Other Norsemen explored the North Atlantic, founding settlements in Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, and even for a time on the coast of North America. By the sea from the south came Muslims, known in Europe as Saracens. In the mid-800s C.E., seaborne marauders from Islamic North Africa staged periodic raids along Europe's Mediterranean coast. These Muslim raiders came to plunder and even pillaged Rome in 846 C.E. They also helped create a basis for commercial connections between the Islamic and Western Christian worlds. By land from the east came Magyars, warlike tribes that moved into eastern Europe in the late-800s C.E. and raided central Europe in the 900s C.E., pillaging towns and plundering the land. 955 C.E. they were defeated at the battle at Lechfeld by King Otto I (936 - 973 C.E.), ruler of the Frankish domains in Germany. The Magyars settled in what is now Hungary. They adopted Christianity and combined their Eastern culture with Western Christian ideals. Otto the Great was crowned by the pope as emperor in 962 C.E.

Fall of Rome, End of Western Roman Empire

Commerce in the West vanished due to constant warfare. Western emperors could no longer control the provinces or defend Rome. Vandals sacked Rome in 455 C.E. 21 years later, a Germanic general called Odoacer forced the abdication of a boy named Romulus Augustulus, the last Roman emperor in the West. Western Roman Empire died in 476 C.E.

Christianity

Constantine legalized Christianity in 313 C.E., played an active role in its affairs, and was baptized into it before he died in 337 C.E. Christianity's promise of salvation for all attracted many converts among women and the urban poor. Christians called polytheists pagans ("country-dwellers"), since many lived on rural estates. 380 C.E. Emperor Theodosius the Great issued a decree that made Christianity the state religion, and pledged to punish those who failed to follow its teachings. The Church organized itself along Roman imperial lines, with numerous priests as its local agents and above them bishops--Church officials who presided over districts called dioceses. Atop this hierarchy was the bishop of Rome, known as pope ("father"), who headed the Church and acted as the vicar of Christ on Earth.

Divided Roman Empire

Diocletian in 284 C.E. seized power as Roman emperor. He concluded the empire was too vast for one man to rule alone, so he divided it along a line running north and south between Italy and Greece. Diocletian was in charge of the East and named a co-emperor to administer the West. Later he added a junior ruler to assist each emperor, creating a 4-ruler system called a tetrarchy. Diocletian retired in 305 C.E. Emperor Constantine I restored the empire's unity, defeating all rivals and emerging as sole ruler by 324 C.E. He moved the capital from Rome to Byzantium and called the New Rome Constantinople.

Chaos in the West Roman Empire

Emperor Valentinian I ruled in the West from 364 - 375 C.E., imposed heavy taxes for imperial defense and led large armies north into France and Germany to crush Germanic forces. 370 C.E. the Huns, nomads probably related to the Xiongnu who tormented China, swept in from Central Asia and attacked the Goths, Germanic peoples living north of the Black Sea. The Ostrogoths (eastern Goths) fell to the Huns and were ruled by them for 80 years. The Visigoths (western Goths) were driven south into the Balkan Peninsula, where they defeated Roman armies in 378 C.E. Theodosius the Great (379 - 395 C.E.), the emperor that made Christianity the official religion, bought off the Visigoths by giving them lands in the eastern Balkans, where they settled and converted to the Christian faith. After Theodosius died, his sons split the empire between them and did not give a Roman command post to Alaric, the Visigoth leader. Visigoths rebelled, moved south into Greece, and later invaded Italy. Western Roman Empire fought the Visigoths off for a while with forces led by Stilicho the Vandal, a Germanic general who emerged as Rome's most effective commander. Roman leaders distrusted Stilicho and beheaded him for treason in 408 C.E. Romans massacred hundreds of Germans in the Western Empire, but many German soldiers escaped and joined Alaric, whose army grew to over 30,000 men. August 410 C.E. the Visigoths attacked Rome and sacked the city. Alaric died a year later. 434 C.E. Attila became the leader of the Huns, and in 441 C.E. he began threatening the Eastern Roman Empire. Constantinople bought him off with tribute, so in 451 C.E. he turned west. Attila the Hun, called the "scourge of God", was brutal. 452 C.E. Pope Leo the Great ventured north from Rome to the Huns' encampment to meet Attila and persuaded him to withdraw. Attila died the next year.

Europe's Warrior Nobility

Europeans depended for defense on autonomous regional warlords. These warlords developed into a hereditary landed nobility that arose directly from the ruins of the Frankish realm. Franks had divided their domain into counties, each managed by a count, and later also created large duchies, regions directed by dukes. As central authority waned after Charlemagne's death, these count and dukes became autonomous warlords. With the onslaught of outside invaders in the 800s and 900s C.E., lesser lords and landowners accepted the protection of these great warlords and became their vassals, subordinate warlords who swore allegiance and pledged military service to a higher lord, their overlord. The overlords often gave their vassals grants of land called fiefs. Warfare was central to the status and family life of the medieval nobility. Lords fought wars, training for combat and hunting between conflicts to sustain their military skills, while the noblewomen managed the households, caring for children and supervising servants. Noblemen served on horseback as knights, armed mounted warriors whose code of conduct entailed strict devotion to their overlords and to the Christian Church. Later observers characterized the arrangements between lords and vassals as a system called feudalism, but there was no set system or consistent feudal order.

The Franks

Franks had most expansive Germanic kingdom. King Clovis (481 - 511 C.E.) accepted Christianity and expanded his domain to include most of France and western Germany. His heirs let an official called the mayor of the palace run their affairs. Charles Martel defeated Muslim forces near Tours in central France in 732 - 733 C.E.. Martel also supported Benedictine monks from England, led by Saint Boniface, in their efforts to Christianize Central Europe. Boniface anointed Martel's son Pepin as King of the Franks in 751 C.E. Martel's descendants, later called the Carolingian dynasty, thus came to rule the Frankish realm. Pepin's son, "Charles the Great", or Charlemagne (768 - 847 C.E.), conquered the Saxons in northern Germany, the Lombards in northern Italy, and various other Germanic peoples. He also took land from the Muslims in northeastern Spain and the Byzantines in eastern Europe. Charles the Great reunited most of western and central Europe for the 1st time since the fall of Rome.

Germanic Peoples

Germanic peoples included: Franks, Angles, Saxons, Lombards, Alemanni, Vandals, and Goths. They all spoke languages in the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family. They were tribal warrior societies. Romans called them "barbarian". They would eventually overrun Rome, Germanicize the Christian West, and help shape Western civilization.

Germanic Society

Germans were initially pastoral nomads who lived in northern Europe by herding, hunting, and fighting. They herded cattle for meat, milk, cheese, and hides. They made swords/spears from iron. Germanic societies were based on kinship and patriarchy rather than on territory or formal institutions. Members of each tribe, linked by family connections, saw themselves as an extended clan with common ancestry and heritage. Kinship loyalties frequently led to blood feuds. These tribal connections foreshadowed the notion of nation, a political community united by its people's sense of common heritage and culture. Tribes were organized as chiefdoms, ruled by a chief elected by a warrior assembly. Some chiefdoms matured into monarchies, with the chief becoming king and his warriors the nobles who served on his royal council. Senior males dominated Germanic families. Men could have multiple wives and wives were meant for reproduction and service to warriors.

Germanic religion

Germans were polytheistic. Main dieties were: Woden -Creator of the earth/sky. Thor -The god of thunder. Friia -The goddess of fertility/love. These deities names would survive in Anglo-Saxon weekdays such as Tuesday (Tiu's day), Wednesday (Woden's day), Thursday (Thor's day), and Friday (Friia's day). Germans called on divinities to decide legal issues. The chief might order a trial by ordeal, putting the defendant to a test to determine innocence or guilt.

Germanic migrations

Many Germans began moving south into central and western Europe, perhaps driven by food scarcity from population growth. 1st century C.E. attacks by Germans and Romans had displaced from these regions the peoples who spoke Celtic languages, lived in farming villages and fortified towns, and worshiped numerous gods served by priests called Druids. As Celtic tribes resettled in Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and Brittany (western France), Germans moved toward the Roman frontiers. Germans resided in villages, where they lived in wooden huts and grew wheat, oats, and barley. The women did fieldwork and chores, boiling grains, grinding them into flour, baking bread, and fermenting them into beer. Romans countered these Germanic migrations partly by fighting the German barbarians and partly seeking to assimilate them. Roman leaders recruited many Germans as soldiers, awarded German leaders with command positions, and even made some Roman citizens. By the late 200s C.E., the Roman Empire was in serious danger from the German peoples.

Early Medieval Europe

Medieval era refers to the Middle Ages. Early Middle Ages (400s - 1000s C.E.) European societies were dominated by Germanic tribes that had overrun the Western Roman Empire. Roman cities, roads, trade, and money fell into disuse. Learning and literacy declined, inter-regional commerce declined, and central administration virtually disappeared. Early 800s C.E., a Germanic empire reunited much of the West, but it soon disintegrated and Europe was beset by new nomadic invasions from the north, east, and south.

Saint Benedict's Rule

Saint Benedict (480 - 543 C.E.) withdrew from urban Rome's affluence to live in poverty and prayer in the wilderness. He founded a monastery on a hill called Monte Cassino and wrote for the monks a "Rule", or set of regulations for monastic life, which his sister Scholastica later adapted for women. Monk and nuns took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, pledging thereby to forsake personal possessions, abstain from sex, and fully submit to their monastic superior. Monks and nuns lived in communities based on equality and hard work. They promoted learning by setting up local schools, maintaining libraries, writing books, and copying religious manuscripts. They also provided charity for the impoverished and helped develop farmland.

Papal primacy

The doctrine that the pope has authority over the entire Christian Church. Popes saw themselves as successors to Peter, leader of Christ's disciples, whom Christians considered the 1st head of the Church. Pope Celestine (422 - 432 C.E.) asserted that the pope held the "keys of the kingdom of heaven", which Christ had entrusted to Peter.