The Crowning of Charlemagne

Charlemagne and His World

Objectives
After viewing “Charlemagne and His World,” you should: ⇓
• Understand that Charlemagne brought Europe out
of the Dark Ages and into the medieval period. ⇓
• Know that the Carolingian Renaissance was the
first of
three important renaissance periods in Europe. ⇓
• Recognize the importance of Charlemagne's
contributions to
the Europe that exists today.
 Charlemagne and His World

According to Professor Hodges, what

experience may have shaped Charlemagne's
desire to reinvent himself as a latter-day
Roman emperor?

Traveling the old Roman roads in Italy,

Charlemagne may have conceived of an
empire based on the Roman model.
Charlemagne’s Tomb
 Charlemagne and His World

What accomplishments does the Charlemagne

Prize honor?

The Charlemagne Prize honors

accomplishments in fostering a Europe based
on shared economic and social values.
The Development of Feudalism

• Invaders posed a threat to the

safety of the people, especially in
the absence of a strong central
government. ⇓
• Magyars, Vikings, and Muslims terrorize Europe.

• People began to turn to local landed

aristocrats or nobles to protect them. ⇓

(pages 292–294)
Lief Ericson’s Route to America
Video: Feudalism – Weak Kings, Strong Nobles
The Development of Feudalism

• This change led to the new political and

social system called feudalism.
feudalism By the
18th century, a man who served a lord
vassal ⇓
militarily was known as a vassal.
• Similar systems were found in Japan
(samurai & daimyo) and among the
Aztec.
Video: Medieval Society Hierarchy
The Development of Feudalism
(cont.)

• By the 9th century the land the

lord granted
to a vassal was known as a fief. ⇓
• Vassals had political authority in their fiefs. ⇓
• The number of separate powerful lords and vassals
increased; many different people were now
responsible for keeping order.

• Feudalism became complicated. ⇓

• Kings had vassals who themselves had vassals. ⇓
• Feudalism came to be characterized by a set
of unwritten rules known as the feudal contract.
⇓ (pages 292–294)
Feudal System
The Development of Feudalism (cont.)

• These rules determined the relationship between lord

and vassal. ⇓
• The major obligation of a vassal was military service,
service
about 40 days a year.

(pages 292–294)
Video: Castles, Liege and Lords
The Nobility of the Middle Ages
and Aristocratic Women
• In the eleventh and twelfth centuries,
under the influence of the Church, an ideal
of civilized behavior among the nobility
evolved. ⇓
• It was called chivalry.
chivalry ⇓
• Knights were to defend the Church and
defenseless people, treat captives as
honored guests, and fight for glory and
not material rewards.
(pages 295–296)