Germanic Empires

A medieval period also known as the Middle Ages began due to the downfall of the Roman Empire. Germanic invaders attacked, and soon Roman provinces were replaced with Germanic kingdoms. With the war over the location of the borders, the Church that had survived the Roman Empire’s fall had provided order and security for the uprising kingdoms. Different from the Roman Empire, family ties and personal loyalty held Germanic society together. Germanic people lived in small communities that were ruled by spoked rules and traditions. A Germanic chief led a group of warriors who had pledged their loyalty to him. Those who did, lived in the lord’s hall and he gave them needed supplies. By the lord’s side, the warriors fought in war. If a warrior

outlived the lord it was considered a disgrace. In Gaul, a Roman province, a group of Germanic people called the Franks held power. The leader Clovis was the one who brought Christianity into the region.

In theory, Clovis’s wife had asked him to convert to her religion, Christianity. In 496, fearing defeat against another Germanic tribe, he pleaded to the Christian god. The Franks then had won and asked a bishop to baptize him and his 3,000 men who experienced a miracle victory. By 511, the Franks were united into one kingdom and an alliance between the Franks and the Church formed. With the help of the Franks, many Germanic people converted to the Churches ways. Due to the rural conditions of the region, the Church built monasteries so Christian men called monks could give away all their private possessions and devoted their life to God. Women who went through this process were called nuns and they lived in convents. The siblings, Benedict and Scholastica, encouraged guidelines written by Benedict to the men and women of Christianity. These guidelines became bases for other religions in Europe also. Soon enough, monasteries became Europe’s most educated communities. In 590, Gregory I, also know as Gregory the Great, became pope. The pope’s office, or papacy became the center of Roman government. Gregory the Great made great achievements for the

region. As a result, seven kingdoms in England arose. After Clovis died, Frankish rule extended over modern-day France. Major Domo, mayor of the palace, was now the most powerful man in the Frankish Kingdom. Charles Martel was the most powerful mayor in 719. He even held more power than the king. Martel extended the land of the Frankish Kingdom and he became a Christian hero. Soon, before the passing of Charles Martel, the power was passed to his son, Pepin the Short. After the pope appointed Pepin “king by the grace of God,” the Carolingian Dynasty took over the rule of the Franks.