Charlemagne's Empire - Assignment Example

1. In 800 A.D. the empire in the west was renewed in the person of Charlemagne. To what extent was it a centralized government? What were the unifying elements? To what extent did Charlemagnes empire retain the political structure of a Germanic kingdom? Charlemagne came to power at the end of 800 when he was crowned the emperor by the Pope. Charlemagne was a great and sometimes a brutal leader but he was very popular and was called Charlemagne (Charles, the great). He first went to Rome to support the king and then started expanding his empire. He expanded the empire by expanding to the south and east and by 800 AD the Carolingian empire exceeded the Byzantine Empire. He was a reformer and governed his empire efficiently. He was also viewed as the ideal Christian King. On Pope Adrian’s request, Charlemagne defeated Desiderius, the king of the Lombards, which won him great influence over the Pope. Charlemagne attacked the Muslims of northern Spain and conquered Navarre. He even invaded Saxony in north-west Germany and established the Christian Church. He then imposed strict Frankish rule over Saxon. It was a centralized government because he based his kingdom on feudalism by which the power to the nobles was given in exchange for loyalty. This resulted in strengthening his royal power. His royal agents ensured the landowners governed their counties justly. He personally visited every part of his kingdom, judged cases and rewarded faithful followers. Charlemagne standardized tolls, customs duties, weights and measures and issued standard coins which bore his image. To improve commerce he even constructed roads, bridges and canals. To unify the empire, Charlemagne recruited officials to carry out his policies and to watch over his feudal lords. They checked on the nobles and dealt with economic, judicial and political matters. Another unifying force was Christianity. He encouraged missionaries and also supported the effort of the Church to organize parishes. Nevertheless, he kept the power centralized and insisted that ten percent of the subjects’ income be given to the Church to finance the parishes and the missionaries. One of his greatest achievements was that he encouraged learning. Charlemagne opened palace schools and also ordered the monasteries to open schools to train future monks and priests and reward faithful followers. Since Charlemagne had built the empire on his own personal ability rather than important institutions, administration was difficult after his death which led to frequent tribal dissension. After Louis, died the empire had to be divided between three warring children of Charlemagne. Germanic blood and culture was infused through out the continent of Europe which served as a unifying factor. Nevertheless there was drive for expansion. The same political structure of the Germanic kingdom was found in each of the invasions and the empires that were built between 370 and 870 AD. Each of the empires was conquered following a war and then defeating the ruler. Small groups of Germanic tribes eventually evolved into kingdoms and “feudal” domains throughout the Europe. Nations-states were born with Absolute monarchy. Even the Frankish kingdom had a Germanic warrior tribe whose successors expanded his kingdom to include nearly the whole of Europe. Each of the rulers tried to reunify Europe with little success. 2. France and England emerged by 1300 as the most powerful states in the West. On what did each state base its authority? Compare and contrast the governments of medieval France and England. In France, population grew steadily by 1300. Along with population trade and cash crops also increased. Since the population had reached a saturation point, not all people could be employed so people started migrating to the cities. The revival of the economy and the reform of the Church took place simultaneously. The church had so far been exploited and controlled by the magnates who used them for their own political purposes. Now the church expanded its presence in society and promoted arts, education and scholarships. The authority in France was based on the growing economy and the Church. The French kings were crowned in formal ceremonies and they were allowed to participate in the Crusades. The Plantagenets were uprooted and the nation was built on the legacy of the Capetians. They contributed to the growth of the nation by developing a set of core political institutions. The judicial machinery, the tax system and the institution of the church reduced the violence and disorder that had hitherto prevailed but the same machinery was also used to repress. The king and the papacy enforced religious orthodoxy. By 1328, the Valois dynasty replaced the Capetians. The royal government controlled the territories called France. Lords of England were no more a gang of invaders by the end of the thirteenth century. They had become a traditional aristocracy and armed vigilance was no longer the price of nobility. While Earls and Barons were still fighting men, they stopped pursuing war as a full time career. In fact people wanted to avoid the military service. The most powerful king in medieval England was Edward I who consolidated power in England. While in France the rulers used the judicial machinery, in England they used the parliament. Tax collection remained common in both the states – in France it was through rudimentary tax system while in England it was through the parliament. In England, the local people or the commoners were involved to represent the local counties in the parliament while in France Church was given importance. Including commoners led to increased participation in the monarchical and the local government. England believed in consolidation of power in the hands of the king which was also the case in England. The king needed an efficient system to raise revenues for his constant warfare. The monarchical power dissolved in England in the hands of the restive nobility. The kings of France and England gained power and authority by reducing violence and private wars; both created a national army and raised revenue through taxes. Both the nations developed secular institutions for administering their territories more effectively and efficiently. The Crown was associated with the guarantee of civic rights and prosperity. This helped them to offer a higher standard of justice at low cost and granted rights and privileges to communities and individuals. Both the states managed to reverse the trend towards fragmentation and privatization. 3. In many ways the later medieval period can be described as destructive. In what ways were the political, social, and economic structures of the High Middle Ages altered in the later medieval period? The later medieval period was one of turmoil and conflict. England and France were the chief antagonists in this struggle which lasted from 1337 to 1453. While the war was fought on French soil the advantage lay with the English invaders. The English army was better-trained, more cohesive and equipped with more modern weapons than the undisciplined body of feudal knights that fought for France. France also suffered from an internal conflict. Burgundy became a center of wealth and culture. Cities noted for their trade and industry made the area one of the richest in Europe. It allied with English against France which might have crushed the French ability to resist had France not reconciled with Burgundy. England too was under a period of civil strife and France encashed on this situation to drive away the invaders. The two countries continued to make hostile gesture to each other. While England lost much of its territory, France was devastated but eventually managed to strengthen her governmental institutions. There was a breakdown of the existing society. Social protests and the class struggle assumed the character of revolutionary movements. Christian egalitarianism began to spread and challenge the discrepancies between the rich and the poor. England suffered many setbacks which included the Black Death, wars with France and Peasant Revolts. In France too, the hundred years’ war continued and brought great suffering to the countryside. This peasant unrest was called Jacques Bonhomme. Another significant development in France was the rising importance of Paris. Under the leadership of Etienne Marcel, the provost of the merchants in Paris, the interests and the needs of the bourgeoisie could be heard at the highest government level. Antagonism existed between the workers and merchants of the cities and the noble class. The textile manufacturers and workers tended to side with England while the counts of Flanders identified themselves with the kings of France. During the hundred years’ war such antagonism was heightened. In both the states at the same time, the administration had become ruthless and in France the state even controlled the papacy. The power of the nobility had already been taken away. Judicial proceedings were centralized in France and the various regions of France had become separate cultural, linguistic, political and economic units. In England however the nobles resisted the expansions of power. The French gained supremacy over England and this was largely due to significant innovations on the monarch’s part. The professional army could break the power of the French nobility and put the army under a professional general. This rendered the nobility both powerless and irrelevant. Depiction of dance and deaths were common in woodcuts, drawings and paintings. Life expectancy was shorter and infant mortality was high. Unsanitary living conditions, plague, insufficient food and war, all made the risks of life and the chances of death greater than ever before. Religion was powerful but it took extreme forms. Hysterical repentance and ascetic practices were common. Both countries emerged from the long-struggle with a stronger sense of patriotic pride. 4. In what ways did the Black Death revolutionize the social and economic structure of Europe? How was the peasant revolution related to these changes? The Black Death was one of the worst natural disasters in history which ravaged Europe. It caused widespread hysteria and death. One third of the population of Europe died and this left a great impact on the continent. The plague had large-scale social and economic effects in Europe. After the Black Death the size of the laboring population was greatly reduced and the wages went up. When the government attempted to hold down wages, discontent generated. Several leaders influenced the masses. The towns of Europe were nearly deserted in the aftermath of plague. The European population declined by about one-third. People abandoned their families and shut themselves off from the world. Some felt that the wrath of God was descending upon man while some felt that one should live for today, as the future was uncertain. Faith in religion decreased because of the death of so many clergy and failure of prayer to prevent sickness and death. The economic impact was that death of so many people concentrated wealth in the hands of a few. It was a situation of extreme inflation. The plague helped to consolidate wealth to some extent especially in the middle class. The drop in population meant a rise in the per capita wealth. At the same time the landlords and merchants became losers as they had to pay higher wages and received less for their goods. It was difficult to procure goods through trade and also dangerous to produce them. The prices of goods produced locally or procured from other places were very high. Due to scarcity of labor caused due to so many death’s the peasants enjoyed higher wages and felt the rise. Governments were forced to adjust to the social disruptions caused by the plague. The monarchy wanted to control the movement and price of foodstuffs. The English Statute of Laborers of 1351 tried to hold wages at pre-plague levels. Landlords tried to collect higher rents from the peasants as a way to increase their declining incomes. Unrest among the peasants was one of the major causes of the Revolt of 1381. Objections were raised against the high payments to the landowners and against legal limitations imposed on the rights of the peasants. Due to economic disparities, social distinction sharpened. The wages outpaced prices and the standard of living was raised. The peasants were empowered and revolted when aristocracy attempted to resist the changes brought about by the plague. The lords had to make changes in order to make the situation comfortable for the peasants and to hold them to the land. The Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 involved many of the London poor. Their movement was joined by many apprentices, workers and the unemployed. They sacked noble houses and murdered the archbishop. They were constantly protesting against the evil advisers of the king, so when the King Richard II met them they were satisfied with the royal promises and disbanded. Their promises remained unfulfilled and their grievances continued. The social and economic structure of Europe after the Black Death changed irrevocably. Bibliography: http://www.raptureready.com/resource/lynn/c4.html http://www.angelfire.com/extreme/guinashistory/outlines/germanickingdoms.html http://www.royalty.nu/history/empires/Carolingian.html http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/MA/FRENCH.HTM http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/MA/ENGLAND.HTM http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761568934_16/France.html http://vlib.iue.it/carrie/texts/carrie_books/gilbert/02.html http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761588279_2/Black_Death.html http://www.tea.state.tx.us/ssc/downloads/modules/whwg/blackdeath.pdf Read More