What are you going to be for Halloween ?

  • Charlemagne was the greatest Medieval king he created an organized empire – The Holy Roman Empire (First Reich)

  • He spread Christianity

  • He created schools to train future priests 

  • He valued learning & built schools in his empire 

  • He expanded the Frankish Empire

  • After Charlemagne’s death in 814, his Frankish Empire was divided & lost power… 

  • He was the last opportunity to provide unity in medieval Europe

  • From 800 to 1000, a 2nd major wave of invasions struck Europe led by Vikings, Muslims & Magyars

  • These invasions caused widespread fear & suffering

  • Kings could not defend against invasion

After Charlemagne’s death in 814, his Frankish Empire was divided and lost power, marking the end of ____________ in medieval Europe.

What was one of Charlemagne's significant achievements as a medieval king?

A) Establishing the Silk Road

B) Building the Great Wall of China

C) Creating the Holy Roman Empire (First Reich)

D) Discovering America

  • Feudalism began in Europe as a way to offer protection

  • Feudalism is based on land & loyalty

  • Land-owning lords offer land (called a fief) to knights in exchange for their loyalty & promise to protect the lord’s land

  • Feudalism came to England with the Norman Invasion in 1066

  • Kings had land but very little power

  • Lords (also called Nobles) were the upper-class landowners; they had inherited titles (“Duke,” “Earl,” “Sir”)

  • Knights were specially trained soldiers who protected the lords & peasants – vassals took an oath of fealty (loyalty)

  • Some peasants were serfs & could not leave the lord’s estate

During the Middle Ages, the manorial system was the way in which people survived:

  • The lord’s land was called a manor

  • The lord provided peasants with housing, farmland, & protection

  • In exchange, peasants repaid the lord by working his land & providing a portion of the food they produced

  • Manors were self-sufficient communities; Everything that was needed was produced on the manor

Peasant life was hard: They paid taxes to use the lord’s mill, had to get permission to get married, & life expectancy was about 35 years old  

Closure Activity

Feudalism in Europe began primarily as a system to provide:

A) Economic stability

B) Social mobility

C) Protection

D) Religious instruction

What did land-owning lords offer to knights in exchange for their loyalty and protection?

A) Money

B) Food and clothing

C) A fief (land)

D) Religious instruction