Middle Ages Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Carolingian Europe=== {{main|Carolingian Empire}} [[File:Aachen_Germany_Imperial-Cathedral-12a.jpg|thumb|right|alt=The interior of a tall church with two levels of columns covered by arches|Interior of the [[Palatine Chapel, Aachen|Palatine Chapel]] at [[Palace of Aachen|Charlemagne's palace]] in [[Aachen]], Germany]] The Merovingian kings customarily distributed Francia among their sons and destroyed their own power base by extensive land grants. In the northeastern Frankish kingdom [[Austrasia]], the [[Arnulfings]] were the most prominent beneficiaries of royal favour. As hereditary [[Mayor of the Palace|Mayors of the Palace]], they were the power behind the throne from the {{nowrap|mid-7th century}}. One of them, [[Pepin of Herstal]] (d. 714), also assumed power in the central Frankish realm [[Neustria]]. His son [[Charles Martel]] (d. 741) took advantage of the permanent Muslim threat to confiscate church property and raise new troops by parcelling it out among the recruits.{{sfn|Backman|2022|pp=150β154}} The [[Carolingian dynasty|Carolingians]], as Charles Martel's descendants are known, succeeded the Merovingians as the new royal dynasty of Francia in 751. This year the last Merovingian king [[Childeric III]] (r. 743β51) was deposed, and Charles Martel's son [[Pepin the Short]] (r. 751β68) was crowned king with the consent of the Frankish leaders and the papacy. Pepin attacked the Lombards and enforced their promise to respect the [[Patrimony of Saint Peter|possessions of the papacy]]. His subsequent [[Donation of Pepin|donation of Central Italian territories]] to the [[Holy See]] marked the beginnings of the [[Papal States]].{{sfn|Collins|2010|pp=276β279}}{{sfn|Brown|2001|pp=97β99}} Pepin left his kingdom in the hands of his two sons, Charles, more often known as [[Charlemagne]] (r. 768β814), and [[Carloman I|Carloman]] (r. 768β71). When Carloman died of natural causes, Charlemagne reunited Francia and embarked upon a programme of systematic expansion. He [[Saxon Wars|subjugated]] the Saxons, conquered the Lombards, and created a [[Marca Hispanica|new border province]] in northern Spain.{{sfn|Collins|2010|pp=280β288}} Frankish troops also [[Avar Wars|destroyed]] the Avars which facilitated the development of small Slav principalities, mainly ruled by ambitious warlords under Frankish suzerainty.{{refn|group=note|Among the Slav rulers, [[Ljudevit (Lower Pannonia)|Liudewit]] (d. 823) held lands along the [[Sava]] river, and [[Pribina]] (d. 861) in the [[March of Pannonia]].{{sfn|Curta|2019|pp=105β110}}}}{{sfn|Curta|2019|pp=103β110}} The coronation of Charlemagne as emperor on Christmas Day 800 marked a return of the Western Roman Empire although the Byzantines did not recognise him as a second "emperor of the Romans".{{sfn|Backman|2022|pp=159β162}} The empire was administered by an itinerant court that travelled with the emperor, as well as approximately 300 imperial officials called [[count]]s, who administered the [[county|counties]] the empire had been divided into.{{sfn|Davies|1996|p=302}} The central administration supervised the counts through imperial emissaries called ''[[Missus dominicus|missi dominici]]''. They served as roving inspectors and troubleshooters. The clerics of the [[royal chapel]] were responsible for recording important royal grants and decisions.{{sfn|Backman|2022|pp=162β165}} Charlemagne's court was the centre of the cultural revival sometimes referred to as the [[Carolingian Renaissance]]. Literacy increased, as did development in the arts, architecture and jurisprudence, as well as liturgical and scriptural studies under the auspices of the Anglo-Saxon scholar [[Alcuin]] (d. 804). He developed a new [[Writing system|script]], today known as [[Carolingian minuscule]], which facilitated reading by the clear separation of words, and the use of extensive punctuation. Charlemagne sponsored changes in [[Christian liturgy|church liturgy]], imposing the Roman form of church service on his domains, as well as the [[Gregorian chant]] in liturgical music for the churches. An important activity for scholars during this period was the copying, correcting, and dissemination of basic works on religious and secular topics, with the aim of encouraging learning. New works on various topics and schoolbooks were also produced.{{refn|group=note|The {{lang|la|[[Vita Karoli Magni]]}} ('Life of Charlemagne') by [[Einhard]] (d. 840) is a prominent example of original historical works.{{sfn|Colish|2002|p=69}}}}{{sfn|Colish|2002|pp=66β70}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page