Chapter Summary

After the disruptions of the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries, western Europeans struggled to restore order to their societies. A new social order emerged, in which all members of society were tied to one another through mutual obligations. The basis for the new culture that accompanied this social system was a mixture of Germanic, Christian, and Roman traditions. Early Germanic kings struggled to bring stability to their lands with the use of written law codes. Kings also encouraged intellectual activities which flourished with their patronage and participation. In Anglo-Saxon England, the blending of customary law with the other traditions planted the seeds of a constitutional government. On the continent, under Frankish rulers, this blending of traditions met with the most success. Cooperation between church and state gave Charlemagne's dynasty great legitimacy. The peace and prosperity of these newly consolidated and centralized kingdoms was short-lived, however, as invasions of new peoples in the tenth century undermined the achievements of the preceding centuries.

Chapter Outline

1. Bringing Order with Laws and Leadership
   As Germanic law codes were codified, preserving details of the early German kingdoms for historians, principles of Roman law were also incorporated.
   1. The Rule of Law
      1. Legal codes
      2. Wergeld
2. Anglo-Saxon England: Forwarding Learning and Law
   The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms struggled to integrate Christianity and Roman learning into their own customs and traditions of law and learning.
   1. The Venerable Bede: Recording Science and History
      1. Bede's History
   2. Governing the Kingdom
      1. Witan
      2. Royal offices
   3. Alfred the Great: King and Scholar
      1. Danelaw
      2. Alfred's translations
3. Charlemagne and the Carolingians: A New European Empire
   Charlemagne, who represented the melding of classical, Germanic, and Christian traditions, linked religion and politics to consolidate his rule over an empire.
   1. Charlemagne's Kingdom
      1. Administering the realm
   2. Linking Politics and Religion
      1. Charlemagne's coronation
   3. Negotiating with Byzantium and Islam
   4. An Intellectual Rebirth
      1. Establishing schools
      2. Correcting texts
4. Struggle for Order in the Church
   The church was dominated by monarchs in the 8^th and 9^th centuries, but during this period, planted the seeds for the future, which included the founding of the Cluniac order.
   1. Monasteries Contribute to an Ordered World
      1. Cluniac reform
5. Order Interrupted: Vikings and Other Invaders
   With the division of Charlemagne's empire among his descendants, the empire was left vulnerable to the invasions of Vikings, Magyars, and Muslims, whose conquests in Carolingian territory negatively impacted the church, centralized authority, and stimulated learning.
   1. Competing for the Realm: Charlemagne's Descendants
      1. Treaty of Verdun
      2. New invaders
   2. "The Wrath of the Northmen": Scandinavian Life and Values
      1. Viking ships
   3. Viking Travels and Conquests
      1. Western explorations
      2. European settlements
   4. An Age of Invasions: Assessing the Legacy
      1. Vikings convert
6. Manors and Feudal Ties: Order Emerging from Chaos
   A new social order, founded upon Carolingian ideals, linked all people from the peasantry to the king in a contractual system of mutual obligation.
   1. Peasants and Lords: Mutual Obligations on the Medieval Manor
      1. Manor layout
      2. Serfs' obligations
   2. Life in the Manorial Village
      1. Village life
   3. Noble Warriors: Feudal Obligations Among the Elite
      1. Lords and vassals
      2. Feudal complexities
   4. Merriment, Marriage, and Medicine: A Noble's Life
      1. Marriage ties
      2. Medicine

The Chapter in Perspective

      The Germanic tribes who had contributed to the disintegration of the Roman empire established kingdoms and converted to Christianity in the eighth century. The kings of these new kingdoms synthesized Germanic, Roman, and Catholic traditions, which helped them create societies ruled by law. Charlemagne's coronation in 800 constituted the high point of this process. His empire, however, soon fell prey to decentralizing tendencies. The most dangerous threat came from the invading Scandinavians, Muslims, and Magyars. In time, the Northmen settled in their newly conquered territories and converted to Christianity. In this period of decentralization, new forms of organization emerged. The manorial system organized agricultural production, while the feudal system united people politically through law and loyalty. These social innovations provided the basis upon which kings and popes would restore order and centralized authority in the eleventh century.

1. As England and France develop their own governmental forms, they will create different kinds of parliaments. Given the differences between the administrative structures of Alfred and Charlemagne, can you imagine which is more likely to depend on a centralized bureaucracy and which would more likely build on representative institutions?*
2. What, or who, will be the major challenges facing popes and secular rulers as they attempt to consolidate their central authority in the High Middle Ages?