The Medieval World

The Crusades

1096 BCE

In the period from 1096 to 1291, eight Catholic Crusaders were launched to drive the Muslim "infidels" from the Holy Land (Ignitia.com Editors). Unfortunately, the Crusades were military failures (Ignitia.com Editors). On the other hand, they did stimulate the growth of trade in Europe (Ignitia.com Editors). The Crusades were very costly and many nobles were forced to sell their lands (Ignitia.com Editors).

The Vikings

1000 BCE

The Germanic invaders, the Vikings had the greatest impact (Ignitia.com Editors). The Vikings are from areas now called Norway Swenden, and Denmark (Ignitia.com Editors). The Vikings were skilled seamen who attacked silently and quickly, and they killed men and children (Ignitia.com Editors). After the attack amost nothing could be done (Ignitia.com Editors).

France

987 BCE

Hugh Capet the Count of Paris, was elected king by the French nobles in 987 (Ignitia.com Editors). Capet formed alliances with other nobles and began extending his territory through warfare (Ignitia.com Editors). The early Capetian kings ruled as lord among other lords (Ignitia.com Editors). The anointing of each king by the church set them apart from the others (Ignitia.com Editors).

The Byzantine Empire

976 BCE

From the ninth to the eleventh centuries the Byzantine Empire began to revive (Ignitia.com Editors). The reason for this recovery was a dynasty of strong kings who were known as Macedonian kings who ruled nearly two hundred years (Ignitia.com Editors). The greatest king from this dynasty was Basil II who reigned from 976 to 1025 (Ignitia.com Editors). Basil II became known as the "Bulgarin Slayer" because he devastated the Bulgarian army in 1014 (Ignitia.com Editors).

Alfred's government

871 BCE

Alfred's government, just like many of the early Germanic governments, was based on the ancient Germanic structure (Ignitia.com Editors). Alfred has his own Witan, the Witan consisted of nobles, or earls, and thegns; plus he also had a strong alliance with the church (Ignitia.com Editors). The legal system was also Germanic (Ignitia.com Editors). There was something called the wergild or cash value placed on each man according to rank, this helped of settling criminal matters.

Decline of the Empire

814 BCE

Before his death, Charlemagne had his son, Louis the Pious, crowned as the new emperor (Ignitia.com Editors). As soon as Charlemagne died the empire began to collapse (Ignitia.com Editors). Louis the Pious was a very weak leader and couldn't hold the big territory (Ignitia.com Editors). He divided the empire among his three sons who then began to fight over their allotted lands (Ignitia.com Editors). The younger brothers formalized their union by the Strasbourg Oaths (Ignitia.com Editors).

Rise of Charlemagne

742 BCE

After the death of Clovis in 511, the Frankish kingdom had been divided among his four sons (Ignitia.com Editors). Charlemagne also called Charles I and his by-name is Charles the Great (Sullivan, Richard E.) Around the time of the birth of Charles, his father Pippin III was the mayor of the palace at that time (Sullivan, Richard E.). The Frankish kings did very little at that time so they were called the Do-Nothing-Kings (Ignitia.com Editors).

Reign of Charlemagne

738 BCE

Charlemagne's government was well organized and stable because of a good planned check system (Ignitia.com Editors). The count ruled over a county together with the bishop of the counties (Ignitia.com Editors). He also appointed dukes to rule over a group of counties (Ignitia.com Editors). Then, Charlemagne appointed agents known as missidominici "Messengers of God," who went out in pairs to visit the counties each year (Ignitia.com Editors).

The Germanic Tribes

382 BCE

Theodosius I made peace with the Visigoths (Ignitia.com Editors). They had kept this peace after Theodosius I died (Ignitia.com Editors). They proclaimed Alaric as their king (ignitia.com Editors). The Visigoths then went on to conquer southern Gaul (Ignitia.com Editors).

The Church Fathers

340 BCE

Jerome has been mentioned as the monk who translated the Bible into Latin at the Pope's request (Ignitia.com Editors). Augustine of Hippo is probably the most famous church father (Ignitia.com Editors). Grefory thr Great was an important Roman offical when he decided to become a monk in 574 (Ignitia.com Editors).