Francia

The thousand years of history which elapsed between 450 and 1450 were practically taken up by successive waves of invasion from the center of Asia which almost entirely broke up the older divisions of the world.

in the fifth century three wandering tribes invaded the empire from the banks of the vistula the dnieper and the volga respectively the huns came from the volga in the extreme east and under attila the hammer of god wrought consternation in the empire the visigoths from the dnieper and attacked the eastern empire while the vandals from the vistula took a triumphant course through gaul and spain and founded for a time a vandal empire in north africa one of the consequences of this movement was to drive several of the german tribes into france italy and spain and even over into britain for it is from this stage in the world's history that we can trace the beginning of england properly so called just as the invasion of gaul by the franks at this time meant the beginning of french history By the 8th century, the Kingdom of the Franks extended all over France and included most of central Germany, while on Christmas Day 800, Charles the Great was crowned at Rome by the Pope Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, which professed to revive the glories of the old empire, but made a division between the temporal power held by the Emperor and the spiritual power held by the Pope.

one of the divisions of the frankish empire deserves attention because upon its fate rested the destinies of most of the nations of western europe the kingdom of burgundy the buffer state between france and germany has now entirely disappeared except as the name of a wine but having no natural boundaries, it was disputed between France and Germany for a long period, and it may be fairly said that the Franco-Prussian War was the last stage in its history up to the present.

A similar state existed in the east of Europe, to wit, the Kingdom of Poland, which was equally indefinite in shape and has equally formed a subject of dispute between the nations of Eastern Europe.

Their courage secured their territory against foreign invasion.

They established internal order such as had long been unknown in the Frank Empire.

They embraced Christianity and with Christianity they learned a great part of what the clergy had to teach.

They abandoned their native speech and adopted the French tongue in which the Latin was the predominant element.

And the history of the region can be traced back several centuries.

But after all, neither the Celtic civitates, nor the Roman province of Lugdunensis Secunda, nor the ecclesiastical province of Rouen, which took its place, nor the northwestern pagi of the Frankish Empire, were Normandy.

They lacked the name, that is obvious.

They lacked also individuality of character, which is more.

Quite early also, custom had defined other characteristic features of the feudal service in Normandy, such as the period of 40 days, the limitation of the obligation to the frontiers of the duchy, and the incidents of wardship and marriage, deductions from feudal principles which were here carried to their logical conclusions.

The symbol of the authority of the military class, the outward and visible sign of feudalism, was the castle, where the lord resided and from which he exercised his authority over his fief.

Originating in the period of anarchy which accompanied the dissolution of the Frankish Empire and the invasions of the 9th and 10th centuries, the castle spread over northern France as feudalism spread and was introduced into England by the Normans when they here established their feudal state.

The earliest castles of Normandy and of England were not, however, the massive stone dungeons which freemen peopled with devils and evil men.

Right.

So at this point in the Frankish Kingdom, they've been Christians for a century, century and a half-ish, and the mores of Christendom have...

It's a slow process of how it affects Frankish society.

And going back to the Battle of Tours, you make a point here.

Such was the Europe of the early 10th century.

But the darkest hour comes just before the dawn and already there were signs that a new and better social order was about to replace the lawless confusion that had accompanied the breaking up of the Frankish Empire of Charles the Great.

End of Section 1 Section 2 of the Central Period of the Middle Age, 918-1273, by Beatrice A. Lees This LibriVox recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Nagami Chapter 1 The Saxon Emperors, 918-1002 Part 1 When in 911 the young king of Germany, Louis the Child, died, the German nobles chose one of themselves, Conrad of Franconia, to rule over them.

Seven years later, in the winter of 918, as Conrad lay on his deathbed, he owned that the task he had undertaken had been beyond his strength.

And to the east of Gaul were tribes who still remained on German soil, the Thuringians, some tribes of the Saxons, and all the Alamanian.

It was mainly due to one man that the Frankish power was not overcome, but instead was able to overcome all its enemies.

This man was Clovis, the king of one of the little bands of the Franks.

Five years after the fall of Rome, he had succeeded his father as king of his tribe.

Again and again Clovis led his Franks against this people.

At one time Theodoric, the king of the East Goths, came to their aid and defeated Clovis with terrible slaughter.

But in the end the Franks were victorious, and most of southern Gaul was added to the Frankish territory.

Thus Clovis won for the Franks a kingdom which reached from the river Rhine on the north and east almost to the Pyrenees Mountains on the south.

Gerberga and her sons disappeared from the surviving record after their capture.

Charles' authority now extended across much of Western Europe, but his attention was already fixed upon a far more persistent enemy on Francia's northeastern frontier.

In 772, even before the Lombard crisis had been resolved, he had launched the first of his campaigns against the Saxons.

The Saxons occupied a wide area between the Rhine and Elbe rivers.

The thousand years of history which elapsed between 450 and 1450 were practically taken up by successive waves of invasion from the center of Asia which almost entirely broke up the older divisions of the world.

in the fifth century three wandering tribes invaded the empire from the banks of the vistula the dnieper and the volga respectively the huns came from the volga in the extreme east and under attila the hammer of god wrought consternation in the empire the visigoths from the dnieper and attacked the eastern empire while the vandals from the vistula took a triumphant course through gaul and spain and founded for a time a vandal empire in north africa one of the consequences of this movement was to drive several of the german tribes into france italy and spain and even over into britain for it is from this stage in the world's history that we can trace the beginning of england properly so called just as the invasion of gaul by the franks at this time meant the beginning of french history By the 8th century, the Kingdom of the Franks extended all over France and included most of central Germany, while on Christmas Day 800, Charles the Great was crowned at Rome by the Pope Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, which professed to revive the glories of the old empire, but made a division between the temporal power held by the Emperor and the spiritual power held by the Pope.

one of the divisions of the frankish empire deserves attention because upon its fate rested the destinies of most of the nations of western europe the kingdom of burgundy the buffer state between france and germany has now entirely disappeared except as the name of a wine but having no natural boundaries, it was disputed between France and Germany for a long period, and it may be fairly said that the Franco-Prussian War was the last stage in its history up to the present.

A similar state existed in the east of Europe, to wit, the Kingdom of Poland, which was equally indefinite in shape and has equally formed a subject of dispute between the nations of Eastern Europe.