Charlemagne
King of the Franks; emperor Through a series of military conquests he established the Carolingian Empire, which encompassed all of Gaul and parts of Germany and Italy. Illiterate, though started an intellectual revival. Grandson of Charles Martel.
Middle Ages
The historical period from around 500 A.D. up to around 1450 A.D. between the fall of Rome and the birth of the Renaissance; The medieval period.
Clovis
king of the Franks who unified Gaul and established his capital at Paris and founded the Frankish monarchy.
Arian Christianity
Popular in much of the Roman Empire; Religion most of the Germanic peoples converted to.
The Carolingians
Charles Martel's dynasty after the death of Clovis.
Charles Martel
the Frankish commander for the battle of Tours. He defeated the Muslimsin the Battle of Tours, allowing Christianity to survive throughout the Dark Ages. He in a way started Feudalism by giving land to his knights that served for him.
The Franks
A group of Germanic tribes. They became allies of the Romans and became Christian. In the 8th century they established the Carolingian rule.
Louis the Pious
Charlemagne's only surviving son (814-840), succeeded his father and kept the Carolingian empire together.
Viking
a savage Scandinavian invader (Norseman) who believed in pagan gods and traveled the seas in sturdy boats to explore.
Feudalism
A political and social system that developed during the Middle Ages; nobles offered protection and land in return for service
Serf
(Middle Ages) a person who is bound to the land and owned by the feudal lord.
St. Scholastica
St. Benedicts sister, a nun, who influenced an adaptation of the "Rule" providing guidance for the religious life of women living in convents.
Benedictine Rule
rules drawn up in 530 by Benedict, a monk, regulation monastic life. The rule emphasizes obedience, poverty and chastity and divides the day into periods of worship, work and study
St. Benedict of Nursia
strengthened the early monastic movement by providing discipline and purpose. In 529 he prepared a set of regulations known as Benedict's Rule.
Monasticism
a way of life in which men and women withdraw from the rest of the world in order to devote themselves to their faith
