LO1 The Carolingians

Here are some of my notes from the LO reading.

• By A.D 700, the kingdom of the Franks, once the most powerful state in western Europe, was seemingly falling apart. 
• Nobles were scrambling for wealth and power. 
• Carolingians- The Frankish dynasty founded by Charles Martel in the eighth century, as successors to the Merovingian. 
• They rebuilt the Frankish kingdom, and although their power melted away in its turn, their achievements outlast them.
• Charles was a ruthless and warlike ruler who went down in history as Charles Martel. 
• Rewarding followers meant giving them the gift of land. 
• give land to the foot soldiers who served in peace and war.
• Charles Martel's son, Pepin, decided that the time had come for the actual power in the kingdom to be recognized as legal power. 
• In search of a way to take over the kingship that would be seen as legitimate, in 751 Pepin turned to the generally accepted highest religious authority, Pope Zachary. 
• The popes acquired a legal basis for authority over a much wider region than before, and they ruled their new territory over a thousand years-until the unification in Italy in 1870.
• Charles, Pepin's son and Charles Martel's grandson, was a towering figure, celebrated in history and legend under the name of Charlemagne- the French version of "Charles the Great."
• He reigned over the empire for 46 years and contributed mightily to the evolution of western Europe. 
• Charlemagne was almost constantly at war. 
• He expanded boundaries of both Christianity and Frankish power outward in all directions by military force. 
• He made the capital Aachen.