Medieval Europe Geography

The Middle Ages

Lesson 1: The Early Middle Ages

Geography of Europe

Europe’s geography played an important role in shaping how Europeans lived. Europe is a continent. It is also a very large peninsula. A peninsula is land surrounded on three sides by water. As a result, most of Europe is within 300 miles (483 km) of an ocean or a sea. Europe also has many rivers, such as the Rhine, Danube, Seine, and Po. Access to rivers and seas often made it easy to travel and trade in other parts of the world. This helped Europe’s economy grow.

Large bodies of water, such as the English Channel, also separated Europe into distinct regions. Mountains played a similar role. Regions cut off from each other developed independent kingdoms and cultures.

Multiple Choice

Land surrounded on three sides by water.....

• Island

• Peninsula

• Fjord

• Jetty

Open Ended

Why were rivers important to the peoples of Europe?

Kingdoms in Western Europe

After Rome fell, Western Europe broke into many kingdoms. The Angles and Saxons invaded Britain from Denmark and Germany. They became known as the Anglo-Saxons, or the English.

The strongest Germanic people were called the Franks. They settled in what is now France and western Germany. In 496 King Clovis of the Franks accepted Catholic Christianity. Nearly all of the Franks became Catholic too.

After Clovis died, power passed from kings to government officials. A leader named Charles Martel defeated invading Muslims at the Battle of Tours in 732. This stopped the spread of Islam in Western Europe. Christianity remained the main religion in the region.

Kingdoms in Western Europe Cont...

After Charles Martel died, his son Pepin eventually became the new king of the Franks. Pepin forced a Germanic group called the Lombards to leave Rome. He then gave the pope the land he had taken from the Lombards.

After Pepin died, his son Charles became king. Charles won many battles against neighboring kingdoms. By 800, Charles’s kingdom was an empire covering much of western and central Europe. He was called Charlemagne, which means “Charles the Great.”

The pope made Charlemagne the new Roman emperor. Charlemagne used local officials to help him govern. He started a school for the children of gov't officials. They studied religion, Latin, lit, and math.

Charlemagne

Kingdoms in Western Europe Cont....

When Charlemagne died, his empire broke into separate kingdoms. Muslims, Magyars, and Vikings attacked these kingdoms in the 800s and 900s.

The Vikings came from Scandinavia in northern Europe. Scandinavia's coast has many fjords. Fjords are strips of water between steep slopes, where the water cuts into the land. Vikings depended on the sea for food and trade.

In 911 a group of nobles tried to unite small territories in Germany by electing a king. Otto I was one of the strongest kings of Germany. He defeated the Magyars and freed the pope from the control of Roman nobles. To reward Otto, the pope named him Roman emperor in 962.

helemts worn by Vikings

Traditional Viking Ship

Multiple Select

Select the names of the Germanic groups that invaded and settled in Britain

during the Middle Ages.

• Lombards

• Anglo-Saxons

• Vikings

• Franks

• Huns

Open Ended

Name one of Charlemagne's accomplishments.

Open Ended

What impact did the Battle of Tours have on European history?

The Church and Its Influence

The Roman Catholic Church became very important during the

Middle Ages. Monks became missionaries and spread

Christianity over the next several hundred years. By 1050 most

people in Western Europe had become Catholic.

Monks and monasteries were important. They provided

schools and hospitals. Monks taught carpentry and weaving.

They invented better ways to farm. They also helped save

knowledge. Monks copied ancient works of Romans and Greeks

and Christian writings such as the Christian Bible.

Monks druing the middle ages

Monestary

The Church and Its Influence Cont...

Disagreements grew between popes and kings over who had

greater authority. In 1073 Pope Gregory VII and Holy Roman

Emperor Henry IV fought over this issue.

Henry wanted to keep his power to name high-ranking Church

officials called bishops. Gregory declared that only the pope

could choose bishops. He cast Henry out of the Catholic Church.

German nobles chose a new king, but Henry took over Rome and

replaced the pope. Still, the dispute was not settled.

The Church and Its Influence Cont...

In 1122 a new pope and king agreed that only the pope could

choose bishops. However, they decided that only the emperor

could give government jobs to bishops. This deal was called the

Concordat of Worms. A concordat is an agreement between the

pope and the ruler of a country.

When Innocent III became pope in 1198, he wanted to make

sure that only the Church could appoint bishops. He was able to

control kings. If a king did not obey, he would be punished.

Multiple Choice

a person who is sent by a religious organization to teach the religion

• monk

• missionary

• preist

• bishop

Open Ended

How were the Catholic Church and Roman emperors

connected to each other?

Multiple Choice

What major issue did kings and popes disagree on?

• where monasteries should be built

• what territories would be conquered

• who had the greatest authority

Open Ended

List one way monasteries were important in early medieval Europe.