Monarchies of Europe, Middle Ages, 8th Century.

(Jody Gray) Continued from *Blog Post: Monarchies of Europe in the Middle Ages.
https://gray-piperfamily.blogspot.com/2017/04/monarchies-of-europe-in-middle-ages.html*

(Jody Gray): this Blog Post, focuses on the rise of the Carolingian Dynasty and our Piper Family Carolingian Ancestors in the areas of present-day France and Germany. Although Viking raids began in the 8th Century, the major historical events, e.g. when the Great Heathen Army invades England in 865, take place in the 9th century; so I cover the Viking Age in the next Blog Post (follow the link at the end of this document). After the fall of the Roman Empire, the various Germanic tribal cultures began their transformation into the larger nations of later history, English, Norse and German, and in the case of Burgundy, Lombardy and Normandy blending into a Romano-Germanic culture (our Piper Family ancestors took part in every migration and every historical event). Before you begin reading this Blog Post, I recommend reading the Blog Post: Germanic Tribes, Origin and Migration. http://historicalandmisc.blogspot.com/2017/05/germanic-tribes-origin-and-migration.html *

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Middle_Ages Timeline of the Middle Ages.

Early Middle Ages (8th century)

c 711, Umayyad conquest of Hispania under Tarik; will begin a period of Muslim rule within the Al-Andalus (with various portions of Iberian peninsula -Spain and Portugal) until nearly the end of the 15th century.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Andalus Al-Andalus, aka Muslim Spain or Islamic Iberia, was a medieval Muslim territory and cultural domain… became a major educational center for Europe and the lands around the Mediterranean Sea as well as a conduit for culture and science between the Islamic and Christian worlds.

c 726, Iconoclast movement begun in the Byzantine Empire under Leo III. This was opposed by Pope Gregory II, and an important difference between the Roman and Byzantine churches.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iconoclasm Iconoclasm is the social belief in the importance of the destruction of usually religious icons and other images or monuments, most frequently for religious and/or political reasons… People who engage in or support iconoclasm are called iconoclasts, a term that has come to be applied figuratively to any individual who challenges “cherished beliefs or venerated institutions on the grounds that they are erroneous or pernicious.” Conversely, one who reveres or venerates religious images is called an ironolater… Within Christianity, iconoclasm has generally been motivated by those who adopt a literal interpretation of the Ten Commandments, which forbid the making and worshiping of “graven images or any likeness of anything”.

c 732, Oct, Battle of Tours, Charles Martel halts Muslim advance; led to the forming of the Carolingian Empire for the Franks, and halted the advancement of the Moors in southwestern Europe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tours Battle of Tours. 9th century chroniclers, who interpreted the outcome of the battle as divine judgment in his favor, gave Charles the nickname Martellus (“The Hammer”). Later Christian chroniclers and pre-20th century historians praised Charles Martel as the champion of Christianity, characterizing the battle as the decisive turning point in the struggle against Islam, a struggle which preserved Christianity as the religion of Europe; according to modern military historian Victor Davis Hanson, “most of the 18th and 19th century historians, like Gibbon, saw Poitiers (Tours), as a landmark battle that marked the high tide of the Muslim advance into Europe.” Leopold von Ranke felt that “Poitiers was the turning point of one of the most important epochs in the history of the world.”

  …”the establishment of Frankish power in western Europe shaped that continent’s destiny and the Battle of Tours confirmed that power.”

(Jody Gray): 39th GGF Charles ‘the Hammer’ Martel, King of the Franks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Martel Apart from the military endeavors, Charles is considered to be a founding figure of the European Middle Ages. Skilled as an administrator as well as a warrior, he is credited with a seminal role in the emerging responsibilities of the knights of courts, and so in the development of the Frankish system of feudalism. Moreover, Charles -a great patron of Saint Boniface -made the first attempt at reconciliation between the Franks and the Papacy. Pope Gregory III, who realm was being menaced by the Lombards, wished Charles to become the defender of the Holy See and offered him the Roman consulship, though Charles declined. He divided Francia between his sons Carloman and Pepin. The latter became the first of the Carolingians. Charles’ grandson Charlemagne, extended the Frankish realms to include much of the West, and became the first Emperor of the West since the fall of Rome.

c 751, Pepin the Short founds the Carolingian Dynasty. This was the year of his coronation by Boniface, Archbishop of Mainz. (the Pope) forced Childeric III (the last of the Merovingian Dynasty) into a monastery and Pepin had himself proclaimed King of the Franks with the support of Pope Zachary.

c 754, Pepin promises the Pope central Italy; arguably the beginning of the temporal power of the Papacy.

(Jody Gray): 38th GGF Pepin the Short, King of the Franks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepin_the_Short c 714-9/24/768 was King of the Franks from 751 until his death. He reigned over Francia jointly with his elder brother Carloman. The brothers were active in suppressing revolts led by the Bavarians, Aquitanians, Saxons, and the Alemanni… After Carloman retired to religious life in 747, Pepin became the sole ruler of the Franks… After his death, the Frankish realm was divided according to the Salic law between his two sons: Charlemagne and Carloman.

(Jody Gray): 37th GGF Charlemagne, Holy Roman Emperor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagne (742/747/748-1/28/814) He united much of Europe during the early Middle Ages -was the first recognized emperor in western Europe since the fall of the Western Roman Empire three centuries earlier -the expanded Frankish state that Charlemagne founded was called the Carolingian Empire. Following his father’s death in 768, he became King of the Franks, initially as co-ruler with his brother Carloman I. When Carloman died in 771 Charlemagne became the undisputed ruler of the Frankish Kingdom. He continued his father’s policy towards the papacy and became its protector, removing the Lombards from power in northern Italy and leading an incursion into Muslim Spain. He campaigned against the Saxons to his east, Christianising them upon penalty of death and leading to events such as the Massacre of Verden (Oct. 782) -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_of_Verden.

8/15/778, Battle of Roncevaux Pass. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Roncevaux_Pass in 778 a large force of Basques ambushed Charlemagne’s army in Roncevaux Pass, in the Pyrenees on the present border between France and Spain, after his invasion of the Iberian Peninsula. The rearguard of Frankish lords was cut off and wiped out -Roncevaux was Charlemagne’s only military defeat. The battle elevated the relatively obscure Roland and the paladins into legend, becoming the quintessential role model for knights and also greatly influencing the code of chivalry in the Middle Ages. -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland Roland. -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Song_of_Roland The Song of Roland.

In 800, Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day at Old St. Peter’s Basilica.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Roman_Emperor Holy Roman Emperor -was the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire -from an autocracy in Carolingian times the title evolved into an elected monarchy chosen by the Prince-electors. Until the Reformation the Emperor elect was required to be crowned by the Pope before assuming the imperial title. The title was held in conjunction with the rule of the Kingdom of Germany and the Kingdom of Italy. In theory, the Holy Roman Emperor was primus inter pares (first among equals) among the other Catholic monarchs; in practice, a Holy Roman Emperor was only as strong as his army and alliances made him… Charlemagne’s successors maintained the title until the death of Berengar I of Italy in 924. No pope appointed an emperor again until the coronation of Otto the Great in 962… The word Roman was a reflection of the principle of translatio imperii that regarded the (Germanic) Holy Roman Emperors as the inheritors of the title of Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, despite the continued existence of the Eastern Roman Empire.

Related Blog Posts for the Carolingian Dynasty:

Blog Post: Carolingian Dynasty 714-1124. Carolingian Dynasty -Francia (France)

http://historicalandmisc.blogspot.com/2017/01/carolingian-dynasty-714-1124.html *

Blog Post: Kingdom of the Lombards, Italian Peninsula, 774.

http://historicalandmisc.blogspot.com/2017/01/kingdom-of-lombards-italian-peninsula.html *

Blog Post: House of Vermandois.

http://historicalandmisc.blogspot.com/2016/12/house-of-vermandois.html *

c 793, Sack of Lindisfarne. Viking attacks on Britain begin; generally considered the beginning of the Viking Age that would span over two centuries, and reach as far south as Hispania and as far east as the Byzantine Empire, and present day Russia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindisfarne#Vikings In 793, Viking raid on Lindisfarne. The D and E versions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle record: In this year fierce, foreboding omens came over the land of the Northumbrians, and the wretched people shook; there were excessive whirlwinds, lightning, and fiery dragons were seen flying in the sky. These signs were followed by great famine, and a little after those, that same year on 6th ides of January, the ravaging of wretched heathen people destroyed God’s church at Lindisfarne. (Note: The generally accepted date is in fact June 8 -when better sailing weather would favor coastal raids).

  Alcuin, a Northumbrian scholar in Charlemagne’s court at the time wrote: Never before has such terror appeared in Britain as we now suffered from a pagan race… The heathens poured out the blood of saints around the altar, and trampled on the bodies of saints in the temple of God, like dung in the streets.

 ...The amazement of the English at the raids from the sea must have been matched by the amazement of the raiders at such (to them) vulnerable, wealthy and unarmed settlements.

  The main body of the raiders passed north around Scotland. The 9th century invasions came not from Norway, but from the Danes from around the entrance to the Baltic. The first Danish raids into England were in the Isle of Sheppey, Kent during 835…

  By 866 the Danes were in York and in 873 the army was moving into Northumberland. With the collapse of the Northumbrian kingdoms the monks of Lindisfarne fled the island in 875…
(refer to the Blog Post: Monarchies of Europe, Middle Ages, 9th Century “Timeline” -link at the end of this Blog Post -covers the Viking Age beginning with the 845, Siege of Paris).

7/29/795, Death of Offa, marks the end of Mercian dominance in England.

*Blog Post: Monarchies of Europe, Middle Ages, 9th Century.
https://gray-piperfamily.blogspot.com/2017/05/monarchies-of-europe-middle-ages-9th.html*

xxx