Week 11 Overview and Assignment

 

Welcome to History 1: 

From Centralization to Fragmentation

(Chapter 9)

750 ce to 1050 c.e.

Alcuin, Deacon and Abbot of Tours: The Carolingian Renaissance

It's good to have you here. 

Chapter 9 Objectives

After reading and studying this chapter, students should be able to:

1. Discuss the rise of the Macedonian dynasty in the Byzantine Empire and the beginnings of the Kievan Rus state.
2. Explain the fall of the Umayyad dynasty and the rise of the Abbasid caliphate.
3. Discuss the rise and fall of the Carolingian Empire.
4. Identify the accomplishments of the Carolingian renaissance.
5. Analyze the return to local rule after Charlemagne.

Self-test yourself by answering these questions. They are not to be handed in however.

Please read your textbook this week so that you are able to answer these key questions. If you can't answer them after "finishing" the chapter, you have a critical piece of information about your reading comprehension level. Re-read often or read more slowly, actively. (To learn how to improve your reading comprehension, please go to our First Week Module and click on the section "How to Read a History Textbook Chapter." Then apply what you've learned.) 

From Centralization to Fragmentation - 750 - 1050 c.e.

After the disruptions of the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries, western Europeans struggled to restore order to their societies. A new social order emerged, in which all members of society were tied to one another through mutual obligations.

The basis for the new culture that accompanied this social system was a mixture of Germanic, Christian, and Roman traditions. Early Germanic kings struggled to bring stability to their lands with the use of written law codes. Kings also encouraged intellectual activities, which flourished with their patronage and participation.

In Anglo-Saxon England, the blending of customary law with the other traditions planted the seeds of a constitutional government.

On the continent, under Frankish rulers, this blending of traditions met with the most success. Cooperation between church and state gave Charlemagne's dynasty great legitimacy. The peace and prosperity of these newly consolidated and centralized kingdoms was short-lived, however, as invasions of new peoples in the tenth century undermined the achievements of the preceding centuries.

Aachen, Charlemagne's Imperial Capital

Aachen today

 

Some Common Misconceptions About the History We'll Be Exploring

 

1. Primogeniture

So how did Humpty Dumpty have a great fall? Persons are often confused by the division of Charlemagne’s empire among his three grandsons -- the Great Fall mentioned earlier. This was in accord with both Roman and Germanic inheritance laws in which all sons have a right to an inheritance from their father’s property. The practice of primogeniture in which the oldest son inherits all was not common in France until around 1000, and was not universally practiced in western Europe until the modern era.

2. Vikings

Technically, there is no such thing as a Viking. It is common for historians now to use the term, but Vikings did not call themselves Vikings. Viking is the act of carrying out a raid for loot or cattle, not a person. Many different peoples, such as Danes, Norse, and Jutes, have been referred to as Vikings. So-called “Vikings” were also not necessarily the barbarians that are depicted in films. Archaeologists have found evidence of a technologically advanced culture that traded with the Arabs and, through them, the Asian empires.

Read

For this Week, carefully read in our textbook all of Chapter 9 in our textbook -- on Centralization and Fragmentation in the period from 750 to 1050 c.e. 

Discuss

Go to the Discussion Forum for this week and contribute to this week's Discussion topics. Remember: each week and for each forum topic, at minimum, three posts are required -- 1 Initial Post and 2 Response Posts. That's the minimum. If you wish to post more, please do. Your grade will probably improve if you do. 

The Quiz

Finally, please take the Chapter 9 Quiz for this week. 

 

The Deadline

As ever, the deadline for all of your work (except your initial Discussion post) is
Sunday, before 11 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. Note this well.

If you have not read my comments for your earlier Discussion work --  please do. They will help you improve your posts and to probe the material more deeply.