Kingdoms of medieval civilization

The fall of capital of Italy and the rise of Germanic soils marked the end of past times and the beginning of the Middle Ages. During the Middle Ages, the center of atomic number 63an purification shifted from the lands around the Mediterranean Sea to regions that had b atomic number 18ly been touched by classical civilization. A sore civilization, medieval civilization, took shape during the early Middle ages (A.D. 500-1050). at that place were few strong rulers or governments in this period, and a political organisation grew up in which power was divided among many local anesthetic lords (Perry, 1988,).By the twenty percent blow, Germanic peoples had established kingdoms in Italy, Spain, Gaul, and England. These lands formerly belong to capital of Italy (Crofton, 1994, 254). At its height, the popish Empire had been a world of cities with a well-heeled culture. By the end of the Empire, many towns were abandoned as people fled to pastoral estates. The center of politica l, social, and economic life shifted from city to countryside. Since the Germanic invaders were rural people, they did non try to revive the old cultural centers or build new ones of their own. The decline of Roman rule left the western and central Europe disorganized.A new medieval style of government appeared in the kingdom of the Franks. A Germanic people, the Franks had migrated westward from their homeland in the valley of the Rhine River. As Romes border defenses lessened in the fourth and fifth centuries, Frankish tribes settled in Roman territory. About 481 a Frankish ruler named Clovis united the various Frankish tribes and conquered the Romans and other Germans in Federal Gaul. In 768, Charlemagne became king of the Franks. Charlemagne was an extraordinary figure in medieval history. Charlemagne spread out his kingdom by conquering the Lombard kingdom in Italy and taking get down of northern Spain from the Muslims.He added Bavaria (in what is now Germany) to his kingd om and after terrible wars strained the Germanic Saxons to submit to his rule and convert to Christianity. Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of Rome in 800 which indicated that the Roman idea of strong centralized government had not died. Charlemagnes empire did not, however, have Roman law or political organization. Moreover, it had no great cities that could serving as centers of trade and learning. What Charlemagne did however, was to blend Germanic, Christian and Roman elements that came to characterize the civilization of the Middle Ages (Perry, 1988, 141-143).The kingdom of Charlemagne break away after his death and divided Europe which was then threatened with invasions from the Viking raiders ( Vikings are the ancestors of the Swedes, Norwegians and Danes of today) from the north , the Magyars from Central Asia , and the Muslims. The terrible invasions went on until early in the tenth century and had terrible consequences for Western Europe. Like the earlier Germanic inva sions, they weakened central authority, disrupted trade, hurt agriculture, and left settlements and monasteries in ruins. Few kingdoms had the dexterity to protect its own people so that people no longitudinal look to a central ruler for security. They turned instead to local lords who had their own armies.As a result, western Europe had entered an age in which lords, not kings, held political power. In fact, kings at that that time were regarded only as chief feudal lord. Living in age of warfare and unsoundness, lords want allies among their fellow nobles. The basis for these alliances was the lords land. In exchange for military attention and other services, one lord granted land called a feoff to another noble. The system of relationships that grew out of this granting of fiefs was called feudalism. It became the main political arrangement in Europe after the breakup of Charlemagnes empire in the 9th century.In some ways, feudalism grew out of the traditions of the Germani c tribes. Feudal law included many elements of Germanic law and feudal attitudes reflected Germanic pry for the warrior (Perry, 1988,144-145 ). Because they lived in violent times feudal lords built homes designed to serve as fortresses .The first castle was built in the ninth century at the time of the Viking raids. These castles were encircled by massive walls and strong fend for towers. Sometimes, feudal lords would fight against each other for supremacy (Crofton, 1994, 265).It is obvious therefore, that because of the disorder of territories brought about by the fall of Roman Empire, the Germanic kingdoms flourished, which combined the Germanic, Roman and Christian elements that characterized the western kingdoms of the medieval civilization. And as invasions plaqued the west from all quarters, elegant self-protecting feudal kingdoms governed by nobles or lords was established.ReferencesCrofton, Ian (e d). (1994). The Guinness Compact Encyclopedia. London Guinness Publishing controlPerry, Marvin. (1988). A World in History. New York Houghton-Mifflin, Inc.