History September

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SEPTEMBER

History Lectures
The Fall of Rome
In the historical lecture series, we briefly cover the height of Rome – 70 AD, followed by the slow fade and conversion of the Pagan Empire to Christendom. What caused the Fall of Rome? Many things, the endless wars, and conflicts, the deaths of many Caesars, the corruption and the battles for power within the Roman Legions, until the rise of Odovacar, the Germanic Barbarians, when in 376 AD they united with all the Celtic Tribes and put the Roman Military Empire at last to rest. This was the Battle of Marcianople – the Gothic Wars 376AD -382AD.

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Early Christianity through Early Medieval
Throughout September, October, November, and December, many of the events and topics in the lecture series cover pre-Christian Celts as it seeps into Rome, developing what is known as the Medieval Period. Often called the Dark Ages, we experience this darkness during the seasonal changes, as nature falls asleep into winter.

From the establishment of the Roman Catholic Church, Christendom spread into the South and Western edges of the Roman Empire. With the crowning of Constantine the Great, 310 AD, he became the first Christian Emperor of Rome, creating what we now know as the Holy Roman Empire. As the power of Rome began to fall, in 376, the Celtic Barbarians defeated Rome once and for all. Yet, despite Rome’s defeat Theodosius The Great, 379 AD to 395 AD, emerged as Emperor of Rome. He solidified Christianity, pushing forward Constantine’s dream of making Constantinople the seat of Christendom. His religion spread seeping throughout all the Celtic lands, thus converting the Barbarian tribes in the north to Christianity.

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The Fall of Rome and The Dark Ages
The Dark Ages serves as an overlap between the decline of Rome and the emergence of Christianity and The Byzantine – Romaioi Empire. After 70 AD, the destruction of the Temple, Rome began to see its decline. An Empire too large to manage, full of corruption, waste, and degeneracy. Killing the current ruler was expected with each new Caesar.

The cost of running an Empire under economic waste and mismanagement of funds required the constant raising of taxes, this angered the citizens of Rome. When soldiers could no longer be paid, they refused to fight and guard the Empire. They split and sided with Generals who offered soldiers grain and lands to seize power, and they did this by simply taking them. The game for power, through assassinations and wars between troops, was endless. By 376 AD, Rome was in such a weakened state militarily that the Northern Barbarians were able to unite and defeated them. They took back what Julius Caesar tamed, what Rome under Augustus Caesar managed and prospered greatly from, until all that was left of the city of Rome itself lay waste to a small sect calling themselves, Disciples of Christ, Christian.

Medieval Period
Between 376 AD through 600 AD, what was left of the Roman Empire hung by a thread. We travel through the life of Constantine, 306 AD – 337 AD. He established Homousian Christianity under Roman Rule. Theodosius, 379 AD – 395 AD, solidified the establishment and transition of a Christian Empire. Justinian The Great, 527 through 565, saw the dream of the Byzantine – RomaioiEmperor come to pass.

From the 6th century onward, Christianity grew and struggled throughout the end of the Roman Empire and the establishment of Christianity until Charles the Great, Carolus Magnus, Charlemagne, 747 AD – 814 AD. He ruled over the Carolingian Dynasty, was the King of the Franks, King of the Lombards, the First Holy Roman Emperor. Charlemagne united the West and Central Lands north of Rome, and he called these lands, Europe. Charlemagne, known as the “Father of Europe.”

The Dark Ages Vs Medieval
This period is understood to exist from 476 AD through 1000 AD.

From the growth of Christianity through the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the East, and throughout history, there is overlap between the ages and how knowledge spreads.

Tiberius, (14 BC – 37 AD – Ruthless, paranoid emperor’s rule fuels economic strife, set the stage for chaos. igniting Roman decline.

Jesus The Nazarene, 0AD ~ 33AD – Baptize in the Jordan by John where the Christ Being entered a human body, He was Crucifixion by the will of the Jews. His movement and Apostles spark a revolutionary aith. These early Christians movement became known as Christianity.

Year of the Four Emperors
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus Caesar, 37-68AD – Emperor, faced with a civil war.
Servius Sulpicius Galba. 24-69AD – Governor of Hispania.
Marcus Salvius Otho, 32-AD – Governor of Lusitania.
Aulus Vitellius Germanicus, 24-69AD –

Christian Martyrs and Lions ~64–100 AD, Nero’s persecutions forge Christian resilience.

Year of the Four Emperors
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus Caesar, 37-68AD – Emperor, Faced with a civil war.
Servius Sulpicius Galba, 24-69AD – Governor of Hispania.
Marcus Salvius Otho, 32-AD – Governor of Lusitania.
Aulus Vitellius Germanicus, 24-69AD – Historian.

Apostates and Heresies ~64–325AD Persecution sparks renunciations.

Lions ~64–100 AD – Nero’s persecutions forge Christian resilience.

Clement I ~88–99 AD, 1st Apostate Early pope, martyr, anchors Rome’s church.

The Raising of the Temple 70 AD – Jews started a conflict with Rome that led to a war. Leader of Rome Titus, and Rome were tired of the terror an conflict and went into the Judea to put down the rebellion down and restore Roman authority in the province of Judea

The Revolt – The conflict grew into a full-scale war, with the Romans determined to put down the rebellion and restore Roman authority by rising the city in the province of Judea.

[the Jew were a group of Canaanite people in the Middle east, their origins were a mix of Babylonian and Egyptian. They were lead to Mt. Sini in the Middle East by a man named Moses. He met with the God of the Jews who set laws for the people to follow. The people disregarded the laws and their promises. Their God Yahwah exiled from the land of Israel as a divine punishment for their repeated disobedience and unfaithfulness, particularly their idolatry and failure to uphold the covenant. This judgment, exemplified by the Babylonian captivity, served as a consequence for their sinful actions and a means to correct their ways, with God promising a return after the land had “rested”. The real jews are still waiting.]

Hadrian’s Suppression, 135 AD – Bar Kokhba Revolt crushed, Jewish identity reshaped. Mossad.

The Middle Ages [Medieval] are divided into three parts.
I. The Early Middle Age, 400 AD – 1000 AD. Also considered part of the Dark Ages and the establishment of Christianity and the formation of Western and Central Europe.
II. The High Middle Ages, 900 AD – 1250 AD. The embracing of Feudalism. The Emergence of Kings and Queens.
III. The Late Middle Ages, 1300 AD – 1600 AD. Ushering in The Age of Discovery and The Renaissance, New Birth.

Philosophy – Key Areas Constantine’s Ideology, 325 AD – Nicaea Council codifies Christian doctrine.

Constantine’s Christian Pivot, 310–337 AD – Milvian Bridge vision, Edict of Milan, Christianity rises.

Constantine’s Conversion.

Constantine the Great – Flavius Valerius Constantinus, Born 27 February 272 Nicomedia [Serbia] – Died 22 May 337. Bithynia . First Christian Roman Emperor. Founded

Biography, Augustine’s Theology, 354–430 AD – Confessions. City of God ,redefine sin. Doctor of grace.

Apostates and Heresies ~64–325 AD – Gnostic debates.

List of Apostates

Byzantine- Romaioi Empire through the Dark Ages

Byzantium – Romaioi – New Rome

Theodosius I, Theodosius the Great, Born 11 January 347 – Died 17 January 395.

Justinian I, – Justinian the Great, Born unknown 482 – Died 14 November 565.
Under Justinian’s rule, he brought an end to the Mithraic Mysteries. He declared the writings of Origen heretical, abolished the Roman Consul, closed the School of Athens, and preferred the University of Constantinople. In doing so, Justinian sidelined all the ancient wisdom passed down from the Greco-Roman Empire, ushering in what later became known as the Dark Ages. All occult and esoteric meanings under Justinian replaced old wisdom with fact-based, materialistic descriptions of the world, including the life of Christ.

Justinian I found himself pushing the faithful forward while sewing up the past. A New World Order. The battle for the souls of a changing empire, the material vs. the spiritual. He expanded the Byzantine = Romaioi Culture while watching parts of the Roman Empire pull away. Still, Justinian I sought to keep and bring the fraying edges of the Roman Empire back into the fold. As a result, Justinian I is often regarded as the Last Roman.

From Augustine to Charlemagne –

Augustine of Hippo, 13 November 354 – 28 August 430. Theologian and Philosopher. Bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa, [Now Annaba, Algeria]. Church Fathers of the Latin Church in the Patristic Period, [100AD – 451AD]. The Revision of the Old Testament is attributed to Augustine. He was an important Doctor of the Church

Childhood – His Father, Aurelius, was a Roman Pagan and Patrician, which made him and his family akin to upper middle class. Yet, his origins were modest, his ancestors were people from freed slave. His Mother, a Berber, was a devout Christian. She had three children who survived infancy: two sons, Augustine, Navigius, and a daughter Perpetua. She called her eldest, ‘the son of so many tears.’ Hundreds of years later, she became the Saint of all Mothers, St Monica. So many tears a mother cries over her children.

Just before he went off to school to study philosophy Augustine’s father, Aurelius, suddenly died. He was 17. His father was a brutal man, he beat his wife often, but it seems he did this because she would often spend the money on the poor. However, Augustine recollects, in his book Confessions, that his father deeply respected his mother.

Though Augustine was exposed to his mother Christian beliefs he went his own way. He became part of the *Manichaeism Cult, which had a resurgence and spread to this area of the world. Discovering that Augustine took up this practice angered his mother greatly. This created a riff between the two causing a falling out. She threw him out of her house determine never to see him again.

Augustine studied philosophy and rhetoric at the university in Carthage. He became an a professor of rhetoric and an intellectual. He was also a scamp and a sinful man, had a child out of wedlock. He was very fond of wine, women and song. One of his most memorable quotes is, “Lord make me chaste, but not yet!” He wrote about his all his exploits, in his book Confessions.

After he had separated from his mother for a time, she had a vision, this has since been called, ‘a Mother’s Vision.’ In this vision she had reunited with her son and was told to take him to Milan to see the Bishop. Amends were made, and he followed her to Milan, with the impression that he would study with Ambrosia, the Bishop of Milan.

Upon arriving Monica found immediate favor with the Bishop due to her work with the poor and battered woman. Augustine now 28 years old, was still very full of himself, well educated in his studies of philosophy and being what he thought to be a worldly man, in the matters of life. He approached the Bishop as if he were someone to compete with, yet the Bishop was nothing, but kind and patient with Augustine, having wonderful conversation and offering books to read on the Christian doctrine. Most, if not all, Augustine ignored.

So, how did it come about? It was really a very simple act. One afternoon, sitting in his garden he overheard children singing ‘Take up and read! Take up and read!’ He became inwardly convinced inwardly by the Spirit that he should read the Christian New Testament. He began by reading Paul’s letter to the Romans. At that moment he received a powerful revelation of God’s grace in the gospel and he simply converted. All his studies, life experiences and even the taking on the teaching of Mani did not compared to what he found in the New Testament. He then became the most zealous exponent of grace in this era. At the age of 33, the Bishop baptized Augustine at the church of St. John the Baptist in Milan, making him a Doctor of Theology and a Doctor of Grace. Augustine settled in Hippo where he became Bishop turning the Bishop’s home into a monastery.

“The reward for patience is, patience.” -Augustine of Hippo

What Augustine brought with him to Milan was his understanding of philosophy, particularly +Neoplatonism [Late-Platonism] and his practice and ideas of Manichaeism. This spiritual evolution for Augustine Combining the material with the logical and the spirit living in Christianity is what Augustine found and this helped him create the foundation and theology of the Latin Catholic Church today.

Augustine wrote the Doctrine and Foundation of the Catholic Church

Books
The City of God, from Rome to Heaven
The Confessions of Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, By Saint Augustine

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+It is wise to mention that Neoplatonism [Late-Platonism] was different during this particular time, compared to the reemergence later in the 13th century. Without going too deep into how Neoplatonism [Late-Platonism]was viewed by Augustine he found a connection to Christianity through Neoplatonism [Late-Platonism], and if you read his writings he developed regarding the church doctrine you will see the ideas of Neoplatonism [Late-Platonism] throughout. This is noted in his book, Confessions.

*Manichaeism 3c AD, Persia, was against Roman Paganism and the view of the Jewish Torah, OT. Two waves of Manichaeism – early and late middle ages, called Neo-Manichaeism. There is no dualism in Manichaeism, it is in a sense bi-polar neither good nor evil, all has purpose and non purpose. There is spirit in everything – the counter to Manichaeism is skepticism. Though Augustine adopted the teaching of Manichaeism, in the end he rejected the practice.

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[tbc]
what he brings to the church is definition. The documentation of his life also allows us to get an in-depth look at the time of the world around him. A better understanding of the church and the conversion of many Pagans to Christianity.

His work can be difficult to follow, as he moves from what is difficult to understand of the past moving forward into the the future and the modern idea of Christianity. Augustine took ancient thought and in so defining he translated the bible into the language of the church in Latin.

Nature of Evil

Manichaeism Dualism – pre Christian ideals, the spiritual is manifested through the material, good and evil influences. materializing of the spirit.

Manichaeism made Augustine aware of evil, opening the door to have a better understanding of St Paul.

Manichaeism sense manifestation

Augustine jumped forward (like puberty) from the material spiritual to the spiritual

Skepticism through observation of the sense world he learns nothing of the spiritual. Void of the spiritual removes all truth the doubt of the truth longs to be understood which leads to

Neo Platonism [Late-Platonism] – Plotinus’ doctrine that the soul is composed of a higher and a lower part — the higher part being unchangeable and divine (and aloof from the lower part, yet providing the lower part with life), while the lower part is the seat of the personality (and hence the passions and vices) — led him to neglect an ethics of the individual human being in favor of a mystical or esoteric doctrine of the soul’s ascent to union with its higher part.
above the world is ideas – abject unity – the world of the soul – the lower and higher soul creates the material – above the soul is the spiritual. the concept of ideas. The next Imagination, no concepts, above the idea world

Neoplatonism

imagination – above the idea world

inspiration

intuition

probation

enlightenment

initiation

Plotinus perception – reality is the spiritual world.
This led Augustine to Christianity
for man does not need to reach upwards for Christi Jesus has descended upon the earth

It was Plotinus – Neoplatonism [Late-Platonism] that had the greatest affect on Augustine and his view on Christianity.. Since the earliest doctrine of the Catholic Latin Church was Augustine we can say that Christianity is a form of Neoplatonism [Late-Platonism]. Even later when Christianity was revised it falls in line with Np. And seeing that the Greeks were fist in translation of the gospels and the Gospels were written originally in Greek we can pin point the organization and layout of the Christian bible and doctrine

All the books of the New Testament were written originally in Greek. The Latin translation of the Bible written by St. Jerome, who was asked by Pope Damasus in 382 A.D. to bring order out of the proliferation of Old Latin versions which were in circulation.

The Four Catholic Fathers
Catholic means Universal in Greek –katholikos [κατ’ ολόν], hard for Christianity to get away from God’s global roots & mission. There are four church fathers who desnd from the first Pope Peter that set the foundation of the Catholic church.

Ambrose * [340] Spent his life fighting Arianism similar , but distinct from the Gnostics..

Jerome *. [347] Jerome spent his old age picking apart and adding to Augustine’s work.

Augustine *** [354] There isn’t a Christian religion that doesn’t agree, believe or follow Augustine’s contributions, he was, after all, the man who organized the Church, including both books; which at the time were only two Gospels. It’s important to know that before Augustine was the Bishop of Hippo and even after he was a (Neo) Platonist following the understandings of Plato through Plotinus . The whole church is organized and structured on the philosophy of Platonism. However, what crowns the Catholic Church, according to Augustine after Christ came to him in a vision, he realized that philosophy was not enough without Christ in your heart.

Two important books by Augustine of Hippo: Confessions, a biography, and City of God. Augustine’s City of God portrays human history as a conflict between the Earthly City, where people pursue fleeting worldly pleasures, and the City of God, where individuals dedicate themselves to eternal Christian truths, destined to triumph. Confessions is a very open and candied telling of the Life of Augustine from childhood through adulthood as a reprobate. The book also recounts how Augustine went from Manicheism to Platonism then becoming a dedicated servant of God through the lord Jesus Christ.

Gregory** [540] Gregory suffered through the bubonic plague in the Byzantium Empire. The plagues decreased the population by 1/3, this was deviating, no one was untouched by this tragedy. This one event help turn the church’s focus from Empire to concern and becoming a vessel for the poor.

All of these men had great flaws, but found their mission in God and the church. Agree or disagree with their ideas, but there’s noi denying their aim was true.

These men of the church shaped Europe. without the Holy Roman Catholic Church Europe would look very different and if we are not careful we could lose site of our roots and our home.

Byzantine- Romaioi Empire through the Dark Ages

Byzantium – Romaioi – New Rome

Theodosius I, Theodosius the Great, Born 11 January 347 – Died 17 January 395.

Gnostics

Trinity

being

knowing

living/love

Father being

Son idea world knowing the son

HG life lose willing

through Plotinus

Our hearts are made for you oh lord, and they are restless, until they rest in you. – St. Augustine

Counsel of Carthage

Concupiscence – Why Jesus matters

Original Sin – Adam and Eve

Faith and Power of God

Doctor of Grace

Death & Patron Saint – Printers, .His celebration is his death day

Prayer to God
Late have I loved you,
Beauty so ancient and so new, late have I loved you!
Lo, you were within,
but I outside, seeking there for you,
and upon the shapely things you have made
I rushed headlong – I, misshapen.
You were with me, but I was not with you.
They held me back far from you,
those things which would have no being,
were they not in you.
You called, shouted, broke through my deafness;
you flared, blazed, banished my blindness;
you lavished your fragrance, I gasped; and now I pant for you;
I tasted you, and now I hunger and thirst;
you touched me, and I burned for your peace.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant us peace.

Spoken in all Christian Sects

Manichaeism will be covered during Great Mysteries in January.
[tbc]

Biography Atilla The Hun – God’s Punishments, Flagella Dei – The Scourge of God 406–453. Ruler of the Huns, 434 – 453. Leader of a nomadic warrior tribal cultural empire. His people were called Huns, Hunie. Anyone willing to fight could join his tribe. Ostrogoths, Alans, Bulgars anyone who lived in Central and Eastern Europe. During his reign, he was the most feared enemy of the Western and Eastern Rome and the Northern Barbarian Empires. All knowledge of Atilla and his people come from the accounts of his enemies. He, and those who followed were thought of as the most savage men that ever lived, feral, while beasts. They were known as Nomads. The reputation of the Huns and their horses was legendary. Most people who encountered them thought they were part man part horse for they seldom dismounted. They ate, slept, carved their arrows and bow on their horses. Their horse were also larger, stronger, faster and healthier than all others tribes they encountered. The Women of the tribe were pulled in wagons. they had no permanent home and the camp moved every few days. They also took what they wanted, when they wanted, where ever they went. Raids were frequent, people fled further west or south and eventually, deals were made to pay off the Hun and his men.

Childhood – There are no records of his birth, but it was thought he was born in the Volga Region. His mother died during birth and father two years later. He and his brother were raised by their uncle. It is said Atilla learned to ride a horse before he learned to walk. When their uncle die the Tribe was was ruled by both brothers. However that did not last long, it is said he killed his brother in his sleeps.

Leader of the Huns – He was a man born into the world to shake the nations, the scourge of all lands, who in some way terrified all mankind by the rumors noised abroad concerning him. He was haughty in his walk, rolling his eyes hither and thither, so that the power of his proud spirit appeared in the movement of his body. He was indeed a lover of war, yet restrained in action; mighty in counsel, gracious to, and lenient to those who were once received under his protection. He was short of stature, with a broad chest and a large head; his eyes were small, his beard was thin and sprinkled with gray. He had a flat nose and a swarthy complexion, revealing his origin.

He took control over the tribe, which was said to be over 500,000 men. Once Atilla crossed the Danube the terror never stopped. He ands his men swept across What is now Western Europe and he even reached as far south as Constantinople. He and his tribe settled into what is now Hungry.

Battle of the Catalonian Planes 451AD – This is where Atilla met his match.

Death – 453AD – This was not a pretty death.

entr’acte

The Bavarians had allied themselves with the Avars, a people who may be called the successors of the Huns. Charles was victorious in this struggle and fortified a strip of land as a boundary against the Avars, the original Avarian limit of the land which to-day is Austria. In the same way he had protected himself also against the Danes.

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Who were the Franks?
According to Rome, the Franks were part of the Germanic tribes who lived on the northern edges of the Roman Empire; Northern and Middle Rhine. Today, lower Netherlands, and the border between France and Germany. A treaty was signed between these tribes, mostly Franks, and the Romans. Many of the Frankish tribal men even fought for Rome. At once point the Franks became the largest contingency in the Roman Army. As Rome’s power faded their strength in the region grew.

After 376AD, Rome collapsed, the tribes began to move into the lower lands Rome could no longer defend. As the tribes took over and settled in, they fought amongst themselves. In 406AD, Atilla the Hun [Volga, Russia] invaded Gaul. This attack united all of Gaulia, Franks, and the Visigoth tribes, and what was left of Rome. It was the first defeat for Atilla. He died 2 years later.

In 463AD, under the Frankish leader Childeric he and the Franks fought for Rome. In particular, at the Battle of Orleans against the Visigoths, and again he defeated the Saxons at the Battle of Angier, 469AD. He soon expanded his power throughout Gaul, as Rome continued to fade. In 476AD Romulus Augustus, Emperor of Rome, was defeated by Odoacer, a general in one of the Germanic tribe. Odoacer, became the First King of Italy. In 480AD Childeric died and his son Clovis, ᚺᛚᛟᛞᛟᚹᛁᚷ (runic), Hlōdowik, [Today, Louis], at age 15, became leader of the Franks. Rome’s leadership gone, in order to unite all of Gaul Clovis needed to defeat the Roman Governor Syagrius. At age 20 Clovis soundly defeated him in the Battle of Soissons 486AD. Soon he conquered all of Gaul, and powerful enough to keep his enemies at bay. In 496 he converted to Catholicism at the behest of his wife. Baptized on Christmas Day in 508AD. Clovis is declared the King of all the Franks 509AD. He died 511 AD.

The Franks
Childeric
Battle of Orleans

376AD, Rome collapsed,.
Battle of Angier

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Rome’s leadership gone, in order to unite all of Gaul Clovis needed to defeat the Roman Governor Syagrius. At age 20 Clovis soundly defeated him in the Battle of Soissons 486AD. Soon he conquered all of Gaul, and powerful enough to keep his enemies at bay. In 496 he converted to Catholicism at the behest of his wife. Baptized on Christmas Day in 508AD. Clovis is declared the King of all the Franks 509AD. He died 511 AD.

How Tribes transformed into Kingdoms.

By the death of Clovis, the Franks had comfortably conquered all of Gaulia, uniting the tribal lands once controlled by Rome. The Franks, under the leadership of King Clovis I, was the most successful. The people in these lands conquered never rose against him. They accepted Clovis I, as their ruler, and the name of his tribal people, the Franks, Frankia. Today, The French.

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476AD Romulus Augustus, Last Emperor of Rome, Odoacer of the Germanic tribes became the First King of Italy

How Tribes transformed into Kingdoms.

From Clovis to Martel –

Pepin of Herstal –

Charles Martel – Merovingian Dynasty
Title – Charles Martel – “The Hammer”

Occupation & Role Frankish ruler, military leader.

Birth/Death c. 688, Herstal, Francia– October 22, 741 , Quierzy-sur-Oise, Francia

Parents: Pepin of Herstal, Alpaida
Siblings: many half-siblings
Spouses: 1st Wife -Rotrude of Trier – 2nd Wife: Princess Swanachild (Bavarian )

Children: Carloman, Pepin the Short, Grifo, Hiltrud, Landrade, Auda, and others
Most Memorable Accomplishment(s): Victory at the Battle of Tours (732); strengthening Frankish unity under his leadership; laying foundations for Carolingian dynasty
Years of Rule & Accomplishment: Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia (717–741); de facto ruler of the Franks, though not a king
Successor: Pepin the Short (his son, later King of the Franks)
Memorable Quote: “It was through battle and arms that I secured my power.” (attributed sentiment, not a direct contemporary quotation)
Works: None authored; legacy preserved through chronicles such as Einhard and the Continuations of Fredegar.

elaborate….

Timeline
610 AD

~ Byzantium

~Romaioi

~Ottoman Islamic Empire,

~ Volga,

~Silk Road

700 AD – The Father of Western Europe, Charlemagne, Charles the Great, King of the Franks, King of the Lombards, Emperor of the Romans, Ruler of the Carolingian Empire, Pater Europe, Beatified.

Viking Raids ~790–1100 AD Norse plunder redraws Europe’s borders.

850 AD – Rollo The Viking Chieftain Ruler of Normandy.

Pepin the Short – 714-768, Latin: Pipinus. French: Pépin le Bref. German: Pippin der Kurze. King of the Franks, 751 – 768. First Carolingian to become king.

Charlemagne’s Empire (c. 800 AD): Carolingian Renaissance, forced conversions, iron rule.

Through the system of Portable Inheritance; property apportioned amongst heirs, most of which is passed down to the eldest son, the kingdom was passed down through the generations. However, this did not stop the Franks from expanding their lands into other areas, which included the western edges of Germany and Denmark to the borders of the Visigoths. Today Spain.

By the time Charlemagne was born, two centuries had passed since the Franks had conquered, secured, and constantly expanded their lands throughout most of Gaul. Conquering and battling seemed to be in their blood, and part of their culture.

Charlemagne – Charlemagne – Charles the Great, Carolus Magnus – 2 April 747 – 28 January 814. Carolingian Dynasty, King of the Franks, 768. King of the Lombards, 774. First Roman Emperor, 800. Charlemagne united most of Western and Central Europe. He was the first recognized ruler since the fall of the Roman Empire, 376AD. He expanded the Frankish state known as the Carolingian Empire. Furthermore, he was canonized by Antipope Paschal III and is now regarded as beatified in the Catholic Church.

He became king of the Franks in 768AD following his father’s death. Initially he was co-ruler with his brother Carloman I until his death in 771AD. As sole ruler, he continued his father’s policy towards protection of the papacy. He removing the Lombards [ last of roman Rule, now Italy]from power in northern Italy and leading an invasion of Muslim in Spain. He fought the Saxons to his east, and Christianized them upon penalty of death (Massacre of Verden). In 800AD he was crowned Emperor of the Romans, by Pope Leo III, on Christmas Day, at St. Peter’s Basilica, in Rome.

The feats and triumphant marches of Charlemagne occupies an extravagant amount of space in European History. He is known posthumously as the Father of Europe, Pater Europae. He united most of Western Europe, something not done since the Roman Empire, along with parts that had never been under Frankish or Roman rule. Through his leadership and power within the church he sparked the Carolingian Renaissance, a time of expanding and unifying Carlovingian cultural and intellectualism.

On the other side of Christianity, the Eastern Orthodox Church disfavored Charlemagne, this was due to his support of the filioque (son not of baptism) and the role of women in the church (Irene of Athens). These disputes eventually led to the split between the Rome and Byzantium – Romaioi Church, during the Great Schism,1054AD.

Regardless, all what was accomplished under Charlemagne was only an external expression of much deeper events in the Middle Ages. Events leading to many convergence and significant factors in the formation and evolution of Europe and the modern world today.

The Middle Ages – European conditions after the folk migrations.
The Evolution of Property, Laws and Societal Structures.
From Tribes to The Church to Kingdoms.
From Villages to City.

List of Popes

List Of Kings & Rulers

The Germanic Tribes
Text by Rudolf Steiner
The Germanic tribes came to rest in different places, you will think of the way these races brought their ancient institutions, their manners and customs, with them into their new homes, and developed them there. And we see that they preserved their own peculiar character, a kind of social order, consisting in the distribution of private and common property.

There were little social assemblies, which formed their original organization: village communities, then, later, hundreds and cantons; and in all these, what could be common property was so: forest, meadow, water, etc. And only what a single individual could cultivate was assigned to the private family and became hereditary; all the rest remained common property.

Now we have seen that the leaders of such tribes received much larger territories at the conquest, and that on this account certain positions of mastery sprang up, especially in Gaul, where much land was still to be reclaimed.

For the working of these domains, it was partly members of the former population, partly the Roman colonists or prisoners of war, who were taken. In this way, certain legal conditions grew up. The large landowner was not responsible to others for what he did on his own property; he could not be brought to book for any orders that he gave. Hence he could rescind for his own estate, any legal prescription or police regulation. So, in the Frankish Empire, we meet with no united monarchy; what was called the Empire of the Merovingians was nothing more than such a large landed estate.

The Merovingians were one of the families which possessed much land; according to civil law — through the struggle for existence — their rule extended farther and farther. New territories were constantly added to it. The large landowner was not such a king as we have been accustomed to in the 13th, 14th, yes, even in the 16th century; but private government gradually became legal rule.

He transferred certain parts of his domain, and with them his rights; to others with less land; that was called being “under exemption”; this judicial authority had grown out of the irresponsible position in such circumstances. In return, this type of landowner must pay tribute, and do military service for the king in time of war. In the expansion of such proprietary relationships, the Merovingian stock as conquerors took precedence of all others, so that we must retain the formula: the ancient Frankish Empire progressed through purely private legal conditions.

Again the transition from the Merovingian to the Carlovingian stock, from which Charles Martel descended, took place in the same way, out of the same conditions. The Carlovingians were originally stewards of the domains of the Merovingians; but they gradually became so influential that Pepin the Short succeeded in putting the imbecile Childeric into a monastery, and, with the help of the pope, in deposing him. From him was descended his successor, Charlemagne.

In a cursory survey we can only touch upon the external events; for, indeed, they have no further significance. Charlemagne made war on the neighboring German tribes and extended his control in certain directions. Even this empire, however, cannot be called a State. He waged lengthy wars against the Saxons, who clung to the ancient village organization, the old manners and customs, the old Germanic faith, with great tenacity. Victory was won after wearisome wars, fought with extraordinary ferocity on both sides.

Among such tribes as the Saxons, one personality in particular would stand out, and would then become a leader. One of these was Widukind, a duke with great possessions and a strong military retinue, whose courage withstood the most violent opposition. He had to be subdued with the greatest cruelty, and then submitted to the rule of Charlemagne. What did the rule amount to? It amounted to this: if the authority of Charlemagne had been withdrawn, nothing special would have happened. Those tribesmen who in their thousands had been obliged to submit to baptism, would have gone on living in the same way as before.

— It was the form Charlemagne had given the Church which established his powerful position. Through the power of the Church these territories were subdued. Bishoprics and monasteries were founded, the large properties formerly possessed by the Saxons were distributed. The cultivation of these was in the hands of the bishops and abbots; thus the Church undertook what had formerly been done by secular landholders protected by “exemption,” namely, judiciary authority. If the Saxons did not acquiesce, they were coerced by fresh inroads of Charlemagne. Thus the same things went on as in western France: the smaller landowners could not carry on alone, hence they gave what they had to the monasteries and bishoprics, to receive it again under feudal tenure.

The one condition was, then, that the large properties should belong to the Church, as in the newly established bishoprics of Paderborn, Merseburg and Erfurt, which were cultivated for the bishop by the conquered tribes. But even those who still had their own possessions held them as fiefs and had to pay ever-increasing taxes to the bishoprics and abbeys. This was how the rule of Charlemagne was established: with the help of the great influence obtained by the Church whose suzerain he was, his position of authority was achieved. —

Charles extended his authority in other regions, just as he was extending it here. In Bavaria he succeeded in breaking the power of Duke Tassilo and sending him to a monastery, so that he might bring Bavaria under his own dominion. The Bavarians had allied themselves with the Avars, a people who may be called the successors of the Huns. Charles was victorious in this struggle and fortified a strip of land as a boundary against the Avars, the original Avarian limit of the land which to-day is Austria. In the same way he had protected himself also against the Danes.

Like Pepin he fought in Italy against the Longobards, who were harassing the pope; again he was victorious, and established his authority there. He experienced too against the Moors in Spain, and almost everywhere he was the victor. We see Frankish rule established over the whole of the European world of those days; it merely contained the germ of the future State.

In these newly won regions, Counts were inaugurated, who exercised justiciary authority. In the places where Charlemagne alternatively held his court — fortified places called Palatinates — were the Counts Palatine, mostly large landowners, who received certain tribute from the surrounding districts. It was not only tribute from the land and soil, however, which fell to their share; they also received revenues from the administration of justice. If a murder were committed, the public tribunal was convened by the Count Palatine. A relative, or someone who was closely connected with the victim, brought the indictment. At that time certain compensation could be paid for murder, a recognized sum, differing in value for a free man and an unfree, paid partly to the family of the murdered man, partly to the justiciary of the canton, and partly to the king’s central fund. Those who looked after communal concerns — actually only such as concerned taxes and defense — were the land-graves, who travelled from one district to another, ambassadors with no special function.

Under these conditions, the divergence between the new nobility of landowners and the serfs became more and more marked, and also between the landowners and those freemen who were indeed personally still free, but had fallen into a condition of servile dependence, because they had to pay heavy tribute and to render compulsory military service. These conditions grew more and more critical; secular and ecclesiastical property became increasingly extensive; and soon we see the populace in bitter dependence, and already we meet with small conspiracies — revolts — foreshadowing what we know as the Peasant Wars. We can understand that, in the meantime, material culture developed more and more productively. Many Germanic tribes had had no concern with agriculture before the folk migrations, but had earned their living by cattle raising; now they were developing agriculture more and more; especially were they cultivating oats and barley, but also wheat, leeks, etc. These were the essential things which were important in that older civilisation. There was, as yet, no actual handicraft; it was only evolving under the surface; weaving, dyeing, etc. were mostly carried on by the women at home. The arts of the goldsmith and the smith were the first crafts to be cultivated. Still less important was trade.

Actual cities were developed from the 10th century onwards, and therewith a historical event began to take shape. But what sprang up with these cities, namely trade, had at that time no importance; at its best it was only a trade in valuables from the East, carried on by Israelite merchants. Trade usages hardly existed, although Charlemagne had already had coins minted. Nearly everything was barter, in which cattle, weapons, and such things were exchanged.

This is how we must picture the material culture of these regions; and now we shall understand why the spiritual culture also was bound to assume a certain definite form. Nothing of what we picture as spiritual culture existed in these regions, either among the freemen or the serfs. Hunting, war, agriculture, were the occupations of the landowners; princes, dukes, kings, even poets, unless they were ecclesiastics, could seldom read and write. Wolfram von Eschenbach had to dictate his poems to a clergyman and let him read them aloud to him; Hartmann von der Aue boasts, as a special attribute, that he can read books. In all that secular culture catered for, there was no question of reading and writing. Only in enclosed monasteries were Art and Science studied. All other students were directed to what was offered them in the teaching and preaching of the clergy. And that brought about their dependence on the clergy and the monks; it gave the Church its authority.

When we read descriptions today of what is called “the dark Middle Ages” — persecution of heretics, trials of witches, and so on — we must be clear that these conditions only began with the 13th century. In the older times nothing of this kind existed. The Church had no more authority than the secular large landowners. Either the Church went hand-in-hand with the secular authority, and was only a branch of it, or it was endeavoring to cultivate theology and the science of Christianity.

Until the current of spiritual influence came from the Arabs, all spiritual concerns were fostered only in the monasteries; the activities of the monks were completely unknown to the world outside. All that was known outside the monasteries was the preaching, and a kind of spiritual instruction given in the primitive schools.

The authority of the Church was enhanced by the fact that it was the clergy themselves who carried out all the arrangements for promoting knowledge. The monks were the architects; it was they who adorned the churches with statues, they who copied the works of classical, too, the emperor’s chancellors, were, for the most part, monks.

One form of culture which was fostered in the monasteries was Scholasticism. A later was Mysticism. This scholasticism, which flourished until the middle of the 14th century, endeavored — at least at one juncture — to inculcate a severely disciplined way of thinking. There were severe examinations to undergo; nobody could make progress in absolutely logical discipline of thinking without hard tests; only those who could really think logically, were able to take part in the spiritual life. Today that is not considered. But actually it was because of this training in consistent logic that when the Moorish-Arabian culture came to Europe, this science found disciplined thinking there already. The forms of thought with which Science works today were already there; there are very few arrangements of ideas, which are not derived from thence.

The concepts with which the Science — still operate today, such as subject and object, were established at that time. A training of thought, such as does not appear elsewhere in world history, was developed. The keen thinker of today owes that which flows in the veins of his intellect to the training fostered between the 5th and 14th centuries. Now some may feel it to be unjust that the masses at that time had nothing of all this; but the course of world history is not directed by justice of injustice, it follows the universal law of cause and effect. Thus we see here two definite currents flowing side by side: 1. Outside, material culture, absolutely without science; 2. A finely chiseled culture, confined to a few within the Church. Yet the culture of the cities was based on this strict scholastic way of thinking. The men who carried through the great revolution were ecclesiastics: Copernicus was a prebendary, Giordano Bruno was a Dominican friar. Their education and that of many others, their formal schooling, was rooted in this spirit of the Church. They were not powerful men, but simple monks, who, indeed, often suffered under the oppression of those in power.

Nor was it bishops and rich abbots, but on the contrary, poor monks, living in obscurity, who propagated the spread of Science. The Church, having allied itself with external powers, was obliged to materialize itself; it had to secularize its teachings and its whole character. Very long ago, up to the 12th century, nothing was held more solemn, more sublime, by the Christians, than the Lord’s Supper. It was regarded as a sacrifice of grateful remembrance, a symbol of the intensifying of Christianity. Then came the secularization, the lack of understanding for such exalted spiritual facts, especially as regards the festivals.

In the 9th century there lived in the land of the Franks, at the court of Charles the Bald, Scotus Erigena, a very distinguished Irish monk, in whose book De Divisioni Naturae we find a rich store of profound intellectual thought — though, indeed, not what the 20th century understands as Science. Erigena had to fight against hostile criticism in the Church. He defended the old doctrine that the Lord’s Supper represented the symbolism of the highest Sacrifice. Another, materialistic, interpretation existed, and was supported in Rome, namely, that the bread and wine was actually transformed into flesh and blood. This dogma of the Lord’s Supper originated under the influence of this continuous materialization, but it only became official in the 13th century.

Scotus Erigena had to take refuge in England, and at the instigation of the pope, was murdered in his own monastery by the fraternity of monks. These struggles took place, not within the Church, but through the interpenetration of secular influence. You see that spiritual life was confined to a few, and was closed to the masses, upon whom lay an ever-increasing pressure, both from the secular and the spiritual side. In this way discontent continued to grow. It could not be otherwise than that dissatisfaction should increase among these people of divided loyalties. In country, on the farms, new causes of discontent kept cropping up. No wonder that the small towns, such as those already established on the Rhine and the Danube, should continually grow larger and form themselves anew from the influx of those who could no longer get on in the country. The fundamental cause of this reorganization of conditions was the people’s thirst for freedom.

It was a purely natural motive which gave rise to the culture of the cities. Spiritual culture remained undisturbed for the time being; many cities developed round the bishoprics and monasteries. From the city-culture rose all that constituted trade and industry in the Middle Ages, and afterwards brought about quite different relationships.

The need to develop the full life of the human personality, was the cause of the founding of the cities. It was a long step on the path of freedom; as, indeed, according to the words of Hegel, history signifies the education of the human race towards freedom.

And if we follow the history of the Middle Ages farther, we shall see that this founding of the city-culture represented, not an insignificant, but a very important step on the path of freedom.

Possibly Oct=============================

Pre-Christian Celtic Influences- Druids, myths, and rituals linger in medieval culture.

Leo IV’s Proto-Crusade (849 AD): Battle of Ostia, early holy war.

Photian Schism (869–870 AD): East-West split, church wealth breeds corruption.
End of the holy spirit

Rollo and Normandy (911 AD): Viking-Christian pact births powerful duchy.

Anglo-Saxon England (~900–1066 AD): Alfred to Hastings, kingdom forged, lost.

Monasticism’s Rise (~1000–1100 AD): Benedictine monasteries drive culture, faith.

Anselm’s Scholasticism (1033–1109 AD): Ontological argument fuses faith, reason.

Investiture Controversy (1075–1122 AD): Popes battle emperors over bishop control.

Anselm’s Scholasticism (1033–1109 AD): Ontological argument fuses faith, reason.

1000 AD – The Crusades – From Jerusalem, The fall of Constantinople, the Reconquista.

1050 AD – Great Schism, 1050.

The Early Middle Ages, 476 AD through the era of hierarchy, Charlemagne, Viking Hoards, 800 AD. The High Middle Ages, 1000 AD -1300 AD, the Great Schism and the Crusades through the diseased riddled end of the Late Middle Ages, 1400 AD. We discover what is long forgotten, seldom written or read, and yet it is always with us.

How do you sum up the entirety of the Middle Ages? War, famine, disease, religion, power, control, survival? It is indeed a slow bake. 1000 years of pure survival, living surrounded by nature, and your family tribe. Skills to survive were passed down through generations, Your last name designated you as the son of John (Johnson) or of the clan of Smiths (Smithy) a member of a skill.

The Medieval period has more to offer than we

realize, and we bring the gifts, the lessons and the skills taught and learned forward. These skills were part of our inheritance, they taught us to think, to innovate and to become masters of the muse. As we descend into the darkness of the year, we draw closer to our people and how much we are like them, and how much they were like us.

The Path of Initiation in the Dark and Middle Ages
Men brought into the mysteries faced three distinct stages through which they had to pass through.

First – simple-mindedness. The meaning of the name, Percival—Persifal—Parzival—“through the vale”—”the middle”—was the name given in medieval times to all such candidates for initiation. The process taking place in nature is the same what takes place in the animal kingdom and human beings. However, only in nature does it take place without desire or passion. It goes forward in perfect purity and chastity. The boundless and chaste innocence that sleeps in the flower buds of the plants was felt. This feeling must enter right into the soul of the pupil.

Second – doubt. The struggle, the trials, and tribulations, suffering, and understanding of one’s limits. The limits of nature pushing back, the learning of laws, loyalty and dedication, and the journey to freedom.

Third – blessedness. Through freedom, a choice made independently to serve. This is true freedom and a blessing.

Early Medieval Feudalism (~1100 AD): Lords, vassals, serfs redefine Europe’s power.

Knights Templar (1119–1312 AD): Pilgrim guardians to bankers, betrayed by greed (lecture Sep 24).

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