The Early Medieval Period

Medieval Europe experienced tough times after the fall of the Roman Empire until the time when they got a new ruler, Charlemagne, who brought about many social, political and economic reforms.

Charlemagne rule

            Nobility played the role of fighting during the rule of Charlemagne. They were the second in order of social class, and most of them were illiterate and very crude. They fought in battles with King Charlemagne to expand his territory and punish those who did not accept Christianity. Charlemagne encouraged education because as a young person he did not get an opportunity to read. He also wanted to bring about change through fostering education to create professionals in the different fields that were available. He wanted his people to acquire sufficient knowledge based on what they wanted to do. For instance, he replaced amateurs in his court with judges who understood the law (Mayr-Harting, 1115). He also put laws that stated that priest would be ordained if they qualified in their examination. Hence Charlemagne was set to increase the knowledge of his people and create professionalism.

             The Carolingian reconnaissance was a period of great cultural activity and education reforms. Charlemagne was determined to ensure that the people under his rule practiced similar culture and religion which was inspired the Roman Catholic .This period would have been dangerous to his rule because people who were not happy about common religion would revolt and maybe overthrow his rule. The period would have been critical because it was marked by increased warfare as many people were forced to embrace Christianity and those who objected were killed which would have caused tension and revolution in the country.

After the death of Emperor Charlemagne in 814 the kingdom became divided partly because the heir was not strong a ruler as Charlemagne. The family resulted in a civil war with the sons of Louis the pious fighting for the throne which weakened their leadership in the kingdom. The continued disagreements led to outside attacks from different groups such as the barbarian tribes, Vikings, and Muslims which weakened the state(Mayr-Harting,1130). The nobles in the kingdom lost respect for their leader and started exercising powers which belonged to the central government.

Islam

            The main tenets of the Islam religion are made up of five pillars which include: the profession of the Islam faith, prayers, concern for the poor in the society, purification through fasting and pilgrimage. The earlier military expansions led to the spread of Islam to various parts of the kingdoms. The religion was also spread by trade, missionaries and changes in their political structures. This group managed to build their empires due to the science, economic development and the cultural works that they developed. Many people went to seek more education in the Islamic states(Mayr-Harting,1131). The Islamic world influenced the medievalEuropean culture through innovations that were developed during the Islamic golden age. These contributions include arts, agriculture, music, pottery, and technological innovations.

Feudal system

            The feudal society began in Europe to pull the nation back together after a series of warfare among the citizens and external attacks. The system started after the fall of the Roman Empire to restore order in the society. The land in the society was owned by the king who leased it to the people. The king derived his power from the ownership of land. The main ingredients of feudalism were the king who was the leader of the feudal system, barons who were the executors; there were also knights who provided protections and villains who provided food and services when required. It would be difficult for modern society to slip back into this system because of the existence of capitalism (Mayr-Harting, 1131).

Christianity

            Christianity is a religion that evolved because so many changes happened and different groupsadopted a different belief. Christianity has become more liberal, and some of the beliefs are no longer observed. Some of the significant changes in Christianity werethe development of modern theology (Mayr-Harting, 1132). Thereis the integration of the changing social issues and biblical criticism in Christianity. Christianity is more liberal as there are increased denominations such as Adventism and Mormonism. Heresy was used by the church leaders to make any corrections regarding the beliefs that the people had about Christianity that were not right. It helped the church leaders teach what was right to their followers and correct any misinterpretations in their writings.

Conclusion

The early medieval period saw great transformations in empires through strong leadership and government systems. The period also saw great influence among cultures and the evolution of Christianity.

Work Cited

Mayr-Harting, Henry. “Charlemagne, the Saxons, and the Imperial Coronation of 800.”The        English Historical Review111.444 (1996): 1113-1133.