How did the franks create a kingdom in western europe, and what external threat did it face?

  • Introduction
  • Greeks, Romans, and barbarians

  • The emergence of modern Europe, 1500–1648

  • The great age of monarchy, 1648–1789

  • Revolution and the growth of industrial society, 1789–1914

  • European society and culture since 1914

The Franks created an empire in Western Europe by Clovis, king of Franks, conquered Gual former Roman province. Then Clovis converted to Christianity aslo the religion of the subjects of Gual. Gaining support of the people and the pope creating an empire in Western Europe. The external threat where invaders to take the lands, Muslims


Honors World History


Section 1 Assessment, p. 218



1)    Key Terms


2)    How did Germanic tribes divide Western Europe into small kingdoms?


A)  Several tribes conquered parts of the old Roman Empire and fought over land.  After Charlemagne’s death, his empire was divided.


3)    How did the collapse of the western Roman Empire affect Western Europe?


A)  Europe lost its sense of unity; trade slowed, towns emptied, learning declined, invaders swept through the region.


4)    How did the Franks create a kingdom in Western Europe, and what external threat did it face?


A)  Clovis conquered Gaul in 486, Charlemagne built an empire stretching across France, Germany, and part of Italy.  It  was threatened by a Muslim empire


5)    What made Charlemagne a successful leader?


A)  Charlemagne fostered cultural unity, kept nobles under control, and sent out missi to enforce justice.


6)    What happened to Charlemagne’s empire after he died? Why?


A)  It was divided into three parts by his grandsons after his heirs fought for power.





Focus Questions (1-11)


1)    Why was this period in Europe once called the Dark Ages?


Europe was swept by invaders, trade slowed, towns and learning declined


2)    How did the culture of the Germans differ from that of the Romans?


The Germans had not written laws or cities.


3)    How much of Europe did Charlemagne control?


A large part of Western Europe


4)    How did Charlemagne enlarge his kingdom?


By Conquest


5)    How did he spread Christianity?


He allied with the Pope, sent missionaries to outlying parts of this kingdom


6)    How did this help unify his realm?


Different religions and groups now shared a common religion


7)    Why did Charlemagne support education?


To unify his kingdom and to revive the glory of Rome


8)    What might be the effect on a country of Viking invasions?


Disruption, fear, destroyed


9)    How did Charlemagne’s empire split


His grandsons fought over it and divided in into three parts


10)                      What invasions threatened these kingdoms?


Muslim, Magyar, and Vikings


11)                      How was the collapse of Charlemagne’s empire similar to the collapse of the Roman Empire?


Weakened when divided, then suffered attacks by outside plundering tribes



Vocabulary (1-8)


1)      Clovis – king of the Franks; converted to Christianity


2)      Medieval – referring to the Middle Ages in Europe or the period of history between ancient and modern times


3)      Franks – a Germanic tribe that conquered present day France and neighboring lands in the 400s


4)      Charles Martel – leader of the Franks at the Battle of Tours


5)      Battle of Tours – 732, in which the Christian Franks led by Charles Martel defeated the Muslim armies and stopped the Muslim advance into Europe


6)      Charlemagne – emperor who united much of Western Europe into a Christian Kingdom; crowned by the Pope as “King of the Romans”


7)      Magyars – an ethnic group centered in present-day Hungary


8)      Vikings – Scandinavian peoples whose sailors raided Europe from the 700s through the 1100s



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