The Power Of The Western Empire

Chau’s thesis that the rise and fall of empires was due to tolerance, inclusion, difference, and diversity is shown to be true of the Roman Empire because of the way that tolerance allowed and caused the empire to rise, enter its golden age, and fall. The Roman Empire was a “hyperpower” that lasted from 44 BCE to 476 CE. The empire contained Western, Southern, and Eastern Europe, along with North Africa; thus, there was an abundance of culture from many different conquered groups. Romans wanted to make these conquered nations provinces of Rome. The Roman Empire began (and the Roman Republic ended) with the assassination of Julius Caesar, who wanted to be a dictator. No longer a republic, the lands already ruled by Rome became part of an empire. The government became centralized with a single ruler, the emperor. However, even before the empire, during the Republic, there was also the similar feeling of wanting to conquer other nations was there.

Discuss the extent to which American hegemony led to the rise of the modern American empire.

Charlemagne, also known as Charles the great was a ruler in times of turmoil in Europe during the middle ages. Charlemagne came from a powerful family tree which made a huge impact on why he rose to power. His family history and their backgrounds is what prepared him to take on the task of becoming King of the Frankish Empire and protecting it from intruders. Charlemagne accomplished much during his reign. He focused on bringing education back into medieval Europe but, also discovered a more efficient way to govern his people. His conquests against the adversaries of the Holy Roman Empire is what lead to his expansion and spreading his Empire across most of Europe which he eventually established the Carolingian Empire in the later years of his supremacy. This also led to strong relationships with the Catholic Church and the State. Charlemagne’s goal was to spread Christianity throughout all of Europe and was willing to fight for his religion. One group in particular he fought with the most was the Saxons who he nearly eliminated their whole population.

Charlemagne played a pivotal rule in western Europe after the collapse of the Roman empire. Europe was going through a period of time known as the dark ages. This period is from the fall of Roman to the beginning of the Middle ages (“the dark age”). Charlemagne also known as Charles the Great provided a turning point to this era and was able to slow down the cultural and political crumbling of the Middle ages. In order to secure these two important aspects of the new empire he relied on numerous resources (Charlemagne).

The law of gravity explains that what goes up, must come down. As humans living on Earth we comply to this law that at times can be dissimilar from objects such as the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in year 476 AD. Rome was a massive, heavily populated, and rich empire that controlled Mediterranean trade, which makes the collapse a big deal in history (Grant). Rome still existed after the year 476 AD, however it was no longer a superpower in the Western world just a power amongst many predominately in the East. The collapse of Western Rome was gradual where there was no finite cause, yet a series of events.

The Fall of Western Empire 2500ish years ago, Rome’s Western Empire fell, creating widespread chaos. Still to this day, no one knows how it fell. Even though people have 7 different theories on how they think the empire fell, there are just three that makes the most sense and that has good evidence. People say that the reason the Western Empire feel was because of the political standpoint, bad economy, and the citizens not participating.

Charlemagne, also known as Charles the Great, was born around the 2nd of April 747 and died on the 28th of January 814. He was noted down in history as King of the Franks, a Germanic-speaking people who invaded western Rome residing in current day Germany, the King of the Lombards, Germanic people who resided in parts of the Italian peninsula, and finally was the first Holy Roman Emperor. Another name that has been bestowed upon Charlemagne was the title “Father of Europe”. Due to the Carolingian empire 's rule, Charlemagne was able to unite nearly all of western Europe. The last empire to do so was the Roman Empire and no other country would unite Europe until the eighteen hundred under Napoleon. Charlemagne’s father was named Pepin the Short, a name that deceives most on the battlefield due to his incredible and unmatched strength. Pepin the Short was the predecessor to Charlemagne as the king of the Franks. Pepin also helped set up the Carolingian dynasty but did not peak its power until the crowning of Charlemagne. Charlemagne’s successor was his son, Louis the Pious, who would be dissimilar from Charlemagne. In fact, for most of his reign, Louis the Pious would have to deal with many civil wars which foreshadowed the diminishing strength of the Carolingian empire. Charlemagne would serve as the prototype for most of the medieval western Europe for the next millennium until the founding of the new world.

The Westward Expansion has often been regarded as the central theme of American history, down to the end of the19th century and as the main factor in the shaping of American history. As Frederick Jackson Turner says, the greatest force or influence in shaping American democracy and society had been that there was so much free land in America and this profoundly affected American society. Motives After the revolution, the winning of independence opened up the Western country and was hence followed by a steady flow of settlers to the Mississippi valley. By 1840, 10 new western states had been added to the Federal union. The frontier line ran through Iowa, Missouri and Arkansas on the western side

Clovis, king of the Franks, established the Merovingian Empire in 481. Then, in 511, he split his empire between his four sons. The kings in the Merovingian line continued to hand down their thrones to their later generations, which slowly started to make them weak. This was because they were using nepotism instead of giving positions based on merit. So, after time, positions called Mayors of the Palace were formed. Mayors of the Palace, according to the dictionary, were people “of a line of hereditary administrative lieutenants to the Merovingian kings who eventually took over royal function and title in the Frankish kingdoms”. Over time, the descendants of Clovis became to be known as “Do-Nothing kings”, because they relied on the Mayors of the Palace to do work. The “Do-Nothing kings began to have virtually no power, but they still held on to their title as king. One of the most famous Mayors of the Palace was Charles Martel. His son, Pepin became the Frankish king. Pepin’s son was Charlemagne. Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, was the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, who achieved many well-known accomplishments which have shaped the political, military, and religious aspects of Europe today. Charlemagne was known by Einhart as a “good father,

The fall of the Western Roman Empire in the late fifth century plunged Europe into a long period of darkness and barbarism. This era until the dawn of the ‘age of discovery’ in the sixteenth century was later termed to be the ‘Middle Ages’. While this epoch of European history is labeled as ‘middle’ or even ‘dark’, it was during this time that many social, political and cultural developments took place. The obliteration of the great Roman Empire left Europe prey for disunity and continuous foreign invasion and migration. From Scotland to the alps of Sicily a prayer emerged in the ninth century, “Save us, O God, from the violence of the Northmen”. Now known as Vikings, these northmen were pagan Germanic people from Norway, Sweden and Denmark that often went on raids and harassed isolated monasteries and villages throughout the continent. Similarly peoples known as Magyars from central Europe looted settlements took captives and forced leaders to pay tribute to prevent further attacks. Muslims from North Africa already ruled most of Spain and continued northward towards central Italy and southern France. The expansion of Islam continued on into the tenth and eleven centuries during the times of the Fatimid Caliphate and the Seljuk Turks. The centuries before the first crusade were one of terror and chaos from a European or Christian perspective. People were frightened that their world was slowly coming to an end, overrun by pagans and Muslims. This fear combined with

Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, reigned during a time of much turmoil and upheaval in Europe during middle ages. Charlemagne’s background and family history contributed much to his rise to power. The triumphs of his past lineage prepared him to take on the task of governing the Frankish Empire, and defending it from invaders. Charlemagne accomplished much during his supremacy. He not only brought education back into medieval Europe, but also invented an efficient way to govern his people. His conquests against the many adversaries of the Holy Roman Empire expanded his empire across the majority of Europe. His conquests also formed strong ties between the Catholic Church and the State. Charlemagne’s drive to convert Europe’s primitive

In the year 330 Constantine founded a new imperial city in the east, which became known as Constantinople. Accompanying Diocletian's system of tetrarchy, the creation of this new city affirmed the separation of the Roman Empire into the east and the west. The Eastern Roman Empire held a series of advantages over the west both socially and economically. The Western Roman Empire was the weaker empire and a bad leadership and government along with attacks from barbarians led to the demise of the Western Roman Empire.

By the Cross and the Sword : Charlemagne’s Impact on the West. “He who ordains the fate of kingdoms in the march of the centuries, the all-powerful Disposer of events, having destroyed one extraordinary image, that of the Romans, which had, it was true, feet of iron, or even feet of clay, then raised up, among the Franks, the golden head of a second image, equally remarkable, in the person of the illustrious Charlemagne. Notker the Stammerer, the monk of St. Gall, wrote these words in AD 844 to describe the reign of the most influential Frankish king Charlemagne ( Lectures 1). Charlemagne, son of Pepin the Short, ruled the Franks for 47 years (Koeller 1). The Carolingian Dynasty, of which Charlemagne was a member, was

Conversion to Catholic Christianity was made by one of the first Frankish kings Clovis in 496, and such conversion had a profound political influence on the future development of the Carolingians. During the beginning of the Carolingian dynasty, Pepin the Short, son of the Mayor of the Palace, was the one who had the real power, but he was not satisfied. He looked for a powerful outside force, that is Roman Church at this time, to approve his powerful position, since there was no more effective way than religion to control the beliefs of people. With the help of Pope Stephen, Pepin was the “selected king according to the custom of franks”(39). He was “holy anointed” and “confirmed as king” by Pope Stephen in 754, and thus inheriting from God

The one constant theme from any period in history we examine seems to be that of change. As Europe began to take shape, it did so with an expansion and contraction rate that was dramatically impacted by changes in political organizations, positive and negative economic forces, and through shifts in social structure. The path to the creation of the European empires was a long and tedious journey. Sixth century feudalism gave way to the creation of a central authority. The thirteenth century was scarred by the Black Death but it brought about economic changes that would resonate well into the Renaissance period of the fifteenth century. Nation-states began their formation as the need for a centralized government dictated. With each step