Although the people who were working out these new problems were largely of German blood, it must not be forgotten that Rome’s influence had not been for naught, but was still to be seen in the survival of the Latin language and literature and the material aspects of its civilization—its roads, bridges, aqueducts and walled towns,—and above all in this very tradition of universal dominion. This last idea had been inherited on the one hand by the pope at Rome and on the other by the king of the Germans.
There is no one book which emphasizes the treatment which has been suggested for this first period. The teacher can easily follow this line of development with any of the better text-books. Freeman, “Historical Geography of Europe,” has a good chapter on the geographical development (Chapter VI), also Emerton, “Mediæval Europe,” Chapter I; Seignobos, “History of Mediæval and Modern Civilization,” Chapter VI, will be found very helpful on feudalism; also Emerton, “Introduction to the Middle Ages,” Chapter XV, and Adams, “Civilization during the Middle Ages,” Chapter IX. A good life of Charlemagne in English is Hodgkin, “Charles the Great.” There is an abundance of source material. Special mention might be made of Thatcher and McNeal, Nos. 7-9, 16-19, 191-194, 209-217; Robinson, Chapter VII, on Charlemagne, Chapter VIII on the Disruption of Charlemagne’s Empire, and Chapter IX on Feudalism; Ogg, Chapter IX, on the “Age of Charlemagne,” Chapter X on the “Era of the Later Carolingians,” and Chapter XIII on the “Feudal System.” Good maps may be found in such atlases as Freeman, Putzger, and Dow, which should be in the hands of every live teacher.
College Entrance Questions.
The following questions are selected from some of the recent examinations:
State as definitely as possible what you conceive to be the place of Charlemagne in European history.
What did the Holy Roman Empire include? How was it governed?
Trace the connection between the break-up of the Empire of Charlemagne and the beginnings of (a) France, (b) Germany, (c) Italy.
What connection was there between the break-up of the Carolingian Empire and the rise of feudalism?
Some Suggestions on Feudalism.
A good vantage point from which to approach the subject is to look upon feudalism as the result of the need of protection in an age of disorder and confusion; then to follow this idea with an explanation of its relation to the holding of land. When these elementary facts have been made reasonably clear, they will serve as an excellent basis for what must necessarily follow, namely, an explanation of how the various factors involved each played its part in building up an organization which though called a system is very often extremely puzzling for its very lack of the same. The “feudal grant” has now been made clear and the entering wedge has been driven for an understanding of vassalage. It is now easy to explain immunity and to pass from this to the practice of subinfeudation, and the mutual responsibilities involved in the feudal relation. The diagram on page 115 of Robinson’s “Western Europe” will serve to give the student an excellent notion of the complexity of the feudal relation.