The Empire of the Franks for the Ancient World, the Mediterranean Area Was the Center
The Empire of the Franks For the ancient world, the Mediterranean area was the center. Around the coasts of the Mediterranean - whether in Spain, North Africa, Sicily, or Asia Minor - everywhere, people lived largely by the same political and social concepts. The Germanic tribes, who had moved into the western Roman Empire, didn't disturb this unity of the Greco-Roman culture. And when, in the seventh century, a completely new political power and culture appeared in the spread of Islam, the unity of the Greco-Roman culture was ended, but the Mediterranean remained the center. That changed when the Franks, under the leadership of Karl Martell, conquered the Arabs in 732 A.D. at Tours and Poitiers in what is now western France, and thereby laid the foundation for the rise of the Frankish Empire. Now there were three big political centers, and the tripartite division of the Mediterranean area was complete: along with the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic Empire appeared the new Frankish Empire. The center-point of the history of the world - which was, until the eighth century, the Mediterranean area - moved north, to central Europe, the area north of the Danube and east of the Rhein. But was that linked to a complete departure from the Roman and ancient heritage? What was new about this Frankish Empire, and back toward which traditions did its rulers reach? In order answer this question, we want to examine more closely the rise of the Frankish Empire, and above all the empire of its most significant ruler, Karl the Great.
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