We are continuing with the Germans series.  The Germans were originally tribal people, the Bavarians, Swabians, Franks, and the Saxons were all unified by a language and a common enemy.  The Magyars swept through the tribal territories.  They attacked villages and burned castles.  King Otto unified the German tribes to fight the Magyars.  The Bavarians, Swabians, Franks, Lorrainians, and Saxons all unified to fight the Magyars.  The Magyars were confident of victory, however, they did not know they were facing King Otto. 

Before the battle against the Magyars, Otto was the Duke of Saxony.  However, his ambitions were bigger: he wanted to be Emperor over a united Europe.  He wanted to be as powerful as Charlemagne.  He wanted to revive the Roman Empire.  However, he started small.  He rode into Aachen where he convened all the nobles to be voted as their next king.  His father King Henry wanted Otto to succeed him as king.  It was tradition for the dying King to divide up the kingdom between his sons, however, King Henry changed the rules and chose one son to succeed him.  It was in Aachen, Otto was elected King of the Germans and was accepted by the common people.  He was then crowned on Charlemagne’s throne in Aachen.

The action of sitting down on Charlemagne’s throne led to outrage among the other nobles.  It was a signal to them that King Otto wanted to rule over all of Christendom.  This caused some controversy among the people as well.  Otto was a king who ruled on his horse.  He traveled widely (over 180 days a year) and had to be taken care of by the people.  The people had to provide their king with food and shelter and with food in short supply among the peasants, King Otto’s trips were expensive indeed.  The phrase “God bless the king, but may he never return,” was common among all ranks of people.  However, by moving from place to place, many peasants would have seen the king and have spoken to the king.

When Otto’s first wife died, he married again to Adelaide of Italy.  Together they had a son Henry, who could succeed Otto as King.  However, this caused trouble with Liudolf, who was promised that he would be the next king of the Germans.  Liudolf then went to the Magyars and tried to make a deal with them.  There was also a fight between father and son which led to Liudolf fleeing from the fight.  Liudolf takes shelter in a city that Otto promptly attacks.   Eventually, Liudolf was reconciled with his father, but he would never be considered heir again.  Together, they came united to fight the Magyars.  The German emerged victoriously.
 
With the victory, the German tribes came together.  If they had lost the battle they probably would have had to pay tribute to the Magyars.  The Germans probably would have been divided into tribes again as well.  With this Victory, Otto’s ambitions grew.  When the Pope called for King Otto to defend the papal states, Otto answered.  Otto would go to Italy as king and would leave Italy as Emperor.  King Otto was prepared to defend Rome.  He would be crowned with the Imperial Crown and would be known as Holy Roman Emperor.  The Holy Roman Empire would unify the German people for centuries to come.

To find out more continue to watch the documentary.  In the meantime, keep this documentary in your files to share with a class.  You can always use clips from this documentary in a lecture too.

You can access the YouTube video here.

Hello again.  Today we move on from Rome and Pompeii and learn about Charlemagne and the empire he built.  This is a German-produced documentary in English about the history of the Germans.  Anyway, it is a fascinating documentary to show in a classroom setting.  In the 700’s, there were just Franks and Saxons, German was not even an idea.  The Germans kick off with the story of Charlemagne.

The Saxons were a pagan people and they went into the sacred woods for the gods to answer their questions.  They did this for centuries, until 772 when their world changed.  A young Frankish king invaded Saxony with a cohort of troops.  The Saxons are taken by surprise.  Their villages were destroyed by the Franks.

The Frankish king wants to expand his realm and wants to make the Saxons Christians.  After the attacks, the Saxon nobles vow to avenge the attacks.  Charles, the Frankish king wants to subjugate the Saxons and unite his empire under one religion.  The Franks tear down the idols of Saxons.  However, the Saxon resistance was not broken.  The Saxon nobility rallied the people to rebel against the Franks.

Charles, the Frankish King ruled the Frankish Empire.  He was from an old noble family and their center of power was Saint-Denis.  There was no real center of power in the Frankish Empire.  The Pope visited Saint-Denis when Charles was six.  The pope wanted security for Rome and the Franks wanted recognition for their empire.  At the end of the pope’s visit, the Franks and the Pope were in an alliance.

After Charlemagne conquered the Saxons, they were forced to bow to him in a ceremony.  They were to be subjects in Charlemagne’s realm.  It seems for the time being that Saxons were on his side.  Charlemagne moved on to Lombardy even though the Lombards were Christians.  He wanted to resurrect the Roman empire.  It was to be on empire, one faith, one ruler.  He became the King of the Franks and the Lombards.  Charlemagne was crowned with the crown of the Lombards, the Iron Crown.  However, even though was a conqueror, he developed a love of learning.  He gathered experts in his court to help reform education.  This led to the rebirth of the classical world.  He also unified the empire under one language and written script.

In the meantime, the Saxons were casting off their idols into the fire.  Charlemagne had passed a law that they had to be baptized or die.  There was one noble who rebelled against this law.  His name was Widukind and he led the rebellion of the Saxons.  He attacked Frankish villages.  It explodes in a dirty war between unequal.  Widukind escapes capture.  Charles took his revenge on the Saxons for their rebellion, slaughtering over 4,000 Saxon men.  He deported 1,000’s more to the Frankish empire.  It was brutal and even shocked Charlemagne's contemporaries.

The Saxon resistance was not broken by Charlemagne’s harsh revenge.  They fought for thirteen years.  Charlemagne’s advisors tried to reason with him.  They wanted to negotiate with the Saxons.  Charlemagne was reluctant to do so.  There was a suggestion of an honorable capitulation with Widukind but in exchange for backing down Widukind would have to be baptized.  Widukind rode into the Frankish homeland and was baptized.  This was the early history of an empire that would eventually become France and Germany.

To find out more continue to watch the documentary.  In the meantime, keep this documentary in your files to share with a class.  You can always use clips from this documentary in a lecture too.


You can access the documentary on YouTube here.

I discovered a new historian who I want to share with the readers of this page.  Mary Beard is an expert in ancient Roman history and specializes in the history of Pompeii.  She is a lecturer at Cambridge.  She is also a terrific narrator and I could listen to her in a classroom all day.  After watching this video, you will agree with that assessment yourself.  She uses the documentary to bust a few myths about Pompeii.  The bones tell the story of Pompeii in a unique way.

Beard explores the poverty and the riches of Pompeii.  Ancient Pompeii could be termed a combination of Las Vegas and Brighton.  It was the playground of the rich.  It was the popular place of the fast set.  It was place where rich Romans would take their vacation.  It was a place preserved by a volcano.  The bodies that were preserved reveal the differences between the rich and poor of Pompeii.

In the cellars of Pompeii, the rich and the poor died together.  They lived close together,trying to make their own lives.  This was highlighted by the staining on the bones.  The poor people had no staining because they did not have wealth to carry with them as they tried to make their escape.  The rich people carried their jewelry and their coins.  When they died and their bodies rotted away, the jewelry ended up staining their bones over time.  The bones found in the cellar provided an opportunity for forensic specialists to study the bones.  Bones in plaster casts could not be studied due to contamination.

Beard explores the jewelry that the rich wore at the time of their death.  She explains what was found and explores the possibility of the rich taking their life savings with them as they tried to make their escape.  Then she explores the comparisons of Pompeii to modern day Naples.  Pompeii may have been cleaner than Naples as bathing was a daily part of life.  There were a large amount of baths found in Pompeii.  It was a great leveler of society.  It was a place to escape. 

If you want to learn more before you show this to a classroom continue to watch.  The bones are the items that really tell the tale of Pompeii.  It also shows that studying History may be more complicated than you think it is.  You may want to show this documentary to older students as there are some images that are not for younger eyes.  There is a discussion of sex and brothels in this documentary.  You could use pieces of the documentary in the classroom if you do not want to show it all.

You can highlight, copy, and paste the questions into a Word, GoogleDoc or Google Classroom document for use in school or home school.  Format it the way you want to.  All questions after formatting should fit onto one page with enough space for the student to write their answers.

You can access the video here.

Pompeii: Life and Death of a City Questions
1.  What two cities did Mary Beard compare Pompeii to? 
2.  Why was the person called "Green Bones" green? 
3.  Did the poor people of Pompeii have the green staining on them?
4.  Where were the bodies found?
5.  How long was the swimming pool? 
6.  What was the name of the volcano Pompeii was next to?
7.  What piece of jewelry was Mary told not to wear?
8.  Where did people live in Pompeii? 
9.  What did Pompeii have in common with Naples? 
10.  What was an important part of life of Pompeii? 

Pompeii: Life and Death of a City Answers
1.  What two cities did Mary Beard compare Pompeii to?  - Las Vegas and Brighton
2.  Why was the person called "Green Bones" green?  - Stained by copper or bronze
3.  Did the poor people of Pompeii have the green staining on them?  No
4.  Where were the bodies found?  - Cellar
5.  How long was the swimming pool?  - 200 Foot/Olympic sized
6.  What was the name of the volcano Pompeii was next to?  - Vesuvius
7.  What piece of jewelry was Mary told not to wear?  - A chain
8.  Where did people live in Pompeii?  Above the shop
9.  What did Pompeii have in common with Naples?  Graffiti, Imagery on the street
10.  What was an important part of life of Pompeii?  Bathing