Europe in the Early Middle Ages – Migrations, Invasions and Kingdoms

Europe in the Early Middle Ages Migrations, Invasions and Kingdoms

Europe in the Early Middle Ages was marked by large scale migrations and invasions that resulted in establishment of new political units on the territory of the former Western Roman Empire. The Germanic peoples mostly settled in Western, Central and Southern Europe by the end of the 5th century where they established their own kingdoms. Most of them were short-lived except for the Carolingian Empire that absorbed virtually all the remaining Germanic kingdoms in Western and Central Europe by the end of the 8th century.

Migration of the Germanic peoples was followed by the arrival of the Slavic peoples who settled in Eastern Europe, part of Central Europe and the Balkans. However, the majority of the early medieval Slavic states was short-lived as well. They were either conquered by the Carolingian Empire / Holy Roman Empire or the Byzantine Empire.

Early medieval Europe also saw the arrival of the Avars and Bulgarians in the 6th century. The Avars settled in the Pannonian Basin in the mid-6th century (their state was destroyed by the Franks in 803), while the Bulgarians settled in the Eastern Balkan and established an empire in 680.

Following the conquest of North Africa, the Muslims crossed the strait of Gibraltar and invaded the Iberian Peninsula. They conquered the Visigothic Kingdom by 718 when they crossed the Pyrenees. Muslim forces were decisively defeated by the Franks in the Battle of Tours in 732 which marked the end of the Muslim advance in Western Europe. However, the Muslim conquests in Europe did not cease with the Battle of Tours. The Saracens captured Sicily and a part of Southern Italy from the Byzantine Empire in the mid-9th century and threatened Northern Italy and southern France.

At the end of the 9th century, Europe saw the arrival of Hungarians who seriously threatened Central Europe until the mid-10th century when they were decisively defeated by Otto the Great. By the end of the Middle Ages, the Hungarians permanently settled in the Pannonian Basin and adopted the European culture and political organization.

While the Central Europe was threatened by the Hungarians, the Western Europe was seriously endangered by the Vikings. In order to put an end to the Viking threat, King of East Francia Charles the Simple gave the Vikings what is today Normandy as a fief in the early 10th century.

The Viking invasions were also a serious threat to the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms in Great Britain which were unable to withstand the invaders. The Vikings started to settle in England by the mid-9th century and established an independent settlement Danelaw.

The majority of early medieval kingdoms collapsed during the Early Middle Ages including the strongest of all the Carolingian Empire. The realm of the Franks under the Carolingian dynasty started to decline after death of Charlemagne in 814 and split into three kingdoms in 843.

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