There was no single source of power for the Early Middle Ages. There were certain types of people who had great power, however, and these were often at odds with each other. They included: The emperor of the East Roman (Byzantine) Empire Kings of the Germanic Kingdoms, such as the Franks, Burgundians, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, and Vandals The Pope Leaders of various migrating hordes
Germanic peoples, such as the Visigoths, Vandals, and Ostrogoths, overran the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century CE. These invaders successfully sacked Rome and eventually established their own kingdoms in the former Roman territories. The ultimate fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE marked the end of ancient Rome and the beginning of the Middle Ages in Europe.
There were many kingdoms in the European Middle Ages. There were probably kingdoms that have been forgotten to history, because much of northern and eastern Europe has no history until about 1000 AD. England was one kingdom. But before England existed as we know it, that land was in the kingdoms of Essex, Middlesex, Wessex, Mercia, Kent, Northumbria, and East Anglia, along with ten or so smaller kingdoms. After they combined, the Vikings divided off the northern part into a kingdom called the Danelaw. Spain consisted of the kingdoms of the Sueves and Visigoths at the beginning of the Middle Ages. The Visigoths conquered the Sueves. But they were conquered by Moors. And then, the people who opposed the Moors founded the kingdoms of Asturias, Galicia, Castile, Leon, Aragon, Catalonia, Navarre, and Portugal, while the Moors divided into a number of smaller kingdoms. There were kingdoms within empires. The Carolingian Empire included the Kingdom of the Franks and the Kingdom of the Lombards. The Holy Roman Empire also had kingdoms within it. The list seems endless.
It was the western part of the Roman Empire which collapsed. The eastern part continued to exist for nearly 1,000 years. The Germanic peoples who invaded the western part of the Roman Empire (the Vandals, Sueves, Alemanni and Burgundians) created their own kingdoms in some parts of it. Two Germanic peoples who had been allowed to settle in the empire (the Visigoths and the Franks) took over other western areas and also created their own kingdoms. Only Italy remained under the Romans, but even this was eventually taken over (by the Ostrogoths).
They were Scandinavian men who served as servants to high ranking nobles and kings, but they were not slaves. Typically they were warriors who acted as bodyguards. The Saxon kingdoms of England also had "huscarls" which were basically the same thing.
the Visigoths separated from the Ostrogoths in the 4th century ad, raided Roman territories repeatedly, and established great kingdoms in Gaul and Spain.
Denmark.
There was no single source of power for the Early Middle Ages. There were certain types of people who had great power, however, and these were often at odds with each other. They included: The emperor of the East Roman (Byzantine) Empire Kings of the Germanic Kingdoms, such as the Franks, Burgundians, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, and Vandals The Pope Leaders of various migrating hordes
Actually, there were more than three. They included kingdoms of the Franks, Burgundians, Visigoths, Suebi, Ostrogoths, Lombards, and Vandals within the area of the old West Roman Empire. In addition, there were Saxons, Frisians, Danes, Carinthians, Bavarians, and others in other parts of continental Europe. There were nearly twenty small Germanic kingdoms in Britain, including Kent, Mercia, Essex, Wessex, Sussex, Northumbria, and East Anglia, which were probably the most important.
The Age of Migrations was a time from about 350 AD to about 700 AD when Germanic tribes and other similar groups, migrated into the territory of the Roman Empire and nearby lands, occupying it and setting up their own kingdoms. The time was rather chaotic, but from the kingdoms founded were a few that became important. Most notably, the Franks, one of the Germanic tribal groups, set up kingdoms that were united, became the Carolingian Empire, and were ancestral to France and the Holy Roman Empire. Other migrating groups included the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Burgundians, Suevi, Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Lombards, and Vandals.
Germanic peoples, such as the Visigoths, Vandals, and Ostrogoths, overran the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century CE. These invaders successfully sacked Rome and eventually established their own kingdoms in the former Roman territories. The ultimate fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE marked the end of ancient Rome and the beginning of the Middle Ages in Europe.
There were many kingdoms in the European Middle Ages. There were probably kingdoms that have been forgotten to history, because much of northern and eastern Europe has no history until about 1000 AD. England was one kingdom. But before England existed as we know it, that land was in the kingdoms of Essex, Middlesex, Wessex, Mercia, Kent, Northumbria, and East Anglia, along with ten or so smaller kingdoms. After they combined, the Vikings divided off the northern part into a kingdom called the Danelaw. Spain consisted of the kingdoms of the Sueves and Visigoths at the beginning of the Middle Ages. The Visigoths conquered the Sueves. But they were conquered by Moors. And then, the people who opposed the Moors founded the kingdoms of Asturias, Galicia, Castile, Leon, Aragon, Catalonia, Navarre, and Portugal, while the Moors divided into a number of smaller kingdoms. There were kingdoms within empires. The Carolingian Empire included the Kingdom of the Franks and the Kingdom of the Lombards. The Holy Roman Empire also had kingdoms within it. The list seems endless.
It was the western part of the Roman Empire which collapsed. The eastern part continued to exist for nearly 1,000 years. The Germanic peoples who invaded the western part of the Roman Empire (the Vandals, Sueves, Alemanni and Burgundians) created their own kingdoms in some parts of it. Two Germanic peoples who had been allowed to settle in the empire (the Visigoths and the Franks) took over other western areas and also created their own kingdoms. Only Italy remained under the Romans, but even this was eventually taken over (by the Ostrogoths).
With the fall of the western part of the Roman Empire, its former lands split into kingdoms of the Germanic invaders and former Germanic allies of the Romans: the kingdom of the Franks in Gaul, the kingdom of the Visigoths in Spain and Portugal, the kingdom of the Sueves in north-western Spain, the kingdom of the Vandals in Tunisia and western Algeria and the kingdom of the Ostrogoths in Italy and the former Yugoslavia. All of these peoples, apart from the Franks who were pagans, followed the Arian doctrine of Christianity. All oft hem, except for the Ostrogoths, converted to Catholicism. There was a decline in trade and in urbanisation. The eastern part of the the Roman Empire was not affected by these invasions and continued to exist for nearly 1,000 years.
The Romans had many foes. Such as the Gauls, Germans, Britons, Carthaginians, Persians, Huns, Numidians, Egyptians, the Greek city states and many small barbarians kingdoms like the Visigoths and Vandals.
They were Scandinavian men who served as servants to high ranking nobles and kings, but they were not slaves. Typically they were warriors who acted as bodyguards. The Saxon kingdoms of England also had "huscarls" which were basically the same thing.
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, its territory was carved up into several kingdoms: the kingdom of the Franks in northen France, Belgium and southern Holland; the kigndom of the Alemanni in southern Gemany and Swizerland; the kingdom of the Burgundians in southeastern France; the kingom of the Visigoths in southwestern France and Spain, and the kingdom of the Vandals in Africa. In Italy there were the Ostrogoths (who did not actually take over fully and allowed the Latins of Italy to self-rule) and the Byzantines. Much later in history, the (Turkish) Ottoman Empire took over most of the empire of the east.