Chapter 10 Christian Europe Emerges 300-1200 C.E. Early Medieval Europe, 300?1000 Time of Insecurity Roman Empire breaks down Western Europe continued to suffer invasions Muslim Arabs and Berbers took the Iberian Peninsula and pushed into France Carolingians Family of Rulers In the eighth century the Carolingians united various Frankish kingdoms into a larger empire At its height, under Charlemagne, the empire included Gaul and parts of Germany and Italy The empire was subdivided by Charlemagne's grandsons and never united again. Vikings Vikings attacked England, France, and Spain in the late eighth and ninth centuries Vikings also settled Iceland and Normandy, from which the Norman William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066. A Self-Sufficient Economy