神聖羅馬帝國於約800年法蘭剋人的國王查裏曼被教皇加冕為皇帝時開始崛起。他的帝國立足於法國、低地國傢和德國，擴張至現代的意大利、下薩剋森、波西米亞、匈牙利和西班牙。他和他的父親得到了教皇的暗中支持，因為後者想獲得對抗倫巴第人的資本。正式地說來教皇是拜占庭帝國的臣屬，但是拜占庭皇帝沒有（也不能）進行任何對抗倫巴第人的行動。
在東方保加利亞於681年建立，成為第一個斯拉夫國傢。強大的保加利亞帝國是幾個世紀中與拜占庭爭奪巴爾幹控製權的主要對手，在9世紀成為了歐洲斯拉夫地區的文化中心。兩個國傢大摩拉維亞和基輔羅斯在9世紀的東西斯拉夫地區分別崛起。在9世紀後期與10世紀北歐和西歐感到了迅速崛起的維京人的力量和影響，他們使用他們發達的航海船衹如長船等飛速地、有效率地掠奪、買賣、徵服和殖民。匈牙利人掠奪了歐洲大陸，佩切涅格人席捲了東歐，而阿拉伯人掠過南歐。在10世紀中歐建立了幾個獨立王國，如波蘭和匈牙利王國。匈牙利人停止了掠奪，主要的民族國傢也包括了巴爾幹的剋羅地亞和塞爾維亞。接下來直到1000年的時期中，封建制度進一步發展，從而削弱了神聖羅馬帝國。
The Holy Roman Empire emerged around 800, as Charlemagne, king of the Franks, was crowned by the pope as emperor. His empire based in modern France, the Low Countries and Germany expanded into modern Hungary, Italy, Bohemia, Lower Saxony and Spain. He and his father received substantial help from an alliance with the Pope, who wanted help against the Lombards. The pope was officially a vassal of the Byzantine Empire, but the Byzantine emperor did (could do) nothing against the Lombards.
To the east Bulgaria was established in 681 and became the first Slavic country. The powerful Bulgarian Empire was the main rival of Byzantium for control of the Balkans for centuries and from the 9th century became the cultural center of Slavic Europe. Two states, Great Moravia and Kievan Rus', emerged among the Western and Eastern Slavs respectively in the 9th century. In the late 9th century and 10th century, northern and western Europe felt the burgeoning power and influence of the Vikings who raided, traded, conquered and settled swiftly and efficiently with their advanced sea-going vessels such as the longships. The Hungarians pillaged mainland Europe, the Pechenegs raided eastern Europe and the Arabs the south. In the 10th century independent kingdoms were established in Central Europe, for example, Poland and Kingdom of Hungary. Hungarians had stopped their pillaging campaigns; prominent nation states also included Croatia and Serbia in the Balkans. The subsequent period, ending around 1000, saw the further growth of feudalism, which weakened the Holy Roman Empire.