CHARLEMAGNE REVIVES THE IDEA OF EMPIRE

(Napisao: gosp. Marko Marelić -  S. Francisco - USA)
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After the breakup of the Roman Empire, petty kingdoms sprang up all over Europe. For example, England was divided into seven tiny kingdoms, some no larger than the state of Connecticut. By far the largest and strongest of Europe's kingdoms was that of the Franks in what had been the Roman province of Gaul. The foundations for this kingdom were laid by the Franks' first Christian king, Clovis. The modern name of France comes from the people of the Franks. Louis, the name of 16 later French kings is a softer-sounding form of Clovis.

Clovis's Descendants Lose Power

In 481, when the 15-year-old Clovis became king, the Franks controlled only a small area of flat, marshy land (the present-day Netherlands) on either side of the Rhine River. By the time Clovis died in 511, he ruled most of what is now France.

The Merovingian Kings

Clovis and his successors are known as the Merovingian dynasty, after a legendary ancestor, Merovech. They were also called "the long-haired kings" because long hair was a symbol of power and authority among the Franks. The Merovingians ruled for about 275 years, but those were not peaceful years. When a Merovingian king died, his sons treated the kingdom as private property to be divided among themselves. Such divisions weakened the kingdom and often led to civil war as each son tried to seize the whole kingdom. Yet the Merovingians succeeded in keeping the idea of kingship alive.

Mayors of the Palace

By the year 700, the power of the Merovingian kings had dwindled to almost nothing. The most powerful person in the kingdom was not the king but an official known as the major domo or mayor of the palace. Officially, a mayor of the palace was in charge of the royal household and estates. Unofficially, he was the power behind the throne. He commanded the armies and made policy. In effect, he governed the kingdom in the king's name.

In 714, the position of mayor of the palace was held by Charles, known as Martel (the Hammer). Charles Martel was king in all but name. He extended the power of the Franks to the north, south, and east. He even defeated a Muslim raiding party from Spain at the Battle of Tours in 732. (This battle marked the height of Muslim conquests in Europe.) Finally, at his death, Charles Martel passed his power on to his son, Pepin the Short.

The Pope Names Pepin King

Pepin was not content to be the power behind the throne. He wanted to be king in his own right. Pepin wrote a shrewd letter to the Pope and asked, "Who should be the rightful ruler of the Franks? Should it be the man who has the title of king but no power? Or should it be the man with the power but no title?" The Pope answered, "It is better that he who possesses the power be called king than he who has none." Thus Pepin the Short obtained the Church's blessing for seizing the throne.

The Pope and the new Frankish king needed each other. Only the Church could give legitimacy to the rule of Pepin and his heirs. At the same time, only a strong king like Pepin could protect the Pope from the Lombards, who again threatened Rome. In desperation, Pope Stephen II crossed the Alps in 754 to plead for help. Pepin agreed to fight the Lombards on the Pope's behalf. Then an event of immense historic importance occurred. In a dimly lit chapel, the Pope anointed Pepin's head with holy oil and declared him "king by the grace of God."

Pepin was the first king ever to be anointed by a Pope. Afterward, it became common for kings in western Europe to be crowned "by the grace of God" in a church ceremony. No longer were kings simply political rulers. They now had some spiritual authority as well.

Pepin soon led an army into Italy and defeated the Lombards in one city after another. In 756, he collected the keys to all the cities he had conquered and gave them to the Pope. Thus, the popes became the political rulers of scattered Italian lands known as the Papal States. The Frankish kings and the Roman popes had entered into an informal alliance. It was an unstable alliance, however. Much of the later history of the Middle Ages is the story of popes struggling to control kings, and vice versa.

Charlemagne Extends Frankish Power

Pepin the Short died in 768 and left a greatly strengthened Frankish kingdom to his son, Charles. Charles was in his mid-twenties when he became king and in his early seventies at his death. He was king of the Franks for 46 years (768-814), longer than Augustus Caesar had been emperor of the Romans. In fact, Charles's reign was a glorious time in the Frankish kingdom, just as Augustus's reign had been for Rome. In Latin, Charles was called Carolus Magnus, or Charles the Great. In French, his name became Charlemagne and his descendants were known as the Carolingian dynasty.

Charlemagne's Personality

Though his father was Pepin the Short, Charlemagne was gigantic, six feet four inches tall. Charlemagne followed the Frankish custom of wearing a mustache but no beard. His secretary and biographer, a monk named Einhard, wrote this description of him:

"The upper part of his head was round; his eyes were large and lively, nose a little long, hair fair, and face laughing and merry. Thus his appearance was always stately and dignified, whether he was standing or sitting; although his neck was thick and somewhat short, and his belly rather prominent; but the symmetry of the rest of his body concealed these defects."

Charlemagne was a great sportsman. He especially liked to hunt deer on horseback or to plunge into a river and swim great distances. A king in the Middle Ages needed all Charlemagne's great physical strength and energy.

Charlemagne the Conqueror

In war, the king himself commanded the armies and fought in the front line. Every spring, Charlemagne called together all the great landowners of the kingdom, both nobles and bishops. They met at Charlemagne's capital, Aachen, or at another royal residence. Each noble brought his own followers, equipped for battle. This, for example was one of Charlemagne's orders to his nobles:

"Each horseman is expected to have a shield, lance, sword, dagger, bow, quiver with arrows, and in your carts shall be ... axes, planes, augers, boards, spades, iron shovels, and other utensils that are necessary in any army. In the wagons shall be supplies for three months and clothing for six months."

Summer after summer, Charlemagne led these armies against the enemies that surrounded his kingdom. He conquered new lands to both the south and the east. When a frightened Pope again asked for protection against the Lombards, Charlemagne responded. He defeated the Lombards, captured their king, and took over northern Italy in 773.

Five years later, in 778, Charlemagne crossed the Pyrenees Mountains and marched into Muslim Spain. He hoped to win control of northern Spain, but the expedition failed. As the Franks retreated through the mountains, ambushers caught the Frankish rear guard by surprise and slaughtered it. Among the Franks to die was the leader of the guard, Count Roland. This massacre became a Frankish legend, retold in a great epic poem called the Song of Roland.

It was on the eastern frontier, however, that Charlemagne fought his greatest wars. From what is now Hungary south to the Adriatic, an Asian people called the Avars ruled the Slavs. After seven years of brutal warfare, Charlemagne destroyed the Avars. The Saxons of Germany were even more troublesome. Charlemagne fought them for nearly 30 years before they submitted to his rule and his Christian religion. Charlemagne did more than encourage missionaries to work among the Saxons and other pagans. He sometimes resorted to baptism by the sword, offering his defeated enemies the choice of becoming Christian or dying on the spot. Not for nothing did Christian chroniclers call him "iron Charles" and "the strong right arm of God."

By the year 800, the Frankish kingdom included two-thirds of Italy, all of present-day France, a small part of Spain, and all of German Saxony. It had grown larger than the Byzantine empire. Only a ruler of Charlemagne's energy and ability could hope to govern such an empire.

Charlemagne Strengthens His Rule

Like kings both before and after him, Charlemagne needed the help of powerful nobles to govern his kingdom. However, also like other kings, he needed a way to limit the power of those nobles.

Royal Officials - All of Francia, as the Frankish kingdom was called, was divided into counties. Each county was ruled in the king's name by a powerful landholder called a count. The counts administered justice and raised armies. In theory, the king could dismiss a count at any time. In practice, however, the same count might rule an area for as long as 30 years. Unless the counts were constantly reminded of the loyalty they owed the king, they might quickly become independent rulers.

Wisely, Charlemagne did not trust his counts. He sent out royal agents called missi dominici, or "emissaries of the master," to see that counts governed justly and did not abuse their power. Charlemagne also regularly visited every part of his kingdom to judge cases, settle disputes, reward faithful followers, and keep the less loyal in line. By constant watchfulness, he managed to keep his powerful counts under control. (His sons and grandsons, however, were less successful at controlling their nobles.)

The Royal Estates - Much of Charlemagne's power rested on his position as a great landowner. The Carolingian family owned huge estates scattered throughout Francia. Charlemagne and his sons kept a close eye on the management of their lands. This letter, for example, is part of a set of instructions to the overseer of a royal estate.

"The greatest care must be taken that whatever is prepared by hand - bacon, smoked meat, sausage, partially salted meat, wine, vinegar, mulberry wine, cooked wine, mustard, cheese, butter, malt, beer, mead, honey, wax, flour - all should be prepared with the greatest cleanliness.

In each of our estates, the chambers shall be provided with counterpanes, cushions, pillows, bedclothes, coverings for tables and benches."

Most of a king's wealth came not from taxes but from goods like those listed in the above letter - goods produced on the royal estates. These estates supported the royal court and also paid for the daily working of the government. A king who allowed his estates to decline would quickly lose his political power too.

Charlemagne Revives Learning

Charlemagne's court became the center for a revival in learning. Earlier Germanic kings had shown little interest in learning. Yet Charlemagne understood some Latin and even perhaps a little Greek. He learned to read, and he struggled to learn to write. According to Einhard, he "used to keep tablets and blanks in bed under his pillow that he might accustom his hand to form the letters; however, as he did not begin his efforts until late in life, they met with ill success." He was never able to write more than a word or two.

For his court at Aachen, the king recruited the leading European scholars of his day. There was a music teacher from Italy, a poet from Spain, and many others. By far the most influential of these imported scholars was an Englishman named Alcuin of York. Charlemagne also invited Jews to settle in his kingdom because they were literate and could help with administrative work.

For his own numerous sons and daughters and for other children at the court, Charlemagne began a palace school. There students learned to read, write, and do a little arithmetic. Charlemagne himself visited the classes. On a least one occasion, the king's famous temper was aroused, and he pummeled a lazy student for mistakes in grammar. By Charlemagne's order, monasteries and cathedrals were expected to open schools to train future monks and priests. (Since only boys could enter the priesthood, only boys attended these schools.)

Monasteries increased their libraries. Monks labored to make handwritten copies of rare Latin books. Each copy took many months of toil. As they worked, the monks developed a new style of lettering. Roman books had all been written in capital letters, and there was no spacing between words. To save time, monks began substituting small letters for the Roman capital letters. To make the books easier to read, the monks added spaces between the words. Gradually, writers in monasteries perfected a beautiful and readable style of lettering known as Carolingian miniscule. Most of these small letters look almost exactly like the letters printed in a modern book.

The Pope Makes Charlemagne Emperor

By the year 800, Charlemagne was the most powerful king in western Europe. Then he traveled to Rome to help Pope Leo III, who had been attacked by a Roman mob. On Christmas Day in St. Peter's Cathedral, the Pope placed a jeweled crown on Charlemagne's head and declared him emperor. The crowd of people in the church (probably coached in advance) shouted, "Hail to Charles the Augustus, crowned by God to be the great and peace-giving emperor of the Romans, life and victory."

What did the title of emperor mean? According to one argument, the title gave Charlemagne new prestige. He could deal as an equal with the Byzantine emperor. The counterargument says Charlemagne gained nothing but trouble from the crowning. The new title added nothing to his power. Moreover, news of the crowning angered the Byzantines and made another enemy on Charlemagne's troubled eastern frontier. After all, in the Byzantine view, the true Roman emperor ruled from Constantinople.

Another theory says that the crowning was the work of the Pope and did not please Charlemagne at all. Why would the Pope want to make Charlemagne emperor? Perhaps Pope Leo wanted an emperor who would stay in Rome and help govern the unruly city. Perhaps it was a shrewd political move, establishing the Pope's power to name an emperor. Probably Charlemagne's coronation meant different things to different people. Charlemagne and Pope Leo III each had his own motives, which may never be known. However, we do know the long-term consequences of the crowning.

First, the coronation marked another stage in the growing split between the Church of Constantinople and the Church of Rome. After 800, there were two Christian empires, Greek Orthodox in the east and Roman Catholic in the west. Each viewed the other with growing suspicion.

Second, there arose in western Europe a new idea of empire. Later popes repeatedly gave the "Roman emperor" to one European king or another. In theory, the person entrusted with this title became the protector of all Christendom. The title meant little when held by a weak ruler, but in strong hands it could be a powerful tool.

Charlemagne's Heirs Rule Weakly

When Charlemagne died at his palace in 814, his only surviving son, Louis the Pious, succeeded him as king and emperor. A devoutly religious man, Louis would have made a better monk than a king. As a ruler, he was ineffective. He died in 840. Louis left three sons: Lothair, Charles the Bald, and Louis the German. Like the Merovingian princes, Louis's sons fought one another for the empire. The civil war ended in 843 when the brothers signed a pact called the Treaty of Verdun. This document divided Charlemagne's empire into three kingdoms, one for each brother.

Charles the Bald's kingdom would eventually become France. Louis the German's kingdom would become Germany. Lothair, the eldest son, kept the title of emperor and took the land between his brothers' kingdoms, including the imperial capitals of Rome and Aachen. His land became a battleground for the future kings of France and Germany.

After the Treaty of Verdun, Carolingian kings became almost as powerless as the long-haired Merovingians had been. Once again, central authority broke down. At the same time, all of Europe from Ireland to Italy was repeatedly assaulted and plundered by terrible new invasions. From the south, Muslim pirates seized Sicily and raided Italy, even sacking Rome in 846. From the east struck the Magyars, barbarians from central Asia. Like the earlier Huns and Avars, the Magyar warriors terrorized Germany and Italy. And from the north came the most dreaded attackers of all, the Vikings. Even before Charlemagne's death, the earliest Viking raids struck Europe.

The Vikings Terrorize Europe

To the monks on Lindisfarne Island near the northeast coast of England, it seemed to be just another peaceful morning when they awoke to perform their daily rituals. But on this morning in 793, a large sailing vessel lay near the shore, barely visible in the mist. Its square sail was striped red and white. Its prow swept upward in a graceful curve like a swan's neck, but at the top was a dragon's head.

As dawn broke, burly warriors jumped from the ship to the island shore, clutching swords and heavy wooden shields. The monks had no weapons. Some were killed at the altar even as they prayed; others were dragged to the sea and drowned. The monastery was thoroughly ransacked. Golden crucifixes, silver chalices, ivory boxes, and silk and linen tapestries were all piled into the boat. Laughing and shouting, the attackers heaved on their oars, and soon their striped sail disappeared over the horizon.

News of this outrage soon reached the court of Charlemagne. "Never before," wrote Alcuin of York, "has such terror appeared in Britain as this that we have just suffered from a pagan race." In 793, the terror was just beginning. From about 800 until the year 1000, the Vikings raided from Ireland to Russia. In many churches, a new prayer became part of the daily worship: "Save us, O God, from the fury of the Northmen."

>Excerpts from "WORLD HISTORY -Perspectives on the Past", by Krieger, Neill, and Reynolds, copyright 1997, pgs 206-211

Compiled by: Marko Marelich
Retired Mechanical Engineer
San Francisco, California - USA
April, 2008