Charlemagne

1
Charlemagne

• King of the Franks
• Defender of the Faith
• Savior of Europe and Christendom
• Controversial

2
Charlemagne The beginnings

• Charles The Hammer Martel (Son of Pepin I) was
  his Grandfatherhe defeated the Moors at Tours
  Spain and established a tight and beneficial
  alliance with the Catholic Church.
• Pepin, III The Short was his father. He was
  mayor of the Palaceuse this position to become
  King of the Franks.(side note Tithing to church
  started by Pepin)

3
Charlemagne The beginnings

• It is true Clovis (496 AD) began the
  Church/Frankish relationship
• Martel used the relationship to grow in power
• Pope Zacharias placed its authority behind Pepin.
  Childeric, III last of Merovingian kings.

4
Kingdom of the Franks

• By Charlemagnes 19th Birthday, he was a fierce
  warrior, Leader of men, and an apt bureaucrat. He
  was 6 3 tall, had big strong legs and wore a
  size 14 or 15 shoebig boy!
• Pepin the Short had consolidated the Frankish
  Empire Charlemagne would make it a true Empire
  and dynastic Kingdom.
• The Hapsburg Dynasty Austria-Hungary or what
  would become the Holy Roman Empire

5
Charlemagne

• Recall that Byzantium is still rather formidable
  as Charlemagne accedes to power.
• In 660 AD Constantine, II visits Rome. He
  essentially robs the treasury and the economy.
• Constantinople is engaged with the Muslim Wars.
• Pepin The Short still shows deference to
  Constantinople Charlemagne, however, will not
  share power or deference.

6
Frankish Empire

• Note to self Since Clovis, though the
  Merovingian Kings were allied with the Church and
  embraced Christianitythey essentially remained
  Pagans (in practice) and passed authority
  through the ancient bloodline.
• Pepin, backed by the Church, owed his Crown to
  the Grace of God! Pepin had been chosen by the
  Vicar of God The Pope as the true legitimate
  King of the Franks.

7
Frankish Kingdom

• Old traditions die hard Byzantium, though only
  in illusion, remained the empress of the
  Mediterranean and the seat of Augustus.
• The illusion was that Byzantium was superior to
  Frankland
• Charlemagne would change this psuedo-belief.

8
Changes in European Power

• Recall the Frankish bureaucracy of allowing
  autonomous government on the local level
• Charlemagne continued this trend, but he made
  sure that the Dukes, Mayors of Palace, and the
  Counts were staunch allies or he instilled
  royalty very loyal to himsimply he placed limits
  on this autonomy.
• He fostered a land owning aristocracy beholding
  to himlooked to a central govt to maintain
  their own power base.

9
5 Important Steps

• Created an aristocratic base dependent upon the
  Kingbasis for army and leaders. Limits local
  autonomy.
• Created a Carolingian Civil Service.
• Issued capitularies to disseminate orders and
  established the Missi Dominici (inspection teams
  to ensure all orders and edicts were be obeyed.
• Established common currency and matched it to the
  value of the Muslim coinage to encourage trade
  and economic uniformity.
• Professionalized the Army made it a standing
  army conquered lands and then made the Army
  garrison and defend new lands.

10
Imperial Aura

• Established Frankish Capital at Aachen on the
  Rhine River (Clovis was at Paris on the Seine).
• Built essentially a Roman palace and a Chapel
  (model of San Vitale in Ravenna).
• Named his Chapel St. Martin. A Roman Cavalry
  officer who became a Christian (many at the time
  were Mithras).
• Gave his very expensive and symbolic cloak of
  power to a cold hungry beggar. A very poignant
  statement.

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Imperial Aura

• People believed that objects or clothing worn by
  saints had magical powers
• Custom was to place one of these Relics as they
  were called on the altar of the local church to
  give in credibility and favor with God
• Of course the more valuable the Relic the more
  favored was the church.

12
To Establish a Legacy

• Charlemagne promoted literacy and the copying of
  old manuscripts much of what we know due to
  this practice.
• Established a Palace school headed by renown
  scholar Alcuin.
• Began a literary revival developed a unique
  script called Carolingian minisculein fact the
  lower case letters you are reading were developed
  by these scholars.

13
To Establish a Legacy

• Established Latin as the official language of the
  Church along with Pope uniformed the liturgical
  dissemination of biblical doctrine and
  established the Pope or Bishop of Rome as the
  true Vicar of God and descendant of St. Peter.
• This diminished the influence of the Byzantium
  Pope Charlemagne also wanted out of his marriage
  from the betrothed Princess of Byzantiumhe
  wanted something uniquely Frankbut most
  something uniquely Charlemagne.

14
To Establish a Legacy

• When Pepin died he left as was the custom an
  equally divided empire between Charles and
  Carloman -- mystery, but Carloman died.
• Charles also wanted out of the marriages arranged
  by Pepin.
• 1) The Princess of Byzantium (Himiltrude) bore
  him a hunched back son He had this marriage
  annulled. Mostly because she had the deformed son
  placed in the dungeon, his eyes put out with
  red-hot pokers, then proclaimed herself empress
  and equal ruler.

15
To Establish a Legacy

• 2nd wife was a Lombard PrincessPepin had hoped
  this would create an alliance and resolve the
  traditional enemy attitude between the two
  nations and secure peaceful co-existence between
  the Lombards and the Church.
• Desideria unfortunately was as arrogant and
  ambitious as her father the King of the
  Lombardsshe was intellectual, independent, and
  considered herself above Charlemagne.

16
To Establish a Legacy

• His third wife was HildegardeHe chose her
  himself.
• She was 13 or 15 he was 28 or 30. She was a
  good mate and he truly loved her.
• She was strong willed, independent but loved
  Charlemagne and truly enjoyed being a wife and
  mother.
• She had red flowing hair, a quiet countenance, a
  warm smile and was as passionate about the hunt
  as was Charlemagne. She gave him 5 daughters and
  4 sons.
• There was an incident on one hunt where a wild
  Bull gored Charlemagne's horseHildegarde rode in
  and skewered the bull with her spearsaving
  Charlemagne.

17
To Establish a Legacy

• After the Saxon wars more to come later,
• Charlemagne had consolidated a great empire
• Historians dispute how the actual event took
  place, whether it was contrived by Charlemagne or
  just spontaneously happened but. On Christmas
  day 800 AD, the Pope unexpectedly placed the
  Crowned Tiara on Charlemagnes head crowning him
  the Holy Roman Emperor

18
To Establish a Legacy

• In the 18th century, French Philosopher Voltaire
  statedconcerning Charlemagne that the realm was
  neither holy, nor Roman, nor empire, but somehow
  managed to last for a thousand years only dying
  in 1914 with the dismantling of the Hapsburg
  dynasty (some will say it died with the Congress
  of Vienna after the Napoleonic wars).

19
Charlemagnes Legacy

• Though Charlemagne desired to establish a
  Frankish Romanesque empire in the west he was
  never able to fully succeed.
• The Coronation ended the Byzantium power over the
  West Western rulers could now legitimately claim
  their rule of lineage back to Augustus Caesar
  Popes of Rome now free of the eastern influence
  and meddling western church denied validity of
  the CaesaropapismLineage of Peter not Augustus
  to head the church.

20
Charlemagnes European Legacy

• Now west and east completely isolated
• Unfortunately could not over come the inherent
  weaknesses of the western economy infrastructure
  still rural and agrarian
• Mostly succeeded because rivals were engaged
  elsewhere (Byzantium vs. Ottoman empire)
• Charlemagne and Pepin had reigned for seventy
  years without controversy this eliminates civil
  wars and strife
• Though eventually corrupted, the royal
  aristocracy was a stabilizing base for the
  Kingdom.