Church History: The Rise of Charlemagne

By Phil Newton

On Christmas Day, 800 AD, Pope Leo III placed a golden crown on the head of the Frankish king, Charles the Great, (Charlemagne), declaring, "May God grant life to the great and pacific emperor!" In unison the crowd chanted, "To Charles Augustus, crowned by God, great and peace-giving emperor of the Romans, life and victory." With that, though according to his friend and biographer, Einhard, Charlemagne would not have gone to St. Peter's church that day to pray in front of the tomb of Peter (according to the Roman tradition) had he known what Leo would do, but he did take the honor and claim its power for the rest of his days.

Charlemagne was a powerful king, no doubt, and one that the pope desperately needed to solidify his position in Rome against the rising threat of the Lombards. Charlemagne had a long campaign against the Frisians and Saxons, resolving "to drown the rebellion in blood and in the waters of baptism" [Gonzalez 267]. In 784-785, he broke the threat of the Frisians and the Saxons, forcibly baptizing thousands. In the Saxon mind, we must point out, to accept the baptism of another God meant forsaking their own gods who would also forsake them; so they had no choice but to turn to the Christian God. How many were actually converted no one can say. Perhaps over time some came to a true faith but many, if not most, were socially converted. It may have had some effects upon their morals only due to the influence in the empire.

What transpired demonstrated a great change in the face of Europe. It was a quest for unity in Europe of the likes of the old Roman Empire. But this time it had a new dimension as a "Holy Roman Empire," one sanctioned by God at the authority of the pope.

Charlemagne had four major campaigns, though he probably had over two dozen others, leading his army at its head every year. First was a venture across the Pyrenees into Spain to repel the Muslims that still controlled Spain. He was only mildly successful though he did drive them past Barcelona. The eventful moment happened as he returned with assurance from Muslim leaders of their acquiescence, that his rearguard was attacked and his kin, Roland, was killed. This gave rise to the "Chason de Roland" -- Song of Roland, a lengthy poetic ballad that has inspired generations of Frenchmen, as it tells the story of the Saracen intrigue, Roland's faithfulness and character, and his untimely death. It is an epic in literature.

Second, he conquered the Bavarians and the Saxons, the last of the Germanic tribes. It took him 32 campaigns to accomplish it due to their fierceness. But he instituted harsh laws to thwart their paganism. "Eating meat during Lent, cremating the dead (an old pagan practice), and pretending to be baptized were offenses punishable by death" (Shelley 176).

Third, The Slavs and Avars, who were Asiatic nomads related to the powerful Huns, had been a problem on Charlemagne's eastern frontier, so in 6 campaigns he crushed the Avars, and set up what he called "the East Mark," in modern Austria.

Finally, at the pope's request, he came to the aid of Rome to defeat the Lombards and proclaim himself as their king. While there he furthered the alliance that his father, Pepin the Short, had made with the papacy, thus setting the stage for the future declaration as Emperor. As Bruce Shelley explains, "The pope needed protection. Charlemagne needed divine sanction" (177). So they came together and had nearly 1000 year impact on Europe and its make-up.

Charlemagne actually made some great improvements in the Empire. Though not an educated man, he valued education, and began to set up schools throughout the Holy Roman Empire. Historians have called it a period of "cultural rebirth," with him decreeing schools for "the education of boys in singing, arithmetic, and grammar." Alcuin, an Anglo-Saxon scholar, led the way, writing textbooks on grammar, spelling, rhetoric, and logic. He exhorted his students, "Ye lads whose age is fitted for reading, learn! The years go by like running water. Waste not the teachable days in idleness!" (Shelley 178). The schools were open to rich and poor alike. 

He also solidified his rule, to which all in the empire were answerable, through his envoys, creating the missi dominici, the king's envoys. They were usually a bishop and a lay noble that traveled through the empire to oversee local administrations. The presence of a bishop further tied the papacy to the ruling power of the state.

After his dead, Charlemagne's son, Louis "the Pious" was an able man but not of the shrewdness of his father. He promoted the work of reforming monasteries that his father had done and giving 2/3 of the church's tithes to the poor. He also sought to bring some form of church democracy to the people, with the old custom of bishops being elected by the people and clergy. The problem came when bishops took advantage of the system to maintain their positions. Civil wars got started toward the end of his reign and continued after his death. The empire was divided among his three sons with Charles "the Fat" of France, his grandson, almost reuniting the empire.

Feudalism

Disunity in the empire united with conflicts by Arab conquests and their stifling trade due to cutting off trade routes, cause a return to land as the most valued commodity instead of gold and silver. Topping off the Arab menace was that of the Vikings, the Norsemen from Scandinavia. They had quietly existed until they mastered shipbuilding. They could sail or row their 60-70 feet long boats with 80 Vikings on board to attack the coastal areas of France, Spain, and England. Since the Emperor no longer held the same sway of authority as Charlemagne, the people along the coastlands felt threatened with no one to protect them from the invaders who would sweep into a coastal area, steal and pillage, and then head back out to sea. Most vulnerable were churches and monasteries that became easy prey for the Vikings.

To deal with the threats, local "lords" who owned land would oblige himself to protect those under him, known as "vassals" from the invaders. In return, the vassals would commit to military duty with 40 days without pay devoted to the lord, and maintaining the land that the lord had 'leased' to him. There was a tight bond maintained between the lord and his vassals. "In the ceremony known as the act of homage, the vassal knelt before his lord, and promised to be his "man." In the oath of fealty that followed, the vassal swore on the Bible, or some other sacred object, that he would remain true to his lord. Next, in the ritual of investiture, a lance, a glove, or even a bit of straw was handed the vassal to signify his jurisdiction (not ownership) over the fief" (the leased land). (Shelley 179). This was a binding contract that the breaking by either party was considered to be a felony.

The whole complexion of Europe changed with the feudalistic system. Rather than having one central government controlling everything and protecting the people, there was a loosely held loyalty by feudal lords to the noble or king in the land but the vassals were loyal to their particular feudal lord. The lords received their position by land grants from kings that came for services since gold was not held in high regard as land in that era. "The church was also affected by this. Since bishoprics and abbeys often had vast holdings of land, bishops, abbots, and abbesses became magnates whose support all sought. Therefore, the question of who had the authority to name those who would fill such positions became one of enormous political significance" (Gonzalez 269).

Theological controversies

One significant issue centered on predestination. Since Augustine held to predestination it was not a small issue in the church. However, Gregory the Great, a great fan of Augustine, promoted many of his teachings, but in issues on doctrine of salvation he went his own way. He objected to the teaching of predestination so that for centuries the doctrine was obscured by the man-centered approach of the church. One monk, Gottschalk of Orbais, carefully studied Augustine's writings on predestination, became convinced of them, and began to teach them to the church, declaring that the church had departed form the teaching of the bishop. His superiors did not agree, and Gottschalk was decalred to be a heretic, imprisoned in a monastery, where reported, he went mad before his death.

The teaching of transubstantiation, a cardinal teaching in the Roman church and one that cuased great controversies during the Reformation, began in this era. Under the teaching of a monk, Paschasius Radbertus of Corbie, who was later declared a saint by the Roman church, transubstantiation took root. He taught that the bread and wine, when consecrated by the priest, actually are transformed into the body and blood of Christ. His treatise, One the Body and the Blood of the Lord, he explained that the elements are no longer bread and wine but the same body born of the Virgin and the same blood shed at Calvary. Not all agreed with this position but it was popularly held due to the mysticism that had invaded the church. In 1215 at the Fourth Lateran Council, the doctrine of transubstantiation was proclaimed to be official church dogma. Many believers through the succeeding centuries lost their lives at the stake or gallows or executioners axe because of a denial of the real bodily presence of Christ in the mass.

Reforming the Papacy

Papal authority in the 9th and 10th centuries had grown to a highpoint but also had the debauchery associated with the office! With often unrivaled power and riches, the papacy became the seedbed for conflicts, intrigue, and greedy ambition. Nicholas I operated on what has been called False Decretals, forged documents that alleged that the Pope had universal authority over all, including the state. His successor, Hadrian II, adopted the same policy, reprimanding the king of Lorraine for marital infidelities. When the king appeared before the pope in Monte Cassino, the pope cursed him and his court. The pope's prestige vaunted when an epidemic broke out on the king's court and the king.

However, the next pope, John VIII, fell to his own power. He was murdered in his palace by an aid who had poisoned him. Supposedly, when the poison worked too slowly, the aid broke his skull with a mallet! Popes generally led short lives after this with many being murdered by rivals or rival parties that wanted their man in power. Pope Stephen VI presided over what was called, "The Cadaveric Council," as he paraded the body of one of his predecessors, Formosus, through the streets, dressed in papal robes. He was tried, declared guilty of crimes, and mutilated. In 904, Pope Sergius III had his two rivals imprisoned and killed. He rose to power by the powerful Italian family of Tehophylact and his wife, Theodora. Sergius had an ongoing affair with their daughter, Marozia. She and her husband, after the death of Sergius, captured and suffocated Pope John X, the successor, and made her son fathered by Sergius the new pope, John XI. Thirty years later, Marozia's grandson, John XII became pope and still alter her nephew, John XIII was crowned pope. Gonzalez narrates, "His successor, Benedict VI, was overthrown and strangled by Crescentius, a brother of John XIII. John XIV died of either poison or starvation in the dungeon where he had been thrown by Boniface VII, who in turn was poisoned" [275].

Emperor Otto III slowed some of the corruption but after he died the same family resumed their control fo the papacy until the Tusculum gained the upper hand and placed their own men as popes. One was fifteen years old when he took the papal throne!

Only after Henry III of Germany was emperor did this process stop. He convened a council that deposed the three popes at that time, named  Clement II as pope, and made decrees against the simony and corruption in the church. After Clement's death, Henry, now crowned as Emperor by Clement, offered Bruno, bishop of Toul the papacy. He would accept only if elected by the people of Rome. Thus he journeyed to Rome with two companions, Hildebrand and Humbert. After walking barefooted into Rome, the crowds lined the streets and cheeringly proclaimed him as pope. He began a series of reforms to move the papacy away from the control of a few families and ample corruption.

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