Download The Rise of the Carolingians

The Rise of the
Carolingians
Merovingians
Meroveus
Carolingians
Charles Martel
Hero of the Battle
Of Tours, 732.
Pepin the Short
Secured the Papal
States for the
Pope
Clovis
First Catholic King
of the Franks,
baptized in 497
Charles
(Charlemagne)
Crowned Holy
Roman Emperor in
800
Carolman
dies before he can
inherit the throne
Pepin the Short (714-768)
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Son of the legendary Charles Martel
Father of the future Charles the
Great (Charlemagne)
Strong and intelligent
Petitioned Pope St. Zachary to grant
him and his progeny kingship of the
Franks
Already de facto rulers because of
the corruptions of the Merovingian
kings.
St. Boniface (papal legate in
Germanic territories) anoints Pepin
king of the Franks in Christmas 751.
The Papal States
Lombards threatened Rome and
Byzantines were not going to
help the Pope.
• Pope Stephen II (752-757)
meets with Pepin.
• Anoints Pepin and his two sons
on 28 July 754.
• Pepin defeats Lombard chief
Aistulf and leaves behind a
contingent of Frankish troops in
Lombardy.
• Pepin wins Rome for the Pope,
as well as Ravenna and Perugia
(The Papal States)
Charles the Great (Charlemagne)
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Powerful warrior and excellent
politician
Faithful son of the Church (reign
was very Catholic)
Charles defeats Lombards when
they threaten Rome in 773.
Charles proclaimed “Patrician
of Rome” by Pope Adrian I
(772-795)
Also makes himself King of the
Lombards; the first to unite all
Germanic kingdoms.
Charlemagne and the Papacy
Pope St. Leo III had been falsely
accused of corruption by the Roman
nobility.
 The pope appealed to Charles for help.
Christmas AD 800: Pope crowns Charles
as Roman Emperor.
 The Holy Roman Empire
 The Germans have been finally
incorporated into the great Roman
Empire.
 Angered the Byzantine emperors.
 “the west is now being ruled by a
barbarian.”

Pope St. Leo III
(750-816)
Charles Crowned Emperor of the
Romans
Charlemagne and the Saxons
Saxons were a pagan tribe in NE
Germany.
 Saxons were unusually cruel to
Christians.
772-803: Charles wages a series of wars.
 Charles treated them harshly because
of their cruelty.
 He once ordered 4,000 Saxons
beheaded!
Used capital punishment for: killing a
priest, belonging to a heathen group,
stealing, eating meat on Friday,
refusing to fast, cremating a body.
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Carolingian Renaissance (“re-birth”)
Charlemagne combated the cultural
decay of the West.
 The study of theology and literature.
 Restored Latin
 Commanded that every parish and
monastery have a school.
Alcuin (740-804): best and most
influential scholar of the Carolingian
renaissance.
 Englishman from Northumberland,
educated at York.
 Joined Charlemagne’s court at Aachen
in 782.
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Charlemagne
receives Alcuin