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201-0501: Early Church History – Essay Assignment, Lesson Ten, by Dean Mischewski (Student ID: A-351) The Importance of the Reign of Charlemagne By Dean Mischewski 1) Introduction Charlemagne inherited from his father Pepin and grandfather Charles Martel the mantle of a new dynasty in Europe. The Merovingian state had fallen into decay and what real power was left was being wielded not by the kings but by their palace administrators. In AD 752 this state of affairs was legitimized when St. Boniface, acting as papal legate, anointed Pepin as king, setting aside the last of Merovingian dynasty. This move not only put in place a new Frankish monarchy but also united that monarchy with the Papacy, a move with considerable political benefit for both parties, and which signalled the dependence of the temporal power of the monarchy on the spiritual power of the Church. Charlemagne combined the skill of a great warrior and leader with a genuine religious sensibility. Through a series of successful conquests he was able to extend the boundaries of the Frankish kingdom into something resembling the extent of modern Europe. Although he did not always follow the wishes of the Pope he was very concerned with religious matters. He supported the Church and the clergy and saw himself as responsible for the religious well-being of his subjects, and as the divinely-appointed leader of the Christian people. In AD 800 he was crowned in Rome by Pope Leo III as “emperor of the Romans”; the Kingdom of the Franks was thenceforth the new Holy Roman Empire. This Empire had a very theocratic flavour – Charlemagne acted as the governor of the Church as well as of the secular sphere, similar to the way in which the Byzantine Emperors frequently immersed themselves in Church affairs, although perhaps to an even greater extent. This was reflected in the practical arrangements for government, where bishops as well as secular officials held important roles. Page 1 of 3 201-0501: Early Church History – Essay Assignment, Lesson Ten, by Dean Mischewski (Student ID: A-351) 2) The Importance of Charlemagne’s Reign Charlemagne’s impact is difficult to overstate: “his empire… contributed decisively to the eventual reconstitution, in the mind of a western Europe fragmented since the end of the Roman Empire, of a common intellectual, religious, and political inheritance on which later centuries could draw. Charlemagne did not create this inheritance single-handedly, but one would be hard put to imagine it without him.”1 In briefly reviewing the importance of his reign it may be helpful to consider the three facets highlighted above: its intellectual, religious and political inheritance. a) Intellectual Inheritance Charlemagne was intensely interested in supporting the intellectual development of the Empire. To a large extent this was connected with his support for the Church, since he wanted to promote “right faith” through excellence in expressing that faith and through improved accuracy of the documents that were the sources for the faith, such as the Scriptures and the writings of the Church Fathers. But the classical tradition of antiquity was also preserved as Charlemagne strongly encouraged the restoration of learning and the establishment of centres for education. Under his patronage the “Carolingian Miniscule” became the standard – and improved – style of writing through most of Western Europe. Art and architecture were also revived. b) Religious Inheritance As mentioned above, Charlemagne’s religious inheritance was closely tied to the intellectual renaissance he fostered. Particularly important in this regard were the revisions that he sponsored of the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible and of other importance religious works. Charlemagne’s influence also led to the spread of the Roman liturgical rite through the empire, 1 Peter Classen, Charlemagne: Personality and Influence, in Encyclopedia Britannica Standard Edition CD-ROM (2004). Page 2 of 3 201-0501: Early Church History – Essay Assignment, Lesson Ten, by Dean Mischewski (Student ID: A-351) and that rite came to have almost universal usage throughout the West. This influence is still felt today, with the prevalence of the Roman rite through most of the Catholic world. c) Political Inheritance The alliance between the Papacy and the Empire was an enormously significant political fact. Charlemagne was a protector of the Papacy against the forces opposed to it, and in return the recognition that the Pope gave him as Holy Roman Emperor gave his Empire the legitimacy it needed to be seen as credibly in continuity with the old Roman Empire. Among other things, this enabled Charlemagne to negotiate realistically with the Byzantine Empire, and it resolved some of the difficulties associated with the Frankish monarchy being separate and independent from the Church. With the Emperor being crowned by the Pope there was an implicit admission of the need for the world’s temporal leadership to be in right relationship with its spiritual leader. Charlemagne also bequeathed to history the boundaries of Europe, and the splitting of the empire by his son Louis among Charlemagne’s two surviving grandsons eventually led to the formation of two of the great states and cultures of Europe: France and Germany. 3) Conclusion Charlemagne’s dynasty didn’t last particularly long; it didn’t have the systems or infrastructure capable of sustaining such an empire for much more than a generation after him. Yet it had a lasting impact on the subsequent history of Europe. It sponsored the collation and preservation of the cultural heritage that came before it, and saw that heritage reorganized and enhanced as the foundation of the new culture that followed. Page 3 of 3