CharlemagneWhen Pepin died 768, his kingdom was divided between his two sons, Charlemagne and Carloman. History tells us that the splitting of the kingdom was hard for the two brothers, and frequently had disputes over territory. Within a few years, Carloman died…Peppin's son, Charles then became the King of the Franks. He is best known by his French name, Charlemagne, which means, Charles the Great. A powerful leader, Charlemagne wanted to bring all of Western Europe under his rule. He also wanted all Germanic people wanted to become Christian. To achieve these goals, he waged a series of wars. First, he attacked Italy and defeated the Lombards. Then, Charlemagne attacked Saxons, who now live in northern Germany. For years, the Saxons had been seizing towns and monasteries inside the Frankish border. He sent thousands of captured Saxons into Frankish territory, and thousands of Franks into their territory to colonize and begin to "civilize" the area. Charlemagne forced the conversion of the Saxons to Christianity. He also led his armies into many Muslim lands in Spain and retook territory from the Moors. continuing the work of Charles Martel. On Christmas Day, in the year 800 CE, Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo in the city of Rome, an event described in Document 1 below.

Document 1-THE CORONATION OF CHARLEMAGNE

Frankish Royal Chronicles, Late 8th century-early 9th century

On the most holy day of the nativity of the Lord, as the king rose from praying at Mass before the tomb of the blessed apostle Peter, pope Leo placed a crown on his head and all the Roman People cried out, “To Charles Augustus, crowned by God, great and peace-giving emperor of the Romans, life and victory,” And after the laudation he was adored by the pope in the manner of the ancient princes and, the title of patrician being set aside, he was called emperor and Augustus. A few days later he commanded the men who had deposed the pope the year before to be brought before him. They were examined according to Roman law on a charge of treason and condemned to death. However the pope interceded for them with the emperor and they were spared life and limb. Subsequently they were sent into exile for so great a crime.

QUESTIONS

1. Why do you think the Pope crowned Charlemagne Emperor? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

2. What does this event reveal about the relationship between the Church and the Kings of Medieval Europe? How does it compare to the relationship described in the painting (See next page)?

Charlemagne, after conquering a vast Frankish empire, had to administer it. Document 2 describes his reforms and methods of governing his empire.

Document 2-ORGANIZATION OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE

General Capitulary of the Missi (official commissioned by the king to supervise the administration of justice), 802

…the most serene and most Christian lord emperor Charles [Charlemagne] has chosen from his nobles the wisest and most prudent men, both archbishops and some of the other bishops also, and venerable abbots and pious laymen, and has sent them throughout his whole kingdom, and through them…has allowed men to live in accordance with the correct law. Moreover, where anything which is not right and just has been enacted in the law, he has ordered them to inquire into this most diligently and to inform him of it; he desires, God granting, to reform it. And let no one, through his cleverness or astuteness, dare to oppose or thwart the written law… But all shall live entirely in accordance with God's precept… And let the missi themselves make a diligent investigation whenever any man claims that an injustice has been done to him by any one, just as they desire to deserve the grace of omnipotent God and to keep their fidelity promised to Him, so that entirely in all cases everywhere, in accordance with the will and fear of God, they shall administer the law fully and justly... And if there shall be anything of such a nature that they, together with the provincial counts, are not able of themselves to correct it and to do justice concerning it, they shall, without any ambiguity, refer this, together with their reports, to the judgment of the emperor…

QUESTION ON NEXT PAGE

1. How does Charlemagne unify his kingdom? Use at lease two pieces of evidence from the text to support your answer.

2. How does the size of Charlemagne's empire compare with that of the Western Roman empire? Did Charlemagne reclaim the glory of Rome?

Charlemagne's Empire Western Roman Empire

Carolingian RenaissanceLearning had no more ardent friend than Charlemagne, who came to the Frankish throne in 768 distressed to find extremely poor standards of Latin prevailing. He thus ordered that the clergy be educated... He recalled that, in order to interpret the Holy Scriptures, one must have a command of correct language and a fluent knowledge of Latin. His promotion of ecclesiastical and educational reform bore fruit in a generation of churchmen whose morals and whose education were of a higher standard than before.

The possibility then arose of providing, for the brighter young clerics and perhaps also for a few laymen, a more advanced religious and academic training. It was perhaps to meet this modest need that a school grew up within the precincts of the emperor’s palace at Aachen. In order to develop and staff other center s of culture and learning, Charlemagne imported considerable foreign talent. From Moorish Spain, Italy, and Ireland... Thanks to these foreigners, who represented the areas where Classical and Christian culture had been maintained in the 6th and 8th centuries, the court became a kind of “academy”... Recognizing the importance of manuscripts in the cultural revival, Charlemagne formed a library (the catalog of which still exists), had texts and books copied and recopied, and bade every school to maintain a scriptorium. Every monastery or cathedral was required to have a school to train priests and a new type of script, called Carolingian Miniscule (see picture below) was invented to save space on book pages and manuscripts. (Adapted from Britannica Encyclopedia)

1) What was Charlemagne's greatest educational reform? Why?

2) How does this renaissance ("Rebirth" in French) contradict the idea of Charlemagne as a barbarian?