CHARLEMAGNE: LEADER OF THE FRANKS

CHARLEMAGNE: LEADER OF THE FRANKS

The Franks and Frisians had long been rivals. The Franks had enjoyed the favour of the Popes in


Rome since the conversion of Clovis in 496 and were seen as the natural successors to a Catholic


version of the old Roman Empire. Charlemagne spent most of his reign conquering neighbouring


tribes and defeated the Frisians, one of the last pagan groups left in Europe, whom he forcibly


converted.

Besides the expansion of the Frankish empire, Charlemagne was noted for his endorsement of a


liberal education. He had great admiration for learned scholars and, in fact, scholars at his


court developed Carolingian miniscule, a script that is the basis for modern printing and cursive.

“He most zealously cultivated the liberal arts, held those who taught them in great esteem, and


conferred great honors upon them. He took lessons in grammar of the deacon Peter of Pisa, at


that time an aged man. Another deacon, Albin of Britain, surnamed Alcuin, a man of Saxon


extraction, who was the greatest scholar of the day, was his teacher in other branches of


learning. The King spent much time and labour with him studying rhetoric, dialectics, and


especially astronomy; he learned to reckon, and used to investigate the motions of the heavenly


bodies most curiously, with an intelligent scrutiny. He also tried to write, and used to keep tablets


and blanks in bed under his pillow, that at leisure hours he might accustom his hand to form the


letters; however, as he did not begin his efforts in due season, but late in life, they met with ill


success.” (Einhard)

Almost half of Charlemagne’s 47 year reign was spent on the campaign trail. He nearly doubled


the empire that his grandfather and father had built. The plunder and land that he acquired


through battle were needed to satisfy the greed of his landed nobles.

Expansion of the Frankish Empire

Europe at the time of Charlemagne measured wealth in terms of land and so its acquisition was the


chief end of the landed magnates. Charlemagne’s government was loosely centralized and relied


upon the loyalty of the nobles and Charles knew that his dukes and counts had a tendency to act


independently of him. To counter this he employed Missi Dominici. These officials were sent out


two by two, one lay, one clergy, on yearly trips through the kingdom. These men were responsible


for spreading the king’s law and hearing legal cases as well as establishing schools for children


regardless of background. They were supposed to be impartial and could not be employed in the


same region twice or serve in their homeland. However, at the time of Charlemagne's death in


814, the system was beginning to break down as corruption flourished and local magnates began to


assume more power.

Charlemagne crowned as Holy Roman Emperor

In 800 on Christmas Day, Leo III crowned Charlemagne Holy Roman Emperor. The Pope had been


rescued by Charlemagne and credited him with saving Rome. The Frankish Royal Annals record that


one of the king's advisers suggested the coronation to the pope; however, Einhard, his biographer


and a scholar at his court, reports that the coronation surprised and angered the king. This


illustrates the unique marriage between church and state at the time. It was possible that


Charlemagne considered the Pope his subject and not the other way around. It was common for


him to adopt and shed the morality of the church as he saw fit, as evidenced by his numerous


concubines.

The merger of Catholicism and paganism in medieval Europe

The church at this time was respected amongst the landed magnates, most likely because of its


large land holdings. However, the ‘pagans’ that inhabited much of Western and Northern Europe


had only recently adopted Catholicism. They sought to replace their spiritual needs with aspects


of the church that paralleled their old religion. In essence it was paganism with a thin Christian


veneer. The worship of saints flourished as a sort of protection from demons and the ill will of


spirit beings. Churches eagerly sought to acquire relics and individuals often placed splinters of


bone in a small bag to be worn about the neck. In fact, Rome had to move many of the bones of


its martyrs and saints into the inner city and issue the death penalty against desecrating holy


tombs in order to deter relic merchants.

Charlemagne was buried at Aix-la-Chappelle, or Aachen. Antipope Pascal III "canonized" him at


the request of Frederick Barbarise in 1165, and the familiar golden statue is his reliquary. And


like any great empire builder, his legend continues to grow; there are those who believe that


Charlemagne himself will be back to battle the anti-Christ.