CHARLEMAGNE.
Ecclesiastical Policy of the Frankish Kings (§ 1). Charlemagne's Policy (§2). Coronation as Emperor (§ 3). His Services to Learning (§ 4). The Iconoclastic Controversy (§ 5).
Charlemagne or Charles the Great (Lat. Carolus Magnus), founder of the Holy Roman Empire, was the son of Pepin, the first of the Carolingian line of Frankish kings, and grandson of Charles Martel, the powerful mayor of the palace under the last Merovingian kings. He was born c. 742, perhaps at Aachen or Ingelheim; d. at Aachen Jan.
28, 814. With his father and younger I. Ecclesi- brother, Karlman, he was anointed astical king of the Franks by Pope Stephen II. Policy of in 754. He ruled jointly with Karlman the Frank- after Pepin's death in 768, and alone ish Kings, after Karlman's death in 771. He was crowned emperor of the Romans at Rome by Pope Leo III. on Christmas Day, 800. In both civil and ecclesiastical matters Charlemagne carried out with consimimate ability the policy of his father. From Clovis, the first Merovingian king (481-511; see Franks), onward the Frankish rulers pursued the policy of endowing and extending the Roman Church as a means of consolidating and strengthening the civil administration. The conquest of heathen peoples was not thought complete until they were Christianized and the newly acquired territory had been provided with a well-ordered and comprehensive ecclesiastical establishment. Resources devoted to ecclesiastical equipment and endowment were supposed to yield the best possible results in assimilating and loyalizing the communities in which they were expended. Where land was abundant it cost little to endow with landed estates archbishoprics, bishoprics, abbacies, etc., especially as the incumbents owed allegiance to their benefactors and could be relied upon for any kind of needful service.
The Lombards (q.v.) had long been a thorn in the side of the papacy. In 739 Pope Gregory III. had entreated Charles Martel to come to his relief, but Charles was not ready for so great an imdertaking.
Charlemagne Charles V.
THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
In 753 Stephen II. gained permission to visit Pepin for secret conference. Pepin sent his young sons Charles and Karlman to meet him, and received him (754) with the utmost cordiality. The conference was epoch-making. With the concurrence of his nobles, Pepin made with the pope an offensive and defensive alliance, recognized the pope's ecclesiastical headship, and imdertook to deliver the papal territory from Lombard oppression and to promote the papal cause in all Frankish possessions and dependencies; while the pope commended Rome and the Romans to the protection of the king, crowned him patricius Romanorum and king of the Franks, crovrned his two sons, and undertook to support the Frankish kingdom in every possible way. A successful campaign against the Lombards (754) led to the bestowal on the pope of the territory claimed as the patrimony of Peter (see Papal States) and the exarchate of Ravenna, but the conquest did not prove permanent, and it was left for Charlemagne to complete it (774).
From his childhood Charlemagne was carefully instructed by his father in warfare and in statecraft, and in early youth was associated with his father in the government of the realm. When crowned at St. Denis (754) he was 2. Charle- made to promise to Peter and his magne's vicar or his successors to be a friend to Policy. their friends and an enemy to their enemies. As ruler his policy was to extend his kingdom as widely as possible by conquest and to bring the whole domain into a wellordered and homogeneous organism by diffusing throughout Christian civilization. His five campaigns against the Lombards (773, 774, 776, 780, and 784) had for their object the emancipation of the Church from Lombard oppression and encroachment and the inclusion of their territory in his own domain. The bestowment of a portion of the territory upon the Roman See and the apparent recognition of the alleged Donation of Constantine (q.v.) involved no surrender of his own sovereignty. His eighteen expeditions against the Saxons (770- 7S4) had for their object the subjugation of their territory to Frankish rule and the Christianization of the entire population. Fie regarded the latter work, with the establishment of a full ecclesiastical system dependent on the Roman See, as necessary to the permanence and effectiveness of the fomier. His five campaigns against the Saracens in Italy were for the protection of Frankish territory and of Pioman Christianity. The same may be said of his seven campaigns against the Arabs in Spain. Many of his wars were for the protection of frontiers already established; but when territory was once definitely acquired and incorporated in his realm his first thought was to provide for the speedy Christianization of its population by covering the territory with Christian institutions and by compelling the people to submit to baptism and conform to the cultus of the Church. Free forms' of Christianity fared little better with Charlemagne and his predecessors tlian paganism, uniformity and articulation with the Holy Catholic Church being regarded as essential for the purposes of the State. The infliction of the (l(-ath penalty for
attempts to evade baptism, for desecration or destruction of church property, and for the celebration of pagan rites was based upon his con- \-iction that the Christianization of the entire population was essential to the accomplishment of his political ends.
In 799 Pope Leo III., sorely beset by a hostile faction and driven from Rome, made his way to the king's court at Paderborn. He was received with all honor and sent back with a
3. Corona- royal guard and assurance of ample tion as protection. Near the end of 800
Emperor. Charlemagne visited Rome to complete the restoration of order and of the pope's authority, and on Dec. 25, while engaged in a religious service, he was crowned emperor by the grateful pope. This coronation was prized by Charlemagne as involving a recognition by the Roman See, the most influential surviving representative of Roman dignity and authority, of his right to be regarded as the legitimate successor of the Caesars and as a solemn expression of the pope's determination to make common cause with him in the work of building up a world-wide empire in which the Roman form of religion should have exclusive sway. It is evident that he had no thought of subordinating the civil to the ecclesiastical authority. After the coronation as before, he legislated as freely in ecclesiastical as in civil matters. His capitularies and laws abound in minute regulations for every department of ecclesiastical life and work.
Of primary importance was the educational movement begun by Pepin and carried forward with unremitting zeal and vast expenditure by Charlemagne. He had a deep per-
4. His Serv- sonal interest in all forms of knowlices to edge, and throughout his reign was
Learning, diligent in his efforts to learn. The most eminent scholars of Britain and of Italy were drawn into his service. Something like a university was maintained in the court, and by an educational system under the guidance of Alcuin (q.v.) he sought to diffuse civilization throughout his realm. The monasteries and the churches were the chosen channels for the spread of enlightenment. It is probable that no other ruler ever accomplished so much for the diffusion of learning. A statement by Einhard (Vita, xxv.) that the emperor could not write can not fairly be taken to mean more than that he neglected to acquire a skilful use of the pen, preferring the services of amanuenses. He is said to have had a speaking knowledge of Latin, to have understood Greek, and to have had some acquaintance with Hebrew.
Charlemagne followed in the footsteps of Pepin in his attitude toward the worship of images. The Caroline Books (q.v.% put forth in the name of
Charlemagne and with his authority. 5. The combated the decisions of the Second Iconoclastic Nicene Council in favor of image- Controversy, worship, approved by the pope, while
at the same time condemning iconoclasm. Images arc declarc<l to be useful for the ornamentation of the churches and the perpetuation