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033 - 2 The Reign of Charlemagne · Short History of the Christian Church

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  Speaker 1: Part two, Chapter two of Short History of the Christian
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  Speaker 1: Church by John Fletcher Hurst. This LibriVox recording is in
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  Speaker 1: the public domain. Chapter two, the Reign of Charlemagne. The
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  Speaker 1: process of centralization north of the Alps began with Charlemagne.
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  Speaker 1: His rule was the signal of death to the tottering
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  Speaker 1: Roman Empire. It was also the first prophecy of the
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  Speaker 1: ascendancy of the new Gothic nations of the North and
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  Speaker 1: of their firm place in the later life of Europe.
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  Speaker 1: In him, the old classic conditions disappeared and the new
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  Speaker 1: political life began its career. Charlemagne, called by the Germans
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  Speaker 1: carl del Gross, ascended the throne on the death of
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  Speaker 1: his father Pepin in the year seven sixty eight. He
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  Speaker 1: divided with his brother Carloman the Frankish Empire, Charlemagne taking Austrasia, Neustria,
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  Speaker 1: and other parts of the eastern Frankish dominions, while Carloman
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  Speaker 1: ruled over the western parts or France and a large
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  Speaker 1: part of Germany. Carloman died in seven seventy one, and
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  Speaker 1: Charlemagne united his own empire with that of the rest
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  Speaker 1: of the family and claimed rule over all without regard
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  Speaker 1: to the rights of his brother's family. The soil was
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  Speaker 1: now prepared for the new European life, the Church and
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  Speaker 1: the state working hand in hand for universal dominion. Charlemagne's
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  Speaker 1: methods were the creations of a masterful shrewdness. He regarded
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  Speaker 1: himself as a theocratic lord. His notion of himself was
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  Speaker 1: not that he was a mere successor of Constantine or
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  Speaker 1: Augustus Caesar, but of David or Solomon, the head of
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  Speaker 1: a vast theocracy. But the Roman bishop must not be offended.
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  Speaker 1: He must be outwardly treated as high priest, though Charlemagne
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  Speaker 1: secretly regarded himself as the real possessor of the highest
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  Speaker 1: resals religious functions. But the pope must be made to
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  Speaker 1: feel that his rights were respected. Yet at the same
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  Speaker 1: time must remember that kings and conquerors have their rights,
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  Speaker 1: and that without temporal rulers there can be no successful
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  Speaker 1: and safe church. Towards the Pope Leo the Third, he
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  Speaker 1: acted with unfailing respect, and was at the same time
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  Speaker 1: constantly receiving from him such favors as strengthened his hold
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  Speaker 1: upon both his subjects and the church. Charlemagne's motto was
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  Speaker 1: the Church teaches, but the Emperor defends and increases to
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  Speaker 1: Leo the third, he made the following declaration of their
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  Speaker 1: mutual relations. It is my bounden duty, by the help
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  Speaker 1: of the Divine compassion everywhere, to defend outwardly by arms,
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  Speaker 1: the Holy Church of Christ against every attack of the
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  Speaker 1: heathen and every devastation caused by unbelievers, and inwardly to
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  Speaker 1: defend it by the recognition of the general faith. But
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  Speaker 1: it is your duty, Holy Father, to raise your hands
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  Speaker 1: to God as Moses did, and to support my military
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  Speaker 1: service by your prayers. Leo the third accepted this declaration
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  Speaker 1: in the most complaisant manner. The preparations had been laid
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  Speaker 1: in the preceding movements. Rome was constantly at the mercy
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  Speaker 1: of the bold and ferocious Lombards. They threatened to sack
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  Speaker 1: the Holy City and possess themselves of its vast wealth.
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  Speaker 1: In seven thirty four, Gregory third induced Charles Martel to
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  Speaker 1: help him against the attacks of ludprand King of the Lombards. Again,
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  Speaker 1: when Charlemagne's father, Pepin was aspiring to destroy the Merovingian dynasty,
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  Speaker 1: Pope Zecharias gave his official approval to the deposition of
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  Speaker 1: the Merovingian King Childric the third, and in this way
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  Speaker 1: caused Pepin to be placed upon the throne and to
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  Speaker 1: become the founder of the Carolingian dynasty. This obligation of
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  Speaker 1: the Emperor of the Franks to the Pope was never
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  Speaker 1: forgotten during Pepin's reign. Later, Pope Stephen the Second personally
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  Speaker 1: visited Pepin in France and secured his pledge to come
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  Speaker 1: down with his army and defend him against the new
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  Speaker 1: Lombard chief, Astolf, who had invaded the Greek ex Arcate,
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  Speaker 1: a group of five cities and the interlying territory along
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  Speaker 1: the eastern coast extending from Ramini to Ancona. Astolf was
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  Speaker 1: also besieging Rome. Pepin defeated the Lombards eighty seven seventy two,
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  Speaker 1: took possession of the Exarcate himself, and appointed the Pope
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  Speaker 1: as Patrician of the ex arct eighty seven fifty four.
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  Speaker 1: The Pope was thus made a temporal ruler. It mattered
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  Speaker 1: not that the Exarcate was a part of the Byzantine
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  Speaker 1: Empire and that protests were made against it. Peppin gave
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  Speaker 1: and Stephen the Second took. This was the beginning of
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  Speaker 1: the temporal sovereignty of the papacy, which only came to
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  Speaker 1: an end after a reign of eleven centuries or in
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  Speaker 1: eighteen seventy one, when Garibaldi and Victor Emmanuel marched into Rome.
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  Speaker 1: The final and complete cementing of papal and imperial interests
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  Speaker 1: took place under Charlemagne. Desiderius, the new Lombard king, invaded
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  Speaker 1: the Pope's territory and laid siege to Rome. Adrian the First,
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  Speaker 1: the now reigning Pope, appealed to Charlemagne for help. It
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  Speaker 1: was given, and Charlemagne invaded Italy with a great army
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  Speaker 1: and defeated the Lombards. He confirmed and enlarged the previous
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  Speaker 1: gifts to the Pope, went to Rome and was received
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  Speaker 1: with great pomp by Pope Leo the Third. By a
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  Speaker 1: clever piece of stage management, in the midst of the
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  Speaker 1: magnificent Christmas festivities of the year eight hundred, Leo the
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  Speaker 1: Third advanced towards Charlemagne and placed upon his head a
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  Speaker 1: golden crown with these words life and Victory to Charles Augustus,
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  Speaker 1: Crowned by God the Great and Pacific Emperor. It was
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  Speaker 1: a well laid plan and faithfully carried out the bells
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  Speaker 1: from the many domes of the eternal city preached the
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  Speaker 1: new gospel of the brotherhood of Pope and Emperor. The
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  Speaker 1: multitude shouted their glad acclaim, and the city ran wild
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  Speaker 1: with new joy. The meaning of the coronation was clear enough.
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  Speaker 1: Charlemagne had lacked the endorsement of the Church, he had
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  Speaker 1: long coveted it. Such an attestation of his imperial rights
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  Speaker 1: would forever silence the claims of his brother Carloman's children,
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  Speaker 1: and give him such prestige as would defy all opposition. Then,
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  Speaker 1: as compensation for his vast pay service, he enlarged the
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  Speaker 1: papal territory and placed the papacy itself as a temporal sovereignty,
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  Speaker 1: on a plan entirely new to history. The later relations
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  Speaker 1: of Charlemagne and the Pope were fraternal, always a part
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  Speaker 1: of the general policy of mutual advantage. The Emperor was
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  Speaker 1: no sooner crowned than he threw off his northern costume
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  Speaker 1: and put on the tunic, the Claimus and the sandals
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  Speaker 1: of the Roman. When he came to leave Rome, and
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  Speaker 1: Leo the Third exchanged kisses with him, and he was
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  Speaker 1: lost to sight behind the hills of the Champagne, Europe
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  Speaker 1: entered on a new career. The Northern Empire was to
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  Speaker 1: strengthen and protect the papacy in every emergency. On the
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  Speaker 1: other hand, the papacy must give its spiritual approval to
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  Speaker 1: the Empire. Beautiful as this management appeared, it had its dangers.
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  Speaker 1: Each was slave to the other. The papacy could only
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  Speaker 1: be up held by imperial arms. The Empire would be
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  Speaker 1: in constant danger of strifes of succession without the participation
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  Speaker 1: and coronation of the papacy. The time came later when
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  Speaker 1: it would have been convenient for both parties if Charlemagne
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  Speaker 1: had never seen Rome, and no pope had put upon
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  Speaker 1: his head the crown of the Caesars end of Chapter
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  Speaker 1: two