This is the second article on Charlemagne, or Charles the Great. He was the most significant personage in Roman history from Constantine to Napoleon and that is the way the Bible sees him. The “beast of the earth” superseded the “beast of the sea” in Revelation chapter 13, and was answered in a great king founding a vast empire that virtually included all the countries of western and northern Europe. He was also very religious and under his rule the Catholic Church spread far and wide as his domain was given great support. So Pope and Emperor worked together and this was the constant feature of the next 1000 years of European history. It was called “The Holy Roman Empire”.
This article moves on from his background to illustrate the man himself and his most significant achievements.
A feature of Germanic law was the equal division of inheritance among the sons of the deceased. So when Pepin died in 768 the vast Frankish dominion was divided between his older son Charles and his younger son Carloman. Charles received a northern crescent of lands, facing all the current foes whilst Carloman had a rounded territory of what was left above the Alps. So Charles was distanced from the Pope and it may have been thought that a union between the Pope and Charles could never occur. Furthermore Carloman had made distinct and successful advances towards the Pope and stolen his favour. It was their mother Bertrada that blocked her younger son by arranging the marriage of the Lombard princess (!) to Charles and, remarkably, persuading Pope Stephen that this would neutralise his Lombard foe and provide him the support of the elder son! This scheme worked and Carloman saw himself checkmated by his beloved mother! However, Carloman suddenly died at the age of twenty years, so that in 771 Charles became monarch over all the lands of the Frankish kingdom: the “beast of the earth” now had an unfettered road to glory!
The Character of Charlemagne
The achievements of Charlemagne are stunning. He reigned for forty-six years to ad814 and until the last few years was involved in military campaigns on every side. The Saxons, Alemanni, Dutch Friesians, Lombards were some of his more consistent foes but there were innumerable conflicts from Prussia to the Pyrenees, from the Atlantic to Bavaria. On every side he sought to conquer and pacify his neighbours, to advance his dominion and convert them into Christian communities, loyal to the Pope and his Trinitarian doctrine.
Charlemagne’s personal life was marked by tremendous energy, conviction of purpose and single-minded determination to achieve it. Though ruthless to obtain his way, he yet valued his advisors and experts and frequently sought their company. He was studious in mind, loved reading and reasoning and encouraged such in all, from his family to all parts of his realm. He set up innumerable monasteries, abbeys, nunneries, schools and yeshiva (religious universities). Charlemagne was very religious. The beast of the earth had two lamb-like horns (Rev 13:11). Everything he did was driven by his fervour of his Catholic convictions.
His day began at the crack of dawn with prayers and hymns. He loved work and kept a large team of scribes, messengers and advisers busy with letters, messages, commands and judgements. His strong appetite was accompanied with a thirst for knowledge and exhortation, so “improving texts” were read while he ate!
He had numerous wives and concubines and many children, official and unofficial! These children were strictly brought up and tutored by the best teachers. His daughters he kept single but that led to court scandals; there were many grandchildren about the Aachen palace.
The Frankish Church
Before Charlemagne the Frankish Church was avowedly Catholic and Trinitarian, but its structure and uniformity was lacking compared to the established Church of the Roman world. The divisions and dioceses of the Frankish church were randomly organised and many of their customs, habits and training were amateur compared with the older, traditional southern churches. Of great significance was the vigour and zeal of Irish and English missionaries; these people were more Catholic than Italy, more scholarly than those in the Roman regions, and their influence on the new lands of Pepin and Charlemagne was enormous. The pre-eminent name was that of the English monk Boniface, whose contribution was so great that he became known as “the apostle of Germany”. When this fresh fundamental Catholic teaching was combined with the strong and meticulous organisation of Charlemagne, we have the basis of that profound Catholic hold that the Roman Church had over Europe for over a thousand years. In all his forty-six years as king and emperor Charlemagne gave priority to the teaching of the Church and its influence at every level of society. Hence he was later canonised as a “saint” by the Pope in the 13th century and revered, with Constantine, in the Roman and Anglican churches.
The Lombards, Again!
Whilst Charlemagne conducted numerous military campaigns, there were two accomplishments that stood out in his illustrious record. The Saxons in the far north proved a resourceful and recurring foe against whom Charlemagne showed the full expression of his determination and, finally, his savage cruelty. He was not content until in 782 he had totally subjected, converted and integrated these barbaric peoples.
But in the south the Lombards under Desiderius again threatened the Papacy, bringing an army into Italy and stripping a number of cities from the Pope’s dominion. Charles, like his father Pepin, crossed the Alps, and thoroughly subjugated the Lombards. In the spring of 774 at the invitat
ion of the Pope Hadrian, Charles entered the imperial city of Rome, the first Frankish king to do so, and was received in pomp and splendour by the whole city and the papal officers in particular. He looked the part, dressed in Roman costume, passing through the streets in triumphal glory! He ascended the stairs of St Peter’s Cathedral, kissing each one as he went, to be honourably welcomed and kissed by Pope Hadrian and his hierarchy. Here was their new saviour to protect their city and recover their lands, now “King of the Franks”, “Lombard King” and “Patrician of the Romans”—yet still not emperor of the Romans!
When Charles left Rome he gave assurance that he would fulfil the terms of Pepin’s Donation; yet in fact he delayed despite repeated letters from successive popes—and from the apostle Peter himself! The Pope even had the deeds of the promised land, given, would you believe, 450 years before by none less than Constantine! The keys to the lands were said to be placed on the tomb of St Peter! There seemed to be no ploy too ridiculous for the Papacy—his correspondence was obsessed with the land of Pepin’s promise, with almost no comment of spiritual things or pastoral concerns.
In t
he year 799 Pope Leo was ill and caught up in a spate of charges against his behaviour. He crossed the Alps to meet Charles and travelled as far north as Saxony where the King was engaged in gruelling rebellion.
Charlemagne dispatched officers to escort the Pope back to Rome where the trouble-makers were condemned and banished.
25th December 800
A year later Charles was in Rome again, but this was the time of greatest significance in his reign. Gathered in St Peter’s Cathedral were all the Papal dignitaries and all those that accompanied the king. Upon the Pope’s confession of innocence the whole congregation burst out in praise to God, to the Virgin Mary, to “St Peter” and to all the saints! The next day was the 25th December and all were again assembled in the great cathedral when Pope Leo took the great golden crown and placed it upon the head of Charles, at which the whole Roman congregation exclaimed, “To Charles the most pious Augustus, crowned by God, great and pacific Emperor, life and victory”. This was repeated three times and thus Charles was anointed “Roman emperor”, received mass from the Roman Pontiff and swapped precious gifts. Here is the very essence of Revelation 13:12 and 14: “And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast which had the wound by a sword, and did live.”
Two Emperors!
Though declared by an earlier Pope to be “Patrician of the Romans”, Charles had carefully avoided any reference to “emperor” and, in fact, had kept a proper relationship with the Roman emperor who resided in Constantinople. The grandness and glory of such an event as his coronation required the knowledge and acquiescence of Charlemagne. In another day it may have been called “treason”, for who was he to accept such an illustrious title when there was an existing Emperor on the throne. This action was deliberate, decisive and remarkable. The Roman world was split into East and West! An event of immense significance had occurred. For the next one thousand years the organization of Europe would fall on these lines. Whilst the actual term came later, this 800th year was the beginning of the Holy Roman Empire. No longer would the Papal See be looking east to Constantinople for support but rather north to the great Charlemagne and to the Carolingian dynasty of kings that would follow. This phase of Roman history is signified scripturally by “the beast of the earth”, where support was received by the Pope to allow him to magnify himself above all that is worshipped. Charlemagne was the key player in this great event in history and his zeal, his strength, his competency and his longevity all combined to make this possible. Well had God raised up the right man just as His Word had spoken. At a time of great change a leader requires a wide range of qualities. Charles the Great had them all: intelligence, scholarship, courage, leadership, martial skills, eloquence, and power of organisation. When the Pope wrote to him on one occasion, he called him “the modern Constantine”. When the Papacy was desperate they looked for a strong and worldly suitor and when they found him they likened him to their original provider of temporal power. How marvellously interesting.
The Holy Roman Empire in its various stages lasted for 1000 years (800 to 1789–92) so the historical significance of Charlemagne is very great. The French Revolution in 1789–94 and the wars of Napoleon (1795–1815) blew it apart, but whenever the concept of European unity again emerged then the name of Charlemagne inevitably came to the fore. In the days of the powerful German Chancellor Bismarck the attainments of Charlemagne were oft recalled. So, too, in the days of Kaiser Wilhelm which led to WWI, and Adolf Hitler in WWII with his Third Reich. The echo to Charlemagne kept on returning.
More poignantly the last 40 years of European integration have been coloured with the notions of the Charlemagne era. His name is heard in their councils, found on their coins and notes and taught in their schools. It is the present German Chancellor, Mrs Merkel, that is pressing so fervently for a role for the Pope and the church in the growing phenomenon of the EU and Europe is increasingly hearing her voice. The Papacy needs a champion and Europe is st
riving to find the roots of its existence.
They rest in the soil of the Germano–Papal league of AD800.
Charlemagne was the dominant influence at that time. Today the winner of the annual award for European Unity is awarded “the Charlemagne Prize”!
What a testimony this is to the Word of God. Revelation chapter 13 is a wonderful summary of the principal features of the Middle Ages of the Roman world and their legacy throughout the whole 1000 years of the Holy Roman Empire.
Even today the nostalgia remains!