Synopsis
After Charles Martel stopped the Muslim advance at Tours in 732, the Western church became increasingly dependent upon the Franks for protection. In 800, Pope Leo III revived the Roman Empire in the west by crowning Charlemagne the Roman emperor. While this created an institution (Holy Roman Empire) that would last for 1,000 years and renewed harmony between the secular and sacred in European life, it also created two invisible fault lines that would eventually generate earthquakes: one between the pope and emperor and the other between East and West.
Key Quotes
- "More than 300 years after the fall of Rome, Pope Leo had revived the Roman Empire in the West."
- "News that Charlemagne had become the new Roman Emperor was not music in the news of the old Roman Emperor. In Constantinople, both Emperor Charlemagne and Pope Leo were seen as overstepping the proper bounds of their authority. Charlemagne’s coronation created a political and theological wedge between East and West that would eventually result in the Great Schism of 1054.."
- "The question of whether the pope or the emperor had supremacy would go unanswered for the next several centuries. ... Since Charlemagne was a powerful leader, the state had the upper hand for as long as he lived. After Charlemagne’s death, however, his empire collapsed... The state of affairs that that collapse created is known as feudalism."
- What caused the pope to seek out new alliances? What new problems did Charlemagne's coronation create?
- According to Einhard, how did Charlemagne feel about being crowned emperor? Why is Einhard's report likely to be true?
- How did Charlemagne understand the relationship between church and state? On the whole, do you think the creation of "Christendom" was a positive or a negative development?
Click the link below to read the German biographer Einhard's eyewitness account of Charlemagne's coronation.
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