Hist1Week11Vid3- Charlemagne to Treaty of Verdun

From the Carolingians to Charlemagne

Pippin, formerly a mayor of the palace, took power from the Merovingian dynasty and became the first Carolingian king of the Franks. His takeover had the backing of Pope Zachary, who viewed Pippin as a more effective ruler.

The papacy also needed nearby military allies. The Byzantine Empire was not effectively protecting Rome from the Lombards, so Pope Stephen later called on Pippin for help. Pippin led an army into Italy and forced the Lombard king Aistulf to retreat.

After Pippin’s death, his sons Charles (Charlemagne) and Carloman initially ruled together. Carloman soon withdrew to a monastery, where he died. The lecturer suggests Charlemagne may have pressured him to step aside. Charlemagne then ruled alone until 814.

Charlemagne’s Expansion and Rule

Charlemagne built a large empire through sustained military campaigns, controlling much of continental Western Europe. Some neighboring territories were governed directly, while others became tributaries.

His campaigns included:

• Saxony: Charlemagne fought Saxon groups in northern Germany and forced them to convert to Christianity. The lecturer describes this as an early, “proto-crusade”-like use of conquest to spread Christianity, despite clerical advice to convert people through persuasion.
• Italy: After a marriage alliance with the Lombard royal family broke down, Charlemagne defeated the Lombards and took their crown. He also conquered the Duchy of Spoleto, while Benevento remained tributary.
• The Iberian Peninsula: Charlemagne’s campaign into Muslim-ruled Al-Andalus was unsuccessful. On the return journey, a Frankish army group was ambushed by Basques at Roncesvalles. Charlemagne nevertheless established the Spanish March as a frontier zone.

The lecture emphasizes the scale of Charlemagne’s power by comparing it to the much later expansion of Napoleon.

The Papacy and the Imperial Title

Pippin granted the pope territory in central Italy, creating the Papal States, which the lecture notes continued to exist into the 19th century.

In 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne “Emperor Augustus of the Romans” during Christmas Mass. According to the account presented in the lecture, Charlemagne was surprised and initially displeased. The Byzantines rejected the claim that a western ruler could be Roman emperor.

To justify the pope’s authority to confer the title, Leo invoked the Donation of Constantine, a document said to grant popes the power to choose an emperor. The lecturer explains that Renaissance scholars later exposed it as a forgery based on its Latin style. Even so, the idea that a pope could name a western emperor endured and eventually became associated with the title “Holy Roman Emperor.”

Learning and Administration

Charlemagne promoted scholarship and literacy, with activity centered at Aachen, which served as his closest equivalent to a capital. Its cathedral was built in a style influenced by Byzantine churches.

Scholars gathered at Aachen included the monk Einhard, who wrote a famous biography of Charlemagne, and Alcuin, who worked with Charlemagne on educational reforms.

Monks who could read and write could fulfill their monastery labor obligations by copying books. Alcuin promoted a standardized, legible script called Caroline minuscule. The lecture notes that later European printers used it as a model for typefaces.

Louis the Pious and the Treaty of Verdun

Charlemagne’s only surviving son, Louis the Pious, succeeded him in 814. Louis’s later marriage produced another son, leading to disputes with his older sons over inheritance and territory.

After Louis died in 840, his sons fought a civil war that ended three years later with the Treaty of Verdun:

• Lothair, the eldest, received the middle kingdom, including Rome and the Papal States, and held the imperial title.
• Louis the German and Charles the Bald received the other portions of the Frankish lands.

The division weakened the unity of the Frankish realm. The lecture ends by noting that raids and migrations were also affecting Europe around this time, a topic to be continued in the next video.

Speakers and Sources Mentioned

• Speaker: Professor Brian Rutishauser
• Historical figures: Pippin, Pope Zachary, Pope Stephen, Aistulf, Charlemagne (Charles the Great), Carloman, Desiderius, Desiderata, Pope Leo III, Constantine, Pope Sylvester, Louis the Pious, Lothair, Louis the German, and Charles the Bald
• Texts and scholarly contributions: The Donation of Constantine (described in the lecture as a forgery), Einhard’s biography of Charlemagne, and Alcuin’s educational and handwriting reforms associated with Caroline minuscule