The Bust of Charlemagne from around 1350. Photo by: pignatta (pixabay)
I’m beginning this in-depth series of articles ── of which I’m sure will eventually become sermons ── because it’s such an intriguing subject, and there were some requests that we do so.
Charlemagne was crowned Roman emperor in A.D. 800. Many view this kingship as perhaps one of the most important events to have ever occurred in Europe. In this second part, let’s examine the vital importance of King Charlemagne in European history.
In the first installment of the Ancient Roman Empire, the Roman Empire died
at the age of 1000 plus. Men wailed at her death! World leaders had gleaned at her
splendor, power, and glory ── the glory of Rome, where all roads led. But, in A.D.
476, the last throws of the Empire in the West crumbled along with her emperor.
Rule of Rome Gone
Mighty Rome had been sacked several times. The whole Italian boot had been
overrun and subjugated. Roman rule in Africa, the Mediterranean, and Western
Europe was lost to Germanic barbarians.
The eastern leg of the Empire was powerless ── though in one knee-jerk reaction,
the eastern leg under Emperor Justinian reestablished authority in parts of Italy and
North Africa. The victory was dismal because it was wiped out in less than two
decades.
This mighty Empire, with all its marching legions, was gone. Biblical theologians
have identified the Roman Empire with the “fourth kingdom” spoken of by the
Prophet Daniel ──
“’ And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in
pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in
pieces and crush all the others.’” – Daniel 2:40.
This mighty Empire was also mentioned in chapter 7 of the Book of Daniel ──
“’ After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, A FOURTH BEAST, dreadful and
terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in
pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts
that were before it and it had TEN HORNS.’” – Daniel 7:7.
But now, this mighty beast lies dead, and blood stains their hands. Or, was she dead?
Was she just lyin’ bleedin’? Its legs, partly of iron and partly of clay ── with one
shriveled and bloody-- was still standing in the East, temporarily jerking by Emperor
Justinian. And, even though his exploits were soon demolished by the new horde of
barbarians, the Lombards, Roman civilization was far from dead in the West.
Rising out of the ashes of a supposedly destroyed Europe, a new political and
military power was ready to rule Western Europe! And this power was found in a Germanic people called the Franks.
They answered the call of the Roman papacy ── the remaining power and influence in what had been the Western Roman Empire. So, the Catholic papacy
and the Franks became one ── to create a Roman-Christian civilization of great
magnitude. Even though it would be THREE-HUNDRED MORE YEARS after the
fall of the Roman Empire that full restoration would be fulfilled ── the power of
the Franks, unmatched, was already growing. Less than ten years after ROME’s
collapse in A.D. 476.
DATELINE ── A.D. 481-511. The Frankish Kingdom.
Clovis I was the king of the Franks and ruler of much of Gaul from 481 to 511, a
key period during the transformation of the Roman Empire into Europe. … Clovis
was the son of the pagan Frankish king Childeric and the Thuringian queen Basina.
He succeeded his father, Childeric I, in 481 as the ruler of the Salian Franks and
other Frankish groups around Tournai (now in Belgium). …
Clovis, like his father, dealt politically and diplomatically with the Catholic bishops
of Gaul. These powerful figures had no qualms about working with Germanic kings,
as a letter to Clovis from Bishop Remigius of Reims, written early in the king’s reign,
makes clear.
Much was written about Clovis by Gregory of Tours in his Histories (often called
the History of the Franks), … Gregory tells stirring stories about Clovis and portrays
him as a single-minded warrior. 1 Clovis’ massive expansion throughout Gaul
brought him face to face with the Visigoths. King Alaric II of the Visigoths, greatly
alarmed by the increasing power of Clovis I, warned him to proceed no further.
Over the centuries, much has been made of Clovis’s conversion to Catholicism. One
of the first Germanic kings to do so, he did, in fact, convert to Catholicism, but recent
analysis of the contemporary sources that describe his reign—especially of a letter
written by Avitus of Vienne congratulating him on his baptism—suggests that Clovis
did not convert to Catholicism directly from paganism. Before accepting
Catholicism, he was interested in … Arianism. 2
Clovis, however, saw a political advantage to having been converted. He would be
the only Catholic Germanic king in all of Gaul. In fact, the only one in all of Europe.
All others were Arian. As a Catholic he gains great support.
Upon Clovis’s death in 511, he divided his kingdom among his four surviving sons,
Theuderic, Chlodomer, Childebert, and Clotaire. Only Clotaire (or Chlothar I), who
outlived his brothers, ruled a united kingdom, but he in turn divided it among his
sons. It was not until the reign of Clovis’s great-grandson Clotaire II in the early
7th century that the Merovingians experienced long-lasting political unity. The
kingdom that Clovis established, however, superseded its occasional individual
parts and remained intact for centuries.
The later Merovingian kings were little more than puppets and were enthroned and
deposed at will by powerful mayors of the palace. The last Merovingian, Childeric
III, was deposed in 750 by Pepin the Short. 3
DATELINE ── A.D. 714-741. The Frankish Kingdom. Traditionally reckoned as
the “first race” of the kings of France.
When Pepin II, commonly known as Pepin of Herstal, died in 714, however, the
Frankish realm plunged into civil war, and the dukes of the outlying provinces
became de facto independent. But then Pepin’s illegitimate adult son, Charles
Martel, becomes ruler of the Franks. After the defeat of Plectrude and Theudoald by
the king (now Chilperic II) and Ragenfrid, Charles briefly raised a king of his own,
Chlothar IV, in opposition to Chilperic. Finally, at a battle near Soisson, Charles
definitively defeated his rivals and forced them into hiding, eventually accepting the
king back on the condition that he receive his father's positions (A.D. 718). There
were no more active Merovingian kings after that point, and Charles and his
Carolingian heirs ruled the Franks.
Charles began the reunification of his people, which culminated in the
reestablishment of a Western European Empire under his grandson, Charlemagne.
Around the time of the birth of Charlemagne—conventionally held to be 742 but
likely to be 747 or 748—his father, Pepin the Short, was mayor of the palace, …
Pepin forged an alliance with Pope Stephen II by committing himself to protect
Rome in return for papal sanction of the right of Pepin’s dynasty to the Frankish
throne. Charlemagne assumed rulership at a moment when powerful forces of
change were affecting his kingdom. 4 A new political and religious power was
threatening to exterminate Chalcedonian Christianity and the culture of Europe ──
Islam.
The siege of Jerusalem (A.D. 636–637) was part of the Moslem conquest of the
Levant and the result of the military efforts of the Rashidun Caliphate against the
Byzantine Empire. It began when the Rashidun army, under the command of Abu Ubayda, besieged Jerusalem beginning in November 636. After six months, the
Patriarch Sophronius agreed to surrender. 5 Islam swept across Syria, Persia, Egypt,
and North Africa. In A.D. 711, the Visigoths were driven from Spain, and by 717,
Arab armies assaulted Constantinople. The fate of Asia Minor was grim. Moslem armies
make way into south-central France.
The desperate need for a strong United European Power to withstand the Moslem
onslaught is vital. There is only one ── The Kingdom of the Franks!
Just before and during the era of Charles Martel, there was one “apostle of
Germany” ── Saint Boniface. He set the Roman Catholic Church (Latin Church)
in Germany on a firm course of undeviating piety and irreproachable conduct.
Ordered by Pope Gregory III (A.D. 731–741) to organize the Roman Catholic
Church in Bavaria. Boniface initially established four bishoprics there. His work had
far-reaching political repercussions, for his Christianization of Bavaria paved the
way for the ultimate incorporation of the country into the Carolingian empire. 6
English leaders will have a huge part in unifying a revived Roman Empire.
DATELINE ── A.D. 741-768. The Frankish Kingdom.
On the death of Pepin's father, Charles Martel, in 741, power was passed down to
Charles’ legitimate sons, Carloman and Pippin the Younger (more commonly known
as Pepin the Short) as mayors of the palaces of Neustria and Austrasia, respectively.
… Pepin and Carloman, who had not proved themselves in battle, in defense of the
realm, as their father had, installed the Merovingian Childeric III as king. … Pepin
asked Pope Zachary who the royal ruler should be: The person with the title of King,
or the person who makes the decisions as King. Since the Pope depended on the
Frankish armies for his independence, and had depended on them for protection from
the Lombards since the days of Charles Martel, and Pepin, as his father had,
controlled those armies, the Pope's answer was determined well in advance. … Since
Pepin had control over the magnates and actually had the power of the king, he
decided it was time to do what his father had never bothered to do: make the
Carolingian name royal in law as well as fact. … Thus, Pepin, having obtained the support of the papacy, discouraged opposition to his house. He was elected King of
the Franks by an assembly of Frankish leading men.
An important proof of the recognition by the Franks of the high moral power of the
papacy is shown by the appeal to papal authority on the occasion of the overthrow
of the Merovingian dynasty. Pepin’s ambassadors, Bishop Burkard of Wurzburg and
Chaplain Folrad of St. Denis, laid the question before Zachary: whether it seemed
right to him that one should be king who did not really possess the royal power. The
pope declared that this did not appear good to him, and on the authority of the pope, Pepin considered himself justified in having himself proclaimed King of the Franks.
7
The Anglo-Saxon Saint Boniface, the papal representative in France, anoints Pepin
the Short and then crowns him King of the Franks in A.D. 752. This symbolic act is
critical ── it confirms a sacerdotal mission of the Frankish monarchy. He is to
UNITE all the Western nations under the flag of a Chalcedonian Christianity-Germanic civilization.
In July 754, at the abbey of Saint-Denis, France, Pope Stephen II anointed Pepin afresh and his sons Charlemagne (“Charles the Great”) and Carloman, consecrating them kings of the Romans. Under pain of excommunication, the Pope forbade the Franks to ever choose a king from a family other than that of Pepin.
DATELINE ── A.D. 768-799. On the Road to Restoration (or rather, “On the Road to Itta Bena”)
Carloman died suddenly on 4 December 771, leaving Charlemagne sole King of the
Franks. His long rulership will last until A.D. 814. And, due to his great exploits, he
will become known as “Charles the Great.”
Byzantium finds its role as a world power shrinking. Although still recognized as the
eastern successor of the old Roman Empire, it is deeply politically troubled.
Byzantium becomes more Greek than a Roman Kingdom.
Soon after, in 773–774, he answered the appeals of Pope Adrian I (772–795) for
protection by leading a victorious expedition into Italy, which ended with his assumption of the Lombard crown and the annexation of northern Italy. King
Charlemagne had united Italy for the first time in centuries. He is now the true King of
the West and commands its most formidable military. 8
On April 25, 799, during a Roman procession, Leo was physically attacked by
assailants incited by Pope Adrian I's supporters, who accused him of misconduct and
whose ultimate plan was to blind Leo and remove his tongue, thus disqualifying him
for the papacy. He fled across the Alps to his protector, Charlemagne, at Paderborn.
Exactly what was negotiated there is unknown, but Leo was safely escorted back to
Rome in November by a commission that discredited the complaints against him and
arrested and deported his accusers.
DATELINE ── A.D. 800. Charlemagne was Crowned Emperor on Christmas Day
In the presence of Charlemagne, on December 25, 800, Pope Leo III, at a large gathering in St. Peter’s Basilica for the consecration of Charlemagne’s son (Louis I the Pious) as king, Leo suddenly crowned Charlemagne as EMPEROR. 9
The pope prostrated himself before the new Emperor. Leo secured his position by becoming the immediate beneficiary of the coronation, an illegal and
revolutionary proceeding. Nevertheless, it becomes quite clear ── the kingdoms of
this Earth belong to the bishop of Rome, and they are his to give.
This event was recorded by Einhard in Life of Charlemagne, “Charles accordingly
went to Rome, to set in order the affairs of the Church, which were in great
confusion, and passed the whole winter there. It was then that he received the titles
of Emperor and Augustus [Dec 25, 800], to which he at first had such an aversion
that he declared that he would not have set foot in the Church the day that they were
conferred, although it was a great feast-day, if he could have foreseen the design of
the Pope.” 10
American philologist and historian of German origin, Luitpold Wallach, wrote in his
book, “My studies … led to my realization that the well known oath of purgation
ascribed by historians for centuries to Pope Leo III is a forgery from the middle of
the ninth century that is somehow tied up with the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals, and
that moreover Leo III was never tried by the Roman Synod held during the month
of December in the year 800. Thus, the most significant single historical event in the medieval political development of Western Europe, the “coronation” of
Charlemagne as emperor and Leo III’s participation in it, appears in a new light that
is closer to historical truth.” 11 The Medievalist and the renowned greatest European
expert on the Frankish kingdoms, François Louis Ganshof, wrote, “Like many weak
characters, Leo III had played a crooked game. Through his gesture, which could be
understood as a symbolic livery, as a trāditiō, he had given the impression that it was
he who had invested Charlemagne with the imperial dignity. There lies, in my
opinion, the reason for the great displeasure shown by Charlemagne, the reason for
which he hesitated during several months to adorn himself with the imperial title in
his diplomas and for which he refused to adopt the one which had appeared in the
acclamations: imperator Romanorum.” 12 EMPEROR OF THE ROMANS.
Indeed, the papacy, having learned a bitter lesson ── that standing alone as an
institution, it is vulnerable; it needs a strong protector and defender. The Frankish
kings were to be her defender. But the papacy would soon find out that exchanging
the Byzantines for the Franks might have been dysfunctional on her part.
DATELINE ── A.D. 800. One of the Most Profound Events In World History
British academic and historian, James Bryce (1st Viscount Bryce), centuries later
would write, “The coronation of Charles is not only the central event in the Middle
Ages, but it is also one of those very few events of which, taking them singly, it
might be said that if they had not happened, the history of the world would have
been different. … But if the Roman Empire had not been restored in the West in the
person of Charles, it would never have been restored at all, …” 13 With
Charlemagne’s military conquests and his coronation, a renewal of the ancient
political institution began. The Renewal of the Roman Empire!
Politically, this becomes an issue for both Charles and Pope Leo III. There can be only
one empire. Now, it can have a western and an eastern branch, but there must only
be one empire. What to do? Well, as part of imperial play, Leo will simply transfer the empire from East to West. Known as the “Translation of the Empire.” Again, a
single emperor to rule both East and West.
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Empress Irene (A.D. 797), the first woman of the Byzantine Empire, having dethroned the legal emperor, ruled in her own right. When Irene took the throne for herself, she
blinded her son, Constantine VI. There was not going to be another rebellion against
her rule. Constantine died shortly afterwards, almost certainly as a result of his
injuries, which were intended to kill, not maim. With his heir having already died
earlier the same year, Irene now had dealt with all her challengers. Thereafter, Irene
is referred to in official state records as basileus, emperor, and not as empress, the
first woman to so rule.
In early A.D. 802, Irene attempted a marriage of alliance with the Franks’ king
Charlemagne, who was also the newly declared Emperor of the Romans in the west,
and who, likewise, was in favor of once more unifying the two halves of the old
Roman empire. However, the new approach to join the two families met fierce
opposition. It simply would not do for a Byzantine emperor to marry an illiterate
barbarian, even if he had been blessed by the Pope.
However, since Charlemagne was crowned emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo
III, this act made Charlemagne equal to the Byzantine emperor. In Western eyes,
that meant that there was only one emperor, since the West did not recognize a
woman as emperor. It is not certain how clear this was to Irene and her court. 14
King Charlamagne is held as the legitimate successor of Leo IV, Heraclius, Justinian,
Arcadius, and the eastern line of emperors ── not Romulus Augustus.
Although Romulus Augustus is the individual who is most often described as the
“last emperor of the western Roman Empire,” it should be noted that his rule was
never accepted by the eastern emperor as legitimate and Julius Nepos was still
ruling as emperor of the western Roman Empire in Dalmatia for roughly four years
after Romulus Augustus was deposed. 15
On October 31, 802, Nicephorus I, the minister of public finance, seized his
opportunity to become emperor. Empress Irene was then exiled to the Isle of Lesbos.
During Nicephorus’ reign, Venice, Istria, and the Dalmatian coast were in dispute
between Byzantium and the empire of Charlemagne until 810. Then a tentative
agreement was reached, under which the disputed areas were to be returned to
Byzantium in exchange for Byzantine recognition of Charlemagne’s title of emperor.
The details were worked out two years later during the reign of Nicephorus’
successor, his son-in-law, Michael I. 16 King Charlamagne is now officially
recognized in Byzantium. 17
Now, from the Western European Power political and religious viewpoint, Emperor
Charlemagne is the Emperor in fact, and the Eastern emperor is bearing this title
falsely.
DATELINE ── A.D. 843. The Beginning of the End
In January 814, Charlemagne fell ill with a fever after bathing in his beloved warm
springs at Aachen; he died one week later. Charlemagne’s role, however, cannot
efface the fact that his effort to adjust traditional Frankish ideas of leadership and
the public good to new currents in society made a crucial difference in European
history. His renewal of the Roman Empire in the West provided the ideological
foundation for a politically unified Europe, an idea that has inspired Europeans ever
since. 18 Although his dynasty will endure another one hundred seventy-five years, the end happened almost immediately. In fact, the great empire that King
Charlemagne created nearly went to the grave with him.
Louis the Pious, as the only surviving son of Charlemagne and Hildegard, he
became the sole ruler of the Franks after his father's death in 814. With his father’s
death, Louis faced the task of running an empire that in Charlemagne’s seventh
decade had suffered from disobedience, corruption, and inefficiency.
Truly, the Treaty of Verdun (A.D. 843), a treaty partitioning the Carolingian empire
among the three surviving sons of Emperor Louis the Pious, was the first stage in
the dissolution of the empire of Charlemagne and foreshadowed the formation of the
modern countries of western Europe. After Louis’s death, open warfare broke out;
Louis’s third son, Louis the German, allied with Charles in attacking the eldest son,
the emperor Lothar I.
DATELINE ── A.D. 843-911. The Smell of Death of the Empire Continues
THEN… the Treaty of Meerssen, which concluded on 8 August 870, dealt another
harsh blow to the empire. A treaty to partition the realm of Lothair II, known as
Lotharingia, by his uncles, Louis the German of East Francia and Charles the Bald
of West Francia. This contract replaced the 843 Treaty of Verdun, after which the
Carolingian Empire was also split into three parts, by dividing the northern half of
Middle Francia stretching from the Rhone valley to the North Sea, in effect
recombining sundered territories of Francia into two larger east and west divisions.
Yet, through all of this disintegration, the dream of a united Catholic-Germanic empire
of the West is still very much alive.
After the death of the last remaining Carolingians in 911, Conrad I was elected
German king. His reign was a bitter and bloody struggle to uphold the traditions of
Carolingian kingship against the growing power of the Saxon, Bavarian, and
Swabian dukes. The dream of the Roman Catholic Church of a mighty and powerful
United Empire breaks apart. The papacy experiences the same implosion. Many of
the popes became nothing more than playthings of political factions in Rome. On 16
December 882, John VIII was poisoned by his own clerics, then bludgeoned to
death. 19 Also, at the Roman “Cadaver Synod,” conducted by Pope Stephen VI,
political enemies of Pope Formosus had his nine-month-old corpse exhumed,
propped up on a throne, and subjected to a trial! During which a deacon answered
for the corpse. He was accused of violating canon law and of perjury, among other
charges. After he was found guilty, his election as pope was declared invalid. His
fingers of consecration were cut off. His corpse was then cast into a grave, but was later
thrown into the Tiber River. These acts divided Rome politically, provoking an insurrection that resulted in Stephen’s imprisonment and his death by strangulation.
20
The young Pope John XII (A.D. 955 to 964) rebelled when Otto I issued his
controversial Privilegium Ottonianum (“Ottonian Privilege”), which ordered John to
take an oath of obedience to the emperor. Soon afterward, John died, allegedly in the
arms of his mistress, ending a private life marked by gross immorality. 21
The continued power of Islam added to the downward spiral. The Saracens, also
known as the Moors, invaded Italy in the 820s. The invasion of the Saracens had a
wide-ranging and far-reaching impact on southern Italy. The scale of the invasion
was huge, and the scope was wide. The Saracens quickly invaded many cities and
coastal areas in southern Italy with their powerful navigation capabilities and
military strength. The regions they plundered and conquered, causing great
panic and destruction to the local population. 22
Catholic Europe understands all too well that Islam can rise to power on the prelude
of religion ── a religion that views all who are not Islamic as Infidels.
As A.D. 1000 approaches, many believe that the end of the world is coming soon.
They believe that Western civilization is ready to be annihilated. But two institutions
── a powerful German empire and a revived papacy ── are beginning to rise. And
for the papacy, she sees only one way. The pope must call in a STRONG yet pious
prince to UNITE EUROPE ONCE AGAIN! And this prince is, as we continue in
Part III, a major part of this incredible European history. □
To be continued
Bibliography
1 Mitchell, K., Encyclopedia Britannica, “Clovis I,” May 8, 2025. Retrieved 1 June
2025.
2 Ibid.
3 Editors, The Encyclopedia Britannica, “Merovingian dynasty,” May 30, 2025. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
4 Sullivan, R.E., The Encyclopedia Britannica, “Charlemagne” April 19, 2025. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
5 New World Encyclopedia, “Siege of Jerusalem (636-637)”
6 Aherne, C.M., Encyclopedia Britannica, “St. Boniface” June 1, 2025. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
7 Catholic Answers, “Pope Zachary, Saint” Retrieved 1 June 2025.
8 Ibid. (4)
9 The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, “Saint Leo III”. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
10 Turner, S.E., translator, Einhard: The Life of Charlemagne, Fordham University, New York: Harper & Brothers,
1880 §28.
11 Wallach, L., Diplomatic Studies in Latin and Greek Documents from the Carolingian Age, Cornell University
Press, Ithaca and London, 1977, pages vii-viii (Preface)
12 Ganshof, F.L., The Carolingians and the Frankish Monarchy, London, Longman, 1971, p. 48.
13 Bryce, J., The Holy Roman Empire, New York: Macmillan and Co., 1880, p. 50.
14 Encyclopedia.com, “Irene Of Athens (C. 752-803)”
15 McDaniels, S., Who Was the Last Roman Emperor? A Harder Question than You Might Think, Tales of Times
Forgotten, 2 July 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
16 The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, “Nicephorus I”. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
17 Ibid.
18 Ibid. (4)
19 McCoy, D.B., POPE JOHN VIII, FIRST ASSASSINATED POPE, Catholic 365, 6/19/20.
20 The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, “Formosus” – Retrieved 2 June 2025.
21 The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, “John XII” 10 May 2025. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
22 iNews, What major impact did the Saracens invade on southern Italy? 2025-06-03.
