Heritage History Month Day Sixteen: Charlemagne

Happy Charlemagne Day!

It is now day sixteen of Heritage history month and we remember one of the most important rulers in European history. After the fall of the Roman Empire, its Western territories broke apart into its constituent tribes and kingdoms, which existed in this form for three hundred years. The Germanic tribe of the Franks had already been Christianized by the time of Charlemagne, as king Clovis I converted in 508, bringing his people into the catholic faith.

Francia became the fastest growing kingdom of dark age Gaul, yet it was characterized by instability, war, and political upheaval. By the time of Charlemagne’s grandfather Charles Martel, the Carolingian family controlled the Frankish territories. Charlemagne and his brother Carloman I inherited the kingdom; upon Carloman’s death, Charlemagne took control of the entire kingdom, eventually annexing the Lombard kingdom as well.

In 799, Pope Leo III was attacked in Rome by political enemies seeking to convict him of certain crimes and torturing him. He fled to seek help from Charlemagne, then the most powerful ruler in the West. Charlemagne mediated the conflict and brought it to resolution, restoring Pope Leo’s position in Rome. At Christmas mass in 800, Pope Leo coronated Charlemagne emperor of the West, giving him political prerogative over vast amounts of territory.

In this way, whether the Pope had the political authority to do so or not, Charlemagne united Western lands and became the Father of Europe. Charlemagne is important because he contributed greatly to the idea of the Europeans as a people with a shared civilization. It was never meant, of course, to deny to them their more central identities in their respective nationalities, but there was something about their historical experience that would add a layer of unity; they were brought into relation to each other in a way unique compared to their relations with those outside Europe.

The dynamic between state and the papacy was also set up for a thousand years of historical drama, a constant ebb and flow of conflict and harmony that set up a theater for the outworking of Christianity into the Western world. Charlemagne continued to regularize standards of learning, political structures, and economic institutions that would serve as a foundation for medieval Europe. Many of the ruling European family dynasties for over a thousand years can trace their roots back to Charlemagne.