Chapter Two
The Revival of the Empire: Charlamagne to Henry III
Sam Foley
With Clovis as leader, along with the Merovingian kings, Franks conquered the former Roman Gaul.
Settled in the north-east [country between the Rhine and Paris] and south [where the Burgundians were overthrown and the Visigoths of Toulouse].
They owed their success to their military prowess and their acceptance of Latin Orthodoxy.
Early Merovingian kings adopted traditions of government of the late Roman Empire [weak upon inheritance].
Roman officials [counts] were salaried in lands.
Last survivors of Merovingian dynasty were removed by Charlemagne’s father [Pippin the Short].
Two consequences due to the changed dynasty: the centre of power moved eastward [Aix replaced Paris as the natural centre] and Pippin needed sanction and found it with the Pope, bringing the rulers of orthodox Franks closer to the Patriarch of the west.
“By his wars he so nobly increased the kingdom of the Franks which was great and strong when he inherited it from his father, that the additions he made almost doubled it. Charlemagne’s coronation as emperor: Christmas Day 800.
The initiative came from the Pope, therefore the revived empire was associated with the religious purposes of the Roman church.
Charlemagne died, son Louis [the Pious] took over.
Before Louis’ death, the empire was already beginning to fall. He died in 840.
His three sons fought with each other in an effort to secure a rich portion of their father’s land.
Treaty of Verdun [843] divided Frankish patrimony three ways.
West Francia [France from the Pyrenees to the line of the Somme, the Meuse, and the Rhone] went to the youngest, Charles the Bald. East Francia, Saxony, and Bavaria, and other Frankish lands beyond the Rhine, went to the next brother Lewis. The title of emperor went to the eldest son, Lothar, along with lands known as the Middle Kingdom [lands east and west of the Rhine between the kingdoms of his brothers, Burgundy and Provence [Rhone Valley], all the lands that Charlemagne and Louis the Pious had ruled in Italy; also included Rome, Pavia, and Aix].
When Lothar died, he split his land up between his three sons.
Before the end of Charlemagne’s reign, the Vikings raided.
The West Frankish kingdom received the brunt of their attacks over a sixty-year period.
The Hungarians invaded the eastern kingdom in 862.
Political Unity was out of the question.
The princes, Lothar and Berengar had very little power.
Rulers of eastern and western Francia stayed overwhelmed with maintaining control over their own, leading to division, and creating provinces.
Invaders had been looking for loot, so they stole from churches and monasteries.
919: [Duke of Saxony] Henry crowned king of Germany. His successor, son Otto, won victory over the still invading Hungarians; put a term to the raiding expeditions.
961: Otto crowned king of Lombardy.
962: Otto crowned emperor by Pope John XII.
Otto III succeeded his father when still a child; held impractical ideas which led to disaster.
Conrad II succeeded Henry, proved a strong and successful ruler in Italy and Germany.
When Conrad died, all the Otto III destroyed with over ambition, was restored.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment