French poet and historianVoltaireonce wrote that the Holy Roman Empire was " neither holy , nor Roman , nor an empire . " Given that the first true leader of the empire was Otto I of Germany , the Enlightenment thinker had a good spot . Yet , the authenticity of the Holy Roman Empire ’s sacredness and imperialism does n’t shake out as well . First , it ’s crucial to differentiate between the Roman Empire ( think Caesar and Mark Antony ) and the Holy Roman Empire ( think Christendom and the pope ) .
The Roman Empire endure from 27 B.C. to A.D. 476 . In 395 , the conglomerate dissever into eastern and western naval division after the Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity . Flavius Valerius Constantinus establishedConstantinopleas the Capitol Building of the Byzantine Empire in New - sidereal day Asia Minor and the Balkans peninsula . German tribes invade the westerly remnant and divided the commonwealth among the Goths , Lombards , Franks , Vandals and other clan .
Until 1453 , the Byzantine Empire was more or less squared away , but the West spiraled into a frantic land grab . start forward to the mid-700s , the Franks emerge as the most powerful Germanic clan in the West . Things got interesting when Pepin the Short , city manager of the Frankish palace , shoot for to become the tycoon of the Franks . Another royal line , theMerovingian , still sat on the throne , but Pepin pulled enough weight as mayor to draw in a powerful ally .
Pope Stephen II live in northern Italy , snuggle between the realm of the Franks and Lombards . The Catholic Pope sought Pepin ’s aid because the Lombards essay to sweep over the papal soil . Seizing the opportunity for mutual increase , Pepin agreed to intervene with the Lombards in exchange for the Frankish crown ; the Bishop of Rome was still the ultimate decider in Earthly matters .
Both party made good on the bargain in 755 . Pepin the Short conquered the Lombard kingdom , thus produce the papal state , and Pope Stephen II journeyed to the Frank kingdom to crown Pepin as king . That mark the first time a pope travel such a foresighted length , symbolically legitimizing the change in royal bloodline from the Merovingian to theCarolingianlineage [ source : Barbero and Cameron ] .
By that sentence , King Pepin had two sons ; the previous , call Charles , would be known to account as Charlemagne .
His Name is Charles, But You Can Call Him Charlemagne
When Pepin the Short die , the Frankish land go by down the Carolingian bank line to Charles and his young pal , Carloman . In 771 , Carloman fell sick and exit , and Charles usurp control over his lands as well . Charles the Great , aka Charlemagne , proved expert on the battlefield . begin in 773 , he conquered the Lombards , Saxons , Arabs and Avars ; on today ’s map , his kingdom would encompass France , Belgium , Holland , Switzerland , Austria and character of Germany , Italy , Croatia , the Czech Republic , Slovakia , Hungary and Spain [ source : Barbero and Cameron ] .
To the rulers of the Byzantine Empire , Charlemagne ’s originate realm was simply a patchwork of barbaric kindred . However , the former Middle Ages king advance literacy and education among his subject . knight theCarolingian Renaissance , Charlemagne patronized breeding and artistic creation to an extent alone in medieval Europe . He began with the court shoal , where students and bookman could plight in ego - directed study [ germ : Colish ] . Along with the laic institutions , the male monarch also revivedecumenical(religious ) schools . Architectural projects go with the cultural resurgence , with 16 monastery and more than 230 cathedrals either build or renovated during Charlemagne ’s reign [ source : Stalley ] .
Charlemagne also sought to unify the Frankish land under the Christian faith and root out subversion in the clergy . He established Latin , the linguistic process of the Roman Catholic Church , as the official spit . The Byzantine Empire , in contrast , speak Greek . Believing in the educational power of the public Christian services , orliturgy , Charlemagne seek to standardize them across the realm [ generator : Colish ] .
Relations between the church and Byzantium ( whose ruler still held the honorary title of Roman Emperor ) began to sliver in 726 when Emperor Leo III launched a cause againsticonoclasm , or spiritual icons . like to prevent idol worship , Leo ’s decree outlawed Christian symbol , such as crucifixes . The last straw came toward the end of the 8th hundred when Emperor Constantine VI ’s mother , Irene , disowned and blinded her son and claim the imperial title for herself . Balking at the notion of a female emperor moth , the Christian church council settle to crown Charlemagne and split definitively from the Byzantine Empire .
Charlemagne Becomes Emperor
While tenseness develop between the Roman Church and Byzantium , Charlemagne continued the tradition of near associations with thepopethat his Church Father had forged . In 795 , Pope Leo III was elected and consecrate to the ira of some Christian church officials who accused of him of peculation , among other charge [ source : Barbero and Cameron ] . In 799 , a ring of armed men likely commissioned by the pope ’s Christian church antagonist round Leo during a public procession to render him unsound for the papacy . Echoing Empress Irene ’s blinding of her Logos , the men attempted to rack out Leo’seyesand rip out histongue , according to the knotty custom for removing someone from position by force [ source : Barbero and Cameron ] .
The pope managed to escape the assault and pled for assuagement and protection from Charlemagne . The king acquiesced and move around to Rome in 800 to oversee the test between Pope Leo and his adversaries and acquit the embattle Bishop of Rome . While in Rome , Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as emperor of the Roman Empire during a Christmas Day Mass.
scholar disagree about whether Charlemagne had anterior cognition of the coronation . His contemporary biographer , Einhard , claimed that it surprise and see red Charlemagne . Accepting such a grievous title without first objecting would have transgress political etiquette [ source : chronicle ] . But Einhard may have omitted those inside information designedly to retouch Charlemagne ’s image for posterity . Either way , that venally mere act of the pope placing a top on Charlemagne ’s bow head resonated throughout theMiddle Agesand beyond .
Many historiographer recognize that moment as the informal beginning of the Holy Roman Empire . The coronation bound together Church and country in an unprecedented means by asserting the authority of the Vicar of Christ to lend the imperial title and accord church officials aegis under the Frankish empire . For Charlemagne , the event unified the scattered Frankish lands through strict oaths of loyalty to the pennant and equalized his political height with the Byzantine emperor butterfly . He also used his greater administrative authority to enact effectual scheme reforms to stretch out justice for the poor [ source : Becher and Bachrach ] .
Charlemagne ’s ruler stigmatise a ethnical coming in the early Middle Ages , and story has revered him as a mighty warrior and kindly sovereign . Though his Frankish imperium would n’t endure his death in 814 , Charlemagne ’s majestic statute title introduced a fresh legitimate stronghold in western Europe . That fusion annunciate the upgrade of the Holy Roman Empire that would endure more than 1,000 eld after his epic enthronization .
