D. The Idea of Christendom
1) Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Empire
a) Trouble for Rome
v After St. Gregory the Great’s death in 604, his leadership skills were sorely missed.
v The popes for almost the 200 years—several were good men—just weren’t as strong.
v Meanwhile, the Byzantine Emperor still showed apathy and hostility to the barbarian controlled West.
v So, the West and the pope in particular were vulnerable to attacks by the barbarians, especially the Lombards.
b) The Franks
v Remember: the Franks were the barbarians who were converted by St. Remigius in AD 496, and they stayed Christian since then.
v In 756, Pope Stephen II (III) saw the Lombards attack Rome (again).
v By now, the Franks—under King Pepin—were one of the strongest tribes, and they drove the Lombards from Rome.
v To protect the pope, Pepin gave him land around Rome which amounted 1/5 of Italy.
- This land would become known as the Papal States; they would remain in the Pope’s hands until 1870.
v In 788, the Lombards attacked Rome again, and were driven away again by Pepin’s son Charles. This gave the new pope an idea.
c) Crown and Empire for the sake of order
v Pope Leo III needed protection, Charles was a committed though flawed Christian, and the Byzantine Emperor didn’t care.
v So, Leo III crowned Charles “Emperor of the Romans” on Christmas Day, 800.
v For the first time since 476, there was an emperor in Rome. This led to a few effects:
- The Byzantine Emperor was mad; he thought that he was the only Roman Emperor and by caesaro-papism the pope was his subject. This widened the split between East & West.
- The “new” empire would be known as the Holy Roman Empire, and Charles would be known as Carolus Magnus (Charles the Great)
or Charlemagne.
d) This gave rise to the idea of Christendom
= a social order in which pope and emperor partnered to take care of the people’s needs.
v The Emperor would provide protection for the Church and take care of the earthly needs of the people.
v The Church under the Pope would provide spiritual and moral guidance to the Emperor and take care of the spiritual needs of the people.
v In theory, this was a great idea, but like all good ideas, the ideal of Christendom was not always perfectly implemented.
Assignment
Compare the ideal of Christendom to caesaro-papism. What are the similarities and differences?