It is the year of grace 800. Before the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Basilica, the venerable and august pontiff, St. Leo III, takes a golden crown, the imperial diadem, and places it on the head of the king of the Franks, who will henceforth be emperor. At this moment, under the blessings of the Church, the Western Roman Empire is re-established in the person of Charlemagne. The monarch’s profile is imposing. Robust in body and tall in stature, he has a confident gait and manly gestures. His countenance is cheerful, with a hint of a smile, his gaze lively. The whole ensemble, notes the biographer, gives a strong impression of authority and dignity.1 All the Roman faithful, grateful for the heroic protection and devotion with which the great king constantly protected the Apostolic See and the Vicar of Christ, joined in an acclamation that shook the vaults of the temple and sounded like thunder: “To the most pious and august Charles, crowned by God, to the great and peaceful emperor, long life and victory!”2 But how did this great monarch reach such an eminent position? To understand him, it will be indispensable for us to analyse the events that preceded his time.

From Merovingians to Carolingians

The centuries following the baptism of Clovis, king of the Franks, saw the weakening of the Merovingian dynasty.3 Exhausted and impotent, the last sovereigns of this famous line,suggestively nicknamed fainéants, or vagabonds, were no more than symbols, used artificially. Meanwhile, the power of the great families of the Frankish aristocracy grew, especially the influential figure of the maires du palais – mayors of the palace –, authentic viceroys. This phenomenon was repeated in all five regions into which the Frankish kingdom was divided between the 6th and 7th centuries: Austrasia, Neustria, Burgundy, Aquitaine and Provence. At the end of the 7th century, the prefecture of Austrasia passed to Pepin of Herstal, of the Pepinid dynasty, who was honoured with the title of duke. It was he who unified Austrasia, Neustria and Burgundy and maintained this enormous domain until his death in 714. Charles, known as Martel, succeeded his father Pepin of Herstal. A victor on the Rhine, in Neustria and Aquitaine, the valiant warrior will be particularly honoured for his victory over the Muslims of Abd-er-Rahman in Poitiers in 732. “It was from this hero,” says Gobry, “that the entire Carolingian dynasty was born, which owes its name as much to Charles Martel as to Charlemagne.”4 Charles Martel was succeeded by two of his sons: Pepin the Short received Neustria, Burgundy and Provence; Carloman received Austrasia, Germania and Thuringia. By now, practically all the Frankish kingdoms were in the hands of the Pepinids, who acted as maire-du-palais. However, Carloman decided to leave the world behind and entrust his states to his brother, in order to become a Benedictine monk in Monte Cassino. Pepin therefore “reigned” alone over the Franks. The Merovingian dynasty was in its final days. Pope St. Zechariah would have the last word: “To whom is it more just to give the name of king,” he is asked, “to the one who possesses royal authority in name only, or to the one who possesses it without the name?” And the Pontiff gave the answer: “It is just and reasonable that he who possesses royal omnipotence should also have the name of king.”5 Thus, in 751, the dynasty of Clovis’ descendants definitively ceased to rule. Henceforth, the Carolingians reigned.

Birth of the Pontifical States

The devoted relationship that would be established in the future between Charlemagne and the Roman Pontiffs was based on a series of events that took place during the reign of his father, Pepin the Short. A few years after the consecration of the first Carolingian king, the Lombards, under the command of Aistulf, king of Pavia, took Ravenna and threatened Rome. Pope Stephen II, seeing himself in danger, turned to the new king of the Franks. In 753, to escape the Lombard danger, he left the Eternal City for France, where “the young Charles – the future Charlemagne – representing his father, received the illustrious visitor.”6 In 756, during the second raid against Aistulf, the Pontifical States emerged – Rome, Perusia and Ravenna, later joined by Comacchio – which, conquered by Pepin and donated to the Pope, would be maintained for over ten centuries.

Charlemagne at the kingdom’s head

On the death of Pepin the Short in 768, the Frankish kingdom was divided between Charlemagne and Carloman, his younger brother. But the division lasted only three years. In 771, Carloman died and Charles reigned alone. Thus, from a combination of providential factors, a vast kingdom, later to become an immense empire, comes under the rule of one wise monarch. What will Charles’ first act be? His attention turns to the interests of the Church, as it will throughout his reign. He resumes his wars against the Lombards, Rome’s adversaries, and besieges the city of Pavia. Holy Week 774 is approaching and the end of the siege, which has been going on for six months, is nowhere in sight. Charles, who has personally presided over the siege of the Italian city under Lombard possession, decides to celebrate Easter in Rome with the venerable Successor of Peter. Thus, accompanied by a number of bishops, abbots, dukes and counts, and escorted by a troop of knights, the monarch sets out for the Eternal City via the Province of Tuscany. Still thirty miles from their destination, the Frankish entourage comes upon the unfurled banners of the entire Roman army which, sent by Pope Adrian I to welcome the honoured defender of Christendom, has marched out to meet them. The general joy is indescribable.
Between Charlemagne and the Roman Pontiffs flourished devoted relations, previously initiated by Pepin the Short, and sealed by an oath of allegiance and fidelity
“The Coronation of Charlemagne”, by Friedrich Kaulbach - Maximilianeum, Munich (Germany)
“A mile from Rome,” writes Darras, “all the schools led by their teachers, with their children carrying palms and olive branches in their hands and singing hymns of jubilation, approach the king and cry out their triumphal acclamations. This pious and moving procession is followed by processional crosses, all the clergy and the faithful from the various parishes of Rome, according to the custom of the official receptions of the patricians.”7

A deep and supernatural relationship

The king and his entourage make the final leg of the journey on foot. In front of St. Peter’s Basilica, in whose portico the Holy Pontiff awaits him “surrounded by his priestly senate,”8 Charles decides that he will climb the steps on his knees. And so he does, kissing each step. After the gesture of humble veneration, the man set to be the greatest emperor of Christendom finds himself at the feet of Christ’s Vicar. Then, in a symbolic gesture, king and pope embrace warmly and, with the monarch holding the Pontiff’s right hand, to the acclamations of “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” they enter the sacred edifice, where “the most holy pope and the most excellent king swear alliance and mutual fidelity over the body of the Prince of the Apostles.”9 A deep and supernatural relationship is established between St. Adrian I and Charlemagne, and the correspondence between them evinces feelings incomparably superior to the political interests to which many historians attribute this friendship. Could there be a scene be more representative of the perfection of human society, in which the Holy Church affectionately cherishes the temporal government, and the latter pays her the greatest tributes of love and submission? We can say without hesitation that, on that occasion, Christendom could glimpse the establishment of a social order entirely in accordance with God’s plans. After the siege of Pavia, Charles took as his own the iron crown of the Lombards. He went on to fight the Lombard Adalgis in January 777, and visited Rome again in 781 to request the royal anointing for his two sons, Carloman, king of Italy, and Louis, king of Aquitaine.

The giant undertaking of a giant Emperor

Wars took up a large part of Charles’ reign. In a Europe still dominated by barbarism, territorial borders had to be strengthened, defended and expanded. It should be noted, however, that these enterprises always bore an undeniable missionary character, being undertaken in defence of the Faith and with a view to spreading the Catholic Religion. They were conflicts against various inimical peoples: Lombards, Frisians, Saxons and even Muslims from northern Spain. As Darras assures us, “Europe had a master, the world an arbiter, the Church a defender, and soon Rome would inscribe this immortal title on the pedestal of the new king’s statues: “Carolus Magnus Romanæ Ecclesiæ ensis clypeusque – Charlemagne, sword and shield of the Roman Church.”10 If Charlemagne shone for his valour on the battlefield, he shone no less for his piety and filial devotion to the Holy Church. In fact, he made it his mission not only to defend the Church, but also to surround her with ever greater honours and splendours.
Charles deserved the title “the Great” for many reasons: from his valour on the battlefield to his filial dedication to the Holy Church…
“Charlemagne in Paderborn”, by Ary Scheffer - Palace of Versailles (France)
The emperor carried out the liturgical reform begun by his father; he strove to unify worship by spreading the Gregorian Roman liturgy; he personally asked Pope St. Adrian I to send him skilful cantors to train the French dioceses in traditional liturgical chant. The clergy’s theological formation was also a special concern of his, as was the standardization of the monastic regime under the Benedictine rule, to be imposed in the future under the impetus of St. Benedict of Aniane, as well as the foundation of various churches and monasteries, such as Saint-Pons de Cimiez, Brântome, Metten, Saint-Savin and Saint-Paul de Narbonne, among others. Charlemagne was even a theologian and endeavoured to combat heresies such as iconoclasm. His Libri carolini – Carolingian Books –, written in large part by himself, constitute a refutation as solid as it is complete of the iconoclastic error.11

An excellent service to the cause of Christian culture

An old calumny depicts Charlemagne as illiterate, unable to sign his own name. Nothing could be more false, especially in the case of a man from whom a true cultural renaissance was born amidst the darkness of ignorance and barbarism. In fact, Charles was a cultured man. He spoke his own language with perfection – he had even started writing a grammar manual – as well as Latin and Greek, which he understood, although he did not speak. During his meals, he delighted in hearing the reading of St. Augustine’s City of God.12 Furthermore, he did not lack poetic and musical talent, always combined with great piety. The Catholic liturgy owes one of its most beautiful hymns to the emperor’s plume: Veni Creator Spiritus.13 Charlemagne ushered in an era known as the Carolingian Renaissance. The emperor “rendered excellent service to the cause of Christian culture with his educational capitularies, in which he insisted on the importance of a high standard of accuracy in the copying of manuscripts and the correction of texts.”14 He also “gave a strong impetus to education and the arts, asking the bishops to organize schools in connection with their cathedrals.”15 These schools, set up in a large number of churches and monasteries, were opened to all, and wise teachers were sought from all over the West, especially from England and Italy. Among these was the main exponent of culture and science at the Carolingian court: Alcuin of York.
...to his tireless commitment in promoting and cultivating education and the arts, all motivated by fervent Christian piety. Truly, Charles was great for his faith!
“Charlemagne reprimands negligent students”, by Karl von Blaas - Museum of Art History in Vienna
Even handwriting was reformed. A clear, regular and uniform script was adopted, known as the Carolingian minuscule. The arts also received a new impetus and liturgical manuscripts were embellished. Precious metals and ivories, illuminations and miniatures adorned the evangeliaries, sacramentaries, psalters and breviaries. Beautiful churches, richly ornamented and decorated, were built. We have a fine example of Carolingian architecture in the palace of Aix-la-Chapelle, seat of the imperial government.

“His final concerns were for the Church”

Until the end, Charlemagne lived of the Church and for the Church. This is what Darras says about the great emperor’s last days: “His final concerns were yet for the Church, of which he never ceased to be the armed defence during his long and glorious reign. In 813, five councils were held throughout the empire: in Arles, Châlons-sur-Saône, Tours, Rheims and Mainz. The canons of discipline they formulated were sent to Aix-la-Chapelle, where the emperor had them examined by a numerous assembly of bishops and masters and made them obligatory for all the peoples under his rule through a special capitulary.”16
Palatine Chapel - Aachen (Germany)
Such was the last official act of Charles’ rule. After receiving Viaticum on January 28 of 814, at the age of seventy-two, the venerable monarch traced the Sign of the Cross and murmured the words of the psalmist: “Lord, into Your hand I commit my spirit” (cf. Ps 31:5). It was nine o’clock in the morning when the father of Christendom expired in his bed in the palace of Aix-la-Chapelle.

True greatness is only born of faith

Charlemagne’s legacy to history is immeasurable. Emperor, father, teacher, warrior, theologian, and loving son of the Church, defender of the Pope… How can we summarize in a single word so many aspects that adorned the soul of the Emperor with the flowery beard? Only one word sums them up. The one with which, thirty years after his death, his grandson Nithard described him: magnus.17 Indeed, true greatness is only born of faith. And it was this faith, loved, cultivated and defended unreservedly by Charles that allowed him to be, in the full sense of the word, great. ◊  

Notes

1 Cf. EGINHARD. Vita Karoli Imperatoris. 2.ed. Roma: Salerno, 2006, p.98.

2 DARRAS, J. E. Histoire générale de l’Église. Paris: Louis Vivès, 1873, t.XVIII, p.8.

3 The Frankish dynasty of which Merovech (411-458) was the third king, and which was consolidated by Clovis I (465-511) and his descendants.

4 GOBRY, Ivan. Pépin le Bref. Père de Charlemagne, fondateur de la dynastie carolingienne. Paris: Pygmalion, 2001, p.45.

5 GOBRY, Ivan. Charlemagne. Fondateur de l’Europe. Monaco: Rocher, 1999, p.29.

6 BORDONOVE, Georges. Charlemagne. Empereur et Roi. Paris: Pygmalion, 2008, p.30.

7 DARRAS, J. E. Histoire générale de l’Église. Paris: Louis Vivès, 1891, t.XVII, p.459.

8 Idem, ibidem.

9 Idem, p.460.

10 Idem, p.443.

11 Cf. Idem, p.476.

12 Cf. Idem, p.473; EGINHARD, op. cit., p.102-103.

13 Cf. DARRAS, op. cit., t.XVII, p.496.

14 DAWSON, Christopher. A crise da educação ocidental. São Paulo: É Realizações, 2020, p.35.

15 WOODS, Thomas E. Cómo la Iglesia construyó la civilización occidental. Madrid: Ciudadela Libros, 2007, p.36.

16 DARRAS, op. cit., t.XVIII, p.157.

17 Cf. BORDONOVE, op. cit., p.11.