CAROLUS MAGNUSCharlemagne and the European Idea

FEUDAL REMINDERS Much like China

Lord of the Manner Underlings, nobles Serfs

Feudalism not around until about 1000ish Merovingian Gaul

Hereditary ownership of fiefdoms from sons of Merovech the Salian Frank

Clovis ca 500 unites Gaul

CHARLEMAGNE'S FAMILY Austrasia

Eastern France, Low Countries, Aachen Merovingian Maiores of the Palace, hereditary ministers

and landowners Local rulers ascend to great power thanks to hereditary

mode and decentralization of central authority Unlike Diocletian, Constantine, Justinian, Abbasids – complex state

bureaucracies Personal and close structure determined by abilities of

ruler

FALL OF THE MEROVINGIAN Merovingian plunder economy – mid 8th c Last Kings of Merovingians are weak

Long hair of Stephen cut and he's sent to a monastery 'Empty name of King' - Einhard

Mayor of the Palace holds all power Ability to tax the population dwindles with

decentralization of power Plunder economy dries up after they rule everything and

have no land to promise followers Grimoald tries to depose Mervingians but he's executed,

661 Blood of Clovis is strong but Grimoald's family stays as

Maiores

RISE OF THE CAROLINGIANS Can't take power from Merovingians without reason so… Rationale for legitimacy for the Maiores to take over

Election? Hereditary line? Success in war? Economist? Opponents, especially Neustria (Paris), look for takeover,

too Military success Ally with Bishop of Rome who was threatened by

Lombards and put off by iconoslasm Monks – generally Irish or British – serve as bridge from

Austrasia to Rome. St Boniface converts Germans with help from Austrasia Maiores.

733, TOURS (POITIERS) Highwater mark for caliphate into Europe Charles Martel, Maior of Austrasia

PEPIN THE SHORT, 741-68 Cements deal with papacy, monasteries, and the

Austrasians Mobilizes family power with church Helps Boniface's reforms Restoration of Church lands Role of king as guardian of Church Wrote to the Pope "is it right for the man who holds the

power not to wear the crown?" 751, Pepin elected King of the Franks Deposes and puts to monastery last of the Merovingians 753, Pope Stephen goes across the Alps to crown Pepin Pepin in return defeats the Lombards Succeeded by Charles and Carloman

CHARLES, KING OF THE FRANKS Beneficiary of 100 years of

Carolingian ascent Weak kings, monks, success in war,

byzantine iconoclasm, Lombard threatPapacy shifts from looking east to looking north

CHARLES, KING OF THE FRANKS Beneficiary of 100 years of Carolingian ascent

Weak kings, monks, success in war, byzantine iconoclasm, Lombard threat

Papacy shifts from alliance with Roman emperors and other patriarchates to northern alliance

Combines military prestige (Lombards and Avars and Saxons and Bavarians, Barcelona, The Song of Roland),…

piety (Christian ruler, mass forced conversions, and love of St Augustine, oversees cultural programme) and …

Legacy of Rome – rescues Pope from Roman factions, coronated HRE

Founder of Europe as a cultural expression

CAROLINGIAN RENAISSANCE Revival of learning under Charlemagne and Louis the Pius

& Charles the Bald "Ministry to see to salvation of public good" Revive the Roman Empire Planned programme – like the House of Wisdom

Revive Latin as the universal language

PRESERVATION OF LEARNING IN THE WEST BEFORE CHARLES Roman culture required wealthy, educated, laymen: liberal

arts Practically, to enter government you must have

knowledge (like China, or 19th c Britain) Athens, Pergamon (parchment), Alexandria,

Constantinople…all in the east! Disappearance of lay literacy in Europe Boethius and Cassiodorus of Vivarium (liberal arts as aid

to religious understanding) Italy devastated by Belisarius Benedictine monks, by accident Irish, English, and Italian monasteries 264 manuscripts survive – 26 are secular! Role of the

scriptorium

CHARLEMAGNE'S CULTURAL PROGRAMME 'Industrial' output 'We are concerned to restore with zeal the workshops of

knowledge…we invited others to learn to practice the liberal arts.'

Intellectuals direct government, given great privilege, be sure the church and the state are effective and uniform. Carolingian script.

Educate populace and church. Alcuin of York

MANUSCRIPTS Collect, collate, annotate

No innovation – reverence for the originals Firm idea the truth is being handed down in two parts: Bible/church

fathers and Classics Regularize liturgy, develop standards for poetry and spelling Fight against iconoclasm and adoptionism From 26-290 classical manuscripts from 700-800

Polybius, Livy, Tacitus, Vergil, Cicero, Lucretius… Palimpsest Growth of libraries @ Reichennal,Corbie, Lorsch, Tours, St Gall, Aachen

EINHARD Biographer of Charlemagne Monastic entrepreneur

Seliganstadt – monastery under his purview – power of the reliquary Life of Sts Marcellinus and Peter