Quick viewing(Text Mode)

Charlemagne the Man, the Legend, and the Birth of Western Christendom Checkmate Far Left: This 11Th-C

Charlemagne the Man, the Legend, and the Birth of Western Christendom Checkmate Far Left: This 11Th-C

CHRISTIAN

HISTORY Issue 108

Charlemagne The man, the legend, and the birth of Western checkmate Far left: This 11th-c. chess piece may allude to ’s elephant.

“listen up, boy” Left: Charle- ibrary magne instructs his son . L rt

A

on the road again Above: Charlemagne and his soldiers ridgeman ride to battle. B he

T

ibrary / L Bán, my cat / ‘Tis a like task we are at; / Hunting mice ture

is his delight / Hunting words I sit all night. . . . Prac- c i

Did you know? P tice every day has made / Pangur perfect in his trade; ibrary L

/ I get wisdom day and night / Turning darkness into rt Life in Charlemagne’s world gostini A A

light” (translated by Robin Flower). e D , Louis, Charles, Louis. . . ridgeman

In a world without last names, famous people were lunch in the Early . . . B entury / c he

known by their nicknames. Charlemagne, originally . . . would have been bread, certainly; meat, probably T called Charles or Karl, became “Charles the Great”: (although if you were a peasant, maybe not); and ale, taly / I

taly, 9th I

“Carolus Magnus“ in and “Charles le Magne” in without a doubt. It would have been seasoned with e, c

Old French. His father was called Pepin (or Pippin) the many herbs but few spices and cooked over a large eni Short, and his mother, Bertrada, “Bigfoot Bertha.” Pre- open fire in the middle of your house. V iana,

sumably she was tall—or at least taller than Pepin! You would have eaten it from wooden plates, mostly c ar M olio 154, verso, a One of Charlemagne’s illegitimate sons was “Pip- with your hands, and finished up the meal with a gen- f

c i2,

pin the Hunchback,” his legitimate son Louis (who later erous helping of fruit. (Read more about what people O

inherited the ) was “” due to his of Charlemagne’s day ate, wore, and did in “How they ibliote B reputation for devoutness, and one of Louis’s brothers feasted and fasted,” pp. 34–35).

rom Codex

was “Charles the Younger.” Charlemagne’s grandchil- f entury / dren fared worse: “,” “Louis the Stam- I want an elephant for c merer,” “Charles the Child,” and “Lothar the Lame” In 797 Charlemagne sent ambassadors to the ruler were among them. The empire finally collapsed under of the Arab world, Harun al-Rashid (“Harun the

Charlemagne’s great-grandson “.” Upright”), whose magnificent court at was arriage—14th later memorialized in the tales of the Thousand and One c Nights. Charlemagne’s delegation included two envoys Catching mice iren-Com S Charlemagne encouraged scholarship in and a Jewish interpreter named Isaac. Imagine every- /

ippin on the —miniature throughout his empire. While preserved and one’s surprise when Isaac returned five years later (the P copied manuscripts, they sometimes voiced complaints envoys, Lantifrid and Sigimund, had died en route) and thoughts in the margins: the heat, the cold, the fact with a present from the caliph for Charlemagne—an that their pens didn’t work, the disruption of nearby bat- elephant.

tles, and even the singing of birds outside the windows. No one had seen an elephant in for a thou- One Irish wrote a whole poem about his cat on sand years, and they were the stuff of legend; it was as lephant Chessman— wikipedia Charlemagne and soldiers in a wooden E a copy of ’s . It reads in part: “I and Pangur if someone today brought a unicorn to the president. Charlemagne and his son

Christian History

ibrary L

rt A

ridgeman B he

T illi / W

eter P

e / c The elephant caused a great sensation in , Char- ninth-century penmanship Left: “Carolingian

lemagne’s capital, and became a tourist magnet. Called minuscule” was much easier to read and write than aris, Fran P Abbu’l Abbas, it may have died in 810 on a war cam- previous scripts. paign near the . Harun’s own annals do not men-

ouvre, L tion the gift; Charlemagne’s small and far-away - kingly blade Right: This French

dom was of little note to the famed Arab caliph. is traditionally said to have been Charlemagne’s.

ious stones) / with each other and in writing poetry. Charlemagne,

c Meet my joyful sword were serious business in the Middle Ages, and naturally, was King .

blacksmiths highly honored. Made from iron and car- bon, a good sword could cost as much as three cows.

Are we there yet, Daddy? and rulers often named their swords. Char- Charlemagne had 17 children that we know of, both lemagne called his , “joyful.” Many swords legitimate and illegitimate, and was married either four spawned whole legends. English king Edward the Con- or five times ( differ as to whether his first fessor (reigned 1042–1066) supposedly wielded Sword of long-term partner was a wife or concubine). He liked

Mercy, and ’s even gave its name to take his whole family with him on his travels and to a movie about the mythical ruler. his sons on military campaigns. Travels were frequent until Charlemagne established a permanent capital for TODAYWEDON’TWRITELIKETHIS. . . his empire at Aachen in the . . . . because of advances in handwriting made in Char- Charlemagne refused to let any of his daughters lemagne’s court. At the school he encouraged marry, not wanting them to become political pawns,

(see “For the love of learning,” pp. 24–29), students were but he did not frown on affairs. One daughter, Bertrade taught a new style of writing later called “Carolingian (779–826), had a long-term relationship with one of minuscule.” Spaces between words and lowercase let- Charlemagne’s courtiers, . Their son ule— wikipedia c ters became common—neither had been used before. became a notable . Another, (775–810),

Handwriting was not the only taught at the was betrothed as a child to Byzantine Con-

school. Charlemagne and his advisors were very inter- stantine VI. She never married him, nor her later lover ested in the study of the Old Testament, and many took the Count of , and ended up as a nun in a convent word with sheath, said to have belonged Charlemagne (747–814)(gold set pre

Carolingian minus S biblical names that they used in their correspondence where Charlemagne’s sister Gisela was the . CH

Issue 108 1 Editor’s note

Why does Charlemagne matter? Why revivals of learning, built on the foundation stones devote an issue of Christian History to an eighth- Charlemagne laid. Proponents of what eventually century king of a tribe called the , a king who got named the , in the fourteenth century, never learned to write, liked food and drink almost as claimed they had single-handedly “discovered” clas- much as he liked conquest, and went through wives sical Greek and Roman literature and labeled the mil- like they were going out of style? lennium before their time as “Dark Ages.” They were Perhaps we should because that king also ruled wrong. over much of modern and ; was Just as the articles for this issue were coming in crowned emperor of the west—the first such emper- from our team of authors, I happened to be traveling or since the fifth century—by the , in , on in the United Kingdom. There I drove along ’s Christmas Day 800; and proceeded to usher in a new Wall, which marked the northern boundary of the western age of intensified Christian education and at its height. And there I stood on the culture. floors of churches built in Charlemagne’s day, and I The empire Charlemagne founded did not out- bowed in wonder before stone carved in those live his great-grandsons. But the ideas he founded are remote British outposts, even while he sat on his living still. As he wedded Christian devotion to state throne in Aachen (now a city in modern Germany). power and the remains of the Roman Empire to the When the power of Rome’s empire receded in energetic conquering spirit of the Franks, something the fourth and fifth centuries, several hundred years new was born—the idea of Christendom, a Christian before Charlemagne, the power of the in nation unified under a Christian king, where church Europe remained—a complicated power of monastic and state worked and prayed hand in hand. Those rip- holiness and fierce conquest, of profound learning in ples swelled into tidal waves over the next thousand ornate and priests struggling to read the Latin years, as rulers struggled to build Christian kingdoms liturgy in tiny rural chapels. This issue tells the story across Europe and, eventually, in America as well. of an emperor and a people trying to make sense of who they were before God and who they were as a crosses and kingdom. Those are questions that Charlemagne, despite his own inability to write, also have not gone away. They trouble presided over a revival of learning. The idea that Rome us, and our nations, still. Read this “fell” overnight and all its learning was lost is consider- story, and you will see that we are ably overstated, as you will soon read. But it is undoubt- all still living in Charlemagne’s edly true that under Charlemagne’s direction, and that shadow. CH of scholars at his court and monasteries throughout his kingdom, many books were preserved, the level of Jennifer Woodruff Tait literacy was raised, and a new handwriting was even Managing editor invented. Later and more famous “,” or Christian History

Find Christian History on the Internet at Christian History thanks G. R. Evans, Timothy Johnson www.christianhistorymagazine.org and on LaBarbera, and David Michelson for their assistance Facebook as ChristianHistoryMagazine. with portions of this issue.

2 Christian History 8 24 39 y R a IBR t l R man a GE d BRI

HE x / t E nd I on / I ct E

coll Charlemagne: the man, the legend, E vat RI the birth of Christendom y) / p R ntu E 4 Dark Ages? Think again 34 How they feasted and fasted c H Charlemagne’s kingdom rose out of a declining Everyday life in the eighth and ninth centuries Roman Empire and a vibrant Jennifer Woodruff Tait ool (13t H Edwin Woodruff Tait sc H 36 Charlemagne’s furniture nc

RE 8 The man behind the empire Charlemagne’s successors and Christendom Charlemagne was a walking paradox David A. Michelson llum), f E G. R. Evans ns (v I 39 Charlemagne’s thousand lives 16 Sacred kingship A famous poem turned a border skirmish into a

s palad Charlemagne’s coronation entwined state and foundational medieval legend HI church David A. Michelson and E

n Christopher Fee G ma

E 40 After Christendom, what next? l R a

H 19 The idea of Christendom An interview with D. Stephen Long Charlemagne founded it. So what was it? om c R

f Sarah Morice-Brubaker Also: RE • Did you know? inside front cover atu I n I 24 For the love of learning • Editor’s note 2

ns—m How an illiterate king transformed education • Charlemagne vs. the 11 E

ac Garry J. Crites • How the Irish saved civilization 13 R

sa • Timeline 22 HE 31 Broken images • Recommended resources 42 nst t I

a Charlemagne and the G roject a P

E Jennifer Awes Freeman Purchase this issue attl orck B Y n I

he Founder Consulting Editor Publisher ©2014 Christian History Institute. Cover: Emperor Charlemagne by Dürer T ns I Dr. A. K. Curtis Dr. Edwin Woodruff Tait Christian History Institute Germanisches National museum, Nuremberg, Germany / The Bridgeman Art Library.

ipedia / Senior Editor Editorial Coordinator Circulation Manager ­Christian ­History is published by Christian History Institute, k s palad Dr. Chris R. Armstrong Dawn Moore Kaylena Radcliff

HI P.O. Box 540, Worcester, PA, 19490, and is indexed in Christian Executive Editor Art Director Layout Periodical Index. Subscriptions are available on a donation basis by and E Bill Curtis Doug Johnson Dan Graves calling 1-800-468-0458 or at www.christianhistorymagazine.org.­ Letters n

G to the editor may be sent to Jennifer Woodruff Tait, editor, Christian His- ospels— Wi G ma Managing Editor Proofreader Image Researcher tory ­magazine, P.O. Box 540, Worces­ ter, PA 19490. Permissions: Requests E l

R Dr. Jennifer Woodruff Tait Meg Moss Jennifer Trafton Peterson to reprint material should be ­directed to Dawn Moore, editorial coor- a H achen dinator, Christian History Institute, P.O. Box 540, Worcester, PA, 19490. charlemagne and his court—engraving from the great chronicle of french by robert gaguin, manuscript, , france 1514 / de agostini picture library g. dagli orti bridgeman art A c Print Coordinator Deb Landis Find us online at www.christianhistorymagazine.org.

Issue 108 3

Peninsula. Out-of-control inflation and the

collapse of Rome’s international trade net- The Dark Ages? works shattered the economy. Out of this crisis, a series of strong mili- tary arose. They saw themselves as Think again images of the gods from which all order and authority flowed. They separated military Charlemagne’s kingdom arose out of and civilian chains of command to decrease the power the scattered pieces of the declining available to usurpers like those who had knocked off their predecessors. They passed laws binding people to

Roman Empire, but also out of a the professions and land of their parents.

vibrant Christian culture from outlaws to leaders Edwin Woodruff Tait In previous centuries, had been a marginal annoyance, just one among many dubious cults attract- The Roman Empire in the second century A.D. ing the masses. But throughout the 200s Christians stretched from southern to present-day . It grew in numbers and influence. Under Diocletian gleamed with painted marble, and its economy bustled (reigned 284–305), the only truly large-scale, deliber-

vibrantly. While it maintained its ancient republican ate, systematic persecution of Christians in the ancient institutions in name, in reality strong emperors ruled. world occurred. Constantine, his successor (reigned

A third of the Italian population lived in cities, where 306–337), was also concerned with order and unity. But local aristocrats paid for public works out of their own he concluded that Christians, rather than being a threat pockets as a civic duty and to build their own prestige. to order, could hold the empire together by prayers,

But in the late second century, crisis came. moral influence, and organization. Philosopher-emperor Marcus Aurelius left power to So Christianity became the empire’s official reli- a son who was an unhinged spoiled brat. His gion, and the church took on a new role as the moral

touched off a civil war, won by the general Septimius glue of society. functioned as spiritual advisors Severus, who took power. But Severus’s too to emperors, and as judges and community leaders. went down in blood. The cycle repeated itself through- The empire, in turn, helped build grand and beauti- out the “terrible third century.” ful church buildings. Sharp tensions arose between the

Military pressures built on the frontiers. In the apocalyptic, otherworldly claims of the church and its omans— wikipedia R east, a new Persian dynasty, the Sassanids, challenged new role as a force of social order.

Roman claims. In the west, Germanic migrated By 400 the empire looked very different than it had

from present-day Ukraine and invaded the Balkan 200 years earlier. It was much less urban. Local leaders Goths and

4 Christian History while soldiers FOUGHT. . . Left: A 3rd-c. Roman he he T marble shows a battle between Romans and Goths.

. . . christians labored Below: A church protects sacred vessels during the sack of Rome (410). Right: iollet, Paris / V Pope Gregory the Great (c. 540–604) sent missionar- er-

g ies to convert pagans and Arians in . o R taly / I assino, C assino, C onte M bbey of A chool () / S who had built public buildings and paid for elaborate talian I games to entertain their people now faced financial hardship. Aristocrats retreated to live in leisure on their great estates. crushed middle and lower classes. Little distinction held between slaves and free, as rural lower classes worked the same estates year after year. But this seems more important to us than it did at The burden of military service to guard the the time. Emperors had not lived at Rome for some empire’s vast frontiers was too great to be borne by this years. People didn’t think the empire ceased to be declining population. So Romans hired soldiers from united just because it had several rulers. Nor did they ory the Great, 1022–35 (vellum), g Germanic tribes who lived along the Roman frontier. think of it as fallen because there was no longer an

t. Gre Romans regarded these soldiers as inferior, and the sol- emperor in the west. The emperors living in “New S diers often responded with violence and extortion in Rome,” the glorious Greek city built by Constantine and named after him, would still rule raica of b in the east for nearly a thousand years.

lia He Western authority now rested largely in the hands b “Barbarians” was a word of barbarian warlords. Many had learned Roman ways Romans used for non-Romans. and risen to high positions in the empire. But the sharp Many were invited into the division between military and civilian authority struc- tures segregated and Romans. Germans empire as mercenaries to were army, Romans civilians. In some territories laws assinois, from the Bi C defend the frontier against forbade Romans to carry weapons. Germans held the

odex power of the sword. C other barbarians. Germans brought a radically different culture. Roman society valued law and order, punishing t. Peter, S in the name of the sacred State. Germans valued per- return. The leader of one tribe, the Goths, even sacked sonal dignity and honor, treating as a conflict Rome in 410 after Rome refused his demands. between two people. In Germanic society, theft was The eastern half of the empire, initially ravaged, punished severely, usually by amputation. Murder, on managed to deflect these barbarians westward. The the other hand, often came from between fami- official date of the “fall” of the Roman Empire was lies. Executing the murderer only prolonged the . ibrary L

rt 476, when Germanic warlord overthrew boy So instead a murderer paid —monetary com- A

ory the Great and his emperor (himself of barbarian pensation to the family of the victim. g

eman

g origin). From 476 until Charlemagne’s coronation in Roman society put all authority in a family in t. Gre rid sack of rome— wikipedia S B 800, no had his capital in the west. the hands of the oldest male. Germans distributed

Issue 108 5 Baptized king Left: Clovis changed Western history by choosing Catholic over Arian Christianity. ibliotheque ibliotheque defeating satan Below: Inscribed on the 8th-c. B Ruthwell , the poem The Dream of the describes ’ victory over death. chool (14th century) / S rench F rance, 1375–79 (vellum) (detail of 192489), F

property among a dead man’s sons (and to a lesser extent daughters). Territorial boundaries shifted with hroniques de each generation. Germanic rulers were surrounded not C by official bureaucracy but by a band of warriors who had sworn personal loyalty (think The Godfather). Cities continued to exist, but few people lived in them. Buildings crumbled and ruins were hauled The new world took root inside the withering shell of the away. A world of marble and concrete was replaced by old, and when the shell fell away, people barely noticed.

a world of wattle and clay. Scattered settlements were The primary source of continuity was the church, ranks, from the Grandes F whose power remained based in Rome. Roman aris-

tocrats furnished the western church with leadership. of the g in The Dark Ages were dark if Steeped in classical culture and learning, with a strong K sense of civic responsibility, they mediated between old standards of enlightenment and new. They spoke for the civilian Roman population (465–511), involve large urban popula- to Germanic overlords, intervening in endless feuds I

among the new masters. Sixth-century Gregory lovis C

tions, sophisticated elites with g of spent much time trying to keep members of leisure time, and powerful the Frankish royal family from killing each other. professional armies. Initially, most Germanic tribes were Arians, who ibrary L

rejected the full divinity of Jesus. By 600 the Arian king- and annointin g rt doms collapsed or converted to Catholic Christianity. A tisin p

divided by roamed by wolves and wild boar. From the standpoint of the , pagan eman g

Power rested in the hands of warrior bands loyal to a tribes were even more promising converts than Arian rid B

leader who rewarded them with plunder. ones. In the fifth century Christian such as he T This transition naturally appeared tragic later, and St. Patrick converted the Irish to Christianity, and the people labeled the time from the “fall” of Rome to the Irish sent out missionaries in turn. Around 600 Pope heims (c. 438–533) ba R olton

revival of urban society in the eleventh century the Gregory the Great sent the monk Augustine to England, B of “Dark Ages.” But in fact many things continued just as where he established Canterbury as a Christian center. p hrey p rance / Giraudon isho F

they had been. The professional Roman army, for all B um H

its impressive armor and discipline, had been corrupt: An advancing tide , g astres,

soldiers supplementing a meager income by extorting Typically, Christian missions began when Christian emi C ross— R C

money from civilians. Now Germanic warriors did the slaves or traders established a presence in a pagan t. S ale,

extorting. Peasants already tied to the land by the decree country. (St. Patrick was initially taken to as p unici uthwell ol.11r

of Roman emperors now worked for Germanic masters. a slave.) Pagan kings then married the daughters of F M R

6 Christian History

jesus the warrior “Then the young hero (who (480–543) wrote the rule adopted was God almighty) / Got ready, resolute and strong in by most western monastic communities. Like many heart. / He climbed onto the lofty gallows-tree, / Bold western Christian leaders of the period, Benedict was a in the sight of many watching men, When He intended Roman aristocrat. He gave up his privileged lifestyle for to redeem mankind.” (from The ) radical asceticism, soon attracted followers, and founded the great of (in modern ), Christian rulers, linking themselves to Roman Chris- a center of learning and spirituality for centuries. tianity’s economic and social prestige. With Christian Benedict’s Rule taught monks to seek union with God queens came monks and priests, who began attract- not through ecstatic experiences or extreme self-denial ing converts. In time kings would usually agree to be but through a disciplined routine of work, prayer, and baptized, followed by important warriors and, in some study. Monasteries soon dotted the landscape, provid-

cases, nearly the entire population. ing education, the protection of strong walls, and prayer This initial conversion was often fragile and super- and spiritual guidance—and preserving the scholar-

ficial. If a ruler with a different political agenda took ship of the Middle Ages. As they spread Christianity the throne, or if a neighboring king launched a suc- throughout , they also spread the use

cessful invasion, paganism might return for a time. But of Latin and Roman culture. But even as they did, they Christianity was like an incoming tide—it advanced translated Christian concepts into Germanic, Celtic,

and receded, but each wave came further than the one and Slavic terms, where Jesus, as in the epic before. Heliand, became a lord and the disciples his warriors. With King Clovis (reigned 481–511) of the Frankish Alongside the monasteries, hermits remained. All

tribe, history turned a corner. Clovis, baptized in 496, over Europe, holy men and women lived by wells or

chose to become Catholic rather than Arian. From Clovis on mountains, talked to birds and beasts, gave spiritual on, Frankish kings—Charlemagne one day included— counsel, and brought fame to their homes both in life saw themselves as specially related to the bishops of and in death.

andesbibliothek Rome and the Catholic Church. But the relationship was When Charlemagne stepped onto this stage, the L

rocky. The church disapproved of Frankish violence and Christian Frankish kingdom he inherited had already

ischen refused to condone Frankish kings taking multiple wives ruled for longer than all of U.S. history. It was Roman, g (usually one at a time) and then divorcing them at will. Germanic, and Christian; monastic and warrior; pagan

Meanwhile, another Christian force was arising: and devout. Little did he know—though he might not ürttember

monasteries. Many monastics lived in uninhabited have been unhappy—that this unique fusion would

W

places as hermits. Others wandered the roads. But give Europe its shape for more than a thousand years those who established communities—men and women to come. CH

joined by commitment to a common rule of life and

the authority of an or abbess—eventually trans- Edwin Woodruff Tait is a contributing editor at Christian

christ as warrior— formed the medieval landscape most dramatically. History.

Issue 108 7 rt rt

until there might be 100 of them A in the baths. He seems to have liked to win swimming races, ridgeman and usually did. B he He may have loved Roman T rti /

baths, but he dressed like a Frank, O in a shirt and of linen agli D .

with a tunic and a blue cloak, A covered in winter with an outer

garment of sable and otter fur. ibrary / L His sword was always at his side. Dressing was a social business. While strapping on his sandals,

he would receive friends and gostini Picture A e

supplicants and often determine D a point of law, all while giv- ing the servants orders for the day. He was good-humored and cheuren, 1825 /

sociable—so sociable that his S eagerness to entertain foreign visitors became expensive. We know these things because el—Painting by

one of his courtiers, , p ha wrote his life story in 814, soon C after Charlemagne’s death. Einhard had watched the great man closely and knew him well. “I realized,” he wrote, “that no one could describe better than me events in which I was involved and of which I was an eye-witness. I took careful notes at the time.” ire, standing with model of

Einhard’s own history illus- p m trates the opportunities for social E

mobility in Charlemagne’s age. oman R Einhard had a classical education oly at the monastic school at H (in modern central Germany). eror of

The man behind p His parents sent him there, not m to make him a monk, but to give E him a good start in life. Recognizing Einhard’s prom- the empire ise, the abbot of Fulda sent him off to be a civil servant ombards and at the court of Charlemagne—at that point merely the L charlemagne was a paradox: A warrior ruler of the Franks, though a wealthy and powerful one. s and who fostered scholarship, a man capa- Einhard wrote a biography with a message. He k ran ble of ruthless rule and devout piety had read the Lives of the Caesars by Suetonius, a biog- F raphy of the Roman Empire’s earliest rulers, and it was G. R. Evans Einhard who helped create the legend that as a ruler Charlemagne was the “greatest of his time.” Charlemagne was tall, handsome, and To the modern reader the story Einhard told seems slightly overweight. He resisted the suggestion of his contradictory. Here was a confessing, committed doctors that it might be better for his health if he ate Christian ruler. He built a to the glory of

harlemagne (742–814), King of

less roast meat. He enjoyed hunting and riding. Bathing God at Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle), ornate with gold, sil- C in the warm natural spa baths at Aachen was a special ver, and fine marble brought from in Italy. pleasure, which he shared in the Roman way with his He provided ceremonial for everyone, from ibrary

entire entourage—and sometimes all his servants— priests to doorkeepers. He gave generously to those in Portrait of L

8 Christian History

Norsemen

Scots

Baltic Tribes Irish

Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms Eastern

Welsh Saxons Western Slavs

AVAR KINGDOM Turkic Tribes FRANKISH KINGDOM

Alans

KINGDOM of the Bulgars Sueves

KINGDOM of the New Persian (Sasanian) EmpiRe

LAKHMID KINGDOM Byzantine (Eastern Roman)

Berber Tribes GHASSANID Empire Kingdom

Arab Tribes

big chapel, bigger king Far left: governmental arrangements. Charlemagne and his Charlemagne “holds” the church he built at Aachen, which became his permanent capital. Franks were part of this migration. A once unified empire had become tribal, ruled by

the world in 600 A.D. Above: Europe at the rival monarchs grabbing power and lands from one time of the Merovingians (see p. 10). another in endless fighting, and increasingly multi- lingual as Latin faded from general use as a universal RULINg under the cross Right: This coin language. Europe was of very mixed religious beliefs— reads, “Charles, king of the Franks.” pagan, Arian Christian, and Catholic Christian. And the new of , founded by the

need at home and also to those abroad—in and prophet Mohammed (c. 570–632) was mak- ; Carthage, Alexandria, and . Yet most of ing inroads through an active program of his life was spent in expansive warfare, conquering and invasion. would hold North Africa subduing his rivals and ruthlessly expanding the terri- and much of until the .

tory he controlled until he had made himself an empire When Charlemagne came to the throne in the late with pretensions to rival Rome at its peak. The spoils of eighth century, they were dangerously close to captur-

war allowed for his extravagant generosity to the needy. ing northern Europe and Italy. Europe was no longer what it had been several centu- ries before under the Romans: governed by a centralized Charlemagne the Empire-builder a / www.cgb.fr i legal system and by educated provincial administrators, Where did Charlemagne fit in all this? Einhard began ped i in an empire that stretched from the British Isles to by explaining how the Franks, originally from the the Middle East. Migrations from the east had first Rhine River valley and roughly the people who became

coin— WIk weakened and then wrecked those sophisticated the modern French, had previously chosen their rulers.

Issue 108 9 charles in charge Left: Charlemagne and his warriors wage one of their many campaigns. Below: Charlemagne sits in state at his court.

the Short, deposed the Merovingians and became king of the Franks from 752 to 768. Pepin had a monastic-school education at St. Denis near Paris ibrary and experience serving as . L rt Pepin divided the Frankish kingdom between A Charlemagne and Charlemagne’s brother Carloman

(who died in 771). Charlemagne later gave power to ridgeman B

several sons too. It was a useful device for discour- he T aging attempts to seize power from a parent, and it rti / helped to pin down conquered territories with a visible O agli

royal presence who represented the ultimate mon- D . arch. Einhard reported that Carloman was jealous and G ibrary / L Gangs of tribal leaders were now emerging as European gostini Picture A

“,” a concept, like e “kingship,” that had not had D precedent in the government rance, 1514. / of the old Roman Empire. F t, Paris, p resentful, though Charlemagne showed exemplary patience and never retaliated.

tirEless fighter aguin, manuscri Einhard put warfare first in his story, detailing Char- G

lemagne’s campaigns to conquer territories (often bap- obert R tizing conquered peoples in the process; see next page). s by g

Anyone traveling around today n Ki h

is struck by the immense distances Charlemagne’s c

empire eventually covered, as well as his success ren F

in fighting on so many fronts at once with the small NY le of

The founder of their line of kings, Merovech, was a armies of the time and against tribes that were likely ic

semilegendary figure; his dynasty, vibrant at first, to bounce back after initial defeats. In many ways, his esource, R

came to an end in the mid-eighth century after peter- battles transformed a powerful kingdom into an even rt A ing out into incompetence. more powerful empire. The last of the Merovingians sat on their Some wars Charlemagne inherited. First he wearing their titles, and the long hair and beards that fought in , to his south and west, following

rand Palais / G were a sign of royal birth, but the real power lay with his grandfather and father. Then he was persuaded -

the Mayors of the Palace. The mayors tended to rep- to fight against the Lombards (modern north Italy). RMN

ist.

resent the of factions of nobles rather than This too was his father’s war. At the beginning of the D , F

to act as servants to the king. The king might receive fifth century, the northern Italian city of Ravenna had n B foreign ambassadors, but in reality he was merely become capital of the , but the speaking for the Mayors of the Palace, who in turn Lombards then invaded north Italy. Charlemagne’s attle—© B represented the wealthy nobles. father arrived in Italy in 756 to drive the Lombards This figurehead could not survive in out and hand over the conquered lands to the pope. a violently changing Europe. Eventually the may- This was an action of immense importance. It shifted harlemagne harlemagne and his court—engraving from the Great Chron C ors became the kings. Charlemagne’s father, Pepin the balance of power. It also gave rise to the papal claim C

10 Christian History that Pepin had renewed a gift known as the Donation of their pagan religion for Christianity, then recovering Constantine, under which the balance of power between confidence and returning to battle. church and state was settled in favor of church suprem- Charlemagne fought in person in only two battles, acy. This document, a bold forgery, claimed that the though the cost in death and injury to his loyal Frankish first Christian emperor, Constantine (reigned 306–337), soldiery was high. He eventually began to succeed by had handed over control of temporal affairs to Pope capturing groups of Saxon tribesmen and their fami- Sylvester I (d. 335). The was an lies and relocating them in and . eighth-century invention, but it would be centuries until Charlemagne also tackled the Spanish. On the

scholar Lorenzo Valla (1407–1457) exposed the fraud. way home from victory in Spain, bandits ambushed

Charlemagne continued his father’s battle. Einhard his Frankish army, capturing the baggage train and withheld the details of the Frankish army’s struggles to killing the men in charge. Einhard even gave the cross over the . Charlemagne helped to consolidate names of the dead. Little did either Charlemagne and recapture for the Romans all that they had lost to or Einhard know that one day this ambush would the Lombards. Once he felt he had Italy under his con- be told as Charlemagne’s most powerful legend of

trol, he sent another Pepin, one of his sons, to rule it. victory (see “The thousand lives of Charlemagne,”

Next Charlemagne renewed a long-standing war p. 39).

against the Saxons. These Germanic tribes held ter- Charlemagne also conquered the “Britons” ritories stretching from the North Sea to the Rhine. (), living in modern . Then followed Einhard said this war went on for over 30 years, with (787–88) a brief but successful war with the ; the defeated Saxons repeatedly submitting, promising then war against the Slavs on the northern shores of to obey Charlemagne as their ruler, even abandoning Europe facing the Baltic Sea. The , an important

Charlemagne vs. the Saxons

Among Charlemagne’s conquests were the Saxons. This group, who had settled in Europe and on the British Isles, spoke the Teutonic language at the root of modern English. Their Frankish conquerors spoke a tongue derived from . The Saxons on the European continent were still mostly pagans. Anglo-Saxon settlers in Britain had been converted to

Christianity by the mission of Augustine of Canterbury,

NY sent from Rome by Pope Gregory the Great at the end of the sixth century. Some work had also been

esource, carried out among them by Boniface (c. 675–754) from R

rt , but though he became the first archbishop of A , the mission had limited long-term success. The Frankish annals that told the story of 30 years obana /

R of Saxon wars stressed Charlemagne’s determina- oard /

tion to remove the cultic symbols of Saxon paganism. B Boniface himself had famously felled ’s Oak in 723.

ibrary Irminsuls, or standing tree trunks, were important in L pagan religion. was later criticized for seeking to convert the Saxons ritish

B But it is hard to say whether the Saxon wars were by force. A poet who wrote an epic on the Saxon wars really driven by the desire to convert the Saxon tribes. included lines that said that those who would not be

A famous massacre at Verden in 785, where an angry persuaded would simply have to be forced by fear.

axons—© S Charlemagne was described by the royal Frankish And when it was all over, Charlemagne himself pub- annals as seeking revenge for the killing of some of his lished a document (see p. 14) setting out the terms of

nobles in a battle, seems to have been motivated most the of the Saxons. It stated, among other strongly by the lust for conquest. provisions of enforced , that anyone Whether the wars began for that reason or not, who refused to be baptized should be put to death. harlemagne defeats

C Charlemagne (seen in battle with the Saxons above) —G. R. Evans

Issue 108 11

ibrary L rt

A ibrary L rt

A ridgeman B he T

ridgeman B ndex / I he T

rance / F rance / F

astres,

church and state Above: Charlemagne C watches the chapel being constructed at Aachen. oya, G ationale, Paris,

Right: The ruler enters a N

After me, please! usee church followed by his bishops. M ibliotheque

enemy, were so thoroughly eradicated, Einhard wrote, the life of Europe was mainly in the hands B that all their nobility perished and all their treasures of monastic and schools, with the exception (plundered from other tribes so not really theirs, he sug- of a few schools that seem to have survived from the chool (14th century) /

gested) carried off. Charlemagne fought the last of his Roman period in some of the Italian cities. S wars against the , who were arriving in pirate Charlemagne’s own birth and childhood are a rench F

ships to steal from people on the other side of the Baltic. blank. Einhard said he had no information and no one chool (14th century) / S This was quite a program of warfare. This ener- could tell him anything. But it seems certain that the

getic conquest—defense, Einhard called it—vastly future ruler grew up a Christian. Einhard claimed rench F enlarged the realm of the Franks and made it plausi- that Charlemagne became interested in education rance” (vellum),

ble for them to regard themselves as an empire, even when he had so many children to educate, but he F

before Charlemagne acquired his imperial title. described a child-rearing policy that does not seem

Charlemagne’s standing in the world enabled him very intellectual. to exchange courtesies with Muslim caliph Haroun- The king ordered that the boys should learn to ride hronicles of al-Rashid, who ruled territory from North Africa to and to handle arms. The girls were to learn to spin, C . His delegation was received with courtesy, and sew, and practice arts that would develop virtuous harlemagne (742–814)—(vellum),

Haroun declared that the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem habits, not sit about in idleness that would encourage C should be considered Charlemagne’s. He even sent bad behavior. He spent time with his children, keeping elle by Charlemagne an elephant (see “Did you know?,” inside them with him on his travels. The boys rode with him, p ha

front cover). and the girls traveled in special carriages behind with C a- relates, miniature from “ L

Relations with the Greek-speaking eastern empire, servants to protect them. p

ix- the last survival of , remained sensitive Charlemagne had a flexible view of , A

(see “Sacred kingship,” pp. 16–18). Charlemagne needed with numerous mistresses, but he had only one legal

to ensure that his adoption of the title of emperor would wife at any time. He had many children, including hurch at C not cause dangerous offense. So he made a treaty with famous bastard son Pepin the Hunchback, the result the Byzantines to try to protect against adverse future of one long-term relationship. The first of his series of

consequences. wives, a daughter of the Lombard king, was his moth- er’s recommendation. He divorced her after a year and

learning to spin and read immediately married Hildegard, the daughter of an onstruction of the C Charlemagne has the credit for promoting a Caro- influential Teutonic noble. She bore him seven or eight lingian Renaissance (see “For the love of learning,” children including another Pepin; immediately after

harlemagne entering a church followed by r 6465 f.96

pp. 24–29), although even before he came to the throne, her death in 783, he married Fastrada, daughter of an F C

12 Christian History influential Frankish count. His last wife was yet another He was a great talker and good at languages. He daughter of an influential noble. mastered Latin pretty well and could pray in Latin. Not all his family were happy and loyal. Pepin the Einhard said he understood Greek better than he Hunchback was caught jealously plotting with ambi- spoke it, but this was in an age when any knowl- tious Franks to seize the throne for himself. He was edge of Greek was becoming unusual in the west. ibrary L sent to a monastery where he could do penance, with Charlemagne was hungry for education in the lib- rt A his long royal hair cut short. eral arts—the foundational subjects of grammar, Charlemagne never learned to write. This was logic (philosophical argument), and rhetoric—

ridgeman not for want of trying; he kept a wax tablet under established long ago in the Roman educational B

he his pillow to practice. Nevertheless his intellectual system. He went to grammar classes with an old T

interests were strong. Charlemagne enjoyed being tutor, Peter the Deacon. He was naturally gifted at

read to while he ate (and he ate a great deal) and mathematics. reland / I listening to music. He liked history; Einhard men- Famous scholar (c. 735/40–804) entered this

ublin, tioned in particular how he enjoyed Augustine’s The picture in the , when he met Charlemagne on a jour- D City of God, with its high sense of the providential ney back from Rome. The ruler invited Alcuin to join

ollege, purpose of God for people and nations and its sto- his court. He was not the first intellectual Charlemagne

C ries of the ways of demons. had recruited, but he was the first to stay. rinity

T

oard of

B

he How the Irish T

saved (Carolingian) civilization

chool () / © According to a medieval Irish legend, there once

S was a Celtic prince named Cenn Fáelad (“kwenn FAY- rish I

lad”) who suffered a serious injury to his “brain of for- getfulness” in battle. From that day on, he could never

forget anything. The legend continues that in the where the prince was sent to recover from his war wounds, there

ells , c. 800 (vellum), K were three schools—one of Latin learning, one of Irish law, and one of traditional Celtic poetry. During the day, he would wander from one school to another, listening to lectures from outside their windows. At night in his

room, unable to forget the three lessons, he would weave them together into a single narrative. While this tale is fictional, it gives an apt description

of what was going on in Irish monasteries during the ter 1 verse 18, from the Book of

p and why Celtic monks were the

perfect educators for Charlemagne’s court. In between sessions of harsh ascetic discipline and service to God

atthew, cha and community, Irish monks were painstakingly M t.

S copying classical and Christian Latin texts for posterity (like the Book of Kells, at right). But they were also el of p faithfully preserving traditional Irish laws and ancient os G Celtic legends—through a Christian lens, but exercising

very little censorship in the process. heritage—all things in which the Irish excelled. So This is precisely what Charlemagne wanted for his one by one, Irish scholars, bards, and scientists were schools. He envisioned monks-in-training meditating recruited to serve in Charlemagne’s court, leading hi-rho, from the

C on a reliable Bible, palace libraries filled with Christian his intellectual reform. The bane of Cenn Fáelad— doctrine and history, and students reading learning something about everything—would become and studying the stars. But he also wanted a literate the defining characteristic of Frankish education. 58 fol.34r

MS class who could preserve the laws and legends of his — Garry J. Crites

Issue 108 13 ibrary L rt A

ridgeman B he T

iraudon / G

rance / ibrary F L rt A hantilly, C

ridgeman B onde, C he

T usee M rance / F

Selections from the Laws Alcuin may not have intended From man to legend Left: At the death of of Charles the Great, ed. to stay either, but his first period as Charlemagne, devils and angels weigh his soul. orbonne, Paris, Above: Charlemagne reigns as emperor in a 14th-c. S Dana Carleton Munro a courtier seems to have lasted for chool () / S three years or more. The court was in manuscript. rench

3. If anyone shall have perpetual traveling motion, so he had F entered a church by the chance to meet other European

ibliotheque de la violence and shall have . In the 790s when the Of the four “mathematical B carried off anything in it by court settled permanently in the new force or theft, or shall have palace Charlemagne built at Aachen, arts” (arithmetic, geometry, eauvais (vellum), burned the church itself, let Alcuin remained for a year or two. At astronomy, music) Char- B him be punished by death. this time he may have had important lemagne particularly liked

influence on the intellectual culture incent de V chool (14th century) / 8. If anyone of the race of of the court. Charlemagne certainly astronomy, enjoying calculating S al , by the Saxons hereafter con- seems to have found him helpful i

the movements of the planets. rench F cealed among them shall with astronomical calculations. stor Hi r i

have wished to hide himself Charlemagne was sufficiently anx- ro unbaptized, and shall have ious to foster education that he required the order of service personally. That should have i e M scorned to come to to run schools for their can- raised eyebrows. It was becoming important, in a L and shall have wished to ons ( belonging to the cathedral). Europe busy reorganizing itself, to be clear where remain a pagan, let him be He was alive to the danger of allow- the boundary lay between secular and spiritual punished by death. ing his empire to fill with uneducated authority.

clergy, and he needed literate civil Pope Leo III (reigned 795–816) certainly needed harlemagne (742–814) (vellum), C

10. If anyone shall have servants. But in reality many notable Charlemagne’s support. His election had been eror formed a conspiracy with achievements came after his time. (See rushed amid factional infighting. The announce- p m harlemagne (747–814)—from E the pagans against the “For the love of learning,” pp. 24–29). ment of Leo’s election was sent to Charlemagne C

Christians, or shall have Charlemagne was a regular with a request for his help against the Lombards. icting p eath of

D

wished to join with them in churchgoer, always at matins, even- Charlemagne wrote back setting out the balance of ’ de R he opposition to the Chris- song, and the if he could power: it was his job to defend the papacy, and the T tians, let him be punished manage it in the midst of his trav- pope’s job to pray for the empire and the success by death. els and battles. He was vigilant of its armies. But the new pope was soon attacked

in insisting that worship be con- by his rivals and thrown from his horse during s 722/1196 f.113v istoriated initial ‘

ducted properly, and he overhauled a procession. M H

14 Christian History F nnish Tribes Byzantine Norsemen (Eastern Roman) Empire Picts

Baltic Tribes ibrary

L Irish rt

A Turkic Tr bes England Welsh Slavonic tribes ridgeman Kingdom of the Chazars B

he T

Frankish Empire Magyars iraudon /

G Kingdom of the

Italy Kingdom of the

witzerland / Bulgarians S

alais, Emirate of Cordova V

Sardinia Duchy of of aurice, Benevenutum M the ABBASIDS aint- S

Rustamids Aghlabids bbey of

A

Above: How Europe The world he left behind The question of Roman primacy at this date was

reasury of the looked in 814 after Charlemagne’s many conquests. T different from the way it later presented itself. In Charlemagne’s time the question

Right: Muslim ruler Harun al- gift fit for a king was which of five ancient patriarch- yzantine / Rashid presented Charlemagne with this vase. B ates should be chief, and in what way? The Greek part of the old Roman

helping out the pope Empire had four: Alexandria, Antioch, Leo fled to (in modern Germany) to seek Constantinople, and Jerusalem, while the

Charlemagne’s protection. Charlemagne tried to resolve west had Rome. Rome could claim pre- the dispute. In the end he went to Rome himself and eminence because it was the See of the

spent the winter of 800–801 there restoring order. Char- Apostle Peter, but the Greek patriarchs lemagne had for some time been emperor in all except preferred to see this as a mere pri-

name, and now at the hands of the grateful pope, on macy of honor, not as giving the bishop

ashid (c. 766–809) (cloisonne enamel), R Christmas Day 800 in the of St. Peter, he was of Rome authority over the Christian

made —a title that had lain Church everywhere. arun al-

H vacant for over 300 years. The Christian Roman Empire Charlemagne has become such founded in this way lasted until the sixteenth century. an iconic figure in the history of early Charlemagne was not a theologian but a man medieval Europe that it is easy to forget of affairs. As a Christian he saw it as his business to the difficulties he faced. We remember him defend, protect, and enrich the church where he could today, from his fur-lined coat to his elephant to that and encourage those he conquered to be baptized as Christmas morning when he received the impe-

harlemagne (742–814) by

C Christians too. He respected Rome’s power, though he rial , because he created a new Europe, and

visited Rome himself only four times in a reign of nearly yet one in which the marks of classical civilization

ohnson half a century. He took special care for the Basilica of remained. CH J St. Peter. Using plunder from his warfare, he provided resented to

p

ouglas gold, , and precious stones for its enrichment, and G. R. Evans was formerly professor of medieval and D intellectual history at the University of Cambridge. She has by he was eager all his life to see Rome returned to its former p

ater jug W ma glory and the primacy he believed it should have. published widely on medieval history and theology.

Issue 108 15 Sacred kingship The coronation of Charlemagne has entwined state and church from his day to ours Thereupon, on that same day of the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, the most holy bishop and pontiff anointed Christopher Fee his most excellent son Charles as king with holy oil.” On November 23, 800, Pope Leo had met the It has echoed in art through the ages: Char- approaching Charlemagne 12 miles from Rome and lemagne, king of the Franks, at prayer in St. Peter’s accompanied him to the gates, evoking the entry of Basilica before the tomb of the Apostle Peter on Christ- himself into Rome. Charlemagne then presided mas Day. Leo III, pope of the Roman Catholic Church, over the opening of a council in the Vatican placing on his head a great jeweled crown and pro- that absolved of adultery and perjury no less a person claiming him head of a Christian Roman Empire. than the pope himself. The same council originated Then, a chronicle related, “all the faithful Romans, (or confirmed) the decision to make Charlemagne seeing how [Charlemagne] loved the holy Roman emperor, for all that he later pretended to have been church and its vicar and how he defended them, cried surprised about it. out with one voice by the will of God and of St. Peter, the The coronation ceremony blended Germanic king- key-bearer of the kingdom of heaven, ‘To Charles, most ship rituals, ancient imperial traditions, and Christian pious [“the great”], crowned by God, great pomp and ceremony. The observers echoed ancient and peace-loving emperor, life and victory.’ This was Roman custom and imperial law (which required “cit-

said three times before the sacred tomb of blessed Peter izen witnesses”) when they acclaimed Charlemagne rowns Charlemagne— wikipedia

the apostle, with the invocation of many . And emperor. And Leo illustrated his subservience to c eo

so he was instituted by all as emperor of the Romans. the new emperor by performing the ancient ritual of L

16 Christian History crowned with honor Left: Leo crowns Charlemagne. Below: While Charlemagne was later painted wearing this , it was actually made no earlier than the reign of Otto I, who ruled 936 to 973.

its links with Charlemagne. And from the time of Louis XIII on, French coronation ceremonies employed objects associated with Charlemagne. Tellingly, when rose to power after the , a thousand years af- bowing before a person of higher rank—in Leo’s case, ter Charlemagne, he too self-consciously identified with flat on the floor on his face! But Leo still placed the the famous emperor. He used of Charlemagne crown on Charlemagne’s head—a reminder that while in his own coronation. And, having learned from the emperor had divine right to rule, his temporal Charlemagne the need to subordinate the church power was granted through the agency and authority while employing its pomp and power, Napoleon took of the pope. The lesson was not lost on Charlemagne. care that it was he himself, not the pope, who placed Einhard suggested that he was annoyed: the crown on his own head. He even announced to his “[Charlemagne] came to Rome to restore the condition ambassador to the Vatican, “I am Charlemagne.” of the Roman church, which had been very much dis- turbed, and spent the whole winter there. At that time Holy kingship he received the title of emperor and Augustus, though Up until the coronation, Charlemagne’s title had been he was so much opposed to this at first that he said he Rex Francorum, “King of the Franks.” This title had would not have entered the church that day had he been clear overtones of Frankish pride. The Franks viewed able to foresee the pope’s intention, although it was a conquered peoples as subjects. They had no notion of great feast day.” Charlemagne saw that his last surviv- broad citizenship within their borders as Romans had, ing son Louis did not make the same mistake in 813 which enabled many people—even freed slaves—to when he joined his father on the throne as co-emperor. aspire to become Roman. Any notion of “Roman-ness” Charlemagne did not invite Leo to the coronation, or to the Franks was associated with the city of Rome and the party, and he crowned Louis himself. not with the historical Roman Empire. They saw them- Charlemagne became the central symbolic fig- selves as having cast off the rule of the Romans, whom ure around which subsequent French kings and Holy they did not revere. Roman Emperors developed their own proof of their The original title bestowed on Charlemagne,

right to rule. Many subsequent carefully Romanorum, “Emperor of the Romans,” seems al Crown— wikipedia i echoed Charlemagne’s rituals. When the Capetian to have been as meaningless to Frankish nobles as it

Imper dynasty emerged (in the tenth century), it proclaimed was offensive to Constantinople, the Byzantine capital

Issue 108 17 and the seat of the eastern Roman Empire. But it soon “I am charlemagne” Napoleon crowns himself changed to Romanum gubernans , “[He is and his wife Josephine. responsible for] governing the Roman Empire.” This was intelligible and perhaps even impres- sive to the Franks, although hardly more palatable Arab rivals, could spare little help against attack- to Constantinople. Einhard wrote, “Nevertheless ing Germanic tribes who repeatedly harried Rome. [Charlemagne] endured very patiently the envy of the Charlemagne stepped into this power vacuum. When [eastern] Roman emperors, who were indignant about Leo became pope, he gave Charlemagne the keys of his accepting the title, and, by sending many embassies St. Peter’s tomb and the Banner of Rome, acknowledg- to them and addressing them as brothers in his letters, ing him as Defender of the . he overcame their arrogance by his magnanimity.” The council over which Charlemagne presided Charlemagne hoped that his coronation would mark was part of this struggle. Leo had been temporarily the genesis of an Imperium Christianum, a “Christian deposed and maimed in 799 by politically powerful Empire.” The Franks, unlike other Germanic tribes, conspirators, who planned to blind him and cut out were not Arians, but held the orthodox Trinitarian faith his tongue, a Byzantine practice used to end an adver- of Rome. They saw themselves as legitimate defenders sary’s political power without outright murder. Leo of the “true faith.” Charlemagne was trying to unify escaped, and his enemies could not replace him with- the far-flung and diverse regions he ruled in religious, out Charlemagne’s consent. rather than ethnic, terms: not the Frankish Empire, but Although technically no one could stand in judg- what became the “.” ment over the pope, all parties agreed to the council. And Charlemagne, according to Alcuin, his Anglo- Leo was allowed to prove his innocence by taking an Saxon court scholar and priest, was now the ultimate oath on the , but it is clear that it was protector of all the churches of Christ. The transfer Charlemagne’s support of Leo that mattered. His coro- into Carolingian authority of the Holy Sepulcher in nation sanctified that political reality. Jerusalem in 802 suggests that even the Arab world rec- But from the Byzantine perspective, Charlemagne’s ognized this status. coronation was the utmost in a long line of offenses against Constantinople, and the pope’s role in the cere- Pope, emperor, and the east mony a particular outrage. As Alcuin pointed out, both The papacy had maintained a long and complex rela- the Byzantine emperor and the pope had been humbled tionship with Constantinople almost since the fall of and savaged by their own inner circles. Charlemagne the western empire in 476. The Byzantines had a mili- stood higher than both and had judged even the pontiff tary presence on the Italian coast right up to the time of himself. By the time of the coronation, the pope owed Charlemagne. The Duchy of Rome itself was, at least in his very life and office to the man he crowned emperor theory, Byzantine territory. before St. Peter’s tomb. CH on of napoleon— wikipedia But by the time of Charlemagne, tensions between i the pope and the Byzantine emperor were stretched Christopher Fee is professor of English at Gettysburg College oronat to the breaking point. The Byzantines, occupied with and the author of several books on . c

18 Christian History a thousand years and counting towers over the town of Aachen today.

The idea of Christendom Charlemagne founded it. So what was it? Sarah Morice-Brubaker

For many modern Westerners, the idea of social order he’d helped to build: “Although the whole of “Christendom” functions like popular Internet quizzes Europe was once denuded with fire and sword by Goths that claim to diagnose personality disorders. The idea and Huns,” he wrote, “now, by God’s mercy, Europe is has served its purpose once you have figured out if you as bright with churches as is the sky with stars.” have a case of “Christendom” or not and the degree of doom you and your companions may therefore look fire and sword? forward to. Yet it turns out that much of medieval “Christendom” Degrees of doom vary. Modern writers alternately was an explanation after the fact—starting with Alcuin. claim that Christendom is being returned to, should be The Roman Empire didn’t exactly “fall”; it developed returned to, can never be returned to, never existed in chronic congestive heart failure and was no longer able the first place, never disappeared, is violent, is nonvio- to do what it had done in days of hardier circulation. , is a metaphor, or is a bad idea. To its detractors, the And Goths didn’t exactly invade, at least at first. Rather,

S word evokes cynical church people using church lan- they sought and secured refuge within the Roman E guage to get power. To its defenders, it stirs nostalgic Empire from the Huns. Violence occurred later, when -IMAG longing for a time when doing Christian things required the Goths revolted in response to exploitation they ER UB

H far fewer daily negotiations with non-Christians. experienced in their refugee settlements. l— a Whatever is meant by “Christendom,” though, Moreover, the Carolingians—the medieval Frankish people seem to agree that medieval Europe had it in dynasty that reached its height of power under thedr

Ca abundance. Among the first people to think so was Charlemagne—did not see their own war-making as medieval monk Alcuin, adviser to Charlemagne, who part of a “civilization clash” between Christians and chen a A contrasted Europe’s past chaos with the Christianized Muslims (“,” they called them). The Saracens

Issue 108 19 were just one among many enemies of Christian rulers, including Lombards, Saxons, , and Danes. The story of “Christendom” really begins with a massive shift that occurred when the Roman Empire ceased to function as a center of power for western Europe. Prior to that, it had served, in Peter Brown’s putting it back together description, as the “crude but vigorous pump” whereby Such was Charlemagne’s worry after his rise to power. anything that happened economically happened on a It led to the program he called correctio—putting things large scale. But over the course of the fifth century, that back into order—and which others would call the “Car- pump lost its prime and its parts stopped function- olingian Renaissance.” Charlemagne saw his work as ing. Goods ceased to move. The economies of western akin to Old Testament king Josiah (2 Kings 22), whose Europe became markedly local. rediscovery of the Book of the Law made faithfulness Christianity stepped in to fill the gap, the unifying possible. force in a Europe that lacked any other center. During Charlemagne and his advisors thought their own the 300 or so years between Rome’s fading empire and day heralded a providential “rediscovery.” They spoke, Charlemagne’s rising one, proved for the first time, of “barbarian invasions” of Goths and highly portable and adaptable to local custom. For a other tribes into the Roman Empire—and claimed this

ettel

while it was able to unite different regions into a coher- was a distinct historical period from which Europe was bu en ent theological world—a world where God ruled over now emerging, thanks to the special favor in which f

all, and the heavens were crowded with saints. God held the Franks. A triumphant sentiment, but it But could that unity hold? Even as western had a note of anxiety. If Europe ever ceased to have as othek Wol i Europeans believed they were simply speaking local many churches as the sky had stars, then God’s favor l ib

dialects of Latin, vernacular languages—Spanish, might well be withdrawn. t B n i

German, French, Italian—were taking shape. Many This was the beginning of the notion of ugus A Christians knew only an oral version of their faith, “Christendom.” The word itself, an ver- g

since they and everyone else they knew were illiterate. nacular word, originally meant simply “Christianity.” erzo H What was to stop someone from preaching—whether But it came in the Middle Ages to have the sense of

through ignorance or malice—an unrecognizable ver- “the Christian world” or “lands where Christianity is sion of Christianity? Regional expressions of the church dominant.” were one thing. Mutually incomprehensible and contra- For Charlemagne and his advisors, and for those who chen throne— Wikipedia / Boj a dmonis Generalis —

dictory versions were another. followed, it meant that uniformity of Christian practice A A

20 Christian History a royal seat Far left: Charlemagne sat enthroned atop these six steps at Aachen.

Getting on the same page Left: In the introduction to Admonitio generalis, the king expressed his concern for his subjects’ morals.

reporting in, sir Right: Charlemagne receives some of his bishops.

was insisted on from the top down, as the main way of warding off the disintegration of the church into a jumble of churches, isolated in their own regions. It meant uniformity of con- trol over a Christian empire. Or did it? Through pieces of legislation like his Admonitio generalis, or “general warning”—a set of 82 laws about church government— Charlemagne insisted upon centralized church oversight. The bleak consequences of imperial disfavor fell upon any who failed to follow the instructions (See “The man behind the empire,” pp. 8–15). But in matters unrelated to church gover- nance and practice, Charlemagne consulted with the leading figures of each region, typi- cally allowing local law to carry the day. This was diplomatically prudent, but also con- tained clever politics. In allowing local law to hold sway in matters unrelated to church prac- tice, Charlemagne set up Christian law as the only law Charlemagne could not foresee that his attempts to actually uniting all the different subjects of his empire. unite a fractured society would have such far-reaching impact. Though his dynasty petered out, his idea that correcting and instructing church and state belonged naturally together—and In such a diverse empire, it was essential that people that together they would hold back the barbarians from not merely obey the laws, but also understand them. the gates—lasted long after Leo set the crown on his How did Charlemagne do this? Unlike the centralized head that fateful Christmas Day. approach of the Byzantine Empire (where all roads ran It lasted through long lines of and Holy through Constantinople), Charlemagne’s correctio infil- Roman Emperors outmaneuvering each other. It lasted trated the empire through a large class of learned, aris- through a in which reformers found their nce

a tocratic clergy and monastics scattered throughout the own ways to make governments Christian, even while empire. To them fell the responsibility of ensuring that protesting against the wreck they thought Catholicism

le de Fr Christian texts were copied correctly so that less literate had made of medieval government. It lasted as a on i clerics could recite them without error. A local priest’s Christianity spread across the Atlantic to a new land, t a

mistake, after all, could lead an entire region astray. the United States, that had no state church but saw the e n u The Admonition generalis singles out for concern those state itself as carrying out God’s mission on earth. othèq

i “who want to pray to God in the fashion, yet they Long after Charlemagne’s empire crumbled, long l

ib pray improperly because of uncorrected books.” Alcuin after no one remembered the 82 clauses of his general —B s tried to simplify all kinds of important theological books warning or competed to earn the favor of his bishops

hop from antiquity—rewriting Augustine’s Commentary on and , people throughout Europe—and indeed all bis

g

n John

i , for example. Many passages of Augustine’s writing of the West—would still be wondering: Is our nation as v i

were left intact, but many were taken out and replaced bright with churches as the sky is with stars? And if it is with other writings or with Alcuin’s own commentary. no longer, should we praise or lament? CH ne rece

People responded. Particularly in Germany, local towns

mag competed with each other to show their assent to the Sarah Morice-Brubaker is assistant professor of theology at rle a h

C requirements of correctio. Phillips Theological Seminary.

Issue 108 21 The Christian History Timeline Not your parents’ Middle Ages

500

— 751: St. Boniface anoints encouraging art, worship, , son and devotion. of , as a divinely sanctioned king. — 936: Otto the Great is crowned king in Germany; — 768: Pepin’s son Char- in 962 he becomes em- lemagne becomes king. In peror in Rome, the first to time, his empire grows to use the title “Holy Roman embrace modern France, Emperor.” Competent Germany, central and successors follow. Later his- , and much torians call this period the of Italy. Charlemagne “Ottonian Renaissance.” coronation of charlemagne’s divides his vast realm into grandson, charles the bald different regions ruled by — 1046: Emperor Henry III local “counts” overseen by deposes three rival popes — 500: Clovis, founder of the representatives of the king’s and names a German Frankish state, conquers own court. To aid adminis- monastic reformer as Pope most of France and , tration of the kingdom, he Clement II. A series of converting his territories to promotes learning in what reforming popes follows. western Catholic Christian- is later called the “Carolin- They assert papal author- ity. His heirs begin fighting gian Renaissance.” Anglo- ity, causing conflict with one another. Saxon Benedictine monk both the Eastern Church Alcuin sets up schools, sees and the Holy Roman — 610: Heraclius becomes to the copying of classical Emperors. This leads to Byzantine emperor in Latin texts, and develops a the Great Schism between Constantinople. new handwriting. Rome and Constantinople (1054) as well as the inves- — 650: Arab forces conquer — 800: On Christmas Day, the titure controversy over who most Byzantine territories. pope crowns Charlemagne is responsible for giving In 677 and 717 they attempt emperor in Rome. bishops symbols of their to conquer Constantinople offices. but fail. — 814: Charlemagne dies. His surviving son, Louis — 1050: Agricultural revolu- — 687: Pepin of Heristal, Mayor the Pious, divides his in- tion ushers in widespread of the Palace under Clovis’s heritance between his three use of new farming devices, descendants, unites the sons, who engage in civil some previously discov- Frankish territories. His war. , , ered by Carolingians and son Charles Martel (Char- and invade, and the Romans. lemagne’s grandfather) falls forms an alliance with the apart in 888. — 1059: Cardinals are given church which helps extend the sole right of appointing Christianity (and Frankish — 871: King new popes, with the inten- rule) into Germany. of England, imitating Char- tion of allowing papal lemagne, codifies English elections to escape the — : The Venerable , an 735 law, reorganizes the army, whims of political leaders. f 106r The Coronation of Emperor Charlemagne Anglo-Saxon scholar, writes founds schools, and pro- 1375 79 (vellum), French School (14th century) / History of the English Church motes Anglo-Saxon literacy. — 1095: The is Charlemagne as a great and People. initiated to rescue Jerusa- hero in battle against — 910: The Benedictine mon- lem from Islamic control. Muslims. — 740: Byzantine emperor Leo astery of Cluny in In 1098 crusaders capture III initiates the iconoclastic (modern France) becomes a Antioch and most of Syria, — c. 1100: movement. It flourishes place of reform, focused on and in 1099 Jerusalem, kill- emerges, seeking to rec-

under the reign of his son restoring obedience to the ing many of the inhabitants. oncile classical philosophy (741-775). 6th-c. Rule of St. Benedict and The Song of paints with Christianity. Coronation of Charles the Coronation of Charles the Bald— WIKIPEDIA Adapted from http://eawc.evansville.edu/mepage.htm

YOU MAY ONCE HAVE HEARD OF the Middle Ages referred to as “Dark Ages” that fell between the glories of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance, or “rebirth,” of classical learning in 14th-c. Italy. But in fact learning, statecraft, church growth, and culture-making flourished throughout the period. Historians have identified no fewer than four Renaissances in this period (each shown in bold), starting with one inspired by Charlemagne.

1100s 1100s 1300s

start entering schools for — 1330: English theologian reasons other than becom- John Wyclif is born. Find- ing priests, and education is ing the church extravagant, offered in languages other and supported by English than Latin. nobles who want inde- pendence from Rome, he — c. 1200: English scientist begins a reform movement. Robert Grosseteste makes technological advances in — 1304: Italian scholar optics, mathematics, and Petrarch is born. His later astronomy. These are rediscovery of some classi- continued by his disciple cal Greek and Roman texts Roger Bacon. will be considered as initi- ating “the” Renaissance. — 1204: The Fourth Crusade captures and sacks — 1367: The papacy returns Constantinople. to Rome, but displeased French cardinals eventually — 1215: Innocent III organizes elect a rival French pope. the Fourth The split ends in 1417. to define central dogmas of Christianity. — 1385: The first German uni- versity opens in . — 1225: born. The most influential — 1415: The Council of Con- Scholastic theologian, he stance, called by Emperor later teaches at the Univer- Sigismund, affirms the sity of Paris. authority of councils to gov- ern the church and burns —  : Several important Czech reformer at philosophical and sci- the stake. entific texts, including Aristotle, are translated — 1453: Ottoman Turks take into Latin. Constantinople and end Byzantine civilization. — 1265: , author of the , is born.

— 1267: Italian painter Giotto born. He will initiate a new style of painting.

— Late 1200s: Eyeglasses

(742 814) by Pope Leo III (c 750 816) at St Peters, Rome in 800, Grandes Chron ques de France, and the magnetic compass Bibliotheque Municipale, , France / Giraudon / The Bridgeman Art Library are invented. The latter aids — 1152: Frederick I Barbarossa — 1198: Innocent III is elected in trade and navigation. of Germany calls his realm pope. He attempts to unify the “Holy Roman Empire,” all Christendom under the — 1305: The papacy moves the first use of the term. papal monarchy. to , beginning the church’s “Babylonian — 1170: The first European — 1200: The growth of lay Captivity,” with the papacy

. reliquary— WIKIPEDIA windmill is developed, aid- education spurs another subordinate to French

c 14th-c. reliquary of char- ing agriculture. renaissance. Students authority. lemagne 14th- Listening to the spirit St. is pictured in the , one of many illuminated manuscripts cre- ated during the Carolingian Renaissance.

had in the Middle Ages—are of the king

looking wide-eyed at his first Irish illu- minated manuscript, or trying painfully to scratch his name on a writing tablet:

K-A-R-O-L-V-S. For one of the greatest

contributions that Charlemagne made to medieval civilization was instituting a

series of educational reforms that would be the centerpiece of the “Carolingian ibrary L Renaissance.” rt A man

Education before e

Charlemagne ridg B

e

In the world we know, the value of educa- h T tion is seldom debated. Nearly 85 percent of Americans over 25 have graduated from

iraudon /

high school, and a quarter have college de- G / e

grees. But a century ago the numbers were ranc

reversed; less than one out of ten people F graduated from high school. rnay, It should be no surprise, then, that e , Ep in the early Middle Ages, education was e

even less widespread. While it is debat- unicipal

able whether there ever truly were “Dark M

e

Ages,” it is certainly true that the classical qu

education available to the upper classes of e

was no longer as prevalent in iblioth B

early medieval Europe. To be sure, certain people—typically ntury) / males—received a rudimentary educa- e tion. In the seventh and eighth centuries, the sons of

European kings and nobles were often given train- chool (9th c

For the love S ing. But it was usually not in the rhetoric, philosophy, nch

and grammar that or Augustine would have e

r known—rather, it was in the skills needed for warfare. F Swordplay and military tactics were far more helpful in of learning llum), securing a young lord’s future than conjugating Greek e HOW charlemagne transformed education verbs and quoting Cicero. Garry J. Crites Priests and monks were given a different form of basic instruction so that they could read their prayer

books, learn doctrine, and recite . This education The next time you are on the Internet, type “Char- was sometimes spotty and not always successful, how-

bbo Gospels , c. 816–835 (v E

lemagne” into a search engine and look at the pictures ever. St. Boniface once complained to the pope that he that come up. You will see paintings of Charlemagne had heard a priest baptize a person in nomine patria et looking regal, with an ornate crown on his head. Or filia et spiritu sancta—which roughly translates as “In

you may see warrior Charlemagne, wielding a massive the name of the Fatherland, the daughter, and the Holy list—from the sword. The most dramatic pictures are of Pope Leo III Spirit.” e “unexpectedly” placing the emperor’s on the All of this changed when the Frankish king known Evang

head of a majestic (but humble) Charlemagne. at first only as Charles or Karl ascended the throne of e

The pictures you never see, though—but ones that the Franks in 768 upon the death of his father Pepin the t. John th

would better reflect the importance that Charlemagne Short. Beyond the changes in the political landscape S

24 Christian History I’m taking notes, folks A 14th-c. French chronicle imagines how histo- rian Einhard recorded the events of Char- lemagne’s reign. ibrary

L of Europe that he achieved through conquest rt

A and intrigue, Charlemagne also ushered in

man a cultural revolution. At its core was a series e of educational reforms that would influence ridg B

e continental Europe and Christendom for h T centuries. ibrary / L

e An intellectual King? It may be an overstatement to say that Char- ictur P lemagne was illiterate, but even his doting

biographer Einhard (775–840) admitted that gostini A the king had only limited ability to read and De write. Charlemagne often kept writing tablets close at hand so that he could practice tracing ntury /

Ce letters, but, said Einhard, he never made much progress, because he began too late in life. His- 14th e tories and treatises had to be read to him, presumably he placed upon education should spread to his fam-

ranc

F because he could not read them himself. ily, his court, and beyond. He began with his own

cto, But while the king could not read or write well, he children.

e greatly valued intellectual activities. He routinely had Like many medieval rulers, Charlemagne made the Psalter and writings of the early read sure that his children learned the skills needed to to him at mealtimes—apparently he felt a special fond- solidify their places in society. The boys were taught ness for Augustine’s City of God. But he also listened to to ride and fight; the girls learned how to manage a secular stories and classical literature, both of which household of the high-born. But to this king, these

anuscript 5 folio 100 r

M would be important in the Carolingian Renaissance to skills were not sufficient. He believed that his chil- e c come. dren should also be educated in the liberal arts ran

F According to Einhard, Charlemagne became (the trivium of grammar, logic, and rhetoric, and proficient in many of the liberal arts—rhetoric, the quadrivium of arithmetic, geometry, music, and les of c grammar, mathematics, and astronomy in partic- astronomy). ular. Moreover, he valued the study of languages

he did not know, especially Latin and Greek. The The Palace School image Einhard sought to portray was one of a thor- To achieve this worthy goal, Charlemagne called upon

oughly educated , in the tradition of Roman his old friend Alcuin (740–804). Born on the eastern emperors. coast of (now northern England and from the Great Chroni e We can’t assume that the picture of Charlemagne southeastern Scotland), Alcuin (see p. 28) showed much painted by the adoring Einhard is entirely accurate. But promise as a student in the of .

—miniatur even if the king was not quite as skilled as his biogra- When Ælbert (the school’s headmaster and librarian) e pher indicated, that does not mean that the biography was made bishop of York in 767, Alcuin became the new magn

e has no value. head of the school.

harl To the contrary, the fact that Einhard took such As bishop, Ælbert was expected to travel peri- C

of great pains to portray Charlemagne as an intellec- odically to the European continent to oversee the e tual shows how important education had become in missionaries he had sent to northern Europe and to lif e

the opening days of the ninth century, or at least how consult with secular rulers. When he did so, he some-

important it was for a ruler to be known as an intellec- times took his protégé Alcuin.

cording th tual, especially for political reasons. A Frankish king On one such journey, in 781, Alcuin met the e from northern Europe who seemingly wore the man- ambitious young Frankish king, who asked the tle of centuries of classical education—this went a long Northumbrian to be his tutor in rhetoric and astron- istorian r

H way toward establishing his as the head of omy. When Alcuin was invited to join Charlemagne’s

e the Holy Roman Empire. court, he did so reluctantly. Once there, though, he There is little doubt that Charlemagne had a great proved influential and eventually adopted the land of

Einhard th love of learning, but he also insisted that the value the Franks as his home.

Issue 108 25 rt rt

Gates of learning Left: The abbey at Lorsch A (whose gate is seen here) was a center of man intellectual revival. e ridg B

e h

was that XXL or XXC? Bottom: How to count on T your fingers in Roman numerals, Carolingian style. iraudon / tion, where Christian doctrine could be taught uni- G formly and preserved correctly for posterity.

Ten years after this first , Charlemagne ortugal / P expanded his vision for an educated kingdom by order- isbon,

ing priests and monks to provide for the education of L

children in their districts, and not just those who were

headed for the priesthood or monastic life. So monas- acional, teries and churches began basic educational programs N ca e

in the regions where they were located, providing a

ibliot B

level of learning to boys (and sometimes girls) at no

charge. While these village schools certainly cannot be compared to widespread public education such as we

nstituto da

know today, it was a step in that direction. Education I

Charlemagne’s biographer Einhard believed was slowly becoming available to a wider audience

ntury) / Alcuin to be the most learned person in the world, a than just the elite. e

worthy companion to a young ruler who was already It was no easy task to turn monasteries into intel- the most powerful man in western Europe. Indeed, lectual hubs. Libraries needed to be created with books

the Northumbrian schoolmaster was a remarkable collected from around the , the curricu-

chool (9th c scholar. Beyond his skills in the liberal arts, Alcuin lum had to be set, and teachers needed to be employed. S

wrote Bible commentaries, theological works, and Discipline was notoriously harsh. (According to one

biographies of Christian saints. When Charlemagne medieval text, a group of unruly students at one monas-

arolingian decided that his kingdom needed an official ver- tic school, knowing that they were destined to receive a C

sion of the Bible, he called on Alcuin to supervise its llum),

production. e Who better than Alcuin, then, to be the head of

n

a palace school, where the sons and daughters of e d.

Charlemagne and other nobles would be taught not ee aurus (780–856) (v

M

only the skills needed for being leaders, but also the lib- eral arts? abanus s/by-sa/3.0/d

Lessons were laid out, court libraries were R e

ns

established, and the model for training young nobles e

that would continue for decades, if not centuries, was ense by c

begun. The educational reforms of the Carolingian oba c l

Renaissance were under way. A commons.org/lic e The Spread of Education Codex ativ Although one could argue that the intellectual e

explosion of the Carolingian Renaissance began e numeris .

D

with the education of the king himself and his : http://cr k c e family, it did not end there. In 787 Charlemagne

lb issued an edict that bishops and abbots (the heads e of monasteries) should begin educating young boys rmin Küb

in reading and writing, the Bible, theology, and A

grammar. kipedia /

The purpose was primarily to educate these lads I

for service to the monastery. In the same way that the — W r counting from 1 to 20000—from monasteries of Ireland had been islands of scholarly e ing LORSCH

activity that kept classical knowledge alive when F OF

Y

continental Europe was in decline, Charlemagne E

ol.252r ibrary wanted Frankish monasteries to be centers of educa- ABB F L

26 Christian History

Below: This 11th-c. illustration from “THE SCHOOL” a text written in Charlemagne’s era shows scholars deep in discussion.

ibrary

L rt A man e

ridg ibrary B

L e h rt T A /

man AISA / e BA E ridg B B

e h

T hoto © P rti /

O severe beating from their schoolmaster, decided to burn taly / I

agli down the monastery rather than face the lash!) D .

G One remarkable thing about Carolingian schools assino,

C was that, even though they were attached to mon-

Above: The book with

ibrary / writing the story of christ

L asteries and parishes, their curricula were not

e this illustration of St. Matthew was given to the monastery of assino, restricted to Christian topics. Certainly the Bible and C

e St. Riquier by Charlemagne himself. ictur

P the early church fathers were taught, but so was the ont

M pagan philosopher Plato. Students studied the lives gostini y of of the saints, but also Germanic legends. In these A e

bb De

A new Carolingian libraries, one could find not only These Irish monks and theologians were precisely religious texts, but legal writing, travelogues, and the ones Charlemagne needed to carry on the edu- c. 800 / e

ntury) / language books as well. cational reforms begun under Alcuin. Most notable e among them were Clement of Ireland, a successor of ranc F

Enter the Irish Alcuin at the palace school; Joseph Scottus, who served While Alcuin was the driving force in Charlemagne’s as a poet in Charlemagne’s court; and scientist-monk chool (11th c S early educational reforms, he was not sufficient to the Dungal of Bobbio, who taught the king astronomy. task of educating an empire. So early on, other teach- Perhaps the most famous of these Irish transplants ne , manuscript, talian I g ers were called in to continue the reforms. Foremost was the Neoplatonist philosopher Johannes Scotus

llum), among these were Irish monks. Eriugena (see p. 29), who served as a grammar instruc- e

Monastic communities such as Glendalough, tor in the court of Charlemagne’s grandson later in the Clonmacnoise, and Kildare had long been the intel- ninth century. He was a remarkable scholar, though lectual and spiritual centers of Ireland, their abbots a controversial one, whose writings on predestination and rivaling (or exceeding) Irish bishops in and on creation would one day be condemned by the

power and learning. Many Irish monks were known Catholic Church.

for their intellects. They would listen to readings from aurus (c. 780–856) c.1023 (v iquier , or the Gospel of Charlema M R the fathers of the church at their mealtimes and then the word in the world

aint retire to cells to make copies not just of Christian texts, While the Carolingian Renaissance showed diverse S

abanus

R but also of Irish law and pagan Celtic legends. and multifaceted intellectual creativity, it had unifying They created beautiful illustrated Gospels such as themes in its educational reforms—threads running

the Book of Kells. They developed a revolutionary new through nearly every innovation. niverso by

U devotional practice of private confession and penance, First, the value of the written word. It is hard for us to e D

based on the teachings of John Cassian, which would imagine how valuable books were in the early Middle

w—from the Gospel of one day have an impact on all of Europe. And perhaps Ages. For one thing, without mass production of books e

most important, they were involved in missionary available, they could be rare and extremely expensive. atth

M chool—from

S work to Caledonia (Scotland), Britannia (England), Owning a set of books showed that you were part of an

e aint h

T S and the European continent. elite class. It was not very important whether you could

Issue 108 27 networking in the ninth century Alcuin (middle) presents scholar (left) and his works to church official Otgar of Mainz.

read them or not; they were status symbols even if sit- ting on a shelf unread. In Charlemagne’s court, though, the written word took on an importance much greater than merely a commodity for filling nice bookshelves. It became the medium by which the institutions of Carolingian society could be standardized and maintained. Ways of living the religious life, secular laws, morality—all were committed to the written word not only for pos- terity, but for management of daily life. Second, the spread of literacy. We have long known that literacy was not uncommon among medieval Alcuin of York clergy and monks. Indeed, that very literacy helped make these groups among the elite of society. They had Imagine if you can: aworldwithoutcapitallettersorspaces. the mystifying ability to make sense out of scratchings Perhaps you owe the fact that you can read this article and dots on a page, marks whose meanings were lost today to Alcuin of York. on the average person. Alcuin was one of Charlemagne’s devoted advisors In the Carolingian period, though, literacy moved and a major figure in educational, biblical, and liturgical out of the monasteries and sanctuaries and into the reform. Alcuin reformed education at court and estab- towns. Lay literacy, though rare compared to modern lished a palace library. He also tutored Charlemagne and standards, became relatively widespread among the ibrary

was the head of the palace school at Aachen. (On the fac- nobility, and to a lesser degree, even among common- L rt

ing page, you can see a famous dialogue he supposedly ers and women, two groups that had sometimes been A

conducted to help educate Charlemagne’s son Pippin: the kept uneducated in the early Middle Ages. man e “Debate between the princely and noble youth Pippin and Third, standardized learning. Charlemagne made ridg B

Alcuin the Teacher.”) sure that education in his kingdom had a high degree e h An important goal of the Carolingian reforms was estab- of uniformity. His palace schools followed a relatively T r /

lishing accuracy and uniformity in textual sources for study. uniform curriculum, which was taught using a stan- ke ar To that end, Alcuin worked to revise and standardize the dardized form of Latin. Priests and monks teaching in T Bible. In 796 he became the abbot of St. Martin’s at Tours, the villages did not have as comprehensive a curriculum hoto © P

most powerful abbey in the kingdom, and remained there to follow, but they were ordered to give their students . / until his death in 804. Under his supervision, several pan- accepted lessons in Christian theology and morality. e

dects (complete editions) of the Bible were produced at the Even writing became standardized through the iniatur abbey, written in newly developed widespread adoption of the Carolingian minuscule, M

script, much easier to read and write than older ones. For the a type of that could be read across the artin. M first time, both capital letters and spaces between words were empire (see “Did you know?,” inside front cover). aint standard features of writing! Carolingian minuscule was used to produce reli- S During his time at Charlemagne’s court, Alcuin brought gious texts that could be read in personal devotion or

over many English books and entertained many English visi- in public worship. But just as important, it was also aurus to M tors. He was also influential as an outspoken opponent of the used in copies of the classical texts that were resur-

Adoptionist , a teaching that Jesus had been adopted as facing on the European continent. abanus God’s son at some point in his earthly life. Finally, a merging of the religious and the secular. The R

A prolific writer, Alcuin authored poems, saints’ lives, Carolingian period was a fertile time for religious nts to e s

textbooks, political essays, and hundreds of letters. His scholarship. People copied and widely studied the e

incorporation of logic into the study and writing of the- writings of the early church fathers. Authors penned

ology paved the way for later thinkers such as Thomas commentaries on the Bible, some of which would influ- lcuin pr A Aquinas. ence Christian thought well into the .

He also influenced the later church by revising the liturgy Other thinkers took copies of biblical and other (730–804). and standardizing the text of the Latin Bible. One phrase in religious texts and inserted thoughtful comments k or a letter shows his characteristic intellectual humility: “Man called glosses into the margins or between the lines Y

thinks, God directs.” of text, words that could became as influential as the lcuin of

—Jennifer Awes Freeman original manuscripts. A

28 Christian History Eriugena

We know very little about Johannes Scottus Eriuge- na (c. 815–c. 877)—a fact that led twelfth-century historian of Malmesbury to embellish the record with sev- eral fantastic stories, including one describing Eriugena’s students stabbing him to death with their pens! Other than his Irish birth (as indicated by his surname, meaning “Ireland-born”), Eriugena’s life is a mystery until 843 when he appeared at the court of Charlemagne’s grandson, Charles the Bald (reigned 843–877). Charles soon made Eriugena the head of the palace school, a posi- tion recently held by Alcuin of York. There was a notable intellectual continuity between the two men and their cir- cles of colleagues; like Alcuin before him, Eriugena was thoroughgoing in his application of logic and philosophy to Christian theology. In his commentary on the book of Mark, he stated, “No one enters heaven except through philosophy.” Described by his contemporaries as a holy man and a scholar, Eriugena’s knowledge of Greek enabled him the word of the lord All are hard at work writing their respective gospels in this to translate many Greek Christian Neoplatonic writ- illustration for a , the Aachen Coronation ers. Among these were Gregory of Nyssa, Maximus the Gospels, made at Aachen after Charlemagne’s death. Confessor, and Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite.

As he made their work accessible to the intellectuals of

his day, Eriugena came to hold some controversial views, But like their Irish teachers before them, the such as the belief that sin and hell were not real because scholars of Charlemagne’s court also studied secular, nothing evil could come from God. But he was nonetheless

even pagan, texts. They did not hesitate to examine influential in the development of medieval theology and

the works of Greek and Roman philosophers or the philosophy. His writings and translations were copied and legends of Germanic heroes—and then to teach them widely distributed during and after his lifetime. alongside lessons from the Bible and Christian the- —Jennifer Awes Freeman ology. In this, they laid the groundwork for heady,

controversial intellectual movements that would dominate Europe in the following millennium. How long did the Carolingian Renaissance,

A day at school with its signature educational reforms, actu- ally last? Some scholars say that it stretched from PIPPIN: What is a letter?

Charlemagne‘s crowning in 768 well into the tenth ALCUIN: The guardian of the story. century. In truth, though, much of the advance- P: What is a word? ment under Charlemagne stalled a generation later A: The traitor who betrays what is in your mind. when his empire was divided among his grand- P: What gives birth to a word? sons. But for a brief, shining moment in medieval A: The tongue. Europe, a semiliterate king of the Franks inaugu- P: What is the tongue? ct

je rated a period of intellectual fervor. Its influence A: A whip that beats the air.

ro P

k would be felt 400 years later in the thinking of P: What is the air?

orc Scholasticism, 700 years later among the intellectu- A: The guard of life. Y

e

h P: What is life? T als of the Renaissance, and even in the musings of Christian intellectuals in the twenty-first century. A: The joy of the happy, the sadness of the wretched, the

That is the Charlemagne whose picture should expectation of death. show up in a Google search. CH P: What is death?

ls— Wikipedia /

e A: An inevitable event, an uncertain journey, the tears of

osp Garry J. Crites is director of the Osher Lifelong Learning the living, the confirmation of a will, a robber who steals G

n

e Institute at University. humankind. ach

A —Translated by Edwin Woodruff Tait

Issue 108 29 THE PIONEERS OF THE SPIRIT DVD SERIES

hroughout history, individuals have sometimes experienced profound spiritual longings. Facing uncharted territory, they mapped new terrain Tin their search for intimacy with God. We call them Pioneers of the Spirit. Each biographical profile in this series weaves together excerpts from personal writings, dramatic artwork, expert commentary, and compelling narration focused on the relevance of each pioneer to contemporary times. Each program is 24 minutes. PDF discussion guides can be downloaded for free at www.visionvideo.com. $14.99 each All seven for $49.99 Use item #98644D. #500824D—Teresa of Avila - one of the most colorful mystics of the medieval period #500825D—Julian of Norwich - received 16 images of the crucified Christ that forever changed her life #500826D— - a brilliant fourth-century theologian and prolific writer #500827D— - a German nun and abbess who was also an intellectual, writer, composer, and artist #500828D—Dante Alighieri - a poet whose best known work is The Divine Comedy #500829D—Ignatius Loyola - the founder of the , which is still active in education and missions #500830D—William Blake - known for his ability to tap the depths of biblical imagery

THE MEMORABLE LEADERS IN CHRISTIAN HISTORY DVD SERIES

his special collection presents the lives of outstanding Christians from previous eras, whose influence and significance endure and continue to Tspeak to us today. The leaders profiled here profoundly influenced the shape of Christianity in the British Isles and beyond. You will be enlightened and inspired as you explore the stories of these venerable figures from church history. Each program is 25 minutes. PDF discussion guides can be downloaded for free at www.visionvideo.com. $14.99 each All seven for $49.99 • Use item #98479D.

#501078D—Aidan - the Irish bishop who brought the Irish Christianity of Iona to the landscape of Northumbria #501079D—Bede - the English historian whose writings survive as a testament to the wisdom and creativity of his time #501080D— - one of the most famous saints of his time and now the patron of England #501081D—Hild - an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who became a nun at the age of 33 #501082D—Oswald - the warrior who claimed his kingdom at the Battle of Heavenfield, near Hexham #501083D—Wilfrid - a man convinced that the Roman way of organizing the church was the right one #501084D— Gospels - the illuminated manuscript honored as one of Britain’s greatest artistic treasures

BEST VALUE! BOTH COMPLETE DVD SETS FOR ONLY $79.99—USE ITEM #97685D

YOUR SATISFACTION IS GUARANTEED! TO ORDER, CALL: TO (incl. $5.99 s/h): ON THE WEB: Vision Video – Dept CHM108A www.visionvideo.com 1-800-523-0226 Box 540 Please reference code CHM108A Please use source code CHM108A when ordering. Worcester, PA 19490 in source code field at step 4 of checkout. Broken images how Charlemagne and the byzantine Empire misunderstood each other Jennifer Awes Freeman we have an empire, too In this mosiac from the basilica , seat of eastern Christianity in Constantinople, emperors Justinian and Constantine Pope Leo may have put a crown on Charlemagne’s present models of the basilica and of the city to the head on Christmas Day 800, and the people may Virgin Mary and Christ Child. have acclaimed him emperor, but he was not the only emperor on the block. Over 1,000 miles away, a succession of emperors and one empress who saw holy pictures? themselves as rightfully leading the Roman Empire Legends once told that what became known as the ruled from Constantinople. They ruled over Byzan- “iconoclastic controversy” started with a literal bang. In tium (much of modern-day and , and 727 the volcano on the Aegean island of Thera erupted. at points some parts of the modern Middle East and Supposedly seeing the eruption as a fiery judgment Eastern Europe.) from God for people’s idolatry in worshiping created The east-west relationship had not been smooth objects, Byzantine emperor Leo III ordered the removal since Constantine set up his imperial capital at of an of Christ from above the Chalke Gate (the Constantinople, not Rome, in the third century. East main ceremonial entrance to the palace in Constantino- and west had different languages, cultures, and theo- ple). This action inaugurated Byzantine “,” logical outlooks. Tension grew when the Byzantine or the destruction of religious images, and caused the Empire failed to aid Rome against Lombard invasions people of Constantinople to revolt. — Wikipedia s in the sixth and seventh centuries—and in 756, when In reality, the controversy emerged more gradually. aic s Charlemagne’s father Pepin the Short turned over Byzantines at the time called the debate iconomachy (“im- lands he had reclaimed to the bishop of Rome, rather age struggle”); only in a handful of known incidents ia Mo h than to the Byzantine emperor. But Charlemagne’s were images actually destroyed. But sixteenth-century reign would put another nail in the coffin of the east- historians later applied the label “iconoclasm” to the

Hagia Sop west relationship. anti-image side, and it stuck.

Issue 108 31 rary b i L rt A an m e Bridge Th / s ato h fighting with pictures An iconodule Psalter (left) illustrates Psalm 22 with a painting of icono- Helen Stat

Religious images, or , played a significant clast patriarch John VII rubbing out an icon of Christ, f t o

while a 9th-c. icon (above) depicts the restoration of f

part in Christian life from at least the third century, i and the practice of venerating them (i.e. kissing, bow- icon veneration. G ing, and lighting candles) dated to at least the seventh. reece / G ,

Veneration may have developed in part as a response to The debate was not academic. If you bowed before s en

the incursion of Islam. Islam was “anti-iconic,” forbid- an image in worship, would you find someone coming h t A ,

ding any representation of God in art; in response some from the emperor to arrest you? And would you incur m eu

Christians emphasized more strongly the fact that their the wrath of God either for venerating an idol on the one s religion allowed God-pictures. hand or for refusing to honor holy pictures on the other? Following the death of Constantine V came a period image struggles of relative peace. His iconoclastic son Leo IV married an But controversy dogged the practice. In the 720s and iconodule, Irene, and allowed exiled iconodule monks to

730s, Germanos, the patriarch of Constantinople, chas- return and others to keep their icons. When Leo IV died, century) / Benaki Mu h tised two clergymen for teaching against images and Irene rose to power as for their son Constantine

removing them from their churches. By the anti- VI. She initially aimed for better relations with the west, ool (16t image sentiments were widespread in the east—even even trying at one point to negotiate a marriage between h in Constantinople. But the anti-image position was her son and one of Charlemagne’s daughters, Rotrude. retan Sc never adopted in Rome. Irene soon called the Second Council of C In 741 Constantine V, Leo III’s son, became emperor, (787) to address the image controversy. It condemned cow and in 754 he called a church council that banned Constantine V’s iconoclastic council of 754 and dis- s , Mo

the veneration of images and decreed that Christ, the tinguished between the terms latreia (worship, service m eu pera on panel),

s

Virgin Mary, and the saints could not be depicted in given only to God) and proskynhsis (veneration, prostra- m

images. The council argued that it was impossible to tion, gesture of respect). While only God is worthy of visually represent Christ’s divine nature and that por- worship, the council said, holy images were deserving

torical Mu s

traits of the Virgin and of saints were insulting to their of veneration (respect) in the same way as the cross, the ons —(egg te

now-eternal status in heaven. Gospel books, and saints’ relics, since the honor paid Ic But another side of the debate soon emerged. Icono- to a holy image passed on to the person depicted in it.

ter — State Hi

dules or iconophiles, from the Greek words for honoring Following custom, notes and decrees from the l sa

or loving images, asserted that icons were not idols but council were translated from Greek into Latin and sent P estoration of the

significant testimonies to the Incarnation: since Christ to the west, where Charlemagne read them. But the R udov l he

was God-made-man, he was image-able. Latin translation failed to convey the Greek distinction Ch T

32 Christian History “the work against the council” Left: Charlemagne’s advisor Theodulf of Orléans wrote this treatise condemning both the worship of images and their destruction.

walk this way Below: This Byzantine ivory shows relics carried in procession to be enshrined in a church.

Charlemagne’s proposal of marriage to Empress Irene might have bridged this divide, but she was still hesitating over her response when she was dethroned in 802. And after Charlemagne’s death, more nails were between “worship” and “veneration.” It sounded like hammered into the coffin as further disputes arose the council had approved the idolatrous act of worship- between Rome and Constantinople. ing images. Charlemagne had a monarch-sized fit and ordered photius in, photius out the Opus Caroli Regis contra Synodum (“The Work of In 858 Byzantine emperor Michael III deposed Ignatius, King Charles against the Council”) to be issued. In 792 a patriarch of Constantinople, and replaced him with

draft of the Opus Caroli Regis was sent to Pope Hadrian Photius (c. 810–c. 895). When Ignatius refused to step in Rome for approval, which it did not receive. down, Michael and Photius appealed to Pope Nicholas The Franks may have been disappointed by the V in Rome. Despite the fact that his delegates had par- pope’s response. But they knew that the pope him- ticipated in the that deposed Ignatius, the pope self had sent legates and a letter of support to Nicaea. declared Ignatius the rightful patriarch. Because of the pope’s disapproval, the Opus Caroli Regis Photius, whose position as patriarch was not

was hastily completed and permanently shelved in officially acknowledged until after Ignatius’s death the Frankish royal archives. It would not be consulted in 877, had become unpopular with the pope for

again until Calvin wrote his Institutes more than 700 two reasons. In 867 he issued a letter criticizing the years later. Roman church for its addition of the phrase,

The Franks did not dare to contradict the pope “and from the Son,” to the , saying the

directly. They nonetheless condemned the decisions in Holy Spirit “proceeds from the Father and from the a council of their own, the Council of (794). Son. . . .“ His letter also objected to western mission- While this council was primarily concerned with con- ary efforts in , where Constantinople, Rome, demning a new heresy from Spain, it also declared and Charlemagne’s heirs in Aachen were all compet- Nicaea II a “pseudosynod,” denying it ecumenical status. ing for converts.

s Through all this Charlemagne and his advisors All these questions of authority, and Rome’s

age asserted the superiority of what was at this point still assertion of its supremacy over the other major bish- Im

merely the Frankish kingdom over the Byzantine east. ops of Christendom, eventually culminated in the tory s The Opus Caroli Regis explicitly asserted that Franks two churches—Eastern and Western—anathematiz- rt Hi

A took a middle way between iconoclasm and idolatry. It ing each other in 1054 (i.e., declaring each other to be èque nationale de France — h f presented them not only as theologically orthodox rul- heretical). Charlemagne was not alive to see it. But by liot

elie b

R ers but also as the most qualified ones. Rome too would laying the groundwork for a self-confident Western

soon find it politically advantageous to switch gears. Christendom, he had paved the way. CH ini — Bi vory I l

The crowning of Charlemagne as emperor in 800 by the Roman pontiff powerfully symbolized Rome’s indepen- Jennifer Awes Freeman is a doctoral candidate at Vanderbilt

Byzantine Libri Caro dence from . University specializing in the early Middle Ages.

Issue 108 33 How they feasted and fasted Everyday life in the eighth and ninth centuries

Jennifer Woodruff Tait

year-round labors Above: This calendar shows appropriate farming tasks for each month.

don’t fall off! Left: A carpenter constructs a roof.

Beautiful ladies doing embroidery, strong Frequently they rose after about four hours, having

knights jousting, serenading their lovers, completed their “first sleep.” They might do house-

hung with tapestries. That is the Middle Ages in hold chores, have sex, or simply rest in bed. Then they our heads. But it was not Charlemagne’s Middle Ages. would go back to “second sleep.” (This sleeping pat- NY

All of that would come later. The first serious castles tern persisted until the .) Charlemagne kept a NY

esource,

were built, not just as his empire was crumbling, but lamp and wax tablet by his bed to learn to write, sup- R rt

because it was crumbling: people needed strong places posedly in part so he could record his dreams. A

esource,

to defend themselves against attacking armies. And the Houses were small (80–300 square feet), drafty, and R ve at i rt

whole feudal system of knights and allegiances, trouba- leaky. Frequently a house had only one room with a A rch A

dours and ladies, would not arise for centuries. fire in the middle, which often threatend to get out ng / i rt

A

The world of Charlemagne’s day was very local and of control and burn the house down. Benches, stools, ess L he T

ch / i very dark. Roads built by the Romans were in disre- tables, and beds were common furniture. A bottle of i r

E rt O

pair, despite Charlemagne’s orders that they be kept up. holy water under the bed kept the devil away, and only i

hs —

t

Most information traveled at the speed of feet. All but babies had their own cradles; everyone else shared agl D

about 10 percent of the people lived in small villages, a bed. Chairs were a bigger extravagance. The very i

ann he mon t growing and hunting their own food. Surrounded by wealthy might have chairs with arms and dressers Gi large forests full of wild animals, few traveled far. with drawers. But extra clothes to put in those draw-

Beeswax candles and oil lamps were expen- ers were few. Laws did not limit rich clothing to the enter— p

chronicle of sive; people went to bed when the sun went down. aristocracy (as they did later), but people could only car

34 Christian History The necessities of life Right: These 9th-c. And people could earrings were made of silver. Below: A goose-seller drink wine (mulber- deals with a customer. ries were as popular as grapes for making it), mead (made with honey), cider, pear juice, and “garne” (fer- mented grain). Most people ate off of dishes made of wood; only nobles brary

Li had glass. There were no forks and knives, rt A and—despite the fact that Charlemagne

brary passed laws encouraging people to prepare Li dgeman i

rt food with the “utmost cleanliness”—hardly any- r A B

he body washed their hands. T / dgeman SA i I r A / B here the judge he T BEBA Charlemagne’s laws governing daily life, called K /

U , covered everything (one historian wrote) “from incorrect grammar and choral singing in church xford,

O to road tolls and murder.” Charlemagne sent pairs of royal messengers (one lay, one ordained) around to ty of i no, Italy / Photo © i read the laws out loud, see that they were being obeyed, ass vers i C

n and hold court to hear appeals when they weren’t. It U no, i was another way of unifying his kingdom. ass C

useum, Churches had been few outside of cities and M

onte towns up until about 600. When Charlemagne came M make a fur cape if they could catch a bear, fox, wea- to power, he increased rural church-building. Local shmolean

A sel, or squirrel. Men practiced skilled trades, such as priests, usually not well educated, knew enough bbey of A blacksmithing and goldsmithing, but only women Latin to recite the service. They preached about basic

chool / made clothes. The average woman had a spindle in her Christian doctrine and behavior, conducted weddings S an

i hands all the time, even while making dinner. at church doors (followed by Eucharist inside), and sat ng i Nobles wore silk and brocade, and long woolen with people at their deathbeds. Many were beloved by

arol cloaks over everything. For a time short cloaks came their flocks. C

chool (11th century) / into fashion. Charlemagne hated them, supposedly Sundays and saints’ days were times of celebra- S

an exclaiming: “What is the use of these little napkins? tion. No one had to work except for “carrying for the i I can’t cover myself with them in bed. When I am on army, carrying food, or carrying the body of a lord to its lded bronze), i horseback I can’t protect myself from the wind and the grave,” the laws said. Eucharist in the church would be rain. When I go off to empty my bowels, I catch cold followed by singing and dancing on the lawn (despite lver, g i because my backside is frozen.” When Charlemagne repeated objections, people sang pagan songs and es (s i really dressed up, he wore cloth of gold and shoes women danced in circles). Once a year, there might be with jewels. a great fair in a nearby large city, with booths full of During Charlemagne’s lifetime, many people honey, salted meat, wine, cloth, and imported goods moved from hunting and gathering to settling down like peacock feathers and monkeys (for the wives of

aurus (c. 780–856) c.1023 (vellum), Ital and growing large fields of grain. Rye, wheat, barley, Frankish nobles). M an, 7th–10th centur i and oats were used for bread, which people consumed At Charlemagne’s court in Aachen, politics were

ng i avidly, and for ale, which they also consumed avidly. brewing, reforms were stirring, and endless wars were abanus

arol R

C Common people ate meat, but how much they ate being planned. Those things would touch the lives of

depended on how good they were at hunting and all the common people and set into motion changes

omme, S catching. And famine was common. Weather could eas- that would last 1,000 years. But news, after all, traveled ens, i

ily destroy crops. slowly. For the moment, people swept their hearths, De Universo by m A During Lent, when meat was not allowed, fish danced at their weddings, rocked their babies, and

amon, was popular. Depending on their skills at gardening laughed to think that anyone might be able to afford an C CH and beekeeping, people could supplement their meals imported monkey. eller —from S with eggs, onions, leeks, root vegetables, pears, apples, peaches, mulberries, walnuts, honey, garlic, and all Jennifer Woodruff Tait is managing editor of Christian Jewelry—from The Goose kinds of herbs: mint, parsley, sage, and many others. History.

Issue 108 35 rary b i L rt A an gem Brid The rti / O li g a D . A rary / b i L

e

tur c i P

ostini Ag

De

’s art / h it m

any. Golds

m

Charlemagne’s r e dral, G furniture he

Whatever happened to the Holy Roman fit for a king and a saint? Left: This golden n’s Cat

shrine holds Charlemagne’s bones today in Aachen che a Empire? Cathedral. Frederick II, who had the shrine built in A l of

1215, is pictured on it also (right). e

David A. Michelson ap h C e

When Charlemagne died on 28, 814, over Constantinople. In fact over the next two gener- alatin P

his will listed an unusual set of matching furniture. ations, Charlemagne’s empire declined rapidly. While he Charlemagne owned three ornamental silver tables, Charlemagne was memorialized as “the Great,” his son

pt in t each with a map or image of a city engraved on it. The Louis earned the less impressive nickname “the Pious.” e

first bore an image of the city of Rome. The second His grandchildren began a civil war between them- ls, k

me

depicted the Byzantine Constantinople, selves that permanently shattered the empire; its last na e which thought of itself as “New Rome.” In his will, ruler was Charlemagne’s great-grandson “Charles the s, and

Charlemagne left these two tables to two different bish- Fat,” only 70 years after Charlemagne’s death. e

ops. He sent the “Constantinople” table to the bishop Nevertheless Charlemagne left a noteworthy her- of Rome and the “Rome” table to a bishop of former itage, embodied by these three tables. It was a vision

ious ston m o ec

Byzantine territory that he had conquered. of uniting east and west into a single universal empire c .

These gifts were a calculated symbolic gesture, under a Christian emperor. Charlemagne’s most e uid g old, pr l g

their meaning clear when compared with the third sil- influential and lasting legacy was intangible: the idea e in

ver table. This one Charlemagne left to his heir, Louis. of “Christendom.” e

strav rin

Biographer Einhard notes that this last table was far e ik Sh

m e n larger and superior to the other two, showing not

A New Roman Emperor g a www.

just a single city, but “a plan of the whole universe, Pope Leo III’s coronation of Charlemagne was the piv- em m

drawn with skill and delicacy.” With this bequest otal moment in that idea’s arrival. This short-lived arl h

Charlemagne left his son not merely a symbol of revival of the Roman imperial title in the west struck oto fro Ph ntury C

authority over old Rome, or even over new Rome, but a chord that resonated in the political imagination of — e ce - h

also a claim to rule over the whole civilized world. western Europeans for over a millennium. rin h s

But this claim did not reflect reality. At the time of Called “Emperor and Augustus,” Charlemagne e —12t

n

II g k his death, Charlemagne controlled only a small frac- restored to the city of Rome the glory of having an a c em ri

tion of the former Roman Empire. He left his heirs emperor after nearly 300 years without one. Although e d

arl e fr limited influence over Rome and no authority at all Charlemagne’s biographers noted his “surprise” at the ch

36 Christian History I’m in charge here Left: Otto III (reigned 996– 1002) sits enthroned among admiring clergy.

. . . and here Below: A medieval king invests a bishop with symbols of office. rary b i L rt A an gem Brid The any / m r e , G ch k, Muni he “impromptu” coronation, it was quite likely the result of Saint Charlemagne? liot b i

b careful political calculations by both the Roman church Charlemagne’s larger-than-life reputation devel- and Charlemagne himself, and it increased his status oped little by little with new traditions and legends taats S as legitimate and divinely ordained ruler of western attaching to his name like the annual rings of growth

che Europe. As a “Roman emperor,” Charlemagne could around the trunk of a tree. First came highly flatter- ris e not only claim to be an equal with the empress then ing biographies and tributes. These described Char- ruling over Byzantium, but he could even aspire to be lemagne as an ideal Christian ruler, a task made on par with Christian Roman emperors of old, such as easy by ready comparison to the civil war under his ntury) / Bay

ce . grandchildren. Because of that political chaos, the

h For the next 1,000 years, the monarchs of Europe title of emperor itself eventually lapsed for almost cited Charlemagne’s title as the key link that connected half a century. Not until Pope John XII crowned king ool (10t

ch them, and the many kingdoms of medieval Europe, of the Germans Otto I “the Great” as Holy Roman

an s to the Roman Empire. The memory of Charlemagne’s Emperor in 962 could western Europe once again m r e claim to the Roman imperial title emboldened the claim to have a “Roman emperor.” His son, Otto II, ), G

m dream: if Charlemagne, no matter how briefly, could and later heirs also claimed the imperial title. llu

e reunite the Roman Empire (or at least western Europe Otto II married a Byzantine princess, renewing and the city of Rome) under a single Christian ruler, the eastern connection. In the year 1000 their son, Otto . 998 (v c then perhaps it could be done again by someone else. III, opened Charlemagne’s tomb in Aachen and “dis- This vision of a united church and state became covered” that Charlemagne’s body was miraculously

a long-running political and religious goal of west- preserved without decay (seen as a divine sign that d (980–1002)—

e ern European Christians. It was a frequent theme in the deceased was worthy of veneration as a saint). In

ron western European art and literature; one poet gave this way Otto expanded Charlemagne’s reputation as a h Charlemagne the title “the Father of Europe.” truly “holy” Roman emperor. Ent III The dream shaped how European kings thought Enhancing Charlemagne’s Christian credentials tto

O of themselves. It affected how Christians perceived gave later Holy Roman Emperors political legiti-

ror their encounters with Muslims in southern Europe and macy and connected them to religious authority at e p

m on the . It shaped how the Catholic Church a time when an intense rivalry over political and

an E viewed its political authority and relationship to the religious power was developing between the papacy m o Wikipedia R kings of Europe. Even after the Reformation ended in Rome and the various of Europe. By ut— c most hopes of uniting Europe under one Christian emphasizing Charlemagne’s role as defender and king, Charlemagne’s memory still held power over ruler of all Christians, the emperors reminded the wood e faith and politics. And even at the end of the twentieth Roman pontiffs that popes were not the only ones .4453 f.42r Holy m

stitur century, Charlemagne’s Christendom was whispered with a God-given charge of leadership over the e nv Ms Ci I ch arl em a g n e s h rin — Ph oto fro m www. ik strav l uid . c o fr e d ri c k II —12t h - ce ntury C arl em a g n Sh rin in old, pr ec ious ston s, and na me ls, pt t he P alatin ap l of A che n’s Cat dral, G r m any. Golds it ’s art / De Ag ostini i tur L b rary . D li O rti The Brid gem an rt as the forerunner to the modern . church.

Issue 108 37 the stuff of legend Roland (left) dies blowing his horn and (facing page) summons Charlemagne and his warriors to defeat Muslim troops.

. . . and of reality Below: Charlemagne eventually did learn to write his name.

an army to liberate Jerusalem from Islamic rule in 1095, he urged, “Let the deeds of your ancestors move you and incite your minds to manly achievements; the glory

and greatness of king Charles the Great, and of his son Louis, and of your kings, who have destroyed the king- NY

doms of the pagans, and have extended in these lands , the territory of the holy church.” ce

As this army began to on the First Crusade, sour Re

they followed a highway across eastern Europe that rt A

they believed to have been built by Charlemagne. They t / ch even circulated rumors that the ghost of Charlemagne a Sch

had been seen among their number. Even when the h ut

Crusades failed, Charlemagne’s legends continued to R

flourish—perhaps to satisfy a European longing for

A long christendom sitz /

About a century and a half after Otto opened Char- what might have been. be lemagne’s tomb, Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa After the political and religious fragmentation of ultur K r

(reigned 1155–1190) had Charlemagne formally recog- the Reformation, the ideal of unifying Europe under

nized as a saint and changed the official name of his one Christian emperor became more unreachable. But che

ussi

empire to “the Holy Roman Empire.” The idea of Chris- the dream of Christendom did not disappear. European e r P

tendom was now captured in a name. rulers and intellectuals continued for centuries to use g

Frederick I Barbarossa’s grandson, Frederick II, Charlemagne to support visions of empire and culture. NY , tiftun S carefully imitated the now-idealized Charlemagne. In 1811 a of Charlemagne was set up in Aachen ce

Frederick II was crowned publicly in Charlemagne’s with the inscription: “Only Napoleon is greater than rlin, sour e

old capital, Aachen, in 1215, and while there he ceremo- I.” From the 1950s to the present, the International Re rt

k zu B nially reburied Charlemagne’s relics in a magnificent has been given in Aachen to people A he reliquary. Frederick then took a vow that he would lead who have contributed to the development of Western liot alais / b

P i

a crusade to Jerusalem in the defense of Christendom. Europe as a community. b Now Charlemagne was not only remembered in folk- Although Charlemagne’s actual empire was taats -Grand S N

lore as the great Christian emperor of Europe, but as short-lived, it cast a long shadow. Christians today M R rlin / —©

the first, even greatest, Crusader. are sometimes wary over alliances between secular e e

In real life Charlemagne never set in Jerusalem. and ecclesiastical power. But the fact remains that for pk, B b natur

But in popular songs by minstrels across Europe he centuries, western Christians dreamed of sitting at g i S

now performed legendary feats, liberating Jerusalem Charlemagne’s universal tables. CH e n g and even conquering Constantinople. Heroic myths of a of roland— em Charlemagne and his mighty companions were beloved David A. Michelson is assistant professor of the history of h arl at e h

by knights and nobles. When Pope Urban II called for Christianity at Vanderbilt University Divinity School. d C

38 Christian History The thousand lives of Charlemagne How medieval poets turned a rary b i L

rt border skirmish into a founda- A

an tional medieval legend gem passing centuries only increased Char- Brid lemagne’s mythic stature. Of all medieval legends The x /

e about “Holy Roman Emperors,” over 1,000 were nd I composed about Charlemagne. The next most popu- lar was Frederick I Barbarossa, whose 50 pale in com- tion /

ec parison! Perhaps no legend is a greater example of

Coll the power of myth than the epic poem La de e Roland (). rivat P This is ironic, because the event it recounts, the Battle of Roncevaux in 778, was in fact an embar-

ntury) / rassing and utter defeat for Charlemagne. Through ce

h a alliance, Charlemagne had gotten himself embroiled in an Islamic civil war in Islamic Anda-

ool (13t lusia (modern Spain). But his attempt to invade and Sch

conquer portions of did not go well, and ch n

e Roncevaux was the campaign’s final disaster. r F

), When Charlemagne’s armies arrived in Anda- m

llu lusia, a key Islamic ally had turned against them. e As they retreated back across the Moun- tains into France, the rear of the army fell prey to an

ambush by a local, most likely Christian, Basque raid- ing party looking for a quick profit. Charlemagne lost

his baggage train (no doubt carrying spoils of war) Over time the stories of Charlemagne’s mili- and Roland, one of his military lords. tary feats were translated repeatedly (including into Neither Charlemagne’s failed invasion nor the Swedish and ) and even spawned “spin-

Charlemagne and his (v ambush of Roland were particularly glorious. But as offs.” Lesser companions of Roland, love-struck m time passed the embellished story became the open- and sword-wielding archbishop fro e ing scene of a legendary “defeat” of the Islamic rulers Turpin, became central figures in their own leg-

of Spain. In this mythical account, the dying Roland ends. New exploits accrued to the legendary leader, iniatur m sounds his horn, “,” before being carried to including the liberation of Jerusalem and the subju-

ns— heaven as a martyr. gation of the entire Byzantine Empire. ce These legends reflect the societies that created ara S

them. Charlemagne’s use of violence in defense he come blow your horn

Responding to Roland’s call, Charlemagne assembles of Christendom was glorified to the point of being ainst t

g an army of hundreds of thousands. In bloody conflict physically impossible. His enemies, including the a

e he defeats not only the Basques but—more important- Christians of Byzantium, were extreme stereotypes. attl

b ly—Islamic armies. The Chanson ends with a vision of The stories also show a lack of basic knowledge about

Charlemagne as the acknowledged defender of Chris- Islam, which the authors seem to think involved idol tians against Islam. worship (Muslims in fact forbid any representation Oral versions of this story, widely popular, were of God in art). is paladins in h sung for centuries. As his Norman army rode to con- It is likely that such legends helped to fuel the vio-

and

e quer England in 1066, William the Conqueror had his lence between Christians and Muslims and between n g

a musicians sing of Roland and Charlemagne to inspire eastern and western Christians that marked much of

em them. One of the earliest written versions (1150s) runs the Middle Ages. Their effects continue to echo into arl h

C to over 4,000 lines long. our own day. —David A. Michelson

Issue 108 39 mistaken identity? Left: This illustration of he he Augustine from the late Middle Ages pictures Rome T itself, not the New Jerusalem, as the “city of God.”

a long shadow Below: Charlemagne’s bones are enshrined in the cathedral he built at Aachen. rance / Giraudon F aris, P e, v ie v ainte-Gene S ue q ibliothe B ibrary L rt A eman g rid B he T chool (15th century) / S arker / T talian I hoto © ellum), P v ippo (354–430) 1459 ( H ary (1238). Germany / M in g ustine of g u A t. After Christendom, S hrine of the Vir

what next? S ro (1000) and a modern theologian reflects on where we are today O —from De Civitate Dei by ala d’ g P

: This issue shows us how Charlemagne contributed to : How then should church and culture relate today?

CH CH

the idea of Christendom, the merging of throne and . ustine writin g u Are we still in Christendom today? : Theologian Karl Barth said that the end of A

DSL t. Christendom has set the church “free for the service to S

D. Stephen Long: In a literal sense, I would its own cause within the secular world which it had for say no. There are still pockets of Christendom. the most part neglected in pursuit of its own fantasies.” nterior with main altar, know I In Britain the queen and prime minister appoint Christendom recognized the power of the church, ity of God, and C

the archbishop of Canterbury. And there are still though it didn’t recognize it properly. It was a secu- hapel. C leftovers of christendom in our modern culture. lar recognition of church power, trying to contain that

Every American president has to say “God bless power within another power. But—and I think this is alatine ome as the P America.” more so with Charlemagne than even Constantine—it R

ibrary L

There are also people who want to resurrect a was antithetical to the power revealed in the Gospels. rt A

new kind of Christendom. They are frustrated that The loss of Christendom is a new opportunity. athedral. C

eman

leftovers are all that remain. Some may not even Look at the papacy. When we had Christendom, we g s 218 f.2r View of rid achen

realize that Christendom is gone and won’t return. had secular popes. Markus Wriedt said that now that M B A

40 Christian History the culture has become more secular, the pope has of the faith, not its margins. We need to advocate become more Christian. The church no longer needs for space for faith in the academic world; otherwise to be accountable to the kind of politics present in we will not have wiser, saner voices speaking of Christendom. That frees it up to be a truly political faith. When you police out confessional voices, that force of its own. backfires. The church is a transnational

body. Our most important identity

is in baptism, and our primary obli- gations are to other Christians. But we are still obligated to our neigh- borhoods, our villages, our cities.

The to Diognetus, an early Christian letter, tells us to live in the midst of our neighbors and love them all: “[Christians] dwell in their own

countries, but simply as sojourners.

As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things

as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and

every land of their birth as a land of strangers. . . . They pass their days on

earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and

at the same time surpass the laws by

their lives.” We need once again common

life, , common discipline, common teaching. Not

uniformity, but something recogniz-

able from place to place. queen and archbishop Church and state still come together in many ways and places, even in the waning of

: Two themes prominent in Charlemagne’s story are Christendom. CH Christian-Muslim relations and the involvement of the

unham/pool D church in education. Where are we on those themes today? att M / CH: How can the Christian tradition help us here?

: Christians understand ourselves as trans-

DSL

REUTERS national. We should not then try to make Islam fit DSL: Besides the Epistle to Diognetus, I think we can

within national politics. In that sense I am more than learn from Augustine’s two cities in .

willing to concede Islam space as part of common Both maintained that our earthly politics are made decency. But there needs to be a better way of dialogue relative in the face of God’s kingdom. That would be

going forward. Islam, Christianity, and Judaism are my criticism of Charlemagne—that his earthly politics all essentially social, with political significance. were too central.

As far as education, I’m not sure Christians Gerald Schlabach has said, following Stanley need their own educational institutions as much as Hauerwas, that Catholics and Anabaptists both need

new ways to educate people in the basic teachings to become more like each other. Christians can’t of the faith. I tell people to ask their pastor if he continue with the “counters”—where the one thing

or she knows their Myers-Briggs letters and then Catholics know is that they’re not Protestant and the rchbishop of canterbury rowan williams— A ask their pastor to explain the hypostatic union. I one thing Protestants know is that they’re not Catholic. would argue that far more pastors know the first Think back to , Tertullian, and Augustine on

than the second. But knowing how the divine and politics. They were not necessarily against the empire, human natures of Christ relate is more impor- but they knew what they were for. They were for the tant for the future of the faith. Clearly we need fact that Jesus Christ is Lord. CH some new ways of teaching. I’d love to see ecu-

menical schools emerge, places like the Scriptural D. Stephen Long is professor of systematic theology at

Queen elizabeth ii and former Reasoning Project, talking from the orthodox heart Marquette University.

Issue 108 41 Recommended resources Begin exploring Charlemagne’s life, the achievements of his reign, and his impact on European culture and religion with these resources recommended by CH editorial staff and this issue’s contributors.

BOOKS • We are lucky to have a good English edition of two Friedrich Heer. The Illustrated History of Medi- biographies written close to Charlemagne’s own time: eval Europe and the Shorter Cambridge Medieval History that of Einhard, referred to many are thorough, encyclopedic times in this issue, and that of the sources on every aspect of the monk who early Middle Ages. wrote 70 years after Charlemagne’s death. You can find them in Two • The iconoclastic controversy Lives of Charlemagne in the Penguin profoundly affected Char- Classics series, edited by medieval lemagne’s relationships with historian David Ganz. the Byzantine Empire. Read more in Thomas F. X. Noble’s • Modern biographies include Ales- Images, Iconoclasm, and the sandro Barbero’s thorough Char- Carolingians. Diverging views lemagne: Father of a Continent; Matth- on Charlemagne’s relation- ias Becher’s concise Charlemagne; and ship with Islam appear in Mohammed and Charlemagne another Charlemagne by that focuses on by Henri Pirenne, Mohammed and Charlemagne Revisited politics and culture. by Emmet Scott, and Mohammed, Charlemagne, and the Origins of Europe by Richard Hodges. • The intriguing Becoming Charlemagne by Jeff Sypeck puts Charlemagne into his • And dig into the achievements of the Carolingian historical context by imagining the lives of Renaissance in Marcia Colish’s Medieval Foundations of those around him, from Empress Irene in the Western Intellectual Tradition, 400–1400; Jean Hubert’s Constantinople to Isaac, the Jewish North The Carolingian Renaissance; African who brought Charlemagne’s and Carolingian Culture: Emula- elephant back from Baghdad. tion and Innovation, edited by Rosamond McKitterick. • Find a good timeline of world events surrounding Charlemagne’s court in The • Finally, The Song of Roland World in the Time of Charlemagne by Fiona was crucial in turning Char- Macdonald. Read more on Christianity lemagne’s life into legend. It in this era in The Church in the Early Middle Ages, Faith can be read in translation in in the Middle Ages, and The History of Christian Europe by the Penguin Classics series, G. R. Evans. And regarding why the edited by Glyn Burgess, and Dark Ages may not have been as dark in a more contemporary prose as once thought, check out Barbarians retelling by W. S. Merwin in the Modern Library series. to Angels: The Dark Ages Revisited by Guides to reading it include Reading the Song of Roland Peter Wells. by Eugene Vance and The Sense of the Song of Roland by Robert Fran- • Do you want to know more about cis Cook. Larger considerations of what they ate in the ninth century? medieval legend are addressed in The aptly named Daily Life in the Age of Christopher Fee’s Mythology in the Charlemagne by John Butt and Daily Life Middle Ages: Heroic Tales of Monsters, in the World of Charlemagne by Pierre Magic, and Might and Robert Mor- Riché will tell you that and more, as rissey’s Charlemagne and France: A will Charlemagne and His World by Thousand Years of Mythology.

42 Christian History PREVIOUS ISSUES OF put the early Middle Ages in perspective and Great CHRISTIAN HISTORY Epochs of Christian Art to view art from many peri- • Read back issues of Christian History maga- ods of the church, including Charlemagne’s. zines or purchase print copies of available issues at www.christianhistorymagazine.org. Most relevant to this issue’s theme are 30: 54: Eastern Orthodoxy: Then and Now 60: How the Irish Were Saved 74: Christians and Muslims 93: A Devoted Life (western monasticism)

WEBSITES • You can read all sorts of texts from Charlemagne’s era (including both the Einhard and the Not- ker biographies) at the “Carolingians” section of Fordham’s Medieval History Sourcebook, www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook1h.asp. Excerpts from texts specifically about his coronation can be found at pirate.shu.edu/~wisterro/coronation.htm.

• In addition, CH’s guide, The History of Worship from Constan- • A lecture from the Ancient and Medieval His- tine to the Reformation, tory Guide about Charlemagne and the Carolin- “zooms in” on wor- gian Renaissance, with many pictures and links, ship in the century is at www.historyguide.org. Or you can access before Charlemagne a similar page from the History Channel at as one of its areas of www.history.com/topics/charlemagne. focus. • The Medieval History section of About.com VIDEOS FROM has a collection of images of Charlemagne in art, VISION VIDEO historymedren.about.com. Another collection is in • Check out the His- the Encyclopedia Britannica’s article on Charlemagne, tory of Christianity www.britannica.com, and even more are at Smart His- and History of Chris- tory (smarthistory.khanacademy.org) and at the Metro- tian Worship series to politan Museum of Art (www.metmuseum.org). CH

Issue 108 43 Exploring the Mystery of Scripture, the Eucharist & the Church ✦ THE SOURCE OF LIFE ✦ THE RELEVANCE AND FUTURE Exploring the Mystery of the Eucharist OF THE Cardinal Christoph Schonborn Cardinal Marc Ouellet ocusing on the beauty and power of the Holy Eucharist, ifty years after the Second Vatican Council, Cardinal Ouellet the prominent Cardinal explores the origins of the Eu- gives his thoughts on the Council and what it means for charistF in the Passover celebration and the Last Supper, and usF today. He discusses a wide range of topics including lit- other key elements of the Liturgy, including sacrifice, transub- urgy, ecumenism, evangelization, the laity, new movements stantiation, and the Eucharist today. A beautifully insightful and communities, vocations, celibacy, human dignity, war book for all who desire to understand and experience more and justice, ecology, sin, the Eucharist and much more. Mov- profoundly the central sacrament of Christian life. ing with clarity between theological realities and personal “A fascinating , enlightening book! A compelling his- impressions, Ouellet discusses the state of the Church today tory of the origins and development of Eucharistic rituals with points that are challenging, edifying, and full of hope. and spirituality, and how they relate to us now.” RF2VC-P . . . Sewn Softcover, $16.95 — Vinny Flynn, Author, 7 Secrets of the Eucharist SOLF-P . . . Sewn Softcover, $16.95 ✦ FAITH, THE FOUNT OF EXEGESIS The Interpretation of Scripture in the Light ✦ FIGURING OUT THE CHURCH of the History of Research on the Old Testament Her Marks and Her Masters Ignacio Carbajosa Aidan Nichols, O.P. comprehensive analysis of two centuries of the histori- enowned Dominican theologian Nichols explores the cal-critical method in two areas — the investigation into Church’s main characteristics, the “marks of the Church”, theA sources of the Pentateuch and the study of the figure of whatR it means for the Church to be one, holy, catholic, and the prophet. It reveals the philosophical and cultural presup- apostolic. Drawing on insights of four theological masters positions which influenced the development of exegesis and — Henri de Lubac, Jean Tillard, Hans Urs von Balthasar, it’s most notable hypotheses, demonstrating the world of Charles Journet —Fr. Nichols seeks to help you “figure out” prejudices which often have conditioned the exegesis called the Church. He appeals to both the Scholastic tradition and “scientific”. It also engages the characteristic dimensions of authors influenced by the ressourcement movement in theol- the Catholic interpretation of the Old Testament, attempting ogy. Thus he provides readers with a sense of Catholicism’s to unify the two basic dimensions of the exegetical method: breadth, at once orthodox and yet generously conceived. history and theology. FATH-P . . . Sewn Softcover, $24.95 FOTC-P . . . Sewn Softcover, $17.95 www.ignatius.com

P.O. Box 1339, Ft. Collins, CO 80522 1 (800) 651-1531 A HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN WORSHIP A SIX-PART DVD SERIES EXPLORING CENTURIES OF WORSHIP PRACTICES

For followers of Jesus Christ, worship spans over Part 1: The Word explores how the written and spoken word, consisting of Scriptures, sermons, and creeds, has celebrated God’s story 2,000 years and includes a long and diverse history throughout centuries of Christianity. #501367D of sacred practices. A History of Christian Worship Part 2: The Body explores how individuals are joined with is a six-part series that explores centuries of worship the body of Christ through baptism and how Christian community is essential to the worship experience. #501381D practices, as seen through the eyes of Protestant, Part 3: The Feast explores the significance of in worship Catholic, and Orthodox churches. These programs and reveals how the observance of special days and seasons of feature some of today’s most recognized and remembrance and anticipation such as and Lent is essential to the worship experience. #501386D respected scholars and leaders on the subject of Part 4: The Music explores how liturgy and music have enriched the Christian worship, including Dr. James Hart, celebration of God’s story throughout centuries of Christianity, Dr. Lester Ruth, and Dr. Joyce Ann Zimmerman, including how church music has evolved from and to and modern praise songs. #501405D among others. Viewers will discover the significant Part 5: The Expression explores how visual art, drama, and media have people and events that have shaped history and learn been used in various times and places in Christian worship for the how some modern worship practices are rooted in creative expression of the faith. #501440D the earliest foundations of the Christian faith. Each Part 6: The Embrace explores the inward worship practices of prayer and contemplation and the outward acts of worship found in service and DVD includes two half-hour segments. ministry. #501451D

SUPPLEMENTAL RESOURCE: DVDs $14.99 each The History of Worship from Constantine to the Reformation #97892D All six DVDs for $49.99, This 64-page guide takes readers on a with promo code WORSHIP6 1,000-year journey into the fascinating (Set includes a FREE copy of the guide, at right.) history of worship practices. #501453, $3.00 YOUR SATISFACTION IS GUARANTEED! FREE with purchase of DVD set above!

TO ORDER, CALL: MAIL TO (include $6.99 s/h): ON THE WEB: 1-800-523-0226 Vision Video Dept CHM108B www.visionvideo.com Please mention source code PO Box 540 Please reference code “CHM108B” in catalog “CHM108B” when ordering. Worcester, PA 19490 source field when ordering. PO Box 540, Worcester, PA 19490 www.christianhistoryinstitute.org

Subscriber #

Source Code

CHRISTIAN HISTORY magazine Learn from the past, engage the present, and meet the future in faith.

If you do not have a subscriber number in the blue box above, then you are not on our subscriber list.

Sign up for a FREE subscription (donation requested) Please use source code “CHM108” when subscribing. • Online: www.christianhistorymagazine.org • By phone: 1-800-468-0458 • By mail: Use the form and envelope inserted in this issue

Printed copies of selected back issues and complete set on CD-ROM also available.

Top View