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nyumunc viii 1 nyumunc viii Dear Delegates, Welcome to NYUMUNC VIII’s (Holy) Roman Empire Committee! We are extremely excited to share with you our vision of this committee and look forward to seeing where you choose to take it over the course of the weekend. We stand against five other civilizations who all claim to be the greatest of the era, however it is through our actions and great debate that we will exclaim our superiority over all. My name is Ayushi Mathur, and I am extremely honored to serve as your Chair for this year’s conference. Hailing from New Jersey, I am a second year Pre-Health student majoring in Biochemistry and Mathematics here at NYU. As someone who has served as a delegate for many years, I look forward to finding myself on the other side of the dais and moderating an exciting and achieving committee. I am Nickson Chong, and I have the great honor of serving as your Crisis Director for the (Holy) Roman Empire in the eighth annual NYU Model United Nations Conference. I was raised in Houston, Texas, and I am currently a third year studying Economics and Real Estate. I served on four conferences over two years, once as a Chair and this conference will be my second as Crisis Director. I look forward to the conference, and I wish you all the best of luck. This committee stands in a time of great competition and excitement as five major empires battle to hold the title as victor. The Crusades have put everyone in an unique predicament of skepticism and unknown. It is your mission, as members of the empire with the greatest moral conviction, to prove your standing and ensure that nobody questions it ever again. With the Lord and us by your side, you have all the resources you need to take over this JCC. The fate of the (Holy) Roman Empire rests in your hands. Those of us who have worked on creating this committee in order to provide you with the greatest experience at the conference, wish you the best of luck in your aspiration to be the greatest of all time. We aim to provide you with meaningful and entertaining discussions. We look forward to meeting you all. If you have any questions, comments or concerns, then please feel free to contact us. Best, Ayushi Mathur Nickson Chong Chair Crisis Director NYUMUNC VIII NYUMUNC VIII [email protected] [email protected] 2 nyumunc viii kingdom’s power once more. Charlemagne History extended the borders of the Franks through During the age of the Roman the conquests of the Gaul, Germany, as well Empire, a mix of tribes known as the Franks as Italy. In addition to his military inhabited the lands between the lower and expansionism, he incorporated different middle Rhine as well as the Northern part of peoples of Eastern Europe such as the Serbs Roman Gaul. Historically, the Franks were and Avars into his Kingdom. In 774 CE, known to be one of the first German tribes Charles created an Alliance with the Papacy, that inhabited the region, but were and created a papal state in central Italy. incorporated into the dominion of the So on Christmas Day of 800 CE, Roman Empire during Julius Caesar’s Pope Leo III proclaimed Charlemagne as military expansion in the Gaul, also known the first Holy Roman Emperor, thus as modern day France. establishing the Holy Roman Empire. As the Roman Empire steadily Charlemagne’s great achievements of declined onto the third century CE, the reuniting Western Europe under one power Franks made frequent raids and pillages earned him the title of Holy Roman within Roman territory, for the Romans Emperor which was fortified with religious were in a position that they could no longer power by the Catholic Church. heavily fortify their vast borders. The Unfortunately, the reunification established Roman Empire eventually fell with the fall by Charlemagne was short lived in 840 CE of Rome in 476 CE. The vast territories the when the Empire was divided up by his Romans conquered were now divided up grandchildren who contested power to the with Latin and non-Latin tribes no longer throne. Charles II was given the West, Louis under the reign of Rome. II was given the East, and Lothar was given During the 5th and 6th centuries CE, the Italian province who ultimately the Franks expanded into modern day inherited the title of Holy Roman Emperor. France and Belgium as well as the northern The Holy Roman Empire went part of Spain. These successful military through subsequent divisions because of campaigns were orchestrated by Clovis I of competition over the Holy Roman throne, the Merovingian Dynasty who consolidated which dissolved the authority of the Frankish power by uniting all of Gaul. At the Carolingians. New powers rose within the time, many Franks were pagans, but it was Empire such as the Saxons and Normans not until Clovis converted to Christianity and it was not until 881 CE that Carolingian that the Franks began their conversion to power had dissolved completely after the Christianity as well. reign of Charles III. However, during the early 8th During Louis the Pious’ reign after Century, political and internal division Charlemagne, he had the duty to handle the within the Frankish Kingdom caused the fall Civil War brought upon by his competitive of the Merovingian Dynasty. As the sons over the Holy Imperial Throne. In 829, Merovingians lost power, the noble family Louis the Pious gave his son, Charles, the of the Carolingians took control of what kingdom of Alemannia which infuriated his remained of the Frankish Kingdom. One competitive brother a co-emperor alongside certain ruler of the new dynasty, Charles Louis, Lothair. A civil war was underway later known as Charlemagne, reunited all because of the sons’ political competition the territories of the Franks expanding the over the rights of the empire. It was not 1 nyumunc viii until 830 CE, that Louis the Pious pardoned dominating the other kingdoms in Europe. but banished Lothair to Italy that the civil Many of the greatest reformers of the war ended with the remaining rebels taken period, including the abbots of Cluny, care of. supported the Empire and even looked to its However, another revolt erupted in emperor rather than the pope as the 832 CE when another son, Louis the primary leader of morality, ethics and Latin German gathered an army to conquer the Christendom. The Empire safeguarded the kingdom of Swabia before the emperor papal states; and while the papacy remained could intervene. In response, Louis the under this imperial protection, it easily Pious declared his son, Charles, king of became prostrated under the authority of Aquitaine. Soon enough in 833, all sons the Empire. including Lothair were involved in the Disgruntled over an unfavorable second Civil war over total control of the peace treaty, which made his territory a kingdoms of the Holy Roman Empire. vassal under Otto I, Beranger II invaded the Lothair wanted to usurp his father's Papal States of Italy. In 960, Pope John XII, authority, but Louis the Pious made peace like many popes before him, needed with his sons in 836 CE by dividing the assistance against Italy’s enemies and again empire further between all of them. appealed to a strong German ruler, Otto I. In 839 CE, another great civil war By 961, Otto I conquered the Kingdom of broke out once more because of the unfair Italy and extended the Empire’s borders division of land amongst Louis the Pious’ throughout much of Europe. During his and empire. Louis the Pious favored his son his successors reign, a cultural explosion Charles more by giving him most of the that saw a flourishing of the arts and inheritance. Louis the German prompted architecture swept throughout the Empire. another invasion and the other sons joined Such patronage and great achievements had the revolt as well to claim more territory not been seen since the glory days of within the empire. Lothair for the first time Charlemagne, thus Otto I was crowned as allied with his father to quell the rebellion in the Holy Roman Emperor in 962 CE by exchange for a better inheritance of the Pope John XII. With his coronation, the empire. Louis the Pious was able to put Kingdom of Germany and the Kingdom of down the revolt and for the last time divided Italy united under a common realm, which his empire further between his sons in an would later be called the (Holy) Roman attempt to end hostilities between them. Empire, and sparked the reanimation of a Peace did not last long, for the Christian emperor and imperium competitive ambitions of Louis’ sons Christianum. continued after his death in 840 CE. Revolts Otto II and Otto III, son and erupted over more territory in the Holy grandson of Otto I, regarded the imperial Roman Empire, but in 843 CE, the Treaty of crown as a mandate to control the papacy. Verdun divided the empire into three realms They dismissed Popes at their will and between Louis’ sons. Finally, the long appointed replacements that were more competitive quarrels ended over the Holy congenial to their individual campaigns. The Roman throne with Charles III becoming Roman Emperor’s power to pick and select the new Holy Roman Emperor. Popes and their control of most of central From 962 to 1046, the (Holy) Europe raised the German Empire to higher Roman Empire saw the height of its power, levels of prestige and admiration.