Carolingian Renaissance of the Roman Empire

The title "papa" (papa - lat.) Has Greek roots. It seems that contrary to popular belief, it did not come from pappas - "father" (Greek), and from papas - "mentor" (Greek.). At first so called all the bishops, but then the name was assigned to the bishop of Rome as the successor of St. Peter - according to legend, the first Roman bishop. The word "papa" is not the official title of the head of the Roman Catholic Church. His main titles are Episcopus Romanus and Pontivex Maximus, which means "High Priest". This second title was inherited from pre-Christian Rome. Gregory I the Great called himself "Servus Servorum Dei" - "servant of the servants of God." This name is also included in the papal titulature.

Gregory belonged to a noble and rich Roman family. Occupying the post of prefect of Rome, he acquired administrative and diplomatic experience. But the catastrophe, caused by the invasion of the Lombards, produced a revolution in his worldview. Having given his fortune to the construction of monasteries, he began to lead the life of a recluse and ascetic. However, after a while Pope Pelagius II appointed him his representative at the court of Constantinople. In 590, after the death of Pelagius, Gregory was elevated to the papal throne. He not only ordered the church administration, but actually took the lead in the Roman region, organizing defense, supplying food, helping refugees, etc. Successful exercise of state functions by Gregory I aroused the displeasure of the Byzantine emperor who accused the pope of abuse of power, but provided him with respect for the clergy, the people and even the Lombards, who began under his influence to convert to Catholicism.

Gregory created a precedent of theocratic statehood in Italy, which was developed in the process of forming the so-called papal state.

By the middle of the VIII century. Lombards occupied almost all the Italian possessions of Byzantium. In 752, they captured the Ravenna Exarchate, ending the Byzantine governorship in Italy. The next step was to capture Rome. Not hoping for the Emperor of Constantinople, absorbed in internal troubles, Pope Stephen II appealed with a plea for help to the Frankish king. King Pepin Caroling was grateful to the popes for his help in overthrowing the previous Merovingian dynasty and needed further church legitimization of his authority. After two military campaigns to Italy, he forced the Lombard king to clear the territory from Rome to Ravenna inclusive. Not wanting to restore the Byzantine vicegerency, as the Constantinople government insisted, and not being able to deal with Italian affairs closely, Pepin transferred the former Ravenna Exarchate to the administration of the papal administration.

The details of this agreement are not known exactly, since the documents associated with it have disappeared. But in the future, the popes arbitrarily interpreted it as a gift agreement - "the gift of Pepin." After a while, the questionable "Pipin Gift" turned into "Donatio Constantini" - one of the largest historical fakes. In the papal chancery, an act was compiled, composed on behalf of the Emperor Constantine the Great ("Constitutum Constantini"). According to this act, Constantine, allegedly healed from leprosy by the prayers of the Roman bishop Sylvester, granted the latter the supremacy over the other bishops and handed him and his successors the supreme authority over Rome, Italy and the entire Western Roman Empire. The Emperor himself, in order not to share power with the pope, retired to Constantinople. According to this version, Pepin only returned to the papacy what should have belonged to him since the IV.

It is unlikely that the popes dared to present this fake to Pipin, and even more so to his powerful successor. It was widely known only in the second half of the 9th century. Under Pope Nicholas I and in the future more than once used the papacy to substantiate the exorbitant claims to secular power. The fact of forgery "Conatitutum Constantini" was proved in 1440, but only in the XIX century. The Catholic Church renounced this act.

Founded by Pippin, the second dynasty of Frankish kings was named after the Carolingians in honor of his father, Major Charles Karl. The Old German "ing" corresponds to the Russian "ovich". Carolingi means Karlovichi, the descendants of Charles Martell. The most significant representative of this dynasty was the son of Pepin Carl, who went down in history as Charlemagne.

This statesman of extraordinary strength and giftedness undertook the most successful attempt "to renew the Roman Empire by the strength of German arms." Having inherited from his father a vast Frankish kingdom and successfully expanding it to the east, north and south, Karl became by the end of the VIII century. The ruler of almost the entire continental Western Europe. In his reign the Frankish state stretched from the Pyrenees to the English Channel and from the Mediterranean to the Baltic Sea. On these lands now are France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Western and Southern Germany, Austria, northeastern Spain and most of Italy.

Continuing the policy of his father, Charles more than once interfered in Italian affairs. In 772, he resumed the Franco-Lombard Wars. The pretext for invading Italy was the pope's regular request for military assistance. In response to the papal blessing and the wish for the speedy subjugation of the Lombards, Carl replied that he wanted to "win, not conquer." "I," he said, "will be called the king of the Franks and Lombards, so as not to offend the people I hope to win." In mid-774, the Lombard king Desiderius admitted defeat. The defeated was imprisoned in a monastery, and the winner was crowned by his crown.

The power created by Karl was perceived by contemporaries as the heiress of the Western Roman Empire. He actually possessed the imperial power and could with good reason claim the title of emperor.

In the autumn of 800, Charles again went to Italy, where the Roman nobility plotted against Pope Leo III. He spent almost six months in Rome, analyzing the quarrels between the pope and his opponents. On December 25, the first day of Christmas, he listened to the Mass in St. Peter's Cathedral. Dad went to the kneeling Karl and laid on his head a golden imperial crown. Then followed the so-called acclamation: the representatives of the Franks, Romans, Saxons, Bavarians and other subordinate peoples present in the cathedral exclaimed three times: "Long live and win Carl Augustus, God crowned by the great and peacemaking Roman emperor." The acclamation was supposed to symbolize the popular support of the supreme authority.

Charles took imperial regalia. However, later, according to his biographer and advisor Einhard, he expressed displeasure with Lev's "unauthorized" act and said that, knowing about the Pope's intentions, he would not go to church that day, regardless of Christmas. This testimony of Einhard is puzzling to historians, for, as further events showed, Charles greatly valued his new title.

It is possible that Karl was not quite satisfied with the procedure of enthronement, arbitrarily corrected by Lev III, who placed the crown before the acclamation symbolizing the people's will and was considered a constitutive act of electing the emperor. A precedent was created: the adoption of the imperial title began to depend on the act of coronation by the pope. Subsequently, Karl tried to break the undesirable precedent. In 813, crowning the son of Louis as his co-ruler and heir, he treated without the participation of the pope. By order of Charles, the young monarch himself placed the crown under the acclamation of those present and was declared the emperor and Augustus. Nevertheless, later ambitious popes claimed that Charlemagne was only king until Leo III placed the imperial crown on him. In response, the ideologues of the imperial authority declared that the merit of the reconstruction of the Western Empire belonged exclusively to Charles, and the role of the pope was reduced to a formal ceremony.

The acceptance of the imperial title by Karl complicated the relationship with Byzantium, which still considered itself the only heiress of the Roman Empire. The Byzantines believed and called themselves Romans (in Greek - Romans), and their emperors - Roman (Roma). The emergence of the second imperial authority, claiming the Roman heritage, was perceived in Constantinople as usurpation.

Charles and his advisers again began to use the names "Eastern and Western" for both "Roman" empires. But at the same time they sought to restore the integrity of the Roman state by military or diplomatic means. The plans of the marriage union of Karl with the Byzantine ruler Irina were drawn up in order to "connect the East with the West" in this way and restore the unity of the orbis romanus (the "Roman world") under the common scepter. Frankish ambassadors arrived to Constantinople to discuss this project. But on October 21, 802, a palace coup took place, depriving Irina of power. The throne of the Eastern Roman Empire was taken by the protege of the nobility Nicephorus I (802 - 811), who ignored the Frankish "impostor". Only in 812 the following basileus Michael I was forced to recognize the restoration of the Western Empire and the imperial title of Charles.

Restoration (restauratio) and renovation (renovatio) "imperii romanorum" Charles considered his historic mission. Like the Roman emperors, he wanted to link the territories under his control with roads, canals and bridges, as well as a unified system of measures and weights, a single high-quality currency. On the coins of that time, the images of Charles in the Roman toga and the laurel wreath are surrounded by the inscription "inp aug" ("Emperor Augustus"). The influence of the "Western Emperor" went beyond his power. To his opinion, they listened in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, in Scotland, in the Irish tribal principalities.

Many cares brought Karl unification of management and the introduction of the principles of legality in the multinational empire. The "barbarian" peoples who entered it were instructed to prepare collections of their customs, with the hope of their subsequent synthesis, both among themselves and with Roman law. Karl himself paid much attention to lawmaking. After the imperial coronation, he issued 47 deployed capitulars, operatively distributed throughout the state.

The era of Charlemagne is called the "Carolingian Renaissance". He revived not only the Roman imperial statehood, but also the ancient culture on a new Christian basis, hoping to stop the decay and decline. As far back as 789, his capitular "Admonitio generalis" instilled in the subjects the idea of the need for education. The emperor promoted the organization of primary and secondary schools, the collection and restoration of ancient manuscripts, the creation of libraries, the perfection of "book art".

At the heart of the empire of Charlemagne was the idea of the unity of Western Europe. His strength, energy and charisma, his "magnanimitas" provided him support for his contemporaries and loyalty to the vassals. It could be hoped that Italy and Gallia would be able to extinguish the effect of the barbaric invasions, the indigenous people would mingle with the Germans and together they would recreate the unified Western empire.

Karl died on January 28, 814. The body of "the great emperor who expanded the borders of the Frankish kingdom and successfully ruled them for XLVII years" was buried in the chapel of the Aachen cathedral. Soon after his death, the degradation of the state system he had created began. The son and heir of Charles Ludovic, who went down in history with the name "Pious" that was not suitable for the emperor, with great difficulty kept the integrity of the empire. In 817, he published the capitular "On Order in the Empire" ("Ordinatio imperii"), where he declared his eldest son Lothar "co-ruler and assistant in the affairs of the empire." Subsequently, the imperial power had to concentrate in his hands. The younger sons, although they were endowed with vast lands, had to obey Lothar militarily and politically. However, the "Ordinatio imperii" was not implemented. After the death of Louis, his sons Lothar, Louis and Carl, unable to share power, divided the power of his great grandfather and thereby Western Europe.

Was such a course of events inevitable? It seems that the answer is ambiguous. Re-created by Charles, the empire was built on the ready historical foundation of Roman statehood. The Romance and Germanic peoples have already demonstrated the possibility of mutual assimilation. The remnants of the Roman infrastructure were preserved and restored, market ties and the general financial system developed. Under favorable conditions, the Western empire could withstand centrifugal tendencies and strengthen centripetal tendencies. But the incompetence and political irresponsibility of Carl's heirs opened the way for the bacchanalia of decentralization. A vivid emotional assessment of the events was given by the theologian Flor of Lyons in the "Complaint about the division of the Empire." The empire that "shone in the eyes of the whole world," he wrote, "is now torn to shreds." The state, recently still unified, is divided into three parts ... Instead of the Sovereign, insignificant "kings," instead of the State, fragments. ... everyone is absorbed in their own interests: they think about anything, only God is forgotten. "

The Treaty of Verdun brought to Western Europe disintegration, economic collapse, endless conflicts, blood and plunging into chaos. In conditions where simply transporting goods from point A to point B became a real feat, market ties were torn, naturalization of the economy was proceeding.

Until the XIX century. The division of the empire of Charlemagne was regarded historically unambiguously negative. However, French historians F. Guizot and O. Thierry revised the evaluation of the Treaty of Verdun, which, in their opinion, opened the way to the construction of national states, above all, of course, France. They did not take into account the price paid by the peoples for the split by the united Karl of Western Europe and which, I add, still had to be paid.

Participants in the Verdun agreements were far from strategic considerations, guided by short-term gains. They poorly represented the specifics of the territories to be partitioned, which subsequently gave rise to many conflicts. In none of the newly-created states the population was yet a single people.

The younger grandson of Charlemagne, who went down in history as Carl the Bald, received the Romanized territories to the west of the Rhine. The average grandson - Louis got purely German regions east of the Rhine and a small left-bank area along the middle course of the Rhine, granted "for wine", produced in the South German vineyards. Finally, the elder brother Lothar received Italy, as well as the "middle" part of the Frankish possessions, located between the kingdoms of the brothers and very soon became the apple of discord. Ludovic and Karl refused to recognize Lothar as imperial power, but left him with an imperial title, devoid of real content.

Further events have shown that not everyone can successfully manage the state. Participants in the Treaty of Verdun very soon had to pay the bills. Their possessions were attacked from the south by Arabs (Saracens), from the east by Hungarians, from the north by Scandinavian Vikings.

Charlemagne paid paramount attention to the protection of borders, building a line of border fortifications. In the north, he founded the Danish Brand, covering Saxony, in the east - the Pannonian Brand, the core of the future Austria, etc. The fleet and port facilities were actively built.

However, his heirs, instead of strengthening the fleet and fortresses, are mired in internecine conflicts. Shortly after the signing of the Treaty of Verdun, in 846, a Saracens detachment, having landed from pirate ships, attacked Rome and destroyed part of the city. The north of the divided empire became an easy target for the Normans. In 845, their ships, climbing the Elbe, reached Hamburg. The city was almost destroyed, many residents were killed. Another Norman fleet reached the Seine to Paris and, without encountering resistance, plundered it. In the 50's. West Frankish King Carl the Bald entrusted the defense of the Norman raids to his companion Robert the Strong, giving him the title of Count of Paris. Later, in 987, the great-grandson of Robert Hugo Capet became the founder of the French royal dynasty Capetings.

Not having calmed down after the Treaty of Verdun, the grandsons of Charlemagne repeatedly made attempts to seize each other's possessions. So, in 858 Ludwig the German tried to take the throne of Karl the Bald. In turn, Karl Baldy sought to take the land of his nephews - the sons of Emperor Lothar I, who died in 855. In 869, he captured Lorraine, but was forced to share it with Louis German. In 875, after the suppression of the Lothar dynasty, Charles immediately went to Italy for the imperial crown, ignoring the rights of his elder brother Ludwig.

Pope John VIII proclaimed Charles the Emperor, hoping to get protection from the Arab threat. In 876, after the death of Ludwig the German, Charles, seeking to reunite the entire "Roman and Frankish Empire" in his hands, invaded Germany, but was defeated by the sons of Ludwig. Meanwhile in Italy the Arabs came to the walls of Rome. The pope called for a new emperor to help. Karl, previously bought off the Normans, devastated the Seine valley, reluctantly went to 877 in Italy, but soon fled from there, frightened of the German offensive. On the way, he fell ill and died at the age of 54. The news of the death of the emperor stirred up passions around the succession of the throne.

Even the approximate Karl did not approve of his Italian adventures, stating that he had nothing to do in Italy, when his own kingdom was falling apart. In order to pacify them, Charles, before the second Italian campaign, authorized the conversion of land benefices into hereditary possessions, as well as the heredity of the count's office. This decree received the name of the Kiersi capitularium in 877 by place and year of publication. The state posts of counts and dukes began to turn into hereditary princely titles. On the ground princely dynasties were formed with the rights of territorial sovereigns. "Count of God's mercy" - some governors of the provinces called themselves in 878.

The reign of the last representatives of the Carolingian dynasty became a time of further decentralization, degradation of royal power and the breaking of the connecting threads of the economy and statehood. The royal capitulators vainly called for a fight against the "evil of looting and destruction." "What is surprising is that ... the peoples invading us are plundering our riches, if each of us is robbing his nearest neighbor?" - read the capitulation of 884.

The process initiated by the Treaty of Verdun turned out to be unmanageable. The grandsons of Charles gave a bad example to their own children and vassals. During their internecine struggle, the nobility, formerly grouped at the imperial throne, learned to move from one camp to another, extorting lands and privileges from the rival kings. By the end of the 9th c. Charlemagne would not have recognized the empire he had left. The possessions of his descendants continued to "crumble" into semi-independent seigniories, and the dynasty soon realized the inglorious end. In Italy, the Carolingians ruled until 887, in the East Frankish Kingdom (Germany) to 911; In the West Frankish Kingdom (future France) - until 987.

Particularly dramatic is the fate of Lothar's "median" lands. After his death in 855, their part, located on the left bank of the Rhine, was transformed into an independent kingdom, inherited by his second son Lothar II. It received the name Lothari regnum, Lorraine. In the next eleven centuries, Lorraine was the object of a struggle between France and Germany, which lasted until the end of World War II.

In the situation of "seignorial anarchy" the era of Charlemagne began to seem "golden time", and he himself was "the father of Europe".