800: Pope Crowned Charlemagne Emperor of the West. We haven’t had an emperor in
the West since Romulus Augustulus
Charlemagne tried to bring the West back to the way it was in the good old days (right after the edict of Milan). He tried to bring about a kind of a renaissance. Many people believe that during his life, he did bring about a mini renaissance. He was a powerful leader and a great defender of the Church.
Who Was Charlemagne?
• “In 782, Charlemagne allegedly had 4500 Saxons beheaded at the Massacre of Verden”
Charlemagne’s Empire: Small in comparison to the Muslim Empire
CHARLEMAGNE FORCED US SAXONS TO CONVERT TO
CHRISTIANITY
Charlemagne Had 3 Sons--Louis the Pius, Pepin & Charles--
Louis was Crowned (by the pope) as Co-Emperor
Louis was to become the next Holy Roman Emperor
I AM CO-EMPEROR WITH MY DADDY
After Charlemagne Died…
• Emperor Louis then divided the empire between his 3 sons—Lothair, Louis II and Pepin.
• Lothaire became Co-Emperor with his dad Louis, ruling the middle part of the empire
But Emperor Louis the Pious Married Again…the Beautiful Judith
HE BETTER GIVE PART OF THE EMPIRE TO THE
NEW SON I WILL GIVE HIM
(I CAN SEE INTO THE FUTURE).
When Judith’s Baby Boy Was Born…AS EMPEROR, I WILL
CERTAINLY GIVE LAND TO OUR BABY CHARLES
(EVEN THOUGH TECHNICALLY, I KNOW HIS BROTHERS WON’T LIKE IT)
SEE DO I CARE…
JUST GIVE MY CHARLES HIS SHARE
OF THE EMPIRE
But Louis’ Original Sons Didn’t Want Their Portion of the Empire To Be Taken From Them
• Pepin
DUDE, WHAT’S DAD DOING WITH OUR
INHERITANCE? TAKING LAND FROM US…
GIVING IT TO HIS NEW
“SON”
LET’S JOIN FORCES
AND ATTACK
DAD
POPE INTERVENES
LOUIS’ SONS ARE WHAT?
THESE FRANKS SHOULD BE DEFENDING
THEIR EMPIRE, ***AND***
DEFENDING THE PAPAL STATES
I GOTTA GO TALK TO
LOUIS
OMG…THE MUSLIMS AND VIKINGS WILL
COME SOON
The “Field of Lies”
• Pope had a meeting with the Emperor close to the battle field
• While they were talking, Louis’ 3 sons were trying to convince Louis’ army (In the field) to leave Louis
• They promised to give them whatever they wanted.
• The spot is called the Field of Lies.
• Louis came out and his army was gone!!
• Louis surrendered.
• Louis the Pious’ Army Disappeared
Er….
Where’d My Army Go?
YOUR ARMY
TOTALLY DISSED
YOU
MY 3 SONS CONQUERED ME!
HOW AM I GOING TO TELL JUDITH?
GUESS I’M GOING TO HAVE TO SEND
THIS IMPERIAL CROWN TO
LOTHAIRE, THE NEW EMPEROR
PRETTY COOL BEING THE SOLE EMPEROR
MY BROTHERS MUST
OBEY ME
I’VE GOT THE POWER
I SHALL DIVIDE MY SECTION OF THE
EMPIRE AMONG MY 3 SONS
I THINK THE WHOLE
EMPEROR THING IS GOING TO
LOTHIRE’S HEAD
YEA…HE IS TOTALLY SPAZING OUT…
HE BETTER TREAT US WELL…OR WE MIGHT HAVE TO GO BACK TO
DAD
Vikings Attack!!!(Feudal System Grows In Response)• The Vikings came from
Scandinavia• They first went to
England and then invaded Europe (just as the Germanic tribes had done before them).
• When the Vikings would attack, the ordinary folk would seek refuge from the local lord.
• They worked for the lord in return for protection.
• This is known as the feudal system.
• So, basically, Europe went from experiencing a mini renaissance, to being a feudal society.
Viking Attack: Migration of the Nations, take 2
Viking Raids Targeted The Church
• Vikings used their longboats to get into the heart of Europe
Vikings Target Monasteries
• Vikings Targeted Monasteries
• Burned the Christian Books
• Vikings Then Destroyed and Burned Monasteries
• Important manuscripts destroyed
Vikings Killed At Will
• Killed Whoever Got In Their Way
• Killed Priests and Religious
• Raped and Killed Nuns
IT’S SO SWEET BEING A VIKING!!!
WE GET TO KILL PEOPLE, DESTROY
STUFF, RAPE, STEAL CHRISTIAN TREASURE, BURN, AND DRINK ALL
WE WANT
CONQUERING THE WESTERN EMPIRE IS A
PIECE OF CAKE…
THE WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE HAS NO
CENTRALIZED ARMY AND LOUIS’ BROTHERS ARE TOO DISTRACTED WITH INHERITANCE ISSUES
I HEAR THE MUSLIMS ARE ATTACKING THE EMPIRE
FROM THE SOUTH…
THAT JUST MAKES THINGS EASIER FOR US
Vikings Loved Raiding England and Ireland For Their Christian Riches!
• Monks buried Their Treasures In Fields, only to be found hundreds of years later.
• Undiscovered treasures remain
Frequent Viking Raids
• Even Russia Got Hit• Vikings even made it
to Constantinople (800s), where they saw images being destroyed (again)
• The pope was aware that iconoclasm was again taking root in the Eastern Empire
In 843 Vikings Broke into Nantes (France) Cathedral During High Mass
• Killed Everyone in Attendance
• Burned the Cathedral To the Ground
• Then Looted the Entire City
• The Vikings were hardly ever defeated
843--Some Good News In The East…
• Empress Theodora • Another Great Woman Saves The Day
LET US RESTORE THE USE OF HOLY IMAGES IN THE BYZANTINE
EMPIRE
845—Easter Sunday
• 120 longboats sail up the Seine and destroy Paris
WHILE THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE DESTROYS
IMAGES…
WE DESTROY PARIS, NANTES, AND PRETTY
MUCH ANYTHING WE WANT
846 Muslims Attack Rome!!!
• The One and only time in history the Muslims take Rome
• Destroyed St. Peter’s Basilica and St. Paul’s
• Took away the treasures from St. Peters, including the alter stone covering St. Peter’s bones
• The Muslim ship however, was destroyed by a storm of Sicily and all the treasure sunk to the bottom of the sea
NOT EASY BEING POPE IN THE EARLY 800s
• Pope St. Leo IV was in Rome when Muslims Attacked
WHAT’S HAPPENING
TO THE WESTERN EMPIRE??
THE VIKINGS ARE
DESTROYING BENEDICTINE
MONASTERIES
IF ONLY CHARLEMAGNE’S GRANDSONS WERE LIKE HIM
THE EMPIRE IS NOT UNIFIED ENOUGH TO
DEFEND THE CHURCH
THIS FEUDAL SYSTEM (aka: No-unified-imperial-army-system) DOESN’T REALLY HELP THE CHURCH FOSTER UNITY AND
PEACE