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power. A great legal precedent has
been set.
Charlemagne holds no grudge.
Pope and Emperor have too many
interests in common to permit ill–
feeling to exist. There has been a
"marriage" fo rmally linking the
spiritual power of the Pope with
the temporal power of the Emper–
or. The two are joint sovereigns on
earth.
New Society
As head of the recreated empire
of the West, Charlemagne pre–
sides over a new society born of
the union of Roman and German
elements. Charlemagne is a Ger–
man, but he is inspired with the
spirit of Rome.
The Emperor organizes his
empire on the pattern of the old
Roman model. He prizes the tradi–
tions of ancient Roman civilization.
His Romano-Germanic society will
seta precedent for fut ure European
monarchs.
Charlemagne' s capital is the
German city of Aachen (Aix-la–
Chapelle). Following his corona–
tion, the Emperor spends the
remaining years of his reign there
in comparative quiet. He becomes
a patron of learning and the arts,
importing scholars from through–
out E urope to study and teach at
his court.
1n 8 12-two years before his
death- Charlemagne receives news
from the East. Eastern Emperor
Michael l at Constantinople has
swallowed his pride and recognized
Charlemagne as co-emperor. The
equality of the two halves of the
Empire is now official.
For all intents and purposes,
however , the two " legs" of the
Empire are completely autono–
mous. A plan had been conceived
shortly after Charlemagne's coro–
nation to combine his empire with
the Byzantine empire through his
marriage to the Eastern Empress
Irene (780-802). But the plan
failed when she was overthrown.
" King Father of Europe"
During the last four years of his
life, Charlemagne is subject to fre–
quent fevers. On the 28th day of
J anuary, in the year 814, the great
Emperor dies at nine o'clock in the
morning. His death occurs in the
14
72nd year of his life, and the 47th
of his reign.
The Emperor is buried in the
church he built at Aachen, sitting
upright with sword in hand . His
mammoth achievements wi ll be
lauded in popular legend and poe–
try for centur ies to come.
Charlemagne has not ended an
age; he has begun one. He will be
called
rex pater Europae-"King
father of Europe." He has shown
E uropeans a n ideal. He h as
bequeathed to them a common cul–
tural and política! tradition. Even
in the distant 20th century, men
will point to his model as a blue–
print for European unity.
Charlemagne has left his mark
on European history as no other
man . He has, in large measure,
determined the political fate of
Western Europe.
Catastrophe and Reviva!
Justinian's "Imperial Restoration"
in A.D. 554 fell apart almost imme–
diately upon bis death. Charle–
magne's empi re survives him by
only one generation. T his cyclical
pattern of reviva! and disintegration
will be often repeated in centu ries
to come.
Charlemagne is succeeded by his
son Louis the Pious. The well–
meaning but weak Louis is domi–
nated by his wife and by church–
men. He possesses no qualifications
for governing the empi re to which
he succeeds.
Louis dies in 840. C ivil war
breaks out among his three sons.
In 843, the Treaty of Verdun
settles the quarrels among Louis'
sons.
It
divi des Charlemagne's
empire into three parts-one for
each of his grandsons. In short
order, however, Europe crumbles
into scattered feudal states.
The Carolingian Empire disap–
pears. The political unity of Chris–
t ian Europe becomes a thing of the
past.
In its weakness, Western Europe
falls victim to invasions by North–
men, Saracens and Magyars. The
Continent is again a political sham–
bles.
Chaos in Rome
T he Papacy is also in trouble. The
Holy See is increasingly torn by fac–
tionalism. Intrigue becomes ram-
pant. The papal office is bought and
sold-and occasionally obtained by
murder. The corruption and immo–
ral ity of the Papacy during this peri–
od will prompt later historians to call
it a "pornocracy"!
The infamous "Cadaver Synod"
serves as a bizarre illustration of
the turmoil in Rome.
The body of former Pope Formo–
sus (891-896) is exhumed by newly
elected Pope Stephen VI late in
896 and put on tria!, charged with
treason! The corpse is dressed in
papal regalía, assaulted with ques–
tions and accusations, then dragged
through the streets of Rome with a
mob cheering on!
The next year, Pope Stephen is
himself overthrown , imprisoned
and strangled.
Sergius IJI, Pope from 904 to
9 11, attains the office after
ordering the murder of his prede–
cessor. His life of open sin with the
noted prostitute Marozia brings
widespread disrepute upon the
Papacy. Sergius fathers a number
of sons by Marozia, among them
the future Pope John XI. Sergius'
reign begins a period known as
"The Rule of the Harlots."
New Champion
Chaos reigns in Rome-and
throughout Europe.
The situation is grave .
It
becomes clear to many that the dis–
unity and weakness in Europe is
tied closely to the disunity and
weakness of the Church- and vice
versa.
Perceptive churchmen realize
tbat they must call in a strong
prince to again unite Europe. West–
ern civilization must be saved!
With the Frankish realm in
eclipse, Rome must look elsewhere
for a champion lo resurrect the tra–
dition of imperial unity.
When the next great Emperor
appears in Western Europe in the
middle of the 10th pentury, he will
not be a Frank, but a Saxon Ger–
man. As medieval Germany rises to
a predominant position in the
West, the dignity of the title of
Roman Emperor will become per–
manently connected with that of
the king of Germany.
The first German
Reich
is about
to appear on the scene! (Next
Month: "The First Reich.")
o
The
PLAIN TRUTH