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the Western nations under the dome
of a Christian-Ge r manic civ–
ilization.
Pepin and his descendants have
become kings at the instance of
Rome. It is the papacy which pro–
vides the legi timizing justification.
The Carolingians are to be ritually
anointed in a way in which no Me–
rovingian king ever was.
When Pepin is anointed king, he
is obligated to help the papacy. His
cal! comes when the Lombards are
once again trying to subdue Italy.
On November 15, 753, the new
Pope Stephen 11 sets out across the
AJps to Pepin's winter camp. He
anoints and crowns Pepin
rex gracia
Dei
early in 754 a nd blesses Pepin's
son and heir, Charles.
Under pain of excommunication,
the Pope forbids the Franks to ever
choose a king from a family other
than that of Pepin. Pepin, of course,
has his par t of the bargain to fulfill:
render Pope Stephen such milita ry
assistance as might be required in
the future. This he does to sorne
degree. Twice the Lombards assault
Rome, and twice Pepin storms
across the Alps into I taly. He de–
feats the Lombards with ease and
captures Raven n a a nd several
coastal cities.
With the capture of Ravenna in
75 1, the Lombards had obliterated
the governmenta l symbol of the
eastern empire of Ita ly. Ravenna
had been the seat of the Exarchate,
a Byzantine viceroyalty repre–
senting the Italian "province"
of the empi re. When Pepin hands
Ravenna to the Pope instead of
to the eastem emperor, he taci tly
acknowledges the supremacy of the
Pope in llaly.
Years 768-799: Prelude to Resto–
ration. On th e death of Pepin the
Short in 768, his son Charles inher–
its the throne. His long rulership
will last un til 8 14. D ue to b is
exploits, he is soon called Charle–
magne (Charles the Great).
Under Charlemagne and his two
predecessors, Pepin the Short (741-
PLAIN TRUTH November 1973
THE FRANKS REVIVE A
ROMAN-EUROPEAN
EMPIRE
Maps -
Ron le,-slro
T
he old Roman Empire
in
the
West lay a t death's door
in
A.D. 476.
1t
was temporarily
revived in
the
sixth century by
Justinian, the emperor in
the
East.
Tbe empire in the West languished
again, following the death of Justin–
ian in A.D. 565. Meanwhile, a new
power center was developing in
Europe, even as the old Eastem
Roman Empire was dying of politi–
cal sickness and military wounds.
That
new
power center in Westem
Europe comprised most of modero
France and much of West Germany.
1t was the kingdom of the Germanic
Franks. In A.D. 496, Clovis, the
ruler of the Franks, was baptized
along with his feUow Franks. Tbey
became tbe first barbarians in West–
em Europe to adopt Ca tholicism.
Thereafter, the Franks looked
to
the Church for support in their
expansionist policies, and the papacy
began to rely on Frankish kings for
protection.
It
was a true political
marriage of convenience.
The Franks continued to expand
their domains until tha t central
moment of importance in A.D. 800
(Continued on page 25)
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