Throughout history, the decisions that various leaders made have been debated as to whether or not they were correct in the context of the religion and events occuring at the time. Their individual background and actions are considered in order to accurately determine their intentions. Charlemagne was the ruler of a greatly expanding Frankish empire that was largely Christian. As the king continued to conquer new territories, he began to force the people to convert to Christianity. By examining what we know about his empire and attempt to spread the Christian religion, we can see that Charlemagne did in fact have good intentions, but his method of forcing conversion was not in accordance with God’s will. Charlemagne conquered many territories, …show more content…
The king saw it as their duty to “defend the holy Church of Christ from the attacks of pagans and infidels from without, and within to enforce the acceptance of the Catholic faith.” (Document 2) By this, his good intentions can be seen in forcing the conquered nations to accept Christianity, but he went astray with his methods. Charlemagne wished for the name of Jesus Christ to be glorified throughout the world as stated in the letter. The king himself, with great piety and devotion, “practiced the Christian religion in which he had been reared from infancy.” (Einhard, p. 36) He made Christianity a central part of the kingdom, and often devoted himself to repairing the sacred places and building up those in charge of them. As he held religion to such a high importance, it is likely that Charlemagne believed that he was doing good by converting the …show more content…
He tells him that, by the gospel, “A person can be drawn into the Faith, not forced into it.” (Document 3) Instead of forcing the people to convert to Christianity, the gospel should be taught to everyone, as they will not obtain salvation if they do not decide for themselves whether to accept it as the truth and live by it. This is the way that God intended for the gospel to be spread throughout the world. It has no impact on a person if they do not make the decision of their own accord to accept God into their
Gregory of Tours became bishop of Tours in 573, in which he promoted justice and peace within his diocese. Bishops “bridged the divide between the German rulers of the land and the Gallo-Roman people urging the Franks to live Christian lives”(Dutton #). Like these other forces, Gregory the Great strived to organize the church under tighter papal supervision. Charlemagne also served as an influential person in helping the church attempt to make peace.
The ideal ruler was expected to be a strong Christian leader who protected the Church, promoted Christianity, and defended Christendom from external threats and maintaining social order. In the Carolingian Empire, the ruler's authority was based on the divine right of kings, and the relationship between the ruler and the people was largely hierarchical, with the king at the top with counts and “Misi Dominic” serving the king (lecture). The king relied on a system of vassalage, where local lords or vassals pledged allegiance and loyalty to the king in exchange for protection and land(lecture). The king's authority was also supported by the Church, which played a significant role in maintaining social order in the region he controlled. Helping the church build missionaries is what expanded his rule into more
He told them if they did not want to become a Christian they had to leave his empire. He wanted them to become a Christian just like he was. Some people did not accept it and some people did accept it. He gave them a choice to stay at the empire and accept it or leave his empire. He kilt the people who did not want to leave and become a Christian but Charlemange was not a mean man he was just powerful.
II. Background Information Charlemagne's reign was marked by his efforts to expand his kingdom
People have come to misunderstand the gospel because they want to believe what they think is right. He says "In this state we're not living in the grace of Jesus, Were trying to maintain our
It was even mentioned that no living soul shall ever prevail against God or any Christian individual and quite a few of his bylaws state that no one shall do wrong in a church. Additionally, to making Christian laws, Charlemagne gave generous amounts of money to the Catholic church, which only improved their relations and on top of converting people to his religion and protecting the church, he also did a lot to promote church-based education in his Roman
Charlemagne who was also known as Charles the Great, was the king of the Frankish Empire and later the Holy Roman Empire during the 8th and 9th centuries. He was known to most for his intelligence, political awareness and dedication to religion. But some opposing views also regarded him as ruthless, cold and heartless.
In all honesty Charlemagne was a great emperor. He is the reason that the kingdom transitioned into the Modern Europe we know now. His two policies expansion and christianity helped him being a good emperor. He had a vision and he did a really good job at making his vision come true. He wanted all the Germanic people in one kingdom and he wanted them to convert to christianity.
In 777 the Muslim governor of Barcelona by the name of Suleiman convinced Charlemagne to campaign against the Omayyad ruled Spain. Perhaps Charlemagne’s pride forced him to follow in his ancestor Charles Martel’s steps, who previously defeated the Saracens. Whatever his motives were, Charlemagne’s “great crusade” came to an embarrassing end. While the catastrophic loss at the Basque ambush was recorded by Einhard the obvious omission made by him was done in all likelihood because this was Charlemagne’s only war that was “completely
Even though Christians were persecuted on and off during the Roman Empire, Christianity flourished. In the early Roman Empire, when Claudius, Nero, Domitian, and Trajan were emperors, Christianity was banned and Christians were persecuted. Nevertheless, Christians found ways to spread Christianity, and many people converted. As trials occurred and the Empire lost good leaders, the people took security in Christianity and other religions. Christianity grew during the Roman Empire because Constantine helped create the Edict of Milan, Constantine had imperial favor toward The Church, and there was trade routes to spread Christianity to different areas.
Due to the fact that Charlemagne was crowned emperor in 768 he was able to conquer many empires. Some places that he had in his realm was modern France, what is now called Belgium, the Netherlands, and southwestern Germany. Many of the germanic tribes that invaded Rome soon let Charlemagne become their leader as well everybody that goes as far as the south of Rome. As Charlemagne was ruling over much of Europe he was also spreading Christianity, teaching many people how to become priests or church officials, by the year 1000 most of Europe had converted to Christianity. When the Western Roman Empire had fallen the church was all that was left, leaving the people to trust the church politically and religiously.
When Charlemagne ascended the throne and had full control of the empire, he wanted to not only rule both his people and Romans, he was also interested in his people and the ones he conquered to convert to Christianity. (Pages 258-259). Charlemagne exceedingly cared about government as much as he cared about religion, which is why one of the things he did when first became an emperor was to make sure that the Pope Hadrian I, got his land back from the Lombard Kingdom and he has also helped the Pope on countless occasions. (Pg. 259). Yes, Charlemagne was truly successful in linking religion and governing, his people or the Romans did not rebel against him and during his ruling he was able to offer people opportunities to learn and deepen their understanding of the Christian faith.
Author of the book, Becoming Charlemagne, by Jeff Sypeck provides a clear glimpse into the life of one of the world’s greatest kings and ruler and later emperor Charlemagne, otherwise known as Karl or Charles the Great. Sypeck creates a vivid and strong look into the time of Charlemagne, early medieval Europe and some other important world leaders, including Pope Leo III, Irene the Byzantine emperor, Alcuin the scholar and Harun al-Rashid ruler of Baghdad. These figures are crucial to the story of Karl becoming Charlemagne, and their stories included in the book help form and symbolize Charlemagne the Ruler. Understanding Charlemagne and early medieval Europe is presented vibrantly throughout the book by in-depth stories, facts and a clear
All the points described the legacy Charlemagne left behind. The first point in this source was Charlemagne’s deeds. Charlemagne waged many wars during his time as king. The first of the war was against the Aquitaine. “Of all the wars he waged, [Charles] began first [in 769] with the one against the Aquitaine, which his father started, but left
Charlemagne was a very religious, nonjudgmental king, whose name means “Charles the Great.” He was the king f the Franks, until he was crowned emperor. This emperor ruled areas including modern-day Italy and France. From 771 A.D. to 800 A.D., he ruled as a king. After being crowned emperor, he ruled until his death in 814.