EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY

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PEPIN THE SHORT BECOMES KING OF THE FRANKS, 751 A.D.

Before dethroning the last feeble "do-nothing," Pepin sought the approval
of the bishop of Rome. The pope, without hesitation, declared that it was
only right that the man who had the real authority in the state should
have the royal title also. Pepin, accordingly, caused himself to be
crowned king of the Franks, thus founding the Carolingian [12] dynasty.
(751 A.D.). Three years later Pope Stephen II came to Pepin's court and
solemnly anointed the new ruler with holy oil, in accordance with ancient
Jewish custom. The rite of anointing, something unknown to the Germans,
gave to Pepin's coronation the sanction of the Roman Church. Henceforth
the Frankish sovereigns called themselves "kings by the grade of God."

"DONATION OF PEPIN," 756 A.D.

Pepin was soon able to repay his great obligation to the Roman Church by
becoming its protector against the Lombards. These barbarians, who were
trying to extend their rule in Italy, threatened to capture Rome and the
territory in the vicinity of that city, then under the control of the
pope. Pepin twice entered Italy with his army, defeated the Lombards, and
forced them to cede to Pope Stephen an extensive district lying between
Rome and Ravenna. Pepin might have returned this district to the emperor
at Constantinople, to whom it belonged, but the Frankish king declared
that he had not fought for the advantage of any man but for the welfare of
his own soul. He decided, therefore, to bestow his conquests on St.
Peter's representative, the pope. Before this time the bishops of Rome had
owned much land in Italy and had acted as virtual sovereigns in Rome and
its neighborhood. Pepin's gift, known as the "Donation of Pepin," greatly
increased their possessions, which came to be called the States of the
Church. They remained in the hands of the popes until late in the
nineteenth century. [13]

106. THE REIGN OF CHARLEMAGNE, 768-814 A.D.

CHARLEMAGNE THE MAN

Pepin was succeeded in 768 A.D. by his two sons, one of whom, Charlemagne,
three years later became sole king of the Franks. Charlemagne reigned for
nearly half a century, and during this time he set his stamp on all later
European history. His character and personality are familiar to us from a
brief biography, written by his secretary, Einhard. Charlemagne, we learn,
was a tall, square-shouldered, strongly built man, with bright, keen eyes,
and an expression at once cheerful and dignified. Riding, hunting, and
swimming were his favorite sports. He was simple in his tastes and very
temperate in both food and drink. Except when in Rome, he wore the old
Frankish costume, with high-laced boots, linen tunic, blue cloak, and
sword girt at his side. He was a clear, fluent speaker, used Latin as
readily as his native tongue, and understood Greek when it was spoken. "He
also tried to learn to write and often kept his tablets and writing book
under the pillow of his couch, that, when he had leisure, he might
practice his hand in forming letters; but he made little progress in this
task, too long deferred and begun too late in life." [14] For the times,
however, Charlemagne was a well-educated man--by no means a barbarian.

[Illustration: CHARLEMAGNE (Lateran Museum, Rome)
A mosaic picture, made during the lifetime of Charlemagne and probably a
fair likeness of him.]

CONQUEST AND CONVERSION OF THE SAXONS, 772-804 A.D.

Much of Charlemagne's long life, almost to its close, was filled with
warfare. He fought chiefly against the still-heathen peoples on the
frontiers of the Frankish realm. The subjugation of the Saxons, who lived
in the forests and marshes of northwestern Germany, took many years.
Charlemagne at the head of a great army would invade their territory, beat
them in battle, and receive their submission, only to find his work undone
by a sudden rising of the liberty-loving natives, after the withdrawal of
the Franks. Once when Charlemagne was exasperated by a fresh revolt, he
ordered forty-five hundred prisoners to be executed. This savage massacre
was followed by equally severe laws, which threatened with death all
Saxons who refused baptism or observed the old heathen rites. By such
harsh means Charlemagne at length broke down the spirit of resistance
among the people. All Saxony, from the Rhine to the Elbe, became a
Christian land and a permanent part of the Frankish realm.

[Illustration: THE IRON CROWN OF LOMBARDY
A fillet of iron, which, according to pious legend, had been beaten out of
one of the nails of the True Cross. It came to the Lombards as a gift from
Pope Gregory I. as a reward for their conversion to Roman Catholicism.
During the Middle Ages it was used to crown the German emperors kings of
Italy. This precious relic is now kept in a church at Monza in northern
Italy.]

CONQUEST OF THE LOMBARDS, 774 A.D.

Shortly after the beginning of the Saxon wars the king of the Franks
received an urgent summons from the pope, who was again being threatened
by his old enemies, the Lombards. Charlemagne led a mighty host across the
Alps, captured Pavia, where the Lombard ruler had taken refuge, and added
his possessions to those of the Franks. Thus passed away one more of the
Germanic states which had arisen on the ruins of the Roman Empire.
Charlemagne now placed on his own head the famous "Iron Crown," and
assumed the title of "King of the Franks and Lombards, and Patrician of
the Romans."

CHARLEMAGNE'S OTHER CONQUESTS

Charlemagne's conquests were not confined to Germanic peoples. He forced
the wild Avars, who had advanced from the Caspian into the Danube valley,
to acknowledge his supremacy. He compelled various Slavic tribes,
including the Bohemians, to pay tribute. He also invaded Spain and wrested
from the Moslems the district between the Ebro River and the Pyrenees. By
this last conquest Charlemagne may be said to have begun the recovery of
the Spanish peninsula from Mohammedan rule. [15]

[Illustration: Map, EUROPE In the Age of Charlemagne, 800 A.D.]

CHARLEMAGNE'S GOVERNMENT

Charlemagne was a statesman, as well as a warrior. He divided his wide
dominions into counties, each one ruled by a count, who was expected to
keep order and administer justice. The border districts, which lay exposed
to invasion, were organized into "marks," under the military supervision
of counts of the mark, or margraves (marquises). These officials had so
much power and lived so far from the royal court that it was necessary for
Charlemagne to appoint special agents, called _missi dominici_ ("the
lord's messengers"), to maintain control over them. The _missi_ were
usually sent out in pairs, a layman and a bishop or abbot, in order that
the one might serve as a check upon the other. They traveled from county
to county, bearing the orders of their royal master and making sure that
these orders were promptly obeyed. In this way Charlemagne kept well
informed as to the condition of affairs throughout his kingdom.

REVIVAL OF LEARNING UNDER CHARLEMAGNE

Charlemagne made a serious effort to revive classical culture in the West
from the low state into which it had fallen during the period of the
invasions. We still possess a number of laws issued by this Frankish king
for the promotion of education. He founded schools in the monasteries and
cathedrals, where not only the clergy but also the common people might
receive some training. He formed his whole court into a palace school, in
which learned men from Italy, Spain, and England gave instruction to his
own children and those of his nobles. The king himself often studied with
them, under the direction of his good friend, Alcuin, an Englishman and
the foremost scholar in western Europe. He had the manuscripts of Latin
authors collected and copied, so that the knowledge preserved in books
should not be forgotten. All this civilizing work, together with the peace
and order which he maintained throughout a wide territory, made his reign
the most brilliant period of the early Middle Ages.

[Illustration: CATHEDRAL AT AIX-LA-CHAPELLE
Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) was the capital city and favorite residence of
Charlemagne. The church which he built here was almost entirely destroyed
by the Northmen in the tenth century. The octagonal building surmounted by
a dome which forms the central part of the present cathedral is a
restoration of the original structure. The marble columns pavements and
mosaics of Charlemagne's church were brought by him from Ravenna.]

107. CHARLEMAGNE AND THE REVIVAL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, 800 A.D.

CORONATION OF CHARLEMAGNE, 800 A.D.

Charlemagne, the champion of Christendom and the foremost ruler in Europe,
seemed to the men of his day the rightful successor of the Roman emperors.
He had their power, and now he was to have their name. In the year 800
A.D. the Frankish king visited Rome to investigate certain accusations
made against the pope, Leo III, by his enemies in the city. Charlemagne
absolved Leo of all wrong-doing and restored him to his office.
Afterwards, on Christmas Day Charlemagne went to old St. Peter's Church,
where the pope was saying Mass. As the king, dressed in the rich robes of
a Roman patrician, knelt in prayer before the high altar, the pope
suddenly placed on his head a golden crown, while all the people cried out
with one voice, "Long life and victory to Charles Augustus, the great and
pacific emperor of the Romans, crowned by God!"

REASONS FOR THE CORONATION

Although Charlemagne appears to have been surprised by the pope's act, we
know that he wished to become emperor. The imperial title would confer
upon him greater dignity and honor, though not greater power, than he
possessed as king of the Franks and of the Lombards. The pope, in turn,
was glad to reward the man who had protected the Church and had done so
much to spread the Catholic faith among the heathen. The Roman people also
welcomed the coronation, because they felt that the time had come for Rome
to assume her old place as the capital of the world. To reject the eastern
ruler, in favor of the great Frankish king, was an emphatic method of
asserting Rome's independence of Constantinople.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CORONATION

The coronation of Charlemagne was one of the most important events in
medieval history. It might be thought a small matter that he should take
the imperial title, when he already exercised imperial sway throughout
western Europe. But Charlemagne's contemporaries believed that the old
Roman Empire had now been revived, and a German king now sat on the throne
once occupied by Augustus and Constantine. Henceforth there was
established in the West a line of Roman emperors which lasted until the
opening of the nineteenth century. [16]

CHARLEMAGNE'S EMPIRE

Charlemagne's empire was not in any true sense a continuation of the Roman
Empire. It did not include the dominions over which the emperors at
Constantinople were to reign for centuries. Moreover, Charlemagne and his
successors on the throne had little in common with the old rulers of Rome,
who spoke Latin, administered Roman law, and regarded the Germans as among
their most dangerous enemies. Charlemagne's empire was, in fact, largely a
new creation.

108. DISRUPTION OF CHARLEMAGNE'S EMPIRE, 814-870 A.D.

AFTER CHARLEMAGNE

The empire of Charlemagne did not long remain intact. So vast was its
extent and so unlike were its inhabitants in race, language, and customs
that it could be managed only by a ruler of the greatest energy and
strength of will. Unfortunately, the successors of Charlemagne proved to
be too weak for the task of maintaining peace and order. Western Europe
now entered on a long period of confusion and violence, during which
Charlemagne's possessions broke up into separate and warring kingdoms.

TREATY OF VERDUN, 843 A.D.

Charlemagne's son, Louis the Pious, who became emperor in 814 A.D., was a
well-meaning but feeble ruler, better fitted for the quiet life of a
monastery than for the throne. He could not control his rebellious sons,
who, even during his lifetime, fought bitterly over their inheritance. The
unnatural strife, which continued after his death, was temporarily settled
by a treaty concluded at the city of Verdun. According to its terms
Lothair, the eldest brother, received Italy and the imperial title,
together with a narrow stretch of land along the valleys of the Rhine and
the Rhone, between the North Sea and the Mediterranean. Louis and Charles,
the other brothers, received kingdoms lying to the east and west,
respectively, of Lothair's territory. The Treaty of Verdun may be said to
mark the first stage in the dissolution of the Carolingian Empire.

TREATY OF MERSEN, 870 A.D.

A second treaty, made at Mersen in Holland, was entered into by Louis and
Charles, after the death of their brother Lothair. They divided between
themselves Lothair's kingdom north of the Alps, leaving to his young son
the possession of Italy and the empty title of "emperor." The Treaty of
Mersen may be said to mark the second stage in the dissolution of the
Carolingian Empire. That empire, as such, had now ceased to exist.

[Illustration: Map, THE FRANKISH DOMINIONS AS DIVIDED BY THE TREATIES OF
VERDUN (843 A.D.) AND MERSEN (870 A.D.)]

IMPORTANCE OF THE TWO TREATIES

The territorial arrangements made by the treaties of Verdun and Mersen
foreshadowed the future map of western Europe. The East Frankish kingdom
of Louis, inhabited almost entirely by Germanic peoples, was to develop
into modern Germany. The West Frankish kingdom of Charles, inhabited
mainly by descendants of Romanized Gauls, was to become modern France.
Lothair's kingdom, separated into two parts by the Alps, never became a
national state. Italy, indeed, might be united under one government, but
the long, narrow strip north of the Alps had no unity of race, no common
language, and no national boundaries. It was fated to be broken into
fragments and to be fought over for centuries by its stronger neighbors.
Part of this territory now forms the small countries of Belgium, Holland,
and Switzerland, and another part, known as Alsace and Lorraine, [17]
still remains a bone of contention between France and Germany.

RENEWED BARBARIAN INVASIONS

Even had Charlemagne been followed by strong and able rulers, it would
have been a difficult matter to hold the empire together in the face of
the fresh series of barbarian inroads which began immediately after his
death. The Mohammedans, though checked by the Franks at the battle of
Tours, [18] continued to be dangerous enemies. They ravaged southern
France, Sicily, and parts of Italy. The piratical Northmen from Denmark
and Norway harried the coast of France and made inroads far beyond Paris.
They also penetrated into western Germany, sailing up the Rhine in their
black ships and destroying such important towns as Cologne and Aix-la-
Chapelle. Meanwhile, eastern Germany lay exposed to the attacks of the
Slavs, whom Charlemagne had defeated but not subdued. The Magyars, or
Hungarians, were also dreaded foes. Their wild horsemen entered Europe
from the plains of Asia and, like the Huns and Avars to whom they were
probably related, spread devastation far and wide. A great part of Europe
thus suffered from invasions almost as destructive as those which had
brought ruin to the old Roman world.

109. GERMANY UNDER THE SAXON KINGS, 919-973 A.D.

THE GERMAN STEM-DUCHIES

The tenth century saw another movement toward the restoration of law and
order. The civilizing work of Charlemagne was taken up by German kings,
not of the old Prankish stock, but belonging to that Saxon people which
had opposed Charlemagne so long and bitterly. Saxony was one of the five
great territorial states, or stem-duchies, as they are usually called,
into which Germany was then divided. [19] Germany at that time extended
only as far east as the river Elbe, beyond which lay the territory
occupied by half-civilized Slavic tribes.

ELECTIVE KINGSHIP OF GERMANY

The rulers of the stem-duchies enjoyed practical independence, though they
had recognized some king of Germany ever since the Treaty of Verdun. Early
in the tenth century the Carolingian dynasty died out in Germany, and the
German nobles then proceeded to elect their own kings. Their choice fell
first upon Conrad, duke of Franconia, but he had little authority outside
his own duchy. A stronger man was required to keep the peace among the
turbulent nobles and to repel the invaders of Germany. Such a man appeared
in the person of Henry, duke of Saxony, who, after Conrad's death, was
chosen king.

REIGN OF HENRY THE FOWLER, 919-936 A.D.

Henry I, called the Fowler, because he was fond of hunting birds, spent
the greater part of his reign in wars against the Slavs, Magyars, and
other invaders. He conquered from the Slavs the territory afterwards known
as Brandenburg. This country was to furnish Germany, in later centuries,
with its present dynasty--the Hohenzollerns. [20] He occupied the southern
part of Denmark (Schleswig) and Christianized it. He also recovered for
Germany Lorraine, a district which remained in German hands until the
eighteenth century.

REIGN OF OTTO THE GREAT, 936-973 A.D.

Henry the Fowler was succeeded by his son, Otto I, whom history knows as
Otto the Great. He well deserved the title. Like Charlemagne, Otto
presented the aspect of a born ruler. He is described as being tall and
commanding in presence, strong and vigorous of body, and gifted with great
charm of manner. In his bronzed face shone clear and sparkling eyes, and
down his breast hung a long, thick beard. Though subject to violent
outbursts of temper, he was liberal to his friends and just to his foes.
Otto was a man of immense energy and ambition, with a high conception of
his duties as a sovereign. His reign forms one of the most notable epochs
in German history.

[Illustration: RING SEAL OF OTTO THE GREAT
The inscription reads _Oddo Rex_.]

OTTO AND THE MAGYARS

Otto continued Henry's work of defending Germany from the foes which
threatened to overrun that country. He won his most conspicuous success
against the Magyars, who suffered a crushing defeat on the banks of the
river Lech in Bavaria (955 A.D.). These barbarians now ceased their raids
and retired to the lands on the middle Danube which they had seized from
the Slavs. Here they settled down, accepted Christianity from the Roman
Church, and laid the foundations of the kingdom of Hungary. [21] As a
protection against future Magyar inroads Otto established the East Mark.
This region afterwards rose to great importance under the name of Austria.

OTTO AND THE STEM-DUKES

Otto was an excellent ruler of Germany. He made it his business to
strengthen the royal authority by weakening that of the stem-dukes. He had
to fight against them on more than one occasion, for they regarded
themselves almost as independent kings. Otto was able to keep them in
check, but the rulers who followed him were less successful in this
respect. The struggle between the kings and their powerful nobles formed a
constant feature of the medieval history of Germany.

110. OTTO THE GREAT AND THE RESTORATION OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, 962 A.D.

CONDITION OF ITALY

Otto the Great is not to be remembered only as a German king. His reign
was also noteworthy in the history of Italy. The country at this time was
hopelessly divided between rival and contending peoples. The emperor at
Constantinople controlled the southern extremity of the peninsula. The
Mohammedans held Sicily and some cities on the mainland. The pope ruled at
Rome and in the States of the Church. A so-called king of Italy still
reigned in Lombardy, but he could not manage the powerful counts, dukes,
and marquises, who were virtually independent within their own domains.
Even the imperial title died out, and now there was no longer a Roman
emperor in the West.

CORONATION OF OTTO THE GREAT, 962 A.D.

The deplorable condition of Italy invited interference from abroad.
Following in the footsteps of Charlemagne, Otto the Great led two
expeditions across the Alps, assumed the "Iron Crown" [22] of Lombardy,
and then proceeded to Rome, where he secured the pope (John XII) against
the latter's enemies in that city. Otto's reward was the same as
Charlemagne's. On Candlemas Day, (February 2d) 962 A.D., the grateful pope
crowned him Roman emperor.

MEANING OF THE CORONATION

The coronation of Otto the Great seemed to his contemporaries a necessary
and beneficial act. They still believed that the Roman Empire was
suspended, not extinct; and that now, one hundred and fifty years after
Charlemagne, the occasion was opportune to revive the name and power
associated with the golden age of the first Frankish emperor. Otto's
ardent spirit, one may well believe, was fired with this vision of
imperial sway and the renewal of a title around which clustered so many
memories of success and glory.

[Illustration: Map, EUROPE IN THE AGE OF OTTO THE GREAT, 962 A.D.]

ULTIMATE RESULTS OF THE CORONATION

But the outcome of Otto's restoration of the Roman Empire was good neither
for Italy nor for Germany. It became the rule, henceforth, that the man
whom the German nobles chose as their king had a claim, also, to the
Italian crown and the imperial title. The efforts of the German kings to
make good this claim led to their constant interference in the affairs of
Italy. They treated that country as a conquered province which had no
right to a national life and an independent government under its own
rulers. At the same time they neglected Germany and failed to keep their
powerful territorial lords in subjection. Neither Italy nor Germany, in
consequence, could become a unified, centralized state, such as was formed
in France and England during the later Middle Ages.

THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE

The empire of Charlemagne, restored by Otto the Great, came to be called
in later centuries the "Holy Roman Empire." The title points to the idea
of a world monarchy--the Roman Empire--and a world religion--Roman
Christianity--united in one institution. This magnificent idea was never
fully realized. The popes and emperors, instead of being bound to each
other by the closest ties, were more generally enemies than friends. A
large part of medieval history was to turn on this conflict between the
Empire and the Papacy. [23]

111. THE ANGLO-SAXONS IN BRITAIN, 449-839 A.D.

ANGLO-SAXON CONQUEST OF BRITAIN

From the history of Continental Europe we now turn to the history of
Britain. That island had been overrun by the Germanic barbarians after the
middle of the fifth century. [24] They are commonly known as Anglo-Saxons,
from the names of their two principal peoples, the Angles and Saxons. The
Anglo-Saxon conquest of Britain was a slow process, which lasted at least
one hundred and fifty years. The invaders followed the rivers into the
interior and gradually subdued more than a half of what is now England,
comprising the fertile plain district in the southern and eastern parts of
the island.

NATURE OF THE CONQUEST

Though the Anglo-Saxons probably destroyed many flourishing cities and
towns of the Romanized Britons, it seems likely that the conquerors spared
the women, with whom they intermarried, and the agricultural laborers,
whom they made slaves. Other natives took refuge in the hill regions of
western and northern Britain, and here their descendants still keep up the
Celtic language and traditions. The Anglo-Saxons regarded the Britons with
contempt, naming them Welsh, a word which means one who talks gibberish.
The antagonism between the two peoples died out in the course of
centuries, conquerors and conquered intermingled, and an English nation,
partly Celtic and partly Germanic, came into being.

[Illustration: ANGLO-SAXON DRINKING HORN
Horn of Ulphus (Wulf) in the cathedral of York. The old English were heavy
drinkers chiefly of ale and mead. The evening meal usually ended with a
drinking bout.]

THE SEVEN KINGDOMS IN BRITAIN

The Anglo-Saxons started to fight one another before they ceased fighting
their common enemy, the Britons. Throughout the seventh and eighth
centuries, the Anglo-Saxon states were engaged in almost constant
struggles, either for increase of territory or for supremacy. The kingdoms
farthest east--Kent, Sussex, Essex, and East Anglia--found their expansion
checked by other kingdoms--Northumbria, Mercia, and Wessex--which grew up
in the interior of the island. Each of these three stronger states gained
in turn the leading place.

EGBERT AND THE SUPREMACY OF WESSEX, 802-839 A.D.

The beginning of the supremacy of Wessex dates from the reign of Egbert.
He had lived for some years as an exile at the court of Charlemagne, from
whom he must have learned valuable lessons of war and statesmanship. After
returning from the Continent, Egbert became king of Wessex and gradually
forced the rulers of the other states to acknowledge him as overlord.
Though Egbert was never directly king of all England, he began the work of
uniting the Anglo-Saxons under one government. His descendants have
occupied the English throne to the present day.