History Of Charlemange

The Church also guided Charlemagne's hand as a ruler, for he took on many conquests as a necessity to spread the Christian religion throughout Europe. Indeed, it appears that Charlemagne's desire to spread his kingdom and government was intertwined with his desire to spread the Christian religion and have the people live according to the Word of God. .
             At the beginning of the Carolingian dynasty the Church was suffering from many problems. Paganistic peoples, a degradation of the Latin language, and the decline of power of the Pope all contributed to the need for a leader to bring about reformation. Charles Martel, Pepin, and ultimately Charlemagne all took as their personal responsibility the reorganization of the Church. Each one, as king of the Franks, saw it his duty to better the state of his churches. Charlemagne, through the monasteries and the "Palace School," required all priests to learn classic Latin. Pope Hadrian I in 773 appealed to Charlemagne to help rebuff the Lombards, and in the winter of that year in a short and decisive campaign, the Lombards were defeated. Charlemagne then added "King of the Lombards" to his title, and gave control of the northern part of Italy to the Pope. The creation of the "Papal States" indebted the Pope to Charlemagne, and Pope Leo III eventually crowned Charlemagne "Emperor of the Romans" on Christmas day in 800 AD. .
             Power in Carolingian society was based on land ownership, also known as Feudalism. Charlemagne knew that he must have the allegiance of the people to himself, the King. The feudal monarchy created by Charlemagne had two definite characteristics: absolute power limited only by advice given by nobles and the Church and power based on a contract - the oath of fidelity pledging allegiance by the king's subjects. Charlemagne recognized the importance of education, not only of spreading it throughout his kingdom, but also of learning for himself the ability to read and write Latin and Greek.