Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Empire

1. Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Empire (www.tutino.wikispaces.com)

2. From last time.. • The Roman Empire: East and West (395) • Eastern Roman Empire: ‘Roman’ and ‘Christian’ identities • We saw the progressive destruction of the Western Roman Empire (476), and the progressive strengthening of the Christian Church • Social and Political void filled by the Church

3. The Barbarians and the Pope • Remember the example of Gregory the Great and his letter to the Queen! • A very important example of alliance between the Barbarians and the Papacy is the French one

4. The Frankish Kingdom

5. Pippin & Zachary • Pippin and the Merovingian Dynasty • 751: The Pope backs him up • Why did Pippin need the Pope? • What did the Pope gain?

6. Charlemagne: the most important of Pippin’s successors Harvard Memorial Hall,1888 Charlemagne as a symbol of sovereignty and political wisdom

7. Why was Charlemagne so important? Let’s see from Einhard’s ‘Chronicle’(ca.830) • Roman and Frank: a ‘merged’ allegiance • Moderation: a Christian virtue • What was he reading? What does that mean? • What was his relationship with the Pope? • The city of Rome and the Church of Saint Peter: the reference points of a HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR (although this term started to be used later in the sources)

8. Charlemagne as the Holy Roman Emperor: he was crowned by Pope Leo III on Christmas night of the year 800 Illustration from a 14th c. manuscript, Bibliothèque Nationale

9. Why is this important? • The concept of Translatio Imperii: Rome is not dead! • Once again, the role of the Pope in that: remember Constantine • Europe has a new strong political authority, but this time tied to religion

10. Rome is alive: Moscow and the ‘third Rome’ myth

11. Rome is alive: Mussolini and the ‘third Rome’ myth

12. The Carolingian reformation: the Church • Before talking about this, let us firm up some points….

13. What is the difference between regular and secular clergy? • Regular Clergy = those who follow a religious Rule, i.e. monks • Secular Clergy = those who are in the ‘saeculum’ (Latin for ‘world-time’), and who have ‘cura animarum’ (Latin for ‘care for the souls’)

14. The Carolingian Reformation: the Church • Reform of the Regular Clergy: Rule of St.Benedict applied throughout • Reform of the Secular Clergy: Charlemagne starts appointing Bishops and enforces moral and doctrinal discipline

15. The Carolingian Reformation: the Schools • Cathedral, Monastic and Court Schools • Reform of the Curriculum: the Seven Liberal Arts (grammar, rhetoric, logic; geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, music) • Liberal Arts as a preparation for theology • Latin • Handwriting

16. Preserving Manuscripts: one of the most important legacies of the Carolingian Era

17. The Collapse of the Carolingian World: in 851 the Empire splits

18. Eastern Frankish Kingdom (Germany) retains the title of Holy Roman Empire Western Frankish Kingdom (France) looses its imperial character After 851:

19. Partial conclusions • Holy Roman Empire: Rome is alive once again, and Church and State ‘united’ • Carolingian Reform: a deep re-organization of Western Europe’s intellectual, social and religious life • Open question: what is the future of Europe in 851? How does the post-Carolingian world look like?

20. Islam: a new kid on the block • Ca 570: Muhammad is born in Mecca • 622: Muhammad goes to Medina -a leader is born • 624: the battle of Badr • 630: Muhammad wins in Mecca: a new religion and a new society is born

21. The Muslim empire expands: • First picture: the Islamic empire at the time of the death of Muhammad (632) • Second picture: the Islamic empire around 750

22. One important issue: Sunni and Shiite- can you tell the difference? • No major theological difference • Split occurred in 661 at the death of Ali -the Shiites believe that only Ali, the fourth caliph and his heirs are the legitimate successors of Muhammad

23. Who is Sunni? Who is Shiite? • What is Osama Bin Laden? • Sunni • How about Iran? • Shiite • How about Hezbollah? • Shiite • Sunni is 90% of the Muslim world • Shiites are concentrated in Iran, Iraq and Lebanon

24. The Muslim world after 750: from unity to fragmentation • After 750: the dissolution of the caliphate • 790-1050: the Islamic renaissance, which produced a series of important intellectual and cultural innovations and developments, including..

26. I mean… • The number ‘0’ is an Arab (fantastic) invention, that allows you to count the way you do! • Roman numerals, with no ‘0’, were much more complicated and they worked through addition (e.g.: X=10, I=1, V=5; that is 16= X+V+I, XVI)

27. A lot of Aristotle! • Islamic religion puts a lot of emphasis on reason, • In fact, many Arab intellectuals commented and studied Aristotle, and it is thanks to them that some of his works survived! • The best known of those commentators of Aristotle is Abn-Ali Al Hosain Ibn Abdallah Ibn Sina, called in Latin AVICENNA (980-1037)

28. In conclusion: • Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Empire: an extraordinary political and religious entity, Rome is born again! • Again, Christian Church fundamental in this • The Muslim world is starting to divide itself, but maintains a vivacious intellectual activity • Looking ahead: what happens in the Byzantine empire? And how does the post-Charlemagne world look like?

29. The End See you on Thursday