The Rise of THe Carolingian DynastyThe Carolingians were specifically interested in tools to affirm their right to rule the empire because they lacked the bloodline and long history of other medieval rulers. In 751 CE, Pippin III (Charlemagne’s father) seized power from the weak Merovingian king, Childeric III, with the approval of Pope Zachary. A few years later, Pope Stephen II reapproved Pippin's kingship in return for military protection. In 800 CE, the pope anointed Pippin’s son, Charlemagne, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.[6] In essence, the Carolingian kings only gained power through military might and ecclesiastic favor.
Through the years, it would seem like God did agree with the support his popes had given the Carolingians. These leaders were militarily successful, eventually ruling much of modern Europe. This rapid rise to kingship over large and culturally diverse territories left the Carolingians with the problem of how to consolidate their power in a way that would unify their peoples. Perhaps because the popes had been the first to validate them or because they had few other legitimate claims to kingship, the Carolingians chose Christianity as the major platform |
from which to rule. As Giles Brown from the Westminster School in London writes in his essay “The Carolingian Renaissance,” “it suited the Carolingians, for political reasons, to stress that their kingship, which was neither hallowed by blood nor grounded in tradition, derived its authority from God and St. Peter.”[1] In the Christian Middle Ages, the interpretation of history was perfectly tailored to fit the idea that God was personally choosing the Carolingians to rule as the “protectors of the faith” and as the leaders of a “New Israel.”[2]
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