 |
| Charlemagne denier |
The
important Byzantine enclave of Venice had pro and anti-Frankish factions. On 25th December 805 the Doge Obelerio degli Antenori did homage[i]
to Charles at Aachen and came home with a Frankish bride Carola. This action enraged the
anti-faction and precipitated a war with Byzantium.
In 809, a fleet landed in the Venetian lagoon and
attacked a Frankish flotilla at Comacchio but was
defeated. Obelerio’s attempts to elevate his family led to a popular uprising
against them. King Pepin of Italy attempted to besiege Venice but Agnello Participazio coordinated
Venetian efforts to defend the city.
The Byzantines kept the city supplied by sea. The
Antenori family tried a volte-face to save face by taking up arms against Pepin.
They were thrown out and Agnello Participazio was elected Doge once the Franks
had been seen off. Pepin was paid off and departed, and died in July 810.
Charles
intended for Pepin to control his interests in Italy, provide protection to the
papacy and stand as a bulwark against any hopes the Byzantines might have of
recovering the empire in the west. Now he had Pepin’s illegitimate son Bernard crowned king of the Lombards.
‘Pippin left one son,
Bernard, and five daughters—Adalheid, Atula, Gundrada, Berthaid, and
Theoderada. In his treatment of them Charles gave the strongest proof of his
family affection, for upon the death of his son he appointed his grandson
Bernard to succeed him, and had his granddaughters brought up with his own
daughters.’[ii]
The death of
Pepin upset Charles’ plans for the future; he’d divided his realms into three
for his three eldest boys by Hildegard; Charles the Younger, Duke of Neustria[iii],
Pepin (formerly Carloman) King of Italy and Louis, Duke of Aquitania[iv]. Charles the Younger died on 4th
December 811, leaving only Louis of all Charles’ legitimate heirs.
Problems in the North
 |
| The Eider |
In Saxony,
after a decade of peace, there was a series of uprisings from 795 to 802. Even
after Widukind's submission in 785 and gradual Christianisation of Saxony the Nordalbingian tribes remained reluctant until they were finally defeated
at the Battle of Bornhöved in 798 by the combined forces of the Franks and their Abodrite allies,
led by Prince Drożko.
Charles was
increasingly irritated with the Saxons and his methods of dealing with their
revolts became increasingly draconian. He instituted a policy of divide and
rule, rewarding faithful Saxon lords and sending them to fight their revolting
kinsmen. Charles gave the cleansed lands to his Slavic allies, the Abodrites,
after clearing out around 10,000 families of Saxon and settling them elsewhere
in his empire.
 |
| The Danevirke |
Francia had
problems with the Danes who regularly raided down Francia’s extended coastline.
In 808 Charles the Younger pushed them back across the Eider River. The next year the emperor had Essesfeld Castle erected [v]and
the entire region was incorporated into the Frankish Empire.
In order to counter
the ongoing raids led by King Gudfred, the Franks probably established a
Danish march stretching from the Eider River to
the Danevirke fortifications in the north.
‘The last war of all that
Charles undertook was against those Northmen, who are called Danes, who first
came as pirates, and then ravaged the coasts of Gaul and Germany with a greater
naval force. Their King, Godofrid, was puffed up with the vain confidence that
he would make himself master of all Germany….For he was killed by one of his
own followers, and so ended both his life and the war that he had begun.’[vi]
After King
Gudfred was killed, his successor Hemming concluded the Treaty
of Heiligen with
Charlemagne in 811, agreeing that the Eider should mark the border between
Denmark and Francia.
Legal and Clerical
The empire
was designed to be ruled by royal counts, who were controlled by itinerant
royal commissioners. Charles held annual empire-wide assemblies of bishops and
counts meeting to approve Charles legislation and decrees. These councils were
normally held in May, but additional councils on specific subjects could take
place at any time. They often coincided with preparations for the summer
offensive.
‘Collect information
concerning any relevant matter….no only from his own people but from strangers
and from both friends and enemies.’[viii]
In 785 at
the Council
of Paderborn the
clergy debated the matter of the Christianization of the Saxons. Laws were
promulgated against idolatry and the death penalty was ordered for
self-appointed witch-hunters who had arranged the death of persons accused of
witchcraft.
At his
annual council in Frankfurt in 794
Charles had a wide ranging agenda, covering how to distinguish between the
loyal and the faithless, measures on how to deal with a major famine[ix], confirmation of Duke
Tassilo’s fall and debate on establishment of an orthodox code of belief for
Latin Christendom.
Later in his
life Charles determined on a reform of the Frankish legal system. He was well
aware of the many defects in the two very different systems the Franks adhered
to.
‘He therefore, determined to
add what was lacking, to reconcile the differences, and to amend anything that
was wrong or wrongly expressed. He completed nothing of all his designs beyond
adding a few capitularies, and those unfinished.’[x]
Charles as man and monarch was a great supporter of the church. He reformed the church, strengthening its power, improving the skill and moral quality of the clergy, standardizing liturgical practices, and introduced improvements in the basic tenets of the faith and morals, and strongly encouraged rooting out paganism.
Charles’ authority extended over both church and state. He could discipline clerics, control ecclesiastical property and define orthodox doctrine. Despite the harsh legislation and sudden change, he developed support from the clergy who approved his desire to increase the piety and morals of his Christian subjects.
The Annointed Heir
 |
| Charles' throne in Aachen cathedral |
One of the
final acts of Charles life was to confirm Louis, his least favourite son[xi],
as his heir. In 1813 Charles called the Frankish nobles at a council at Aachen.
He crowned Louis as joint emperor and his grandson Bernard as King of Italy.
The pope was not present at the ceremony[xii].
‘At the very end of his
life, when already he was feeling the pressure of old age and sickness, he
summoned his own son Lewis…then solemnly called together the Frankish nobles of
his whole kingdom; and then, with the consent of all, made Lewis partner in the
whole kingdom and heir to the imperial title. After that, putting the diadem on
his head, he ordered them to salute him “Imperator” and Augustus.’[xiii]
Louis was
one of only two of Charles’ children not brought up at his court. Louis and
Pepin were both sent off to rule their respective newly assimilated lands when
comparatively young in an attempt to encourage a sense of loyalty to the
Carolingian dynasty. Louis, Pepin and Pepin’s son Bernard were the only royal
children allowed to marry during Charles’ lifetime.
Charles had
managed to ensure peaceful relations with all his neighbours, bar those in the
south. In 812 Arab raiders had stormed Corsica and the Italian mainland looting at will. Count Irmingar caught up with
the fleet at Menorca and successfully freed 500 prisoners
and retook much of the booty. These raids were followed by others on Sardinia and the Roman and Nicean coasts.
Death of an Emperor
 |
| St Augustine |
Even to the
end of his life Charles used to hunt in the woods around the palace at Aachen. In
813 he was very much involved in church matters; the five councils that met all
reported back to him. Charles believed that the state was not subject to the
church. St Augustine believed the same and his book the City of God was Charles favourite book after the
bible.
In January
814 Charles fell ill with a fever, complicated by pleurisy. Einhard informs us
that Charles, as was his habit, abstained from eating and took little in the
way of liquids. Seven days after taking to his bed Charles died on 28th
January 814. He was buried the same day in Aachen cathedral.
Charles’s
passing was a shock that reverberated across Europe. An anonymous monk from Bobbio[xiv] wailed;
‘From the lands where the
sun rises to western shores, people are crying and wailing... the Franks, the
Romans, all Christians, are stung with mourning and great worry….the world
laments the death of Charles... O Christ, you who govern the heavenly host,
grant a peaceful place to Charles in your kingdom. Alas for miserable me.’[xv]
Charles’
death was important enough to find its way into the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles which simply records;
‘King Charles passed away;
he reigned for forty five years.’[xvi]
The lack of explanation shows the expectation that the reader will know
who is referred to and how great was Charles’ standing, even in a foreign
country.
Bibliography
The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Middle Ages – Robert Fossier
(ed), Cambridge University Press 1989
The Holy Roman Empire – Friedrich Heer, Phoenix 1999
The Oxford History of Medieval Europe – George Holmes, Oxford University
Press 2001
The Year 1000 – Robert Lacey & Danny Danziger, Abacus 2007
Absolute Monarchs – John Julius Norwich, Random House 2011
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles – Anne Savage (translator), Colour Library
Books 1995
Emperor of the West – Hywel Williams, Quercus 2010
Charlemagne – The Great Adventure – Derek Wilson, Hutchinson 2005
[i]
Following internecine feuds between the factions the Antenori were losing
support and it was suggested that the Franks would be able to shore their reign
up
[iii]
Since 790
[iv]
Since 781
[vii]
Senior adviser to Louis the Pious
[viii]
Emperor of the West - Williams
[ix]
Including price fixing and punishment of profiteers
[xii]
Charles did not envision the imperial throne as being within the gift of the
pope and saw the succession as hereditary
[xvi]
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles - Savage
So his policy in Saxony was pretty much the same as was later employed by both the Stuart kings and Cromwell in Ireland. Didn't work there... 45 years is a massive reign
ReplyDelete