Charlemagne (Part 2/2) - The Carolingian Renaissance

 

Emperor Charlemagne was the father of the great European transformation known as the Carolingian Renaissance .

 Charlemagne, or Charles the Great as he was known , united Europe under the leadership of one King. Proclaimed King of Francia in 771, his influence spread with conquest, extending his rule throughout Europe . Then , with the Pope’s blessing, the Holy Roman Empire was born with Charlemagne as its rightful leader.

 Under his influence, there was a transformation of society as Charlemagne revised government, military, religious and social

 practices, and fiscal policy .

 The Carolingian Renaissance was a time of significant change as the vision of Charlemagne transformed western culture. It is recorded in history as the first of the three significant medieval transformations responsible for advancing the arts, culture, and human endeavour . It universally metamorphosised literature, artistic excellence, architectural, legal, and religious studies . It reinvented the social and moral code throughout the Holy Roman Empire.

 Changing ideas and ideals were enthusiastically adopted amongst those who were part of the religious or social elite. At the same time, the new morality was visited on those of lesser status increasingly throughout the Empire. Those in positions of power in the courts of the Carolingian domicile of Francia and those religious superiors applied their efforts and energy to educational and cultural advances.

 They developed writing skills and promoted a shared Latin language. They set about preserving religious and classical texts copying them and encouraging everyday communication. Literature and the arts were essential but at the core of their efforts was a desire to create a higher moral code, a moral regeneration based on a new rationale.

 Education Reform

 Charlemagne eagerly promoted learning throughout his Empire. He celebrated the extraordinary power of education and its potential to shape civilisation. He exalted literature, architecture, and art . Above all, his cultural and educational renaissance defined his rule and not his bloodied triumphs. His victories were more than military conquests. They were opportunities to spread a new culture of instruction and enquiry radiating from his Francian centre.

 As the Empire expanded, Charlemagne absorbed learning from many cultures.

 His military success gave him access to the finery of Anglo-Saxon metalwork and art to the luxury of Moorish architecture. As King of the Lombards, he embraced their cultural attributes. The emperor refined and administered cultural change taking the best from what he found around him .

 Charlemagne promoted scriptoria (copywriting) and translation and documentation of religious scripts into Latin in monasteries. Many of the earliest texts that remain today are those of the Carolingians. The modern library of Latin works can be dated back directly to the emperor and his advisors. Charlemagne eagerly gathered many of the finest minds in the kingdom. He counted amongst his intellectual mentors, theological advisor Alcuin of York, and later Theodulf of Orléans; the historian and poet of Lombardy Paul the Deacon; grammarian and poet Peter of Pisa, the scholar and theologian Paulinus of Aquileia; the Frankish poet Angilbert; Germanic bishop and scholar Angilram; Frankish statesman, close advisor, and eminent writer Einhard and bishop Waldo of Reichenau. Charlemagne was not aloof in his attitude to learning.

 His insistence on learning applied to himself and his family as well as all those attending his court. Going against convention for a leader , Charlemagne studied arithmetic, grammar, and his favourite: astronomy .

 Even in old age, he was learning to write even though he never quite mastered it, and we will never know whether he was ever able to read.

 Economic Reform

 The Carolingian Renaissance under the leadership of Charlemagne also radicalised the economy.

 Stemming from the work of Charlemagne’s father, Pepin the Short, and in collaboration with King Offa of Mercia, Charlemagne understood the need for reform. He saw that ruling a kingdom with a multitude of different currencies was chaotic and far too demanding.

 Charlemagne realised that the old gold standard would no longer serve his needs.

 After all, to secure peace, he had been forced to hand over Venice and Sicily to the Byzantines and had lost significant trade routes to Africa.

 He set about abolishing the fiscal system based on the gold sou. He replaced it with the new livre, a Carolingian measure for both money and weight and with the denier. There were 20 sous in one livre and 240 in a denier (a counting system that survived well into the modern period).

 Charlemagne formalised his new monetary system in several edicts and new conventions.

 In the Capitulare de Vilis in 802, he overhauled accounting and set firm rules for payments and expenses. In 814, the emperor banned lending money for interest. Alongside in 814, he introduced the Capitulare of the Jews, which denied Jews their traditional role as official money lenders.

 The act was not hostile to Jews, who were respected in the Empire. Instead, it supported the religious beliefs of most of its citizens. He also set up systems to control prices and taxes on goods and supplies.

 Church Reform

 Carolingian renaissance balanced the influence of the courts and subjugation of authority to the church. So too in his reforms Charlemagne showed equal conviction to secular and religious protocol. His wish in uniting church and state was for nothing less than to strengthen the purity and decency of all citizens.

 Charlemagne toughened the power base of the church, insisting on the morality of the clergy, their practices, and the exercise of faith. He sanctioned an ambitious programme of church reform specifying the accepted doctrines, controlling ownership of property, and defining acceptable behaviours. The emperor sought to dispel paganism and apply faith. He led extensive and severe moral and ethical reform, which for the most part, was supported by the clergy.

 Political and Administrative Reform Charlemagne transformed the political and administrative climate throughout his realm . The change was accelerated and enhanced after he was crowned Emperor. He required a system to support his elevated status. Based in Aachen, he replaced Merovingian fractured processes with pioneering central government, responsible practices, and structured, effective bureaucracy.

 As ruler of the most extraordinary western realm since the Romans, Charlemagne ultimately exercised absolute sovereign rule. He built a system throughout his kingdom that supported and endorsed his authority over political and judicial matters. He inspired with appeals to loyalty and the provision of efficient systems and protocol.

 He commanded the patronage of nobles, priests, and citizens.

 Emperor Charlemagne

 adopted the “bannum ”, investing ultimate political and legislative authority to himself.

 Church and Nobility were organized around him, but this depended on the efficiency, loyalty and support of those he ruled over.

 In the critical areas of governance, the emperor endorsed the missatica system , in which his envoys could supervise administration in areas too remote for him to visit; they were the “eyes, ears, and tongue of the emperor”.

 He also implemented the “itinerant household ” that allowed him to move his government with him into key areas when needed, instead of relying on a capital city.

 Charlemagne overhauled local administration with the introduction of the scabini, professional experts on the law that were obliged to know every national law, so that all men could be judged according to it.

 Every count had the assistance of seven scabini.

 Judges were to use sworn inquests to establish facts and were banned from taking bribes.

 To make administration more efficient , Charlemagne subdivided parts of his kingdom into Austrasia, Neustria, and Burgundy .

 These were the “inner core” of his realm, under direct supervision of the missatica system and the itinerant household. Beyond these areas was the Frankish “regna”, governed by Prince Pepin in Italy and Prince Louis in Aquitaine, where administrative duties were delegated to the counts. Further out were the marcher areas, the frontier territories of Brittany, Spain, and Bavaria, administered by powerful, often autonomous governors. Further still were areas that were dependencies and tributaries at one time or another, not under control of the central government.

 On top of this administrative division was the uniform judicial system that we talked about earlier, aimed at creating national consistency. Central to this harmonised system were the missatica and scabini, and the system was strengthened by 802 AD with the amended Salic law.

 Finally , to centralize power,

 Charlemagne called the Placitum Generalis on average three times a year, while Marchfield was held between the months of March and May and dealt primarily with military matters.

 All men of stature within the empire were obliged to attend. Those present declared their support for the emperor and the empire. In these meetings, Charlemagne’s views were made known and taken back across the realm. Military operations and problems within the empire were discussed, legislative and judicial law was created and the officials of the Empire transcribed the proceedings in the text into chapters (or capitulares). These were then marked with the signature and seal of Charlemagne.

 It was during these meetings that the early foundations were laid for many aspects of the modern western way of life.

 In summary, Charlemagne is known for his many reforms, including the economy, education, and government administration.

 His rule ushered in the Carolingian Renaissance, a period of spirited cultural and intellectual activity within the Western church.

 He focused intently on scholarship and the promotion of liberal arts at the court, making sure that his children and grandchildren were well educated, and had studied himself.

 Charlemagne established a new monetary standard, as well as a universal accounting system.

 He expanded church reform and

 strengthened its power structure, improving the skill and moral quality of the clergy, standardizing liturgical practices, improving on the basic tenets of the faith and moral, and rooting out paganism.

 Charlemagne’s improvements on governance have been lauded by historians for instigating increased central control, efficient bureaucracy, accountability, and cultural renaissance.