From the desk of the pastor for Aug. 10, 2025

The Lord be with you! Today we examine a ruler of many nations who almost reestablished the Western Roman Empire: King Charles the Great, often referred to as Charlemagne. This brief overview will help us to understand how Germanic traditions kept Europe politically divided.

Born in AD 748 Charles rose to dominate Western Europe as the King of the Franks. A collection of German tribes, the Franks controlled most of (you guessed it) modern-day France, the Low Countries, and western Germany. Charles’s family had come to control the Franks as the mayors of Austrasia and Neustria several generations earlier. These Carolingians were the power behind the king of the Franks, who had no real power by the 700’s. Pepin the Short, Charles’ father, decided that enough was enough and convinced the nobles to recognize himself and his family as the actual kings. They would hold onto their power for centuries.

King Charles the Great was the high water mark of the Carolingians. Supporting the Church in her mission to evangelize and consolidating power under his administration, Charles extended the Franks’ control over some of Spain and northern Italy. Driving the Lombards (another Germanic set of tribes) from power, Charles secured the most important cities of Italy. This full annexation of one Germanic kingdom by another was unheard of and made Charles the most powerful man in Europe. It also secured northern and central Italy for the popes, who saw Charles and the Carolingians as their benefactors.

Fast forward to Christmas Day 800. Charles had just rescued Pope Leo III from his enemies in Rome - Leo had escaped having his tongue and eyes removed. At Christmas morning mass, Pope Leo crowned Charles the “Emperor of the Romans.” For the first time in 325 years there was a man called Emperor in the West. The Eastern Empire refused to recognize his claim on the Western Empire, but they did consider a marriage offer between Charles and Empress Irene in 803. Unfortunately, Irene was deposed and the Carolingian Empire and Byzantine Empire stayed separate.

Although Charlemagne’s son, Louis, kept the Franks together, the realm broke apart after his death into East, Middle, and West Francia in AD 843. The reason for this division was the custom of universal succession. Every male heir gets something and has a potential claim on everything his father had. If that sounds like a recipe for civil wars and political intrigue, it is! Countries came and went as different men (and occasionally women) held different claims and territories.

With the end of the Frankish empire, Europe would lose its best chance to reorganize as a single political entity. Nevertheless, Charles fostered the hope of Europe being united again as it had under Rome. Instead of the Roman Empire disappearing into history, the men and women of power learned how close they had been. All the while the Church was along for the ride.

In His Sacred Heart,
Fr. John