Chapter 5 5. Crowning the Barbarian

The barbarians united by the Pope were the Franks. Frank is a branch of the Germans, and the Germans are the "five Hus" of the ancient Roman Empire, but the countries they established are older than our sixteen countries, and the Visigothic Kingdom is even older than the Northern Wei Dynasty. long.But the most prosperous of the Germanic kingdoms was Frank. The story of this kingdom has already been told in the twelfth volume of the history of China, "Southern Dynasties, Northern Dynasties".Their success is due to three things, that is, the establishment of the fiefdom system, the conversion to Christianity, and the realization of Romanization.As a result, Frank became a super-feudal kingdom and served as a barrier against the penetration of Islam into Europe.

The Pope appears weak. In fact, poor Rome has been almost a lonely city since the fall of the Western Roman Empire.With Constantinople out of reach and self-sufficient, the pope had to raise his own funds to raise troops and bribe the Lombards.Those former barbarians are close at hand, and they are always watching. In 754 AD, the year before the Anshi Rebellion broke out, the Lombards finally attacked Rome.Pope Stephen II's bribery to the Lombard king was ineffective, and his appeal to the Byzantine emperor for help was fruitless. He had to wear the icon of Christ, lead the priests and believers in a procession barefoot, and pray to God.Finally, when even that failed, the Pope made a historic move.

Yes, he decided to turn to the Frankish Kingdom for help. At this time, the ruler of the Frankish Kingdom was Pepin.Pepin the Dwarf was the son of Charles the Hammer (Charles Martel), and his position was chancellor.The Minister of the Palace is the head of the court, but in the era of Charles Martel, he has become the de facto ruler.In fact, Charlie Matt was also Frank's Cao Cao. The establishment of the feudal system was his masterpiece, and he won the title of Matt (Iron Hammer) for defeating the Arabs' attack.Therefore, Pepin is also very willing to turn himself into Cao Pi. In 751 AD, through the procedure of the noble meeting, the Frankish puppet king abdicated the throne to Pepin, and the Pope at the time expressed his blessing.He sent envoys to anoint the new king.When the holy liquid was poured on Pepin's head, no one thought that a new era had actually come.

First came the Papal States. The Papal States were actually Pepin's reward.This is not only because the previous pope sent someone to anoint the ceremony, but also because the new pope Stephen braved the cold wind and heavy snow, and appeared in front of him over the Alps.This was the first time that the Pope set foot on Frankish territory since the establishment of the Holy See. Of course, it was an unexpected surprise and extraordinary encouragement to the former barbarians, and Pepin couldn't help but be very excited. Undoubtedly, His Excellency the Pope had actually come to ask for help, and Pepin just happened to ask for help.His nation is discriminated against, and his throne is also unknown. All these need to be rectified, and moreover, they need God's blessing.Therefore, before usurping the throne, Pepin sent envoys to Rome to ask the pope to instruct who should be king.

Popes immediately realized that this was an opportune time to assert their authority, since it meant they had the prerogative of deposing monarchs.Of course, Stephen II understood the pros and cons better, so he personally re-coronated Pepin, announcing that God had given Frank to the new king, and also bestowed the title of Roman nobleman on his two sons.In this way, the two upstarts also have the obligation to defend the holy city. Pepin, who was grateful for his gratitude, decided to reciprocate. In 754 and 756, he led his troops to the south twice, beating the Lombards to the ground and completely surrendering.Pepin generously donated the fat spit out by the Lombards to the Pope, and a large area of ​​the Italian peninsula belonged to the Roman Church, thus establishing the Papal State with the unity of politics and religion.

This is of course what Byzantium did not want to see.In their view, these lands belonged to the Empire, not the Church.However, the Pope lost no time in presenting an apparently forged document, claiming that it was merely fulfilling Constantine's promise.For this lie, Constantinople could only remain silent.Because they know very well that it is not a wise choice to anger the Pope or anger Pepin. Next, is the Charlemagne Empire debut. Charlemagne's empire was founded by Pepin's son Charles.This king reigned for forty-six years, fought fifty-three times, destroyed Lombard, repelled Arabia, conquered Saxony (a branch of the Saxons), defeated Avar, and almost doubled the territory. The people were converted to Christianity, so they were called Charlemagne, meaning Charlie the Great, or Charlemagne.

The great Charles was no longer content to be just a king, not to mention that the territory of his kingdom already included part of today's France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Austria, Italy and Spain. Isn't this an empire? The coronation is a matter of time, all that is needed is timing. The time will come.In 799 AD, Pope Leo III was deposed by the Roman nobles because of his unpopularity. He fled to Frank alone and defected to Charlemagne.Charlemagne knew very well that one of the reasons why Leo III was deposed was that he got too close to himself.Therefore, in the second year, he personally led the troops to escort the pope back to the country, and helped him to the holy throne again, and he accompanied the pope through the long winter in Rome.

The Pope decided to repay the favor. On Christmas Eve in 800 AD, St. Peter's Basilica in Rome was brightly lit, and solemn hymns echoed in the dome.When Charlemagne knelt down to pray, the pope walked softly to his side and placed a magnificent crown on his head.Immediately afterwards, the priests and believers cheered in unison: Charles Augustus, the great and gentle emperor crowned by God, live forever! Another Roman emperor was born. Charlemagne was taken aback by the sudden drama, and even tried to stop the Romans from cheering.Apparently, he hadn't been informed of the Pope's plans in advance, so he was a little overwhelmed by the tiara, which was indeed what he wanted.

In any case, the Kingdom of the Franks has now become the Empire of Charlemagne.It's just that this name is just like the Byzantine Empire, and it is also the name of later generations. The official name at that time was the Roman Empire.In other words, from that moment on, there were two Roman empires, two Roman emperors, just like Eastern Rome and Western Rome. But why Rome and not Frank? There are three reasons. First of all, just as the Five Hus in China all identified with China and claimed to be the emperor of China after establishing their political power, the Greeks and Germans at that time also identified with Rome, as long as they had lived in the Roman civilization circle or converted to Christianity.Those who disagree are outsiders, such as Persians or Arabs.Looking at it this way, Rome deserves to be a great civilization that has influenced the world, with its own tradition and context.

Secondly, in the circle of Roman civilization, only those who have won the title of Augustus are emperors (Caesar is vice-emperor), and their country is also an empire.Otherwise, they can only be called kings, and their country can only be called kingdoms, just like the leader of the Hu people can only be called khan, and the country can only be called khanate.Parthia and Arabia, whose head of state was not named Augustus, were also called empires. This is what historians of later generations said, and the Romans did not recognize it, just as Emperor Sui Yang would not consider the Japanese emperor as emperor.

Third, the title of Augustus is similar to that of the Son of Heaven in China.Those who called the Son of Heaven were all Chinese emperors, and those who called Augustus were of course also Roman emperors.Even the title of vice-emperor Caesar is still used, and the Russian tsar means Caesar.At this point, it no longer matters whether Augustus or Caesar spoke Latin or Slavic.Think about it, didn't the Byzantines only speak Greek? Therefore, the pope crowned Charlemagne and called him Augustus, which is very significant.This not only means acknowledging that the Franks belong to the circle of Roman civilization and can become the leader of the Roman world, but also expresses a clear intention-if the church must be attached to a certain emperor, then the object of Rome's allegiance will change from Byzantium to Frank. Although the emperors of the two empires were not actually Romans. At this time, the Byzantines were extremely frustrated and painful, but they could only face reality.Therefore, despite many people's insistence that barbarians and foreigners are not suitable for the post of emperor, after repeated weighing, Constantinople finally recognized Charlemagne's emperor title and recognized him as "Emperor of the Romans". Since then, both "Roman Empires" have their own way to go.The Charlemagne Empire will give birth to three new countries: France, Germany and Italy, and the Byzantine Empire will come out of the trough and achieve revival.Now, our eyes must turn to Arabia, to the rising new empire, new religion and new civilization.Because only by seeing their ins and outs clearly can we understand Datang better.

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