The Carolingian King

The relationship between church and state during the Carolingian Period was one of mutual exploitation. An alliance emerged between Frankish kings and the Catholic Church. Carolingian rulers lent the Church their military might and provided protection from non-Christian threats. In return, the Church gave divine sanction to the Carolingian leaders, providing them with legitimacy through religion. This relationship and the distribution of power between the leaders of the church and state exposed the status and roles of the kings and clergy. Though never taking the title of king for himself, Charles Martel came to rule over all the Frankish kingdom by his death in 741 A.D. Under his leadership, the reunification of Gaul began following the

As his father before him, Charles came to the defense of the Church. In 774, Charlemagne “was induced . . . by the prayers and entreaties of Hadrian I . . . Bishop of the city of Rome, to wage war on the Lombards.” While they had been weakened for a time by the actions of Pepin, the Lombards continued to be a regular threat to the Roman See. Under Charlemagne, the Lombards were eliminated and papal territory expanded. There had been a growing independence between Rome and the eastern empire, but the Lombards threatened the power of the papacy. Charlemagne’s victory over the Lombards, however, destroyed the threat to Rome and papal authority. The papal alliance with the Carolingian empire provided the military might that Rome lacked without threatening the dominance of the Roman

Charles Martel unified the Frankish kingdom, but it was his son, Pepin the Short, who was crowned king of the Franks. In exchange for providing legitimacy for the crown, Pepin provided Rome with military assistance the invading Lombards. However, the Lombards would not be defeated until the rule of Charlemagne. Charles the Great furthered the alliance his father had established with the papacy, and, as a result, was crowned Holy Roman Emperor. He started a series of religious reforms which his son, Louis the Pious would continue. Ultimately, however Louis would fail to keep his empire whole after his death and and the dynasty would begin to