How The Holy Roman Empire
Became Prone To Viking Attack
800: Pope Crowned Charlemagne Emperor
of the West. We haven’t had an emperor in
the West since Romulus Augustulus
Charlemagne tried to
bring the West back to
the way it was in the good
old days (right after the
edict of Milan).
He tried to bring about a
kind of a renaissance.
Many people believe that
during his life, he did
bring about a mini
renaissance.
He was a powerful leader
and a great defender of
the Church.
Who Was Charlemagne?
• “In 782,
Charlemagne
allegedly had 4500
Saxons beheaded at
the Massacre of
Verden”
Charlemagne’s Empire: Small in
comparison to the Muslim Empire
CHARLEMAGNE FORCED US
SAXONS TO CONVERT TO
CHRISTIANITY
Charlemagne Had 3 Sons
--Louis the Pius, Pepin & Charles-Louis was Crowned (by the pope) as Co-Emperor
I AM CO-EMPEROR
WITH MY DADDY
Louis was to become the next Holy Roman
Emperor
After Charlemagne Died…
• Emperor Louis then
divided the empire
between his 3 sons—
Lothair, Louis II and
Pepin.
• Lothaire became CoEmperor with his dad
Louis, ruling the
middle part of the
empire
But Emperor Louis the Pious
Married Again…the Beautiful Judith
HE BETTER GIVE PART
OF THE EMPIRE TO THE
NEW SON I WILL GIVE
HIM
(I CAN SEE INTO THE
FUTURE).
When Judith’s Baby Boy Was
AS EMPEROR, I WILL
Born…
CERTAINLY GIVE LAND TO
OUR BABY CHARLES
(EVEN THOUGH
TECHNICALLY, I KNOW HIS
BROTHERS WON’T LIKE IT)
SEE DO I CARE…
JUST GIVE MY
CHARLES HIS SHARE
OF THE EMPIRE
But Louis’ Original Sons Didn’t Want Their Portion
of the Empire To Be Taken From Them
DUDE, WHAT’S
DAD DOING
WITH OUR
INHERITANCE?
• Pepin
TAKING LAND
FROM
US…GIVING
IT TO HIS
NEW “SON”
LET’S JOIN
FORCES
AND
ATTACK
DAD
POPE INTERVENES
LOUIS’ SONS
ARE WHAT?
OMG…THE MUSLIMS
AND VIKINGS WILL
COME SOON
THESE FRANKS
SHOULD BE
DEFENDING
THEIR EMPIRE,
***AND***
DEFENDING THE
PAPAL STATES
I GOTTA GO
TALK TO
LOUIS
The “Field of Lies”
• Pope had a meeting with
the Emperor close to the
battle field
• While they were talking,
Louis’ 3 sons were trying to
convince Louis’ army (In the
field) to leave Louis
• They promised to give them
whatever they wanted.
• The spot is called the Field
of Lies.
• Louis came out and his
army was gone!!
• Louis surrendered.
Er….
Where’d My
Army Go?
YOUR
ARMY
TOTALLY
DISSED
YOU
• Louis the Pious’ Army
Disappeared
MY 3 SONS
CONQUERED ME!
HOW AM I GOING TO
TELL JUDITH?
GUESS I’M GOING
TO HAVE TO SEND
THIS IMPERIAL
CROWN TO
LOTHAIRE, THE
NEW EMPEROR
PRETTY COOL BEING THE
SOLE EMPEROR
MY BROTHERS MUST
OBEY ME
I’VE GOT THE POWER
I SHALL DIVIDE MY
SECTION OF THE
EMPIRE AMONG MY 3
SONS
I THINK THE
WHOLE
EMPEROR
THING IS GOING
TO LOTHIRE’S
HEAD
YEA…HE IS TOTALLY
SPAZING OUT…
HE BETTER TREAT US
WELL…OR WE MIGHT
HAVE TO GO BACK TO
DAD
Vikings Attack!!!
(Feudal System Grows In Response)
• The Vikings came from
Scandinavia
• They first went to
England and then
invaded Europe (just as
the Germanic tribes had
done before them).
• When the Vikings would
attack, the ordinary folk
would seek refuge from
the local lord.
• They worked for the lord
in return for protection.
• This is known as the
feudal system.
• So, basically, Europe
went from experiencing a
mini renaissance, to
being a feudal society.
Viking Attack:
Migration of the Nations, take 2
Viking Raids Targeted The Church
• Vikings used their
longboats to get into
the heart of Europe
Vikings Target Monasteries
• Vikings Targeted
Monasteries
• Burned the Christian
Books
• Vikings Then
Destroyed and
Burned Monasteries
• Important
manuscripts
destroyed
Vikings Killed At Will
• Killed Whoever Got In
Their Way
• Killed Priests and
Religious
• Raped and Killed
Nuns
CONQUERING THE
WESTERN EMPIRE IS A
PIECE OF CAKE…
IT’S SO SWEET BEING
A VIKING!!!
WE GET TO KILL
PEOPLE, DESTROY
STUFF, RAPE, STEAL
CHRISTIAN TREASURE,
BURN, AND DRINK ALL
WE WANT
THE WESTERN ROMAN
EMPIRE HAS NO
CENTRALIZED ARMY AND
LOUIS’ BROTHERS ARE
TOO DISTRACTED WITH
INHERITANCE ISSUES
I HEAR THE MUSLIMS ARE
ATTACKING THE EMPIRE
FROM THE SOUTH…
THAT JUST MAKES THINGS
EASIER FOR US
Vikings Loved Raiding England and
Ireland For Their Christian Riches!
• Monks buried Their
Treasures In Fields,
only to be found
hundreds of years
later.
• Undiscovered
treasures remain
Frequent Viking Raids
• Even Russia Got Hit
• Vikings even made it
to Constantinople
(800s), where they
saw images being
destroyed (again)
• The pope was aware
that iconoclasm was
again taking root in
the Eastern Empire
In 843 Vikings Broke into Nantes
(France) Cathedral During High Mass
• Killed Everyone in
Attendance
• Burned the Cathedral
To the Ground
• Then Looted the
Entire City
• The Vikings were
hardly ever defeated
843--Some Good News In The East…
• Empress Theodora
• Another Great
Woman Saves The
Day
LET US RESTORE THE USE OF HOLY
IMAGES IN THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE
845—Easter Sunday
• 120 longboats sail up
the Seine and destroy
Paris
WHILE THE BYZANTINE
EMPIRE DESTROYS
IMAGES…
WE DESTROY PARIS,
NANTES, AND PRETTY MUCH
ANYTHING WE WANT
846 Muslims Attack Rome!!!
• The One and only time in
history the Muslims take
Rome
• Destroyed St. Peter’s
Basilica and St. Paul’s
• Took away the treasures
from St. Peters, including
the alter stone covering
St. Peter’s bones
• The Muslim ship
however, was destroyed
by a storm of Sicily and
all the treasure sunk to
the bottom of the sea
NOT EASY BEING POPE IN THE
EARLY 800s
THE VIKINGS
WHAT’S
HAPPENING
TO THE
WESTERN
EMPIRE??
ARE
DESTROYING
BENEDICTINE
MONASTERIES
IF ONLY
CHARLEMAGNE’
S GRANDSONS
WERE LIKE HIM
THE EMPIRE IS NOT
UNIFIED ENOUGH TO
DEFEND THE CHURCH
• Pope St. Leo IV was in Rome when Muslims Attacked
THIS FEUDAL SYSTEM (aka: Nounified-imperial-army-system)
DOESN’T REALLY HELP THE
CHURCH FOSTER UNITY AND
PEACE
St. Ansgar Was Sent To Convert
The Vikings
• He went to Viking
Lands and started
Churches etc.
• But the Christian
presence in
Scandinavia was
pretty weak