CH1-04 Middle Ages and Roman Catholic Theology

Who was Charlemagne and what was his impact on the church?

Well, Charlemagne was probably the most important political leader of the entire early Middle Ages, and maybe the entire Middle Ages in the West. He was really an extraordinary individual who is very difficult to put into a box and describe. He was a man who really helped consolidate Europe and bring unity to much of Europe. And sometimes that was done by way of wars, but other ways he did it were more peaceful. And Charlemagne is probably perhaps most well known to many students of church history as someone who really ushered in this age of Christendom, this joining of church and state. And, of course, he’s famously crowned emperor in the year 800 by the pope, and so you see the church and state coming together with Charlemagne. But what a lot of people don’t realize about Charlemagne is he ushered in an entire renewal of culture and learning during his time, and it’s called the Carolingian Renaissance. And he was the leader of the Carolingian Empire at the time. That’s why it’s called the Carolingian Renaissance, or rebirth of culture. And so, this is a time of great learning and education, and this brought into his empire, which is in central Europe — modern day France and Germany. And what he did was he made monks more literate, he made monks learn Latin. And so, monks at this time then became more literate, and they were able to read the Bible in Latin, they were able to understand the church fathers and read them in Latin, and they’re able to become more educated. They become the educated class as a result. And so, this whole class of, and groups of, monks became the educated class throughout Europe, and it really elevated the status of, not just monasticism, but Christianity throughout Europe. And you see with Charlemagne a number of reforms in the church, and you see a number of different contributions to culture. He changes the way people write in Latin. The introduction of Carolingian miniscule, or lower-case letters, spaces, and punctuation, things like that that didn’t exist before; you see this now. And so, reading and writing and communicating become much easier during this time with Charlemagne. And he ushers in a number of liturgical reforms as well and has a big impact on music in the early Middle Ages as well.