Influence of Charlemagne’s Reign on the Social, Economic, Political, and Religious Structure of Europe

Charlemagne (742-814) was the medieval emperor who ruled much of Western Europe. In 771 Charlemagne became king of the Franks, a Germanic tribe in present-day Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and western Germany. From around the beginning, the seventh century on Europe was in a steady state of decline but the era of Charlemagne marked a turning point in Europe’s history. Charlemagne’s driving mission was to unite all Germanic peoples into one kingdom and convert the people in his kingdom to Christianity. He spent much of his reign engaged in warfare in order to accomplish his goals. The immense territories which Charlemagne came to control became known as the Carolingian empire. Charlemagne was able to accomplish his goals not only by military conquest but with smart use of politics by his alliance with the papacy, in addition to his numerous governmental and religious reforms, to lay the foundation for a strong central government. He united Western Europe, created the Holy Roman Empire, rekindled European economic and political life, and presided over the start of the Carolingian Renaissance. Through his military campaigns, Charlemagne shaped the character of medieval Europe and the emergence of the feudal system which governed Europe until the Renaissance.

Society

Once Charlemagne consolidated his empire, known later as the Holy Roman Empire, he proved to be a talented diplomat and able administrator of the vast empire. His concern for education and the preservation of culture led to a series of sweeping reforms that can to be known as the Carolingian Renaissance. He promoted education and encouraged the Carolingian Renaissance, a period of renewed emphasis on scholarship and culture. He instituted economic and religious reforms and was a driving force behind the Carolingian minuscule, a standardized form of writing that later became a basis for modern European printed alphabets. These reforms improved the culture and literacy throughout his empire. Charlemagne encouraged scholars, many of whom were clergymen or monks, to participate in his government. One of the major reasons for this was to provide an educated clergy that could undertake many of the administrative tasks of government. A second reason, for which an educated clergy was also a necessity, was to ensure the acceptance of orthodox doctrine as well as a uniform liturgy throughout the empire. This use of the clergy in government not only strengthened the Church but assisted in the political task of integrating and centralizing the administration of the empire. Charlemagne implemented legal reforms too enacting laws that took some power away from the nobles and let the peasantry participate in commerce.

Economics

Although the Holy Roman Empire was a source of stability in the early Seventh century and its economy played a big part in that, it was still an underdeveloped economy. Charlemagne worked to establish a balanced economy based on free trade, industry, agriculture, and monetary policy. Charlemagne leveraged a large amount of silver was introduced to the economy through trade with the Norse and Vikings, who had “liberated” large amounts from the Abbasid Empire in the Middle East. The emperor used silver injection into the economy to fund ambitious building projects such as the numerous cathedrals. Charlemagne promoted silver as the standard currency and he also established a uniform system of weights and measures for coins and commodities as part of his monetary reforms. Although this led to a new problem, counterfeiting. To combat this Charlemagne established royal mints and a system by which all coins were minted according to a standard weight, both of which drastically cut down on counterfeiting. These reforms helped to improve commerce and stimulate the economy. Charlemagne realized the importance of developing trade within his realm. The emperor continued with his predecessors’ policies of promoting trade fairs and expanding trade to neighboring kingdoms. Slaves, wine, grains, and handmade goods were exported from the Holy Roman Empire along the Rhine River to the North and Baltic seas, where they arrived in such places to the north as London and Sweden. The trade network helped to revitalize the depressed economic conditions of former Roman territories of the west and north and brought regions such as Scandinavia, which was not part of the Holy Roman Empire, into this new system. Charlemagne also developed a regular trade with the Byzantine Empire to the east and the various Islamic dynasties in North Africa and the Near East. Trade became easier and the continent prospered. Under Charlemagne’s reign, new farming techniques and technologies were introduced that allowed Europe's population to grow. Two of the most important technological advances in farming made during the Carolingian Empire were the invention of the heavy wheeled moldboard plow and the modern horse harness. The importance of these inventions was they helped make farming less labor-intensive, so a farmer could work more land. The three-field crop system was introduced. In the system, farmers would leave every third field fallow to replenish the nutrients in the soil. Farmers learned that the technique was a significant improvement because it allowed them to get two harvests per year, even in the colder climates of the north. The three-field system was so successful that it was common well into modern times and was copied by other societies.

Politics

While Charlemagne introduced governmental reforms throughout the lands he controlled, he kept many of the traditions of the former kingdom that were successful too, blending new and old to form his reign. He emplaced representatives in each region and held a general assembly each year at his court but keeping Frankish tradition, the monarchy was considered a matter of family inheritance, and its administration was founded on feudal oaths of allegiance between the emperor and his vassals. Religion and civil service were intertwined, combining the secular and the religious aspects of kingship. Power and political authority descended from the Emperor's absolute authority to his vassals. In this system, the count, a direct vassal of the Emperor, was the link between central and local government. Each count was in charge of an administrative district or county, which he governed with the help of lesser officials. To keep the counts from becoming too powerful Charlemagne created a group of special envoys, missi Dominici, who inquired into abuses in the kingdom. He also maintained a small group of elite warriors, the vassi Dominici, who acted as his personal attendants and helped him enforce imperial authority. What is most amazing about Charlemagne's rule was that he was able to maintain a centralized government where royal authority was unquestioned, largely through the strength of his own personality. Charlemagne’s reign helped set the feudal system deeply in place. His armies were made of nobles, bound to him by oaths, and granted tracts of land to support themselves and their soldiers.

Religious structures

One of Charlemagne’s driving goals was to unite the land and convert his subjects to Christianity. During this time there was no separation of Church and State and Charlemagne used a combination of secular and religious ideas as a means of furthering unity and integration. In 800, Pope Leo III (750-816) crowned Charlemagne emperor of the Romans, which led to Charlemagne being called the Holy Roman Emperor. Assuming the role as the defender of Christianity, Charlemagne gave money and land to the Christian church and protected the popes. Charlemagne encouraged scholars, many of whom were clergymen or monks, to come to his court and established a new library containing Christian and classical works. Scholarship and literature flourished in this era with a number of Carolingian Benedictine monasteries becoming vibrant centers of learning. Monks at these institutions diligently set about learning classical Latin grammar and rhetoric and copied and preserved for posterity numerous works from classical Rome. Through his many conquests and subsequent reign, he forged his empire and forced the people to convert to Christianity, if they did not get baptized or follow other Christian traditions he declared that they should be put to death. In doing this Charlemagne set a precedent of using military force to promote a religious agenda.

Conclusion

After the fall of the Western Roman, Empire Europe fell into chaos. Its infrastructure crumbled, trade slowed to almost a stop, schools closed, literacy declined, and the government was weak and disengaged from its citizens. Charlemagne’s reign changed this. Charlemagne’s reign influenced the social, economic, political, and religious structure of Europe. His reign spurred the Carolingian Renaissance and helped Europe to weather the Middle Ages, but it also set the conditions for Europe’s future. He gave the commanders of his armies tracts of land that they and their soldiers lived and worked on, a system that later led to the feudal system and serfdom in Europe. In addition, his policy of growing the church with military force set a precedent for later religious wars and Europe’s future involvement in the Crusades.