How The Holy Roman EmpireBecame 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

Louis was to become the next Holy Roman Emperor

I AM CO-EMPEROR WITH MY DADDY

After Charlemagne Died…

• Emperor Louis then divided the empire between his 3 sons—Lothair, Louis II and Pepin.

• Lothaire became Co-Emperor 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 Born…AS EMPEROR, I WILL

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

• Pepin

DUDE, WHAT’S DAD DOING WITH OUR

INHERITANCE? TAKING LAND FROM US…

GIVING IT TO HIS NEW

“SON”

LET’S JOIN FORCES

AND ATTACK

DAD

POPE INTERVENES

LOUIS’ SONS ARE WHAT?

THESE FRANKS SHOULD BE DEFENDING

THEIR EMPIRE, ***AND***

DEFENDING THE PAPAL STATES

I GOTTA GO TALK TO

LOUIS

OMG…THE MUSLIMS AND VIKINGS WILL

COME SOON

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.

• Louis the Pious’ Army Disappeared

Er….

Where’d My Army Go?

YOUR ARMY

TOTALLY DISSED

YOU

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

IT’S SO SWEET BEING A VIKING!!!

WE GET TO KILL PEOPLE, DESTROY

STUFF, RAPE, STEAL CHRISTIAN TREASURE, BURN, AND DRINK ALL

WE WANT

CONQUERING THE WESTERN EMPIRE IS A

PIECE OF CAKE…

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

• Pope St. Leo IV was in Rome when Muslims Attacked

WHAT’S HAPPENING

TO THE WESTERN EMPIRE??

THE VIKINGS ARE

DESTROYING BENEDICTINE

MONASTERIES

IF ONLY CHARLEMAGNE’S GRANDSONS WERE LIKE HIM

THE EMPIRE IS NOT UNIFIED ENOUGH TO

DEFEND THE CHURCH

THIS FEUDAL SYSTEM (aka: No-unified-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