Carlo Magno and Medieval Europe
Introduction.
Roman Fuentes aim to date between the third and centuries. Conscious of the natural belligerence of these warriors, Rome pact with them a mutual benefit, thus slowing down, the thrust of other Germanic tribes (barbarians) that forced them to defend themselves against the constant attacks on the borders of the Roman Empire of the West.
Between 481 and 511 D. c. The first stage of the Franks is dated. These were divided into a series of tribes, being the salt, the most significant. The first important leader of this town will be Clodoveo I, because he was able to combine all the power proclaiming his only leader. It is known that he was grandson of the legendary Meroveo, who is told that he was conceived of a marine creature, and also, the one who created and gave name to a new dynasty, merovingia. His reign was characterized by a territorial expansion that reached all the Roman dioceses in Gaul. It is possible to say in this regard, that his rise to power was after the last Roman emperor was deposed.
This new king found in the Church a great ally that would serve as fundamental support in all his exploits, both war and political. Thus, it could be said that both institutions managed the situation well, because they benefited from that tacit pact, since the church would also find strong support in the monarch, so that she also could be reinforced in the change of power that wasI was engendering throughout the Roman Empire.
Developing.
During these years are the most representative battles of the reign of Clodoveo I, among which are: the battle of Soissons of the year 486, in which he got the bordering territories located between the Somme and Loira rivers to become part of theterritories belonging to the Franks;The Battle of Tolbiac, in which he defeated the alamans;and the most representative, the battle of Vouillé of the year 507, in which as a result the total expansion of the Gaul of the Visigothic kingdom of Tolosa was achieved.
In internal policy, the king’s goal was to reach the acceptance of galorroman populations about their domination and that of his people, for which, he installed the capital of the kingdom in Paris, which had previously been imperial residence, which meant returning tolink with the Roman tradition. The Emperor of the East, Anastasio, granted him the titles of Consul and Patricio from the Romans. Another important fact to highlight was the conversion of Clodoveo to Catholicism, because it was what made his reign triumph and prosper in the way he did. This considerably increased the prestige of the Franca monarchy, supported by the political and moral power of the Church.
COURT
The role of the royal court was very important, since it was established in the Roman manner and allowed to organize the personal disciplines of the reign. In this way, the charges were distributed: the Comes (Conde) for the most prominent officials;others, such as Treasurer, Secretary or Administrator, were distributed with the rest of the minor rank officials. However, the most prominent and appetizing position of the entire Court Merovingia corresponded to that of the Palace butler, the most important server of the king.
Due to the proximity to the monarch, from the seventh century, the holders of this position began to obtain a more than enough influence to be able to handle the king at will, especially when it came to cases in which the kingIt was minor. In this way, some managed to become the true rulers of the kingdom.
At the death of Clodoveo, the immense empire was divided into three parts, each governed by his three children, because one died shortly. The Empire continued its greatness and even got permanent access to the Mediterranean. However, only one of the sons of Clodoveo survived, this was the clotary king I, at whose death, the empire was also distributed among their children, but this could not stop the progressive fall of the merovingia dynasty. Years later, in 638, with the death of Dagoberto (one of Clotario’s children), a time of dominance of palace butlers will begin, because their children (Sigiberto II and Clodoveo II) were minors, and afterSeveral intestine struggles, Carlos Martel will appear, predicting the rise to the throne of Carlomagno.
Carlos Martel and the ascent of Carlos
Carlos Martel, nicknamed the hammer, was an illegitimate son of Pipino de Heristal (nicknamed the young man) who stood out for his battles against the frisios and who would in turn, father of Pipino III and, therefore, the grandfather of Charlemagne.Carlos Martel, who never had his father’s appreciation and much less with his approval, knew how to surround himself with a meticulously selected staff, so he could place very trained people in the key positions of the Government. Also, to stop the desires of the frank nobility, always longing for power and wealth, he granted them gold, and above all lands, which were stripped of the immense heritage of the Church.
In 768, Pipino III died, the brief. In this way, he bequeathed his kingdom to his two children, Carlos and Carloman. Carlos inherited the territories of Austrasia, Neustria and Aquitaine, while Carloman, the territories of Aquitaine Interior, Septimania, Alamania, Alsacia, Provence and Burgundy. All territories inherited by Carlos were the most complicated to maintain, which led him to have to face numerous rebellions and grow as an effective warrior.His brother Carloman died in 711 leaving his children to face the throne by the direction, which Carlos knew howHe quickly seized him. At this time, the Carolingian Empire begins.
CAROLINGIAN EMPIRE
Its foreign policy can be summed up in that its objective was to recover the lost glory of the Roman Empire from which it was believed heir. And Carlos got it with his great military skill, facing, among others, the Saxons, the Avaros and the Lombards. His greatest feat was the arrest of Muslim advance, creating the "Hispanic brand".
The main characteristics of his reign were an economy based, fundamentally, on agriculture. This is because trade ceased to be relevant due to the military advance of Islam, which prevented the development of trade, closing very productive routes through the Mediterranean. On the other hand, it is interesting to make an overview of the Frankish combatants, since, due to the continuous struggles, it was forcedmen who were asked to submit under oath to show fidelity to the king.
Moreover, not only was he sanctioned with great amounts to those who did not go to the call, but the death penalty was imposed on the deserters. In addition, curiously, as they were required to contribute their own weapons, they could find soldiers dressed in dimensions of meshes, shields, spears and swords, while others defended themselves with garrotes and deep. Despite this, they were all free men who made them available to the nobles.
It is possible to say that the good work and the political skill of Carlos maintained a strong connection with the Church and the Papacy, a work that will allow him to become Emperor of Rome in the year 800. Fourteen years later he would die, leaving the throne to his son Luis, who was characterized by his inability to impose his authority. Consequently, the enemies of his father acted at this time of weakness of the empire, taking advantage of his fragility of command. Finally, the Carolingian Empire disappeared at the end of the same century, that is, less than a century after Carlomagno died.
CRITICISM
Cristina Durán and David Barreras manage to synthesize in this book the passage of the merovingia dynasty to Carolingia and its intermediates in a successful and correct way, although not so much with the way to transcribe it. If it could already be complicated to imply in texts that deal with this time loaded with kings and changes, the continuous subordination slows the reading that, at times, can make you stop to reread the fragment because of the amount of information compiled inEach phrase.
On the contrary, the topic discussed in the work favors the completion of reading: Carlomagno has always been an enormously studied and full of legends and myths applied over the centuries due to his feats for the defense of his great empire. This set of centuries can be considered as one of the most complex, due to the change of dynasties, government and organization systems. In addition to that it coincides, practically, with the fall of the Roman Empire of the West, whose greatness will pursue Carlomagno in his aspirations to configure his reign. These aspirations will turn this king made to himself, into a hero for France that will be remembered forever.
Charlemagne himself, consciously, made his figure go down in history, because he himself knew that without a cultural basement, he could not be recognized. In this way, the artistic period of the VIII and IX centuries of this empire, the Carolingian Renaissance due to the causal similarities with the Italian rebirth of the fifteenth to the 16th to 16. The use of this name is due to Jean-Jacques Ampère in 1832, philologist and historian . Within this movement the palatal academy emerged, origin of what would be the humanist schools. In addition, it is worth mentioning, its own articles such as Carolina writing (lowercase Carolina or Carolingia), or other works that are circumscribed within the pre -Romanesque.
His life has been idealized for centuries because there are many artistic works, both pictorial and literary, for example, in which their adventures and military feats are narrated, to the point of a mythification that still reaches our day. His person has become chronicles in Latin, as in the Vita Caroli de Eginhard, where the adventures of his youth are reported, before being invested with imperial power.
When the figure of a real person reaches certain limits of popularity, it becomes acclaimed as if it were a God, and each act, as a small and simple one that is becoming legendary. Charlemagne is an epic universal effigy that has fascinated and will continue to do so, because he lived in an era that causes authentic hypnotism, the Middle Ages. In the minds of children there is always a hero, and when he grows up, his memory is not erased and they continue to be attracted to their spell throughout life. It is, therefore, a current and live myth. It is present in innumerable historical films and, still, dead remains the protagonist of its feats, brought to fiction with unequal success.
Conclusions.
Undoubtedly, one of the works that highlights his memory is Roland Chanson. It tells a series of historical facts, clearly deformed, written three centuries after the real event. At this time, he had already given time to emerge the natural transformation of the real character to the legendary character. Although, the main character is not Carlos, but an alleged nephew (Roland), who fought by his side in the battle of Roncesvalles. This work acquired so much notoriety and prestige that it was the most "plagiarized" book in its time.
He gave rise to numerous alternative editions that toured whole Europe, from one to another, making the epic genre fashionable, the famous songs of deeds, which were the origin of the calls, later, cavalry books. Perhaps, thanks to the rise of this movement of Provencal literature, let’s have at our disposal, a wide and varied epic gender work in the Iberian Peninsula: the singing of mine Cid or the Amadís de Gaula, among others, are examples of whatwhich meant the figure of the "hero" in the Middle Ages. We must not forget that the most timeless heroes are almost always those who laughed and cried, won and lost;They were born and died, in short, those who crossed mountains and rivers in the real world, from their memoirs the story feeds.
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