1,260 years of popery

7. Charlemagne

Western Europe: 774 AD | Charles had become the sole ruler of the Franks since his brother Carloman had died, and that was in 771. He had earlier just divorced his new wife, the daughter of the Lombard king, which naturally upset him. But what can he do about Charles' marriage with an Alemanni girl named Hildegard?

Charles spent much of his first year fighting the German Saxons north of the Rhine. He had wrecked their pagan wooden pillar to show that his religion (Roman Christianity) had conquered the pagan Saxons' religion.

Last year, King Charles of the Franks crossed the Alps with his loyal soldiers and prepared to fight the Lombards. So the former allies meet in the north of Italy. But then the Franks bested the Lombards, and after a year of siege, Desiderius, king of the Lombards, submitted. Charles sent him to a monastery up north in Frankish territory.

This year, he claims the Lombard crown, which is made of gold and precious stones, and has an iron band that—as tradition affirms—was beaten from one of the nails used in Jesus' crucifixion centuries ago. Now the Lombards are no longer independent. They evaporate from the map.

Four years from now, Charles would try to make accords with the Muslims in Spain, but it would end in catastrophe and would result in some of his intimate friends getting killed—one of which would get a French song some centuries from now, the popular Song of Roland.

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789 AD | Charles calls for reform in education throughout his realm. Learning in literature, the arts, and grammar advances. He reforms the liturgy. Now secular and church officials can write Latin better. Charles himself knows Latin, Greek, and the current build of French.

It appears he's trying to restore the glories of the old Roman Empire. And indeed, he has done some contributions to the Rome-ruled lands. Some.

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Eastern Frankish Camp: 799 AD | Charles, king of the Franks, opposes drunkenness... and hates icons. Despite the Bishop of Rome guaranteeing that icons are not "graven images", Charles is not convinced. So the fact that in Constantinople there's a usurper on the Emperor's throne—and a woman, no less—but also venerates icons upsets him further.

The present Pope is a certain Leo III, who was elected in 795, and "Charles the Great" sent him congratulations and some treasures, and he pledged to protect the Pope.

Now, the year being 799, Charlemagne obtains news from Rome. Now Pope Leo III is in danger, and Charlemagne has the chance to make good his promise.

Leo is unpopular, not being an aristocrat. On April 25, he was on a procession in a religious cortege when suddenly armed men assailed him, knocking him down. His enemies accuse him of adultery, of making false oaths, and of falsehood in selling indulgences—religious "quick-way-to-heaven" tokens that ensure the one who buys them would evade either the eternal hell or the temporary purgatory.[There is no Scriptural evidence for the existence of purgatory (at least for the Jewish canon of the Old Testament). Catholicism adjusted this out of their logic: people who sinned and confessed should pay for those sins (penance). If they did not settle for all their sins by the time of death, then they pay for it in purgatory. Later they would go to heaven. Protestants reject this doctrine as not biblical.]

The Pope nearly got his eyes and tongues cut out, but he was rescued and sent to Charlemagne, who is currently in a camp up north of Italy. The Frankish king receives him with high honor. Pope Leo III asks for his foes to be driven from Rome.

Charlemagne takes his time to think about whether this would be politically correct. Some of his officials, after all, do not believe the Pope is guiltless of these charges. But eventually, he rules that the position of the Pope has to be ironclad. Besides, the king is now the only protector of the Church at this time, for the Byzantines are ruled by a corrupt woman.