1 00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:03,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 1: I'm editor Candice Keennor, joined by staff writer Jane McGrath 4 00:00:17,239 --> 00:00:20,400 Speaker 1: either Candice, Hey, Jane. I think it's so much fun 5 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:22,720 Speaker 1: when we get to put on our Saturday Night Live 6 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:28,520 Speaker 1: impressions and say underground Railroad. Neither underground nor railroad, Linda Richmond, 7 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:31,480 Speaker 1: and we have another one for you guys today, the 8 00:00:31,520 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: Holy Roman Empire, which was neither holy nor Roman nor 9 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:38,080 Speaker 1: an empire. Thank you to Voltaire who came up with 10 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:41,839 Speaker 1: the yes. And we actually are going to discuss that ourselves, 11 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:45,040 Speaker 1: so you don't have to discuss it amongst yourselves. So 12 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:48,000 Speaker 1: the Holy Roman Empire should not be confused with the 13 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:51,320 Speaker 1: original Roman Empire, no way. Yeah, but there were a 14 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:53,680 Speaker 1: lot of um parallels. So we're going to talk about 15 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:56,400 Speaker 1: and we're gonna start with the original Roman Empire because 16 00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:58,360 Speaker 1: that's sort of says the stage to the Holy Roman 17 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:01,319 Speaker 1: Empire and eventually the the crux of what we're going 18 00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:04,880 Speaker 1: to be talking about is how certain pope went crying 19 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:08,840 Speaker 1: boo hoo to a certain very powerful landowner and asked 20 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:11,280 Speaker 1: him to save him from the main people who were 21 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:14,040 Speaker 1: trying to galuge his eyes out, and essentially this started 22 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:17,000 Speaker 1: one of the most powerful civilizations in history. So we'll 23 00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:19,280 Speaker 1: eventually beginning to Charlemagne, but first we've got a lot 24 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:21,560 Speaker 1: of background and for for you guys. So if you 25 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:24,959 Speaker 1: know much about Roman history, Constantine took over I think 26 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:27,560 Speaker 1: is the third century, if I'm wrong with that, made 27 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:31,319 Speaker 1: his entire empire Christian. But eventually the whole empire broke up. 28 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:34,240 Speaker 1: And when when that happened, Europe was rather fractured. It 29 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:37,080 Speaker 1: ended up splitting into lots of Germanic tribes and just 30 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:39,480 Speaker 1: tribes all over the place. They weren't like Germany and 31 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:41,960 Speaker 1: France like we know it today, didn't exist at all. Right, 32 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:44,679 Speaker 1: So we have a bunch of different tribes with lots 33 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:47,120 Speaker 1: of different names. We got the Lombards and the Franks, 34 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:50,120 Speaker 1: and the Saxons and all these other Germanic tribes, each 35 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:55,400 Speaker 1: waging their own leadership among various different blocks of people. 36 00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:58,400 Speaker 1: But then over in the east we have a relatively 37 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:03,120 Speaker 1: unified and organized Byzantine Empire. So we have the Byzantine 38 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:06,840 Speaker 1: Empire over to the east, and meanwhile over and around 39 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:09,239 Speaker 1: the Germanic tribes we have this guy named Pep in 40 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:13,720 Speaker 1: the short and he was a powerful Frankish lord despite 41 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:18,000 Speaker 1: his name. Yeah, he was very powerful and um with 42 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:20,680 Speaker 1: his brother he owned he had a lot of land, 43 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:24,680 Speaker 1: and when his brother died, he actually assumed his duties. 44 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:26,920 Speaker 1: He took over the family business, so to say. And 45 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:29,640 Speaker 1: he he had his sight set really high, and he 46 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:32,040 Speaker 1: wanted to depose actually the head of the Franks, the 47 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:35,560 Speaker 1: king of the Franks, and disposed that entire bloodline and 48 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:38,800 Speaker 1: put himself in um Uh instead. And he got a 49 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 1: lot of blessings from people in high places. He was 50 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:44,680 Speaker 1: blessed by bishops and when he did take over, and 51 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:47,560 Speaker 1: so he held a lot of religious cloud at this time. 52 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 1: And not to mention that, eventually he conquered lands that 53 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:54,160 Speaker 1: range from modern day France to Switzerland. So he had 54 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:57,080 Speaker 1: a ton of domain under his thumb. And in the 55 00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:01,000 Speaker 1: winter of seven forty two, his son Charlemagne was born, 56 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:03,359 Speaker 1: and back then he was just called Charles, that's right. 57 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:06,440 Speaker 1: He wasn't great yet. He didn't get that Lemaine until later. 58 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:09,200 Speaker 1: But when he was Charlemagne was still or Charles, i 59 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:12,000 Speaker 1: should say, was the little boy. His father was really powerful, 60 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:14,600 Speaker 1: and he's so powerful and had so many good friends 61 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 1: in the church that the Pope, Stephen the Second turned 62 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:20,480 Speaker 1: to Peppin for help. And this was because the Lombards, 63 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:24,320 Speaker 1: another tribe, was starting to threaten the Pope and his lands, 64 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:28,120 Speaker 1: and so he went to Peppin and asked him to 65 00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:30,160 Speaker 1: protect him. And when he did, Peppin lived up to 66 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:33,560 Speaker 1: his promise. In exchange, the Pope called him the protector 67 00:03:33,639 --> 00:03:36,960 Speaker 1: of the Romans and the land that Pepin took over 68 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:39,840 Speaker 1: from the Lombards actually he turned over to the Pope. 69 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:42,480 Speaker 1: This is called the donation of Peppin, and it became 70 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:45,040 Speaker 1: the basis for the papal states, which are very important. 71 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:48,240 Speaker 1: And this idea of a pope coming to um one 72 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:50,840 Speaker 1: of Peppin's airs and seeking protection as a pattern we're 73 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:53,040 Speaker 1: going to see later with his son, But just to 74 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:57,160 Speaker 1: point out this is really significant. The pope, obviously an 75 00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:01,760 Speaker 1: earthly leader ordained by the highest powers in heaven, coming 76 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:05,720 Speaker 1: to a very very secular leader and asking for assistance. 77 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:08,080 Speaker 1: This is sort of unprecedented, the idea that a man 78 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:11,120 Speaker 1: of God and then a man of the land would 79 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:13,760 Speaker 1: work together like this. It sort of shows a reversal 80 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:15,960 Speaker 1: of powers, or at least a willingness for church and 81 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:18,360 Speaker 1: state to try to work things out together. It's a 82 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:20,479 Speaker 1: very unusual. Yeah, And like you said, this is a 83 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:22,920 Speaker 1: lot of stuff's going to be foreshadowing what Charlemagne does. 84 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 1: When Pepin dies, he leaves his land to his son 85 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:30,720 Speaker 1: Charlemagne and Charlemagne's brother Carliaman. And we should print out 86 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:34,160 Speaker 1: that Charlemagne never really got any formal education and he 87 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:37,800 Speaker 1: was virtually illiterate. However, he did inherit from his father 88 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:40,800 Speaker 1: a really great sense of of leadership. He saw his father, 89 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:44,279 Speaker 1: you know, accomplishing all of these wonderful deeds in his life, 90 00:04:44,279 --> 00:04:46,320 Speaker 1: helping out with the pope of course naturally, and then 91 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:48,360 Speaker 1: conquering all of these lands. So it set him up 92 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:51,800 Speaker 1: for a lifetime I think of warmongering in a son, 93 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:55,120 Speaker 1: but also an idea of diplomacy. Yeah. People historians say 94 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:58,480 Speaker 1: about Charlemanne that he had sort of an innate intellectual curiosity, 95 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:01,760 Speaker 1: even though he didn't have as much book learning as 96 00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:05,040 Speaker 1: uh as he probably would have wanted. And when he 97 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:08,599 Speaker 1: inherited all this land with his brother sibling, rivalry on 98 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:12,680 Speaker 1: set really fast. And he actually Charlemagne actually married a 99 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:15,120 Speaker 1: Lombard princess the Wombards as we said, we're sort of 100 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:18,760 Speaker 1: arrival of the Franks. But um, marrying the princess was 101 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:20,279 Speaker 1: a sort of way to make an alliance with the 102 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:24,600 Speaker 1: Lombards and get an upper hand with against his brother Carlamon, 103 00:05:24,839 --> 00:05:28,160 Speaker 1: when that didn't really matter because Carlaman died seven seventy exactly. 104 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:31,240 Speaker 1: And after Carlamon died, he actually repudiated his marriage with 105 00:05:31,279 --> 00:05:35,000 Speaker 1: the princess. Poor girl. Um did she keep the ring? 106 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:38,480 Speaker 1: I hope so. So at this point Charles got control 107 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:41,960 Speaker 1: over the whole kingdom. He dismissed the claims of his 108 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:44,680 Speaker 1: brother's heirs, and he just sort of took it all 109 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:48,560 Speaker 1: on himself, and he organized an enormous military power, making 110 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:54,279 Speaker 1: enlistment obligatory, organizing soldiers who somehow he made fiercely loyal 111 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:57,159 Speaker 1: to him. And he was focusing a lot of his 112 00:05:57,200 --> 00:05:59,760 Speaker 1: efforts against the Saxons who were to the north, and 113 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:01,960 Speaker 1: he made a lot of enemies very quickly. But he 114 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:04,000 Speaker 1: also gained a lot of strength because he would take 115 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:06,680 Speaker 1: his troops across the Pyrenees and through the East, and 116 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:10,600 Speaker 1: with every maneuver he was getting more land and expanding 117 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:13,159 Speaker 1: his empire and getting more people under his thumb. And 118 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:16,799 Speaker 1: he was sort of known for this really harsh temper too, 119 00:06:16,839 --> 00:06:20,680 Speaker 1: I think. I think one day some Saxons took down 120 00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:23,520 Speaker 1: his soldiers and he got very angry. So all the Saccons, 121 00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:26,359 Speaker 1: thousands that he was keeping prisoner, cut off father heads 122 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:30,320 Speaker 1: and one day, pretty impressive that Charlemagne. So you can 123 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:31,960 Speaker 1: tell he's got a lot of power by this point, 124 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:34,920 Speaker 1: and he's got, like his dad friends in high places. 125 00:06:34,960 --> 00:06:37,520 Speaker 1: He's good friends with the Pope Adrian at the time, 126 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:39,719 Speaker 1: and the Pope was having a lot of problems with 127 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:43,279 Speaker 1: the Lombards again, and uh, in seventeen seventy I'm sorry, 128 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:46,560 Speaker 1: seven seventy two e d um, the Pope turns to 129 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:50,599 Speaker 1: Charlemagne to help him again defend himself from the Lombards, 130 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:54,680 Speaker 1: and the siege lasted about nine months. Charles finally did 131 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:58,080 Speaker 1: conquer Lombards in its capital and became the King of 132 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:02,080 Speaker 1: the Lombards. And in the doing decades, like came to said, 133 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:06,440 Speaker 1: he had all these military campaigns trying to conquer the Saxons, 134 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:10,280 Speaker 1: who were a pagan Germanic tribe, and it took him 135 00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:12,760 Speaker 1: I think thirty years to conquer them. But in addition 136 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:15,880 Speaker 1: to them, he conquered the Arabs and the Avars. To 137 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:19,480 Speaker 1: give you some frame of reference, this incorporated land as 138 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:24,720 Speaker 1: well modern day France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Austria, and pieces 139 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:28,960 Speaker 1: of Germany, Italy, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, in Spain. 140 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:31,520 Speaker 1: I mean, his empire was vast, it was here, it 141 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 1: really wise. So it was no surprise really when Pope 142 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 1: Leo the third came to him seeking help. And to 143 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:41,960 Speaker 1: give you a little bit of background on Leo, he 144 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:44,520 Speaker 1: had a lot of enemies and high places. He was 145 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:47,000 Speaker 1: not very well liked. I don't know if he had 146 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:49,920 Speaker 1: a loose mouth or what. But he had been condemned 147 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:54,920 Speaker 1: of both perjury and adultery and actually imprisoned. But he 148 00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:57,160 Speaker 1: broke out and he thought, if I can just talk 149 00:07:57,240 --> 00:07:59,840 Speaker 1: to Charlemagne and to get him to believe me, the 150 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:03,120 Speaker 1: certainly he will change everyone's minds. So he broke out 151 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 1: a prison and fled to Charlemagne and Charlemagne and Grain 152 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:09,000 Speaker 1: to come to Rome and to talk to everyone and 153 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:11,840 Speaker 1: see if he could absolve Leo's name. And he did, 154 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:15,600 Speaker 1: and then he actually banished everyone who had accused leout 155 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:18,520 Speaker 1: of these crimes. And again I'm notuch sure if he 156 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:21,160 Speaker 1: was falsely accused or justly accused. But if you've got 157 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:23,160 Speaker 1: a friend in that high position of power, does it 158 00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:26,160 Speaker 1: really matter. Yeah, And there were a lot of schisms 159 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:30,080 Speaker 1: or things that were happening to distance the East and 160 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:34,120 Speaker 1: the Eastern Byzantine Empire and though the um Lands to 161 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:36,760 Speaker 1: the West and the Church because Um. Before Leo the 162 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:40,040 Speaker 1: Third came about the Pope reform, Adrian was sort of 163 00:08:40,040 --> 00:08:42,040 Speaker 1: trying to balance the two huge powers against each other, 164 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:43,600 Speaker 1: trying to say sort of out of the flight, not 165 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:47,240 Speaker 1: showing a preference. And when Leo comes around, he shows 166 00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:50,480 Speaker 1: an obvious preference for Charlemagne and the Franks. And this 167 00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:52,640 Speaker 1: makes a lot of people angry. Uh. They say that 168 00:08:52,679 --> 00:08:55,520 Speaker 1: the people who attacked the pope were actually part of 169 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:58,600 Speaker 1: a band that were Adrian supporters, and they meant business. 170 00:08:58,679 --> 00:09:01,080 Speaker 1: They tried to gouge out his eyes and cut out 171 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:03,480 Speaker 1: his tongue, And that may sound harsh, but I think 172 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:06,440 Speaker 1: that was pretty standard punishment back then for someone who 173 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:09,040 Speaker 1: was speaking out against Yeah, I mean it was customary 174 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:11,480 Speaker 1: so because it would have made him incapable of being 175 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:13,839 Speaker 1: the pope anymore. So it would have taken him out 176 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:16,880 Speaker 1: of power effectively without actually killing him Um. And we 177 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:20,199 Speaker 1: should also mention some other things that were distance excuse me, 178 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:25,600 Speaker 1: distancing the two empires, which were some heresies going on 179 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:27,880 Speaker 1: at least in the as of the Church, and arguments 180 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:32,600 Speaker 1: about about whether they should be considered or not. For instance, iconoclasm. 181 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:35,199 Speaker 1: You've probably heard of this, It's called the worship of icons. 182 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:39,120 Speaker 1: It was very common in the Byzantine Empire. Uh and 183 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:41,599 Speaker 1: Charlemagne thought of this as heresy, and it was a 184 00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:44,959 Speaker 1: huge argument in the Church that eventually led to the schism, 185 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:47,080 Speaker 1: But at this time it was still an argument. And 186 00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:52,400 Speaker 1: another matter called philioque seems kind of a minute theoretical 187 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:55,680 Speaker 1: theological argument, but it had to do with whether the 188 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:58,679 Speaker 1: Holy Spirit proceeded from both the Father and the son 189 00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:01,400 Speaker 1: or just the father. This was a huge matter at 190 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:03,760 Speaker 1: the time. It seems rather odd today, but this was 191 00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:05,880 Speaker 1: a huge matter at the time. That Charlemagne was was 192 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:07,480 Speaker 1: for the idea of Philly o Quay, and so this 193 00:10:07,559 --> 00:10:11,320 Speaker 1: help distance um the two employers. So if we hearken 194 00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:13,720 Speaker 1: back to your statement that Jim made earlier about the 195 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:16,360 Speaker 1: idea of Peppin being supported by the pope and the 196 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:18,480 Speaker 1: idea of the pope coming to Peppin and asking for 197 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:21,840 Speaker 1: his help. We see this now flash forward to Charlemagne 198 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:25,000 Speaker 1: and Lea and the same thing happening. And Charlemagne and 199 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:28,720 Speaker 1: Leo actually had perhaps been putting their heads together. And 200 00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:32,440 Speaker 1: if we look at Charlemagne's contemporary biographer Einhard, who lived 201 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:36,560 Speaker 1: at court, he wrote very good things about Charlemagne. Obviously 202 00:10:36,600 --> 00:10:38,439 Speaker 1: he wanted to present him in a good light because 203 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:41,200 Speaker 1: he had to answer to him, And according to his 204 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:45,160 Speaker 1: biography of the Leader, Charlemagne had no idea this was coming. 205 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:49,439 Speaker 1: But on Christmas Day in eight hundred, Leo actually coornated 206 00:10:49,520 --> 00:10:53,640 Speaker 1: Charlemagne and crowned him the leader of the empire. Surprise, 207 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:56,920 Speaker 1: you are the leader of all of this. And according 208 00:10:56,920 --> 00:11:00,480 Speaker 1: to Einhard, Charlemagne was very who me and he was 209 00:11:00,559 --> 00:11:03,760 Speaker 1: kind of angry about it. But other historians have reasons 210 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:06,840 Speaker 1: to suspect that Pope Leo and Charlemagne had struck a 211 00:11:06,880 --> 00:11:10,320 Speaker 1: deal where if um good old Charles helped out his 212 00:11:10,400 --> 00:11:14,760 Speaker 1: pal Leo, he could become Charlemagne. Yeah, some historians, uh 213 00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:17,960 Speaker 1: say that the Pope wouldn't have dared try to pull 214 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:22,240 Speaker 1: this if without Charlemagne's knowledge of it and permission, which 215 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:25,480 Speaker 1: kind of makes sense. Uh, You know, Charlemagne can strike 216 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:27,960 Speaker 1: this deal and and when it's all done, he can say, oh, 217 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:30,480 Speaker 1: I wasn't expecting that at all. I wouldn't have approved 218 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:32,920 Speaker 1: of that. You know, he was done. The Emperor of 219 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:35,480 Speaker 1: the Romans kind of harkens back to his dad, who 220 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:38,200 Speaker 1: was called the Protector of the Romans. It sort of 221 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:41,520 Speaker 1: takes it a huge notch up. It's also significant because 222 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:45,040 Speaker 1: the pope was basically giving himself the power to confer 223 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:49,160 Speaker 1: this title. So although he's giving a title to someone else, 224 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:52,559 Speaker 1: it's uh sort of instilling in himself the authority to 225 00:11:52,640 --> 00:11:54,880 Speaker 1: do so, right. And that's part of a pattern that 226 00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:59,080 Speaker 1: continued throughout the existence of the Holy Roman Empire. And 227 00:11:59,480 --> 00:12:02,360 Speaker 1: it actually lasted for another thousand years and ended in 228 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:06,320 Speaker 1: eighteen o six with Emperor Francis the Second. And it 229 00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:08,760 Speaker 1: was a tradition for the pope to actually crown the king, 230 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:10,880 Speaker 1: and this didn't happen with all the different leaders, but 231 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:14,359 Speaker 1: it was more the rule the end. It was the exception. 232 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:18,480 Speaker 1: And Charlemagne actually did great things with his power, not 233 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:21,840 Speaker 1: just in terms of conquering lands, but I guess in 234 00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:23,600 Speaker 1: the in the winter of his life, for a little 235 00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:26,880 Speaker 1: bit before the winter of his life. He began developing 236 00:12:26,960 --> 00:12:30,840 Speaker 1: his interest in scholarly pursuits and education, and we mentioned 237 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:33,200 Speaker 1: before that he had been deprived of this when he 238 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:35,959 Speaker 1: was a child. But in eight oh two he founded 239 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:38,199 Speaker 1: what was known as the Palace School, and it was 240 00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:42,240 Speaker 1: an institute of higher learning run by the very best 241 00:12:42,320 --> 00:12:46,000 Speaker 1: minds in Europe. He got the greatest scholars altogether, and 242 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:50,080 Speaker 1: he made this really prestigious school that virtually anyone could 243 00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:53,800 Speaker 1: come to and matriculate at. And he had all of 244 00:12:53,840 --> 00:12:57,280 Speaker 1: the Frankish oral traditions transcribed, so that was a pretty 245 00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:00,920 Speaker 1: significant contribution. And he even tried to his own grammar 246 00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:03,319 Speaker 1: and said that as the tone for the day, which 247 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:05,560 Speaker 1: I really lack that idea, and I think I haven't 248 00:13:05,559 --> 00:13:09,000 Speaker 1: to try to do the same. But Charlemayne, it wasn't successful, 249 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:11,720 Speaker 1: and I think that I would have even left Cloud. Yeah, 250 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:15,520 Speaker 1: it's it's cool. I mean Charlemagne despite all his cruelty 251 00:13:15,559 --> 00:13:18,600 Speaker 1: on the battlefield, I mean, she's uh, you know, the 252 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:21,760 Speaker 1: punishment for getting not getting baptized into Christianity at points 253 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:24,080 Speaker 1: was death, and um, you could say what you want 254 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:26,080 Speaker 1: about how cruel he was. He did a lot of 255 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:28,360 Speaker 1: really cool things with the education, and one of My 256 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:30,600 Speaker 1: favorite things that he did was he produced manuals to 257 00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:34,640 Speaker 1: teach Latin, to to lay people and just help people understand. 258 00:13:34,679 --> 00:13:37,280 Speaker 1: He standardized liturgy as well, sort of you can see 259 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:39,720 Speaker 1: the cross between church and state here and how much 260 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:42,520 Speaker 1: power he welded over the church. But to help he 261 00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:45,080 Speaker 1: help people understand the liturgy too, And that's that's one 262 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:48,320 Speaker 1: of the common complaints against the traditional churches that uh, 263 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:50,680 Speaker 1: it was said in the mass, etcetera, were said in Latin, 264 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:52,800 Speaker 1: and the people lay people don't know what's going on. 265 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:55,800 Speaker 1: And I think Charlemagne made a lot of strides into 266 00:13:55,880 --> 00:13:58,440 Speaker 1: helping everyone sort of understand their own faith. And I 267 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:01,320 Speaker 1: wonder if that's because of his upbringing that he was 268 00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:03,880 Speaker 1: denied that sense of education, and I wonder how many 269 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:06,520 Speaker 1: years he went along with that and just you know, 270 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:08,959 Speaker 1: mouthed words and didn't understand what he was saying or 271 00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:11,000 Speaker 1: what he was committing himself too. But I think he 272 00:14:11,040 --> 00:14:14,400 Speaker 1: did look out for the lowest common denominator, And again, 273 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:18,600 Speaker 1: you know, that's a wonderful, benevolent thing, but it's also 274 00:14:18,679 --> 00:14:21,040 Speaker 1: a good way to wield your power because there's usually 275 00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:24,560 Speaker 1: a lot more poor people than there are aristocracy, and 276 00:14:24,600 --> 00:14:27,560 Speaker 1: so if you get there was people on your side. Essentially, 277 00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:30,040 Speaker 1: you've you've built up your loyalty base. Even more so, 278 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:32,240 Speaker 1: who knows how he was building his power. I think 279 00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:35,400 Speaker 1: he was pretty tricky. It's true, good old Charles. And 280 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:38,200 Speaker 1: there's obviously more to say about Charlemagne than we could 281 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:41,760 Speaker 1: ever cover in a podcast. But luckily for us, we 282 00:14:41,800 --> 00:14:45,120 Speaker 1: actually have a new forum in which we can say 283 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:48,760 Speaker 1: clever and not so clever things about history every weekday. 284 00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:51,000 Speaker 1: That's for everyday, Chant Candace and I post on our 285 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:53,120 Speaker 1: blog stuff you miss in history class we can, which 286 00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:55,640 Speaker 1: you can find on the site, and uh, it's really cool. 287 00:14:55,680 --> 00:14:58,040 Speaker 1: We get to talk about newsy stuff, things that are 288 00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:01,360 Speaker 1: coming around about UM news or that is relevant UM 289 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:04,600 Speaker 1: to the to history and if you want to check 290 00:15:04,640 --> 00:15:07,240 Speaker 1: it out, and if you want to send us suggestions 291 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:10,000 Speaker 1: about podcasts or blog suggestions, we actually handle those every 292 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:12,800 Speaker 1: Friday as well. We do fan mail Friday. So if 293 00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:15,480 Speaker 1: you want to read the blog or read the background 294 00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:18,800 Speaker 1: story for this podcast, it is in an article very 295 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:22,320 Speaker 1: cleverly titled by our colleague Christen Conger, how did an 296 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:26,120 Speaker 1: attempt to blind a pope established the Holy Roman Empire? 297 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:28,760 Speaker 1: You can find that and much more on how stuff 298 00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:33,240 Speaker 1: works dot com for more on this and thousands of 299 00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:36,760 Speaker 1: other topics. Does it how stuff works dot com. Let 300 00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:39,440 Speaker 1: us know what you think. Send an email to podcast 301 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:47,360 Speaker 1: at how stuff works dot com.