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Empire and Canon
By contrast, when Pope Sylvester I agreed to the need but failed to accept Emperor Constantine’s invitation to attend the Council of Nicaea in 325 (possibly because of illness), he inadvertently made the Emperor the de facto head of what was to become a critical Ecumenical Council, one that would forever impact the foundation beliefs of the Church. The Pope’s role, which two centuries earlier had begun to come into question, was further diminished when he sent two legates in his stead. These inferior roles were immediately overshadowed by the presence of the Emperor and ranking church patriarchs of the Eastern Church (The Eastern Church was, at that time, the theological seat of the church).
To compound Sylvester’s mistake, every emperor since Caesar Augustus had the formal title of Pontifex Maximus, a role of deciding pontificate within the Pagan Church of Rome. Therefore, it was no stretch for the attendees of the council to accept the Emperor’s authoritarian figure, even when it was ecclesiastically incorrect. After all, the absent Pope had given his consent.
Had Pope Sylvester refused to sanction the council or instead attended and conditionally placed himself at the head of the conference, Church history would have likely gone down a considerably different path.
Consequently, Constantine’s role at the conference expanded to peacemaker. For the most part, Constantine deferred to the bishops on purely ecclesiastical matters. However, as intelligent as Constantine was he would subsequently place himself in the middle of some career-motivated church politics where he could not have possibly been adept. Subsequently, he would, in certain instances, be bound to civil judgments. Rulings he might otherwise have not been in full agreement with. These would include the awkward banishments of bishops to which his family had ties, decisions Constantine would later overturn.
In all fairness to Constantine, his intentions appear to be those of a facilitator. Since he was neither baptized or a practicing Christian his concerns must have been driven by a certain level of friction and civil unrest (reported earlier in Alexandria), between opposing Christian sects within the empire. However, as the council progressed it became clear there were bishops in attendance that wanted to use Constantine’s Edict of Milan, of 313 CE, to outlaw unauthorized Christian sects. The arguments of the day were likely “...which Christian religion is legal?" or “...how can we outlaw these rogue sects?”
In the end, Constantine would on occasion be required to support decisions with civil action, sometimes fostering decisions he would later regret. In short, he was ecclesiastically unprepared, even unfit for the council’s arguments. Conversely, imperial involvement would demote the Pope to being little more than the Bishop of Rome. Even if he objected to the meetings outcome, the damage would be done and protestations from distant Rome would arrive months after the council’s close.
The seeds had been sewn and half a century later, in 380 CE, when Emperor Theodosius I would proclaim Christianity the state religion with his Edict of Thessalonica, he thereby formal assumed the rule of “Pontifex Maximus”. Theodosius had simply continued the Emperor’s role as sacred pontificate, which had been previously reserved for the now deposed pagan belief. From a theological standpoint, placing a temporal leader in an ecclesiastically role during a time of developing Church canon would eventually prove untenable.
However, at the time, Church Fathers East and West must have felt quite content to have the world’s most powerful government, with its vast economy resources and superior military, as defender of the faith. Since Church canon and liturgy was in its infancy, concern for the emperor’s temporal meddling was either overlooked or disregarded.
Holy Roman Church
By comparison, the Church’s marriage to Charlemagne was one of convenience. He had already proven himself a defender of the faith without interfering in ecclesiastical matters. With his coronation of Charlemagne on Christmas Day of 800, Pope Leo had instantly corrected Pope Sylvester’s earlier blunder dating back half a millennium. Moreover, Pope Leo cleverly used an empty Eastern throne to his advantage by raising Charlemagne to Emperor while Irene of Athens was acting Regent in Constantinople.
Consequently, when Emperor Nikephoros I took the throne in 803 he refused to recognize Charlemagne. The Tetrarchy was long dead and relations between Constantinople and Rome had been strained since the schism over Iconoclasm. Besides, Charlemagne had been crowned by the Pope and not the Augustus Emperor himself. This suited Rome’s Pope Leo just fine. The Western Church had its defender (whose forces would provide Nikephoros with considerable casualties during a Venetian row in 807). Moreover, the Eastern Church and its Emperor were busy dealing with Muslim expansion. The newly established Holy Roman Empire was essentially a farewell to the Byzantine Empire and centuries of disagreement.
Frankish Collapse
Upon Charlemagne’s death in 814, the kingdom was left to his only surviving son, Louis I, also known as “Louis the Pious”. However, as emperor, Louis would prove himself most unlike his father. He lacked the charisma and administrative skills, while possessing little to no interest in any leadership role.
Louis I would prove himself unfit just three years into his reign, when in 817 he issued his “Ordinatio imperii”. This decree would prematurely divide the vast territories of the kingdom, granting early inheritance rights his three sons, Lothair, Pepin and Louis. There was nothing unusual about divided inheritances. Primogeniture (succession by the firstborn son) would not be established within the imperial line of succession until just before the arrival of Otto I. What remains curious today was the hasty, even careless, granting of such vast territorial inheritance to immature and inexperienced successors.
Louis didn’t even bother to consult his nephew Bernard who ruled Italy at that time, making Bernard’s future uncertain and, at best, demoting him as a vassal beneath his cousin Lothair. To compound the mistake, Louis the Pious wasn’t done fathering Children. His son Charles, who would prove to be his favorite, hadn’t even been born. Clearly, Louis was either brash, dull-witted, or a combination of both.
Berengar’s kingdom was, for the most part, limited to Italy. There is considerable irony in that the Carolingian dynasty ended with Berengar. He was the diametric opposite of Charlemagne (Charles I). Where Charlemagne had been an efficient administrator over a large realm, Berengar was considered by his contemporaries to be an incompetent executive over a relatively small dominion. Where Charlemagne had been a powerful military leader, Berengar would never win one pitched battle. Even Louis the Pious had been a better general. Berengar’s one lasting achievement would be the creation of “Encastellation”, a system where the feudal kingdoms of Europe would have a system of castles erected throughout Europe, from which kings and lords would govern their realms.
Otto I
Otto (reign: 962 -973) was the first German emperor. He is therefore considered by historians to be the first of the Ottonian (sometimes called “Saxon”) Dynasty. Otto’s claim to the throne was that he was the great-great-great maternal grandson of Louis the Pious, via Louis’ daughter Gisela.
During his reign, Otto would triumph over several rebellions, an assassination attempt, a war with France, repulse Hungarian invasions, and several territorial disputes over Italy, Burgundy and Bohemia. Initially rebuked as a charlatan by the Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimiskes, be would reverse that standing and prove his diplomatic prowess with a marriage to the emperor’s niece Theophanu.
Excluding Charlemagne’s France, Otto would unite a territory that would compete with Charlemagne’s. He expanded primogeniture to include the houses of the nobles he appointed, of which he would attempt to make them blood relatives thorough marriage. This wasn’t so much egocentric as it was practical. By establishing bloodlines and first-son inheritance throughout the ruling class, he was ensuring future stability across the kingdom for generations to come. Finally, once again emulating Charlemagne, Otto would embrace a papal coronation as Holy Roman Emperor by Pope John XII, at Old Saint Peter’s Basilica in the year 962.
Commentary
For the Church, a partnership with the Emperor had always proven to be in the best interests of growth and prosperity. State-sanctioned Christianity had proven a lasting success with the Eastern Church. Before that, the Hellenistic faith had prospered as a state institution within the Empire for more than a millennium. Gone were the days of chaotic, independent-minded missionary work. Even the rogue Christian sects of Arianism and Gnosticism had all but disappeared. Aside from the Muslim armies encircling the kingdom and the smaller Jewish communities that were peppered throughout Europe and the Near East, the known world was now Christian. Church resources could now be applied to the building of churches and monasteries.
As the government continued to establish itself with ongoing county subdivisions, powerful bishops would be required for each newly appointed Count. The lucrative and much sought after post of bishop would then be filled with individuals wielding the most powerful secular and church connections. After all, a Bishop was to a Count what the Pope was to an Emperor.
Meanwhile, the growing animosity between the Eastern and Western Churches cannot be overstated. In a period spanning 500 years, as power gradually shifted westward between the two Imperial spheres, the papacy had gone from grudging submission to outright defiance. As the old eastern empire crumbled from its wars with Persian, Bulgaria and now the new onslaught of Islam, a Christian Europe would be allowed to grow and unite. With the crowning of the Holy Roman Emperor, minus the office of Pontifex Maximus, the Roman See had finally rid itself of imperial interference. They had come a long way from Christ and the Apostles.
Finally, it would be during Otto’s reign that the art of Illuminated Manuscript would reappear as a high art form within the Western Church. Begun in the theology centers within Byzantium during the 5th century, illustrated text and paintings had become embroiled in the imperial iconoclasm decrees a century earlier.
During that time, the Eastern Emperors imposed religious bans on sacred images. The Roman papacy had objected and defied the emperor, which then escalated to seizures of Italian lands by the Eastern Emperor. Almost ironically, religious images would flourish during the reigns of the western Holy Roman Emperors. Whether deliberate or otherwise, the Pope’s Church was again declaring its independence from Constantinople. Still, the East/West ties had not been completely severed, at least not yet.
Click here for 12) Ecumenicism, Schism, and Call to Islam
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| Charlemagne's Coronation |
Roman vs. Holy Roman Empire
The differences between the Church’s involvement with the Roman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire’s relationship with Europe’s temporal government stems from the inceptions of each. The simple act of crowning Charlemagne by Pope Leo III in the year 800, at Old Saint Peter’s Basilica, immediately established the Church as ecclesiastically superior to the Emperor and the Emperor as a temporal vassal of the Church.By contrast, when Pope Sylvester I agreed to the need but failed to accept Emperor Constantine’s invitation to attend the Council of Nicaea in 325 (possibly because of illness), he inadvertently made the Emperor the de facto head of what was to become a critical Ecumenical Council, one that would forever impact the foundation beliefs of the Church. The Pope’s role, which two centuries earlier had begun to come into question, was further diminished when he sent two legates in his stead. These inferior roles were immediately overshadowed by the presence of the Emperor and ranking church patriarchs of the Eastern Church (The Eastern Church was, at that time, the theological seat of the church).
 |
| Constantine and the Bishops at Nicaea |
To compound Sylvester’s mistake, every emperor since Caesar Augustus had the formal title of Pontifex Maximus, a role of deciding pontificate within the Pagan Church of Rome. Therefore, it was no stretch for the attendees of the council to accept the Emperor’s authoritarian figure, even when it was ecclesiastically incorrect. After all, the absent Pope had given his consent.
 |
| Albrecht Durer: Study of Pope |
Consequently, Constantine’s role at the conference expanded to peacemaker. For the most part, Constantine deferred to the bishops on purely ecclesiastical matters. However, as intelligent as Constantine was he would subsequently place himself in the middle of some career-motivated church politics where he could not have possibly been adept. Subsequently, he would, in certain instances, be bound to civil judgments. Rulings he might otherwise have not been in full agreement with. These would include the awkward banishments of bishops to which his family had ties, decisions Constantine would later overturn.
 |
| Emperor Constantine |
In the end, Constantine would on occasion be required to support decisions with civil action, sometimes fostering decisions he would later regret. In short, he was ecclesiastically unprepared, even unfit for the council’s arguments. Conversely, imperial involvement would demote the Pope to being little more than the Bishop of Rome. Even if he objected to the meetings outcome, the damage would be done and protestations from distant Rome would arrive months after the council’s close.
 |
| Theodosius I |
However, at the time, Church Fathers East and West must have felt quite content to have the world’s most powerful government, with its vast economy resources and superior military, as defender of the faith. Since Church canon and liturgy was in its infancy, concern for the emperor’s temporal meddling was either overlooked or disregarded.
Holy Roman Church
Independence from Byzantium
 |
| Pope Leo's Crowning of Charlemagne |
Consequently, when Emperor Nikephoros I took the throne in 803 he refused to recognize Charlemagne. The Tetrarchy was long dead and relations between Constantinople and Rome had been strained since the schism over Iconoclasm. Besides, Charlemagne had been crowned by the Pope and not the Augustus Emperor himself. This suited Rome’s Pope Leo just fine. The Western Church had its defender (whose forces would provide Nikephoros with considerable casualties during a Venetian row in 807). Moreover, the Eastern Church and its Emperor were busy dealing with Muslim expansion. The newly established Holy Roman Empire was essentially a farewell to the Byzantine Empire and centuries of disagreement.
 |
| Charlemagne with Louis the Pious |
Upon Charlemagne’s death in 814, the kingdom was left to his only surviving son, Louis I, also known as “Louis the Pious”. However, as emperor, Louis would prove himself most unlike his father. He lacked the charisma and administrative skills, while possessing little to no interest in any leadership role.
Louis I would prove himself unfit just three years into his reign, when in 817 he issued his “Ordinatio imperii”. This decree would prematurely divide the vast territories of the kingdom, granting early inheritance rights his three sons, Lothair, Pepin and Louis. There was nothing unusual about divided inheritances. Primogeniture (succession by the firstborn son) would not be established within the imperial line of succession until just before the arrival of Otto I. What remains curious today was the hasty, even careless, granting of such vast territorial inheritance to immature and inexperienced successors.
Louis didn’t even bother to consult his nephew Bernard who ruled Italy at that time, making Bernard’s future uncertain and, at best, demoting him as a vassal beneath his cousin Lothair. To compound the mistake, Louis the Pious wasn’t done fathering Children. His son Charles, who would prove to be his favorite, hadn’t even been born. Clearly, Louis was either brash, dull-witted, or a combination of both.
False Start
Ultimately, Charlemagne’s rule would be a false start to the Holy Roman Empire. Louis’ Ordinatio imperii would prove a recipe for disaster. Rebellion and civil war followed. The Carolingian dynasty would decline following Louis the Pious, moving through several Carolingian descendants, most of who had brief reigns. The lineage would end with the death of Emperor Berengar of Italy, the grandson of Louis the Pious, in 924. |
| Encastellation: Europe's system of castles |
Otto I
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| Emperor Otto I |
Historical Titles
Otto I is sometimes referred to as the “Founder of the Holy Roman Empire” or “The First Holy Roman Emperor”. He was neither. Pope Leo III was the founder, for it was through his contrivance that Charlemagne was crowned on Christmas Day in 800 in Old Saint Peter’s Basilica (whether Charlemagne was complicit or not). That coronation would make Charlemagne the very first Roman Emperor. Furthermore, far from being the first, Otto’s Saxon ancestors had been conquered, converted and in some instances beheaded by the first emperor, Charlemagne, when they resisted Christianity. In reality, Otto I was, and is today, considered the 12th Holy Roman Emperor, a somewhat distant and Germanic relative to the first Frankish Holy Roman Emperor. |
| Equestrian Statue of Otto I |
New Beginnings
Otto would provide a return to the empirical stability that had been disrupted in 817 with Louis the Pious’ “Ordinatio imperii”. Over the objections of family and powerful nobles within the kingdom, Otto’s father, Henry the Fowler, had established primogeniture (succession by firstborn son). Otto would embrace this approach and forever lay to rest the divisions created by multiple inheritance. In the years to follow,During his reign, Otto would triumph over several rebellions, an assassination attempt, a war with France, repulse Hungarian invasions, and several territorial disputes over Italy, Burgundy and Bohemia. Initially rebuked as a charlatan by the Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimiskes, be would reverse that standing and prove his diplomatic prowess with a marriage to the emperor’s niece Theophanu.
Excluding Charlemagne’s France, Otto would unite a territory that would compete with Charlemagne’s. He expanded primogeniture to include the houses of the nobles he appointed, of which he would attempt to make them blood relatives thorough marriage. This wasn’t so much egocentric as it was practical. By establishing bloodlines and first-son inheritance throughout the ruling class, he was ensuring future stability across the kingdom for generations to come. Finally, once again emulating Charlemagne, Otto would embrace a papal coronation as Holy Roman Emperor by Pope John XII, at Old Saint Peter’s Basilica in the year 962.
 |
| Medieval Bishop |
For the Church, a partnership with the Emperor had always proven to be in the best interests of growth and prosperity. State-sanctioned Christianity had proven a lasting success with the Eastern Church. Before that, the Hellenistic faith had prospered as a state institution within the Empire for more than a millennium. Gone were the days of chaotic, independent-minded missionary work. Even the rogue Christian sects of Arianism and Gnosticism had all but disappeared. Aside from the Muslim armies encircling the kingdom and the smaller Jewish communities that were peppered throughout Europe and the Near East, the known world was now Christian. Church resources could now be applied to the building of churches and monasteries.
As the government continued to establish itself with ongoing county subdivisions, powerful bishops would be required for each newly appointed Count. The lucrative and much sought after post of bishop would then be filled with individuals wielding the most powerful secular and church connections. After all, a Bishop was to a Count what the Pope was to an Emperor.
Meanwhile, the growing animosity between the Eastern and Western Churches cannot be overstated. In a period spanning 500 years, as power gradually shifted westward between the two Imperial spheres, the papacy had gone from grudging submission to outright defiance. As the old eastern empire crumbled from its wars with Persian, Bulgaria and now the new onslaught of Islam, a Christian Europe would be allowed to grow and unite. With the crowning of the Holy Roman Emperor, minus the office of Pontifex Maximus, the Roman See had finally rid itself of imperial interference. They had come a long way from Christ and the Apostles.
 |
| Illuminated Manuscript |
During that time, the Eastern Emperors imposed religious bans on sacred images. The Roman papacy had objected and defied the emperor, which then escalated to seizures of Italian lands by the Eastern Emperor. Almost ironically, religious images would flourish during the reigns of the western Holy Roman Emperors. Whether deliberate or otherwise, the Pope’s Church was again declaring its independence from Constantinople. Still, the East/West ties had not been completely severed, at least not yet.
Click here for 12) Ecumenicism, Schism, and Call to Islam
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Got Feedback?
Comments? Questions? Corrections? Any feedback at all? Just click on the comments box at the bottom of this page and enter your thoughts. All comments are welcome.
Santuario de Guadalupe, the oil painting by Tom Mallon. This 42" x 22" canvas is the latest addition to the Santa Fe Portrait Series. The Santuario is the oldest shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe in the US.
Visit this later update by CLICKING HERE
Shostakovich and Cultural Snobbery, Could anyone survive Stalin's Purges, compose a large body, write for himself and the masses while producing constantly great work?
Visit this later update by CLICKING HERE
Tom Mallon's website "MallonArt". This website will provide you with links to all his paintings, drawings and other artwork portfolios, including the ongoing series entitled the Santa Fe Portrait.
Visit this later update by CLICKING HERE
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