 | Italy in the Middle Ages: Encyclopedia II - Italy in the Middle Ages - The Holy Roman Empire 9th-10th centuries
Italy in the Middle Ages - The Holy Roman Empire 9th-10th centuries
At the end of the 8th century the popes definitely aspired to independence, and found a way to achieve it by allying with the Carolingian dynasty of the Franks: the Carolingians needed someone who could give legitimacy to a coup against the powerless Merovingian kings, while the popes needed military protection against the Lombards. As a result, in 774 the Franks invaded the Kingdom of Italy and defeated the Lombards, and their leader Charlemagne was proclaimed legitimate king of the Franks by the pope (rex francorum et langobardorum). Later, on December 25, 800, Charlemagne was also crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by the pope, triggering controversy and disputes over the Roman name. The new emperor (who was never recognized as such by the Byzantines) immediately conceded direct rule over central Italy to the pope, creating the Papal States.
The Imperial authority never extended much southwards the Italian peninsula. Southern Italy was divided amongst the two Lombards duchies of Spoleto and Benevento, who accepted Charlemagne's suzerainty only formally (812), and the Byzantine Empire. Coastal cities like Gaeta, Amalfi, Naples on the Tyrrhenian Sea, and Venice on the Adriatic, were Latin-Greek enclaves who were becoming increasingly independent from Byzantium. A conquest of Benevento, otherwise, would have meant the total encompassment of the Papal territories, and probably Charlemagne thought it was good for his relationships with the Pope to avoid such a move. The King's stron hold over his empire, on the other side, thwarted the ambitious program of Popes like Hadrian I, whose looser interpretation of the Peppin's donation (confirmed by Charlemagne in 774) extended ideally Papal authority over far territories including even Histria and Corsica. Such a vision would imply an almost total independence of the Pope, and Charlemagne was able enough to choke it. The Pope, by himself, had no other choice but submit. His local forces were feeble, or even rebellious: all the incoronation events were spurred by an attempt by a Rome's party to kill the Pope. The Lombard dukes were over, or untrustful. The Byzantines had little to give, and Charles had sharply left untouched their possessments in his campaigns in order to mantain peace with them.
The age of Charlemagne was therefore one of stability for Italy, though it was generally dominated by non-Italian interests. The separation with the Eastern world continued to increase. Leo III was the first Pope to date his Bulls from the year of Charlemagne's reign (795) instead of those of Byzantine emperors. This process of isolation from the Eastern Empire and connection with the Western world of France and Germany, which had started three centuries before, was completed at the beginning of the 9th centuries. Sicily, Calabria, Puglia and the marine cities were the main exceptions to this rule.
After the death of Charlemagne (814) the new empire soon disintegrated under his weak successors. The equilibrium created through the great emperor's charisma fell apart. This crisis was due also to the emergence of external forces, including the Saracen attacks and the rising power of the marine republics. Charlemagne had announced its division of the Empire in 806: the Lombard-Frank reign, together with Bavaria and Alamannia, was to be handed over to his son Pippin of Italy.
After Charlemagne's son Louis the Pious died in 840, the treaty of Verdun in 843 divided the empire. Louis' eldest surviving son Lothar I became Emperor and ruler of the Central Franks. His three sons in turn divided this kingdom between them, and Northern Italy became the Kingdom of Italy under Louis II, Holy Roman Emperor in 839.
The first half of the 9th century saw other troubles for Italy as well. In 827, Muslim Arabs known as Aghlabids invaded and conquered Sicily; their descendants, the Kalbids, ruled the island until 1053. In 846, Muslim Arabs invaded Rome, looted St. Peter's Basilica, and stole all the gold and silver in it. In response, Pope Leo IV started building the Leonine walls of the Vatican City in 847; they were completed in 853.
Most of the coastline of southern Italy was under the Eastern Roman Empire throughout the period.
Even the papacy went through an age of decadence, which ended only in 999 when emperor Otto III selected Silvester II as a pope.
Other related archives1053, 11th century, 410, 476, 493, 552, 6th century, 774, 795, 800, 806, 812, 814, 827, 839, 840, 843, 846, 847, 853, 8th century, 999, 9th centuries, Adriatic, Aghlabids, Alamannia, Alaric, Amalfi, Arabs, Bavaria, Belisarius, Benedictines, Benevento, Byzantine Empire, Carolingian, Charlemagne, Constantinople, Corsica, December 25, Eastern Roman Empire, Exarchate of Ravenna, February 25, Gaeta, Genoa, Hadrian I, Holy Roman Empire, Investiture controversy, Justinian, Kalbids, Leo III, List of barbarian kings of Italy, Lombards, Lothar I, Louis II, Holy Roman Emperor, Louis the Pious, Merovingian, Middle Ages, Muslim, Naples, Narses, Normans, Odoacer, Ostrogothic, Otto III, Papal States, Pippin of Italy, Pisa, Pope Leo IV, Ravenna, Roman emperor, Roman name, Rome, Romulus Augustus, Sicily, Silvester II, Spoleto, St. Gregory, St. Peter's Basilica, Theodoric the Great, Tyrrhenian Sea, Vatican City, Venice, Visigoths, bishop, classical, culture, eastern half of the Empire, history of Italy, monastic orders, pope, treaty of Verdun
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The Holy Roman Empire 9th-10th centuries", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
