Question

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1. How did Charlemagne try to reform the church in his empire?
2. How did Charlemagne and the pope cooperate with each other?
3. How did the coronation of Charlemagne contribute to the split of the Christian churches?
4. What actions did Henry IV and the Pope Gregory take as they competed for power?

Answer 1

1. Charlemagne blended Roman and Frankish rites into a uniform standard for worship, one of the products of which was a book for Mass that would be used throughout the empire. Education among the clergy was also emphasized with members assisting with the running of the empire itself, tying together church and state. The spread of schools and the importance of scholars were also emphasized both within the court and throughout his realm.
2. The Pope was at odds with the Byzantines (mostly over the use of icons) in the East and regarded Charlemagne as the true protector of Latin Christendom.
3. Charlemagne became the first Roman Emperor to preside over the West in 400 years. The problem was that the Byzantines already had an Empress and saw the coronation of Charlemagne as an act of incredible arrogance. Now there was an Emperor in the West, and an Empress in the East, a situation that would further split not only the halves of the former Roman Empire but the Church itself between Rome and Constantinople.
4. Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV sought to keep the power of investiture tied to the throne while Pope Gregory sought to take it back. Pope Gregory argued that the papacy had the sole power to appoint officials such as bishops and even depose the emperor, and Henry IV disagreed. Eventually, this led to Henry IV's excommunication sowing discord within his own realm. Henry IV relented and did penance for which Gregory ended his excommunication. But Henry IV had time to restore order back home after this and he appointed his own pope regardless, later calling on allies to invade Rome itself and remove Gregory who fled.