Episode 81 - Charlemagne and Leo (part 1)

The History of Byzantium

Robin Pierson

History

4.8 • 4.7K Ratings

🗓️ 4 September 2015

⏱️ 39 minutes

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Summary

We look at developments in the West during the 8th century. We follow the rise of the Carolingians and the amazing career of Charlemagne. We also see the various dilemma faced by the Papacy and how the collapse of Byzantine influence created a new power dynamic.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello everyone and welcome to the history of Byzantium, Episode 81A, Charlemagne and Leo.
0:20.0	Today we begin our end of the century tour by heading west to Italy and the realm of the
0:25.5	Franks beyond. So far in our story the western kingdoms have operated in the shadow of the Roman Empire,
0:32.8	both the one which fell and the one which survived. The vast majority of people living in Western Europe
0:40.7	in 476 AD were Roman Christians. Their way of life came to shape some of the behavior of their new
0:49.0	overlords and one of the political realities of this was that everyone knew they had once been
0:55.2	an emperor and now there were merely several kings. Constantinople was a distant place to many
1:05.0	but its preeminence was not seriously questioned. When Byzantine ambassadors appeared they still
1:11.6	carried themselves like masters of the universe. They dressed better than westerners, they spoke in
1:17.9	flowing Greek, they followed arcane ceremonial practices which seemed to convey the ancientness
1:24.2	and legitimacy of their world. Western ambassadors meanwhile returned to their kings reporting that
1:32.1	Constantinople was a city like no other. The Roman Empire was alive and well on the bus for us
1:39.5	and we would do well to pay them respect. 300 years though is a long time. The
1:47.6	shadow had receded. New hybrid identities and languages had formed in the west and despite
1:55.5	Justinian's best efforts direct Byzantine influence was very limited.
2:03.2	Our 8th century narrative has been all about Byzantium coming to terms with the reality of the
2:09.2	rise of the caliphate. A similar story played out in the west but with the opposite trajectory.
2:16.1	To the Franks the rise of the Arabs saw their rivals crumble. The Byzantine position in Italy
2:22.7	collapsed and the Visigothic kingdom in Spain was destroyed. Only the Franks remained and they would
2:29.9	soon fill the vacuum with increasing vigor. Sandwitched between the sunrise in the west
2:38.4	and the sunset in the east were the popes in Rome. Intimately aware of the changing political
2:45.3	situation the Pontiffs would eventually side with their neighbours across the Alps.
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