peace-giving Emperor." Then the Pontiff anointed with holy oil the Emperor and his eldest son; and Charlemagne bound himself by oath, to act ever as the protector and defender of the Church." 2 The investiture of Charlemagne with the Imperial dignity by Pope Leo III. may well be regarded as one of the grandest, most solemn, and most important events in history. In reviewing it, we must not confine ourselves to the services rendered to the Church by the Carlovingian King. We must further take into account his paramount power; his widely extended dominions, comprising all France and Germany, the Low Countries, the Continent of Italy to Beneventum, and portions of Hungary and Spain; his peace-giving victories over unjust warfare, spoliation, and anarchy; his wise jurisprudence; his enlightened promotion of education; his encouragement of agriculture and of all the useful arts; and the other signal benefits which, for a long series of years, he had conferred on the populations of Western Europe. Moreover, it was but right, as it was expedient, that the Imperial crown of the West should be worn by him who now firmly held the sceptre which had long since passed away from the Byzantine Emperors.3 By many writers, the hand of Divine Providence is recognized in the intimate union. 1 "Carolo piissimo Augusto, a Deo coronato, magno, pacifico Imperatori, vita et victoria." 2 Anastasius, "Life of Leo III. ;" and Baronius, "Annales Ecclesiastici," ix. 502, A.D. 8oo. It is stated by Eginhard, and other writers after him, that Charlemagne was ignorant of the Pope's intention, and that the act of Leo took him completely by surprise; nay, that he afterwards affirmed, that, had he known of the intended coronation, he would not have come to the church that day. This allegation however is not borne out by the monarch's seeming ready acquiescence in the ceremony. Some writers again surmise, that the coronation had been settled between the monarch and the Pope; but that the time was anticipated by Leo. 3 With reference to the re-establishment of the Empire of the West by Pope Leo III., Sigonius observes, "This title of Imperial dignity, which, in the person of Romulus Augustulus, the last Emperor of the West, had succumbed to the rule of the Goths, almost three hundred thus established between the Church and the Empire -an union so fraught with advantages to all Christian nations; and this, notwithstanding the fact, that, in the course of time, there arose a few unworthy successors of Charlemagne on the Imperial throne. Throughout the whole course of his long reign, this powerful monarch, the master of the entire Western world, displayed a filial affection for the successor of Saint Peter, and the most devoted zeal for the welfare of the Church. Thus, from the commencement, in setting forth his titles, in public documents, he used to style himself "Charles, by the grace of God, King of the Franks and the Lombards, Patrician of the Romans, Defender of the Holy Church of God." Such were his sentiments of love and veneration for Leo's predecessor, Pope Adrian, that he would have the expression of them embodied, as in an enduring record, in the epitaph which he composed for the monument of that holy Pontiff. In it, these verses occur: "Nomina jungo simul titulis, carissime, nostris ; On the death of Adrian, A.D. 795, Charlemagne, desirous that the dignity of Patrician of the Romans should be confirmed to him by the new Pope, addressed a letter to Leo, as follows: "As between the predecessor of Your Blessedness and me there has been a solemn treaty of holy paternity, so I now desire that there should be established between us a similar covenant of faith and affection, in order that, God enabling, the See of the most holy Roman Church may ever be defended by our devotion." 2 Whether as King or "2 years before, was renewed by the Pontiff in the same West, in order that the Roman Church might have a Protector against infidels, heretics, and seditious persons, which office the Emperor of the East appears to have long before repudiated." "De regno Italiæ," lib. iv., ad annum 801. Carlo Sigonio, an eminent historian and antiquary, was born at Modena in 1520, and died in 1584. 1 "Dearly beloved, join together our names, with our titles; Adrian, Charles; I the King, and you the Father." 2 "Sicut enim cum beatissimo prædecessore vestro sanctæ paterni. Emperor, he on all occasions acted up to these professions; and, in his last will and testament, he solemnly enjoined the same course on his three sons, Louis, Pepin, and Charles, among whom he bequeathed his dominions. In that document, written A.D. 806, he says: "But above all things we order, that the said three brothers shall together undertake the protection and defence of the Church of Saint Peter, as formerly undertaken by our grandfather Charles, and our father King Pepin, of blessed memory, and afterwards by us; that they shall endeavour, with God's aid, to defend it against all enemies; and that, as far as pertaineth to them, and reason demands, they shall vindicate its rights." We find the same spirit pervading all his letters to Pope Adrian. Here, indeed, is presented a remarkable contrast with the course pursued by some of the rulers of the earth in our day-a course directly leading to the subversion of all authority, political as well as religious, and the triumph of infidelity and communism.3 tatis pactum inii, sic cum Beatitudine vestra ejusdem fidei et charitatis inviolabile fœdus statuere desidero, quatenus sanctissimæ Romanæ Ecclesiæ Sedes, Deo donante, nostra semper devotione defendatur." 1 The same instructions, in the same words, are given by Charlemagne's son and successor, the Emperor Louis le Débonnaire, to his three sons, in his last will and testament: viz. "Super omnia jubemus atque præcipimus, ut ipsi tres fratres curam et defensionem Ecclesiæ Sancti Petri simul suscipiant, sicut quondam a proavo nostro Carolo, et avo nostro Pipino, et beatæ memoriæ genitore nostro Carolo Imperatore, et a nobis postea suscepta est: ut eam, cum Dei adjutorio, ab hostibus defendere nitantur, et justitiam suam, quantum ad ipsos pertinet, et ratio postulaverit, habere faciant." 2 In these letters, Charlemagne styles himself, Devotus sanctæ Dei Ecclesia Defensor, humilisque Adjutor; and Patricius Romanorum, Filius et Defensor Sanctæ Dei Ecclesiæ. 3 Charles, or as he was afterwards called, Charlemagne (Charles the Great), was the son of Pepin le Bref, and was born at the Castle of Salzburg in Upper Austria, in the year 742. Pepin, dying in 768, left his dominions to his two sons Charles and Carloman, to be governed by them jointly; but, the latter dying in 771, Charles became sole master of France. An able, wise, and enlightened ruler, he largely extended his dominions on every side. As we have seen, he was crowned Emperor of the West, by Pope Leo III., A.D. 800. Shortly afterwards, his Imperial dignity was recognized by the Eastern Empress, Irene, and her husband Nicephorus; and the boundaries of the two Empires were amicably adjusted. At the same time, friendly relations were established between Charles and the celebrated Caliph of the Saracens, Haroun al Raschid, who presented him with the keys of the city of Jerusalem and of the Holy places ("Claves sepulchri Domini, claves etiam civitatis et montis, cum vexillo detulerunt."William of Tyre). Charlemagne was a liberal patron of learning, established schools extensively, and otherwise promoted education. He everywhere encouraged agriculture, and all the useful arts. His Capitularies, or celebrated code of laws, range from A.D. 769 to 813. They were published by Baluze, Paris, in two volumes, folio, in 1677. In the year 806, he drew up his last will and testament, dividing his dominions among his three sons; but, Pepin and Charles having died, he associated his only surviving son, Louis, in the Empire with himself, at Aix-la-Chapelle, the year before his death, which took place on the 8th of January, 814, in the seventy-second year of his age, and the forty-seventh of his reign as King, and fourteenth as Emperor. It is related that, several centuries later, his tomb in the Cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle was opened, when his body was found, attired in the Imperial robes, and seated in a chair of state. On being touched the whole crumbled into dust, save the diamond clasp which fastened his cloak, and other jewels, now preserved at Vienna. It is sometimes observed of Charlemagne, that he founded nothing of an enduring nature -that his Empire, his laws, all his works, perished with him. To this M. Guizot conclusively replies, "Although the vast domination of Charlemagne disappeared with him, it is not true that he founded nothing; he founded all the States which sprung from the dismemberment of his Empire. His conquests entered into new combinations, but his wars attained their end; the foundation of the work subsisted, although its form was changed. It is thus that the action of great men is in general exercised. Charlemagne as an administrator and legislator appears under the same aspect" ("History of Civilization," lecture 20). CHAPTER XIV. DIPLOMAS OF THE EMPERORS LOUIS, OTHO, AND SAINT HENRY. "Has omnes supradictas provincias, urbes et civitates, oppida atque castella, viculos ac territoria, simulque patrimonia, pro statu Regni nostri, cunctoque Christianorum populo conservando, jam dictæ Ecclesiæ tuæ, Beate Petre, Vicarioque tuo, Benedicto, ac successoribus ejus, usque in finem sæculi, eo modo confirmamus, ut in suo detineant jure, principatu, atque ditione.”—Diploma of the Emperor Henry II. THE donations of Pepin and Charlemagne to the Popes appear to have been regularly confirmed by their descendants, on the accession of each to the Empire. Thus, Charlemagne's son and successor, Louis le Débonnaire, or Louis the Pious, as he was styled, executed. a most ample diploma, or charter, to Pascal I.,1 A.D. 817, decreeing, granting, and confirming to him, as Supreme Pontiff and Universal Pope, and to his successors for ever, the City of Rome with its duchy and territories, as theretofore held and governed by him. and his predecessors; certain cities, towns and districts (enumerated) in Tuscany and Campania; and the Exarchate of Ravenna and the Pentapolis, together with their cities, districts and dependencies, which had been "restored by a deed of donation" to the Holy See by Pepin and Charlemagne, also the Sabine territory, 3 1 Pascal I., a native of Rome, governed the Church, A.D. 817-824. 2 "Sicut a prædecessoribus vestris usque nunc in vestra potestate et ditione tenuistis et disposuistis." 3 "Quæ piæ recordationis dominus Pipinus Rex, ac bonæ memoriæ genitor noster Carolus Imperator beato Petro Apostolo et prædecessoribus vestris jamdudum per donationis paginam restituerunt." It is deserving of notice that the Emperor here speaks of the Exarchate of |