Medieval Leaders Constantine: Although Constantine

Medieval Leaders

Constantine: Although Constantine lived more than a hundred years before the traditional beginning of the Middle Ages, he and his reign significantly impacted

Christianity and society in Medieval Europe.

Constantine was born at Nis in what is now Yugoslavia, son of the commander

Constantius Chlorus (later Constantius I) and Helena (later Saint Helena), a camp follower. Constantius became co-emperor in 305. Constantine, who had shown military talent in the East, joined his father in Britain in 306. He was popular with the troops, who proclaimed him emperor when Constantius died later the same year. Over the next two decades, however, Constantine had to fight his rivals for the throne, and he did not finally establish himself as sole ruler until 324. (CONSTANTINE THE GREAT, Encyclopedia,

Medieval History)

Constantine in his early life, believed that the Roman sun god, Sol, was the visible manifestation of an invisible "Higher God" and was the principle behind the universe. This god was thought to be the companion of the Roman emperor.

Constantine's adherence to this faith from his claim of having had a vision of the sun god in 310 while in a grove of Apollo in Gaul. In 312, on the eve of a battle against Maxentius (c. 250-312), his rival in Italy, Constantine was reported to have dreamed that Christ appeared to him and told him to inscribe the first two letters of his name (XP in Greek) on the shields of his troops. The next day he is said to have seen a cross superimposed on the sun and the words "in this sign you will be the victor."

Constantine the Great, Encyclopedia, Medieval History)

Constantine then defeated Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, near Rome. The Senate hailed the victor as savior of the Roman people. Constantine, who had been a pagan solar worshiper, now looked upon the Christian divinity as a bringer of victory. Because of his visions and victory in this battle He raised Christianity, which had not long been legal in the empire, to the status of a permitted religion. Persecution of the Christians had ended, and Constantine's co-emperor, Licinius (270?-325), joined him in issuing the Edict of Milan (313), which mandated toleration of Christians in the Roman Empire. As guardian of Constantine's favored religion, the church was then given legal rights and large financial donations.

Soon after a struggle for power began between Licinius and Constantine, from which Constantine emerged in 324 as a victorious Christian champion. Constantine was now emperor of both East and West, and he began to implement important administrative reforms. He reorganized the army, and made a separation of civil and military authority, begun by his predecessor, Diocletian.

Constantine and his council ran the central government and the Senate was given back the powers that it had lost in the 3d century.

Constantine intervened in ecclesiastical affairs to achieve unity and he presided over the first ecumenical council of the church at Nicaea in 325. Also he began the building of Constantinople in 326 on the site of ancient Greek Byzantium. The city was completed in 330, given Roman institutions, and beautified by ancient Greek works of art. In addition, Constantine built churches in the Holy Land, where his mother found the True Cross on which Jesus was crucified. (Jay Bregman, Ph.D.) The emperor was baptized shortly before his death, on May 22, 337.

Constantine unified a falling empire, reorganized the Roman state, and set the stage for the final victory of Christianity at the end of the 4th century. His conversion was gradual process; at first he associated Christ with the victorious sun god. By the time of the Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church of Nicaea (325), he was completely

Christian, but he still tolerated paganism among his subjects. Although criticized by his enemies as a proponent of a crude and false religion, Constantine strengthened the Roman Empire and ensured its survival in the East. As the first emperor to rule in the name of Christ, he was a major figure in the foundation of medieval Christian Europe.

Justinian: Although Constantine set many precedents for the harmony of church and imperial authorities that persisted throughout the history of the empire, heavy taxation resulted in much abandonment of land. (Justinian, Encyclopedia, Medieval

History)

Justinian was born in Illyria and educated in Constantinople (now ?stanbul,

Turkey). In 518 he became the administrator for Justin, who named Justinian as his successor. He married Theodora, a former actress, in 523. On the death of his uncle in 527, Justinian was elected emperor. Emperor Justinian I and his wife, Theodora, attempted to restore the former majesty, intellectual quality, and geographic limits of the Roman Empire.

During his rule, Justinian pursued the Recodification of all Roman law, attempting to remove all contradictions and to bring it into harmony with Roman

Christian teaching. In 529, after only 14 months, the new code was ready, known as Justinian Code, and became the final authority throughout the empire.

Justinian also expanded the building program he had begun under his uncle. His devotion to Christ's mother Mary, whom a church council had declared to be the Mother of God a century earlier, was evident from his construction of a great church in her name in Jerusalem. Justinian was responsible for several other religious buildings, including monasteries and churches dedicated to martyrs, and he rebuilt the famous Hagia Sophia church following a disastrous fire. It was for seven centuries the largest church building in all Christendom and still stands today.

The emperor's religious policy was based on the unity of church and state and the belief that the empire was the physical equivalent of its heavenly counterpart. Justinian believed himself to be Christ's vice-regent on earth and the defender of the orthodox faith. In this regard, he ran true to the self-image of previous emperors: he saw himself as kind of religious savior. For this reason he moved to protect his Catholic subjects against their Arian Christian counterparts throughout the empire. Arians claimed that Christ was merely the highest of created beings and not of the same substance as God.

Justinian devoted himself more to the lost lands of the empire in the West than to any other cause. He believed that it was his responsibility to regain Christendom's domain.

First came the recapture of Carthage from the Vandals. When Justinian's victorious general, Belisarius, returned to Constantinople, he did so to a hero's welcome, bringing with him the spoils of war, ranging from Vandal chiefs to the menorah, the seven-branched candlestick from the Jerusalem temple.

Justinian, whose superstitious nature was aroused by warnings from the Jewish community, returned the candlestick and other temple vessels to Jerusalem so a bad fortune would not fall on him.

The recapture of Italy from the Ostrogoths proved to be more difficult, consuming most of the remainder of Justinian's reign. Unlike North Africa, where Gaiseric had ruled independently, Italy was governed as an imperial territory under a viceroy. Eventually, after endless battles, sieges and counterattacks, Italy was united with Byzantium. On the other side of the Mediterranean, however, Justinian was less successful. Nonetheless, though he failed to conquer all of Spain, the emperor could say by the end of his rule that he had restored the empire from the Black Sea to the Atlantic.

Justinian has been described as vain, jealous, weak-willed, vacillating, dominated by his wife, paranoid and easily angered, but also as hardworking and devoted to his church and its theology. (John Julius Norwich, Byzantium: The Early Centuries)

Although he professed Christian values, he had no compunction about exterminating one of his uncle's perceived competitors or allowing the slaughter of 30,000 of his own subjects as punishment for insurrection. Justinian was a man who ruled autocratically with all the trappings of power, surrounding himself with "high ceremonial pomp" and engaging in "sumptuous processions." (John Julius Norwich, Byzantium: The Early

Centuries)

Charles Martel: Charles Martel was the illegitimate son of Pepin of Herstal.

When Herstal died he had two legitimate sons, Drogon and Grimoald, and also Theodoald. Theodoald was very young, between six and eight years old, too young to take the role of a leader. Theodoald's grandmother wanted the power to stay with her grandson, so she had Martel imprisoned. The Austrasians were not to be left supporting a woman and her young boy for long. Before the end of the year, Charles

Martel had escaped from prison and been acclaimed mayor by the nobles of that kingdom. The Neustrians had been attacking Austrasia, and the nobles were waiting for a strong man to lead them against their invading countrymen. His first battle he failed with the Neustrians, but he sought revenge against them and won. It was in this battle that he was able to set the pattern for the remainder of his military career and for reserving for himself the title of Mayor of the Palace.

Charles led many battles from 718 to 723 (Catholic History, Volume III) and was able to secure his power through a series of victories and by winning the loyalty of several important clerics, both bishops and abbots. This he accomplished in part by donating lands and money for the foundations of abbeys such as Echternach.

In the following decade Charles led the Frankish army against the eastern duchies.

He dealt with the ongoing conflict with the Frisians and Saxons to his northeast with some success, but full conquest of the Saxons and their incorporation into the Frankish empire would wait for his grandson Charlemagne.

Most importantly, instead of concentrating on conquest to his east, he prepared for the storm gathering in the west.

Well aware of the danger posed by the Muslims after the Battle of Toulouse, in 721, he used the intervening years to consolidate his power, and gather and train a veteran army that would stand ready to defend Christianity itself at Tours. It was in the Battle of Tours that Charles received the nickname "The Hammer" for the merciless way he hammered his enemies. This battle will always remain one of the great events in the history of the world, as upon its issue depended whether Christian Civilization should continue or Islam prevail throughout Europe. (Catholic History, Volume III)

After his victory at Tours, Martel continued on in more triumphant campaigns to drive other Muslim armies from bases after they again attempted to get a foothold in Europe. The defeats Martel inflicted on the Muslims were absolutely vital in that the split in the Islamic world left the Caliphate unable to mount an all out attack on Europe through its strength.

These victories were very important, had Charles lost these battles,

Europe would be an Islamic nation instead of Christian. (Catholic History, Volume III)

The final four years of Charles' life, was more peaceful than most of it had been and much of his time was now spent on administrative and organisational plans to create more efficient state. Charles set about integrating the outlying realms of his empire into the Frankish church. Charles was that rarest of commodities in the Dark Ages: a brilliant stategic general, who also was a tactical commander. Charles had the last quality which defines genuine greatness in a military commander: he foresaw the dangers of his foes, and prepared for them with care; he used ground, time, place, and fierce loyalty of his troops to offset his foe's superior weaponry and tactics; third, he adapted, again and again, to the enemy on the battlefield, cooly shifting to compensate for the unforeseen and unforeseeable.

Charlemagne: Charlemagne was the son of Pepin and the Grandson of Charles

Martel. When Peppin died he divided the dynasty among his two sons Carloman and Charlemagne.

Pepin invaded Italy to protect the pope against the Lombards in 756 and after 760

Pepin's main military efforts went into the conquest of Aquitaine, the lands south of the Loire River. This is important because when Pepin died in 768, still fighting with the Lombards, Charlemagne sought an alliance with the Lombards by marrying (770) the daughter of their king, Desiderius. (Charlemagne: Encyclopedia, Medieval History)