Europe and the Church, Part 7: Charlemagne, Father of Modern Europe
Over three centuries after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Charlemagne, king of the Franks, was crowned by the pope in the year 800. The second mountain "on which the woman sits" (Revelation 17:9) was set to inspire Europeans for centuries, including those behind today's European Union.
by Melvin Rhodes
He may have been crowned over 1,200 years ago, but Charlemagne still inspires people. The people of his capital city of Aachen, the spiritual and political capital of Western Europe 1,200 years ago, each year present the Charlemagne Prize to the person who has contributed the most to the fulfillment of the present-day goal of European unity. This coveted award was named after the man who is considered the founder of Western culture.
Readers of the British newsmagazine The Economist see his name every week at the end of the European news section. "Our weekly column on the European Union is named after one of the continent's early unifiers: Charlemagne, born in 742 and crowned first Holy Roman Emperor in 800," states the magazine's Web site.
This column about the development of the EU's "ever closer union" illustrates the link between Charlemagne's medieval empire and today's EU.
Charlemagne is a towering figure in European history. Crowned by the pope on Dec. 25 in the year 800, his dream of a united Catholic Europe, a revival of the Roman Empire, still inspires millions of Europeans today.
After Justinian
Following the death of the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian in 565 (see part 6 of this series in the November 2008 issue), the reunited empire again fell apart. For a brief moment, the "two legs" of West and East had been brought together once again under the leadership of one emperor, but after his death "the imperial restoration" crumbled.
