American Reacts Charlemagne (Part 1/2) 📜 The Rise

Hi everyone! I'm an American from the Northeast (New England). I want to create a watering hole for people who want to discuss, learn and teach about history through YouTube videos which you guys recommend to me through the comment section or over on Discord. Let's be respectful but, just as importantly, not be afraid to question any and everything about historical records in order to give us the most accurate representation of the history of our species and of our planet!

Also my TikTok :)
TikTok: @mcjibbin

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[panther]

A key aspect to understand medieval politics and history is "personal rulership". Before the late middle ages/the renaissance, there were no "states" or central bureaucracies as we know them. A monarch could only rule through personal relationships and bonds of fielty and/or loyalty. Wherever the ruler was at the moment, his control was strong, but as soon as he left, the local elites took over again. Medieval kingdoms were very fragile entities and most rulers had to constantly travel through their territories to ensure that their rule remained secure. For most parts of the middle ages, there were no capital cities, only temporal residences. In German, we call this "Reisekönigtum" ("travel kingship").

The internal feudal structure of medieval kingdoms was also very different from modern political and administrative structures. As I said, rule was centered around personal bonds. For medieval nobles, it wasn't really important where the border of their territories were (maps weren't used much), but what rights and privileges they had and what personal relationships they had with their superiors and inferiors. Our modern thinking revolves around lines on maps and administrative divisions, but this wasn't the mindset back then.

For example: A village could be owned by the Count of A, who was a vassal of the Archbishop of B, while the woods around this village were owned by the Baron of C, who was the vassal of the Duke of D. However, the Count of A retained the right to extract lumber from these woods, while the peasants from the next village (belonging to the Baron of C) were allowed to use the mill of the first village, even though it was owned by the Count of A. Oh, and perhaps the Archbishop could claim that the Baron of C was really HIS vassal, so he and the Duke of D went to war over that matter...
(And that's only the nobles. There were many similarly complicated relationships between nobles and peasants as well).

[panther]

17:10 This is connected with my other commentary about personal rulership. There hadn't really been a "Western Roman Empire" or a "Eastern Roman Empire". It was always THE Roman Empire, just being ruled by two Emperors with different areas of responsibility. When germanic general Odoacer forced the last western emperor to abdicate, there was simply one emperor left to rule over the entire Empire (although his influence over the germanic kingdoms in the west was only nominal). It all depended on the person of the ruler, his court bureaucracy and local magistrates, not on abstract concepts of a "state". However, the "Roman Empire" of Constantinople was a direct continuation of the ancient entity, while the HRE was not. Some historians argue that the roman state (founded in 753 BCE according to legend) lasted as a continuous legal entity until 1453, when Constantinople fell to the Turks.

So the Pope basically claimed that there was no legal Roman Emperor at the moment (because a women couldn't really be the Emperor, right?), so was free to declare Charlemagne as the one and only Roman Emperor. From this point onward, there were two Emperors who claimed to be the "real" Roman Emperor.

[panther]

Regarding the icons: At the time, there was a conflict within the eastern church about the legitimacy of religious icons. Some earlier emperors had banned and destroyed them (their faction was called "Ikonoklasts"), while others, like Irene, had embraced them again ("Ikonodules"). In the end, the Ikonoklasts lost and icons remain a central element of orthodox churches until today.

[bennyhana]

Charlemagne´s son gave land to Rollo (the viking), the land was to be called Normandy because he was norman, this was also the landing of D-day WW2. Rollo´s grandson was William the conqueror who became king of England.
But the 30year war was MANY centuries after Charlemagne, around 875 years after Charlemagne.

[iKvetch]

Connor...you are correct that the technology to do what you describe at 12:45 will not exist for centuries after the time of Charlemagne. As far as I can tell, the most important technology for ruling a widely distributed empire and the military that requires is the ability to communicate in near real time. That technology would be available until the mid to late 1800s with the development of the telegraph and submarine telegraph cable...and wouldn't you know it, the British Empire managed to get a near monopoly on many of the early networks of telegraph cables that developed around the world. 🖖😏✌

[divifilius]

It was Charlemagne's father Pepin who helped form the Papal States beyond Rome and placing it under Frankish protection. And yes, the Lombards were Christians but as every other aristocratic nations in Italy that came before and after them, were content to see the Pope's power diminished and only centered in Rome. The idea of a Papal State was rather new to Europe and thus its legitimacy questioned at every turn as no religious heads anywhere at this time held that much power not until Otto the Great started creating Archbishoprics in Germany (to somehow counter Papal influence and bring the church in Germany under his own control) such as those of Cologne, Trier and Munster that held immense power and territories and were also made Electors who elected Holy Roman Emperors. Secondly, at this period in time, acquiring and holding Rome was still prestigious and powers such as the Lombards that had previously acquired their territories in Italy from the Romans were perhaps trying to emulate the Ostrogoths in trying to acquire the entire peninsula for themselves including Rome itself. It was the Lombards that caused Byzantine troops to withdraw out of North and Central Italy so Rome might have seemed as legitimately theirs by right of conquest.
Odaecer after seizing Italy somehow sought recognition from the Eastern Empire and he and his successors were 'allowed' to rule in the name of the Emperor in the East thus the Western Empire did not really end but simply dissolved into its Eastern counterpart and became one indivisible empire. The Eastern Emperors have been seen after the fall of the west to be giving orders to Ostrogothic, Visigothic and even Frankish kings to do their bidding and in turn these kings received accolades and Roman titles such as patrician, pro-consuls and consuls.

[daveofyorkshire]

Germanic had no real meaning back then, its a relatively new term and designation. Germany wasn't around then, The modern definition of Germanic peoples developed in the 19th century, when the term "Germanic" was linked to the *newly discovered* Germanic languages, giving a new way of defining the Germanic peoples which came to be used in historiography and archaeology.

[daveofyorkshire]

Notice how the Saxons and Normans of the day are Frankish not Germanic! Germanic had no meaning then, so England's invasion of 1066 was not by germanic tribes, but Frankish (French) origin. That's why England spoke old French for 3 centuries and why English has roots in both romance (Latin) languages and what's come to be called Germanic (but wasn't relevent back then) languages...

[marcusfranconium]

If you finish this one you should look up the carolingian empire and rise of the franks. you will be suprised and intreagued .

[williambranch]

Germany was extremely tribal, pagan or Christian, from Roman times up until 1871. The Holy Roman Empire at times was made up of over 1000 political entities, large and small, that were consolidated into 25 entities in 1871, but Austria remained separate (Prussia didn't want the non-Germanic peoples under Austria-Hungary). These were consolidated into one entity in 1919 with the Weimar government, and included Austria in 1938 under Hitler, to be divided into three in 1949 (W Germany, E Germany and Austria). Then reduced to two in 1990 with the reunification of W and E Germany.

[panther]

Sorry for writing so many comments, but Kings and Generals have made a great video about the partition of Charlemagne's realm. :) Perhaps you could react to it?

[peterwilliamson]

Charlemagne is related directly to the famous film star Christopher Lee, he is a story in his own right, a magnificent man .

[daveofyorkshire]

The tendrils of Charlemagne echo out throughout Europe out into the entire western world... His bloodline exists just about everywhere now...

[cujkqxw]

Hey I don't know if you would be interested but there is a great series on the aftermath of the Roman defeat at Teutoburg (One of if not the greatest Roman defeat of all time). The series is called Avanging Varus and depicts the rise of Germanicus and his campaigns to avange the defeat at Teutoburg. It is a 8 episode series by the channel Invicta. (I think they are one of the best history channels on youtube out there).
The videos in chronological order are:
-What was Varus thinking? - The "Fool" of Teutoburg
-Deadly Moments - The Aftermath of Teutoburg Forest (9AD) DOCUMENTARY
-Avenging Varus - Campaigns of Tiberius (10-14 AD) DOCUMENTARY
-Avenging Varus - Campaigns of Germanicus (14-15 AD) DOCUMENTARY
-Avenging Varus - Battle of the Long Bridges (15 AD) DOCUMENTARY
-Avenging Varus - Battle of Idistaviso (16 AD) DOCUMENTARY
-Avenging Varus - Battle of the Angrivarian Wall (16 AD)
-Avenging Varus - The Fate of Arminius and Germanicus (17 AD)

I think it's a very interesting topic that I haven't seen you explore before so I would highly recommend checking it out.

[williambranch]

The tribalism of the German people created divided Christian religion, that was not an issue as long as local Catholic practice was allowed. As the RCC developed into a uniform centralized system, this created friction within many Catholic territories, not just with the Holy Roman Emperor. Starting with Wycliffe and Hus, resistance developed until Luther, Henry etc effectively broke the unity of the RCC, with national churches under secular rule. This couldn't happen in Germany, because it was so divided, such that under the temporary rule, that the religion of your local prince determined your religion, the Holy Roman Empire shattered into many Catholic and Lutheran mini-states. Individual families had to migrate to other locals if their conscience wouldn't permit that. The Thirty Years War was fought because of this unresolved chaos.

[rickybuhl]

Looking forward to this mini-series..
11:55 The famous (likely apocryphal) quote on Rome "..they make a desert and call it peace" - for reasons you mention. Might wanna look into the spread of Christianity across Europe to fill-in some blanks mate, maybe a little look at the Borgias later on - for their sheer audacity if nothing else.

[tibsky]

I think that this event in part gave birth to the process of the Fracture of the Christian World of the West and the East throughout the medieval world until the Fall of Constantinople.

[peterwilliamson]

the holy roman empire is germans 1st reich, german empire being 2nd reich, and you know the 3rd reich .

[theoderich]

It's odd somehow that the predecessor of the EU, the European Economic Community, was founded by more or less all those countries that Charlemagne had ruled over: (Western)Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg !?
(On the continent these were at the time the countries with most industrial, technological and financial power. The Frankish forefathers of Charlemagne had come from what is Germany today, had settled in the "Low Countries" and Belgium and finally conquered Gaule or France.)
And the contracts were signed in....Rome - not a coincidence

[timurlane]

Please react to kraut's video on turkey 🇹🇷 🙏 bruh . Been asking for a week im desperate