Playing cards, Presumably everyone is no stranger.
In the age of the Internet, this was one of the few recreational activities that could be entertained. However, I don't know if you have paid attention to the deck of the playing cards, in addition to the four suits, the j, q, and k cards have different character images.
And what we are talking about today is the character on the "red peach k" - Charlemagne.
In 476 AD, the Western Roman Empire collapsed, and as an outstanding representative of the "barbarian kingdom", the Frankish kingdom gradually rose and inherited the "tradition" of the Western Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire.
It is worth mentioning here that the so-called "barbarian kingdom" actually refers to the non-city-state tribes of the Roman Empire era, and we can understand it by comparing the Huaxia and Rongdi tribes in the Qin and Han dynasties of China!
Although "originally born from the same roots", it is clear that the Byzantine Empire and the Frankish Kingdom were not really "like one family".
In the early years of Charlemagne's reign, the Frankish kingdom maintained good diplomatic relations with the Byzantine Empire, and Charlemagne promised to marry his daughter to Constantine VI for the purpose of political marriage between the two countries.
But somehow, Charlemagne finally canceled the marriage contract and publicly expelled the envoys of the Byzantine Empire from the palace, an event that became the beginning of a freezing point in relations between the two countries.
Although it is impossible to know the reasons for the refusal of marriage, this does not prevent us from guessing, my personal understanding is:
From the beginning of his ascension to the throne, Charlemagne had great ambitions, and his ultimate goal was to establish a Western empire unified with Christianity. The so-called marriage is likely to have been a pretext for Charlemagne from the beginning, because he needed to test the attitude of the Byzantine emperor.
This can also be explained from the timeline, the marriage contract was made in 781, and it was cancelled in 788, if it is really a marriage relationship, it is impossible to have such a long span of time!
In addition, the two countries have a very special contradiction - the Pope!
Although nominally an offshoot of ancient Rome, byzantium's religious development was increasingly deviating from the Pope, and the Frankish Kingdom was a staunch follower of the Pope throughout.
In short, the Byzantine Empire paid more attention to the status of imperial power, while the Frankish Kingdom paid more attention to the status of ecclesiastical power, so that the pope in Italy became a "barometer" of relations between the two countries, and the delicate relationship between the three was also destined to set off a fierce competition on the European continent.
Since the establishment of the Papal States in the 6th century, the Papal States have been demanding protection from the Byzantine Empire, and with the political changes of the past two centuries, the Byzantine Empire has also begun to be invaded by surrounding forces.
On the one hand, it was unable to assume the responsibility for the protection of the Papal State; on the other hand, it was also alienated from the Papal State, subjectively unwilling to protect the Papal State anymore, and even in the 8th century, there was a movement to "destroy icons" within the Byzantine Empire, which shows how disgusted the Byzantine Empire was for the Papal State!
The Pope is not a fool, the Byzantine Empire "dislikes" itself, he also sees in the eyes, as the saying goes, "the enemy of the enemy is the friend". The Frankish Kingdom and the Byzantine Empire were at odds, and the Papal States were at odds with the Byzantine Empire, so it was almost natural that the Frankish Kingdom and the Papal States would join forces.
After Charlemagne ascended the throne, Pope Leo III began to openly overture Charlemagne and sent him the "key to st. Peter's tomb", which was actually very ordinary, but it symbolized the power of Christianity. Compared with his predecessor, Leo III was not a strong man, and his legitimacy was questioned within the religion.
His own weakness combined with pressure within the Papal States led Leo III to soon form an alliance with Charlemagne, and from this moment on, Lady Luck began to smile at Charlemagne...
In 799 AD, something happened that shocked Charlemagne – Leo III was attacked and imprisoned by people inside the religion!
Such a sudden event really caught Charlemagne off guard, as we mentioned earlier, Charlemagne had formed an alliance with Leo III, Leo III was attacked, and Charlemagne's first thought was whether the relationship between the Frankish kingdom and religion had broken down.
The Papal States were in chaos at this time, and the attack on the Pope was tantamount to a religious coup. After Charlemagne calmed down, he immediately sent people to Italy to take Leo III to France for temporary protection, because in name, the pope was still the leader of the religion, and his political influence was still there.
Subsequently, Charlemagne concentrated his army on the Italian border and used force to mediate with the Papal States, and soon the Papal States submitted and agreed to Leo III's return to the Holy See to return to the Papacy and return to the Papacy. Curiously, however, just a year after Leo III returned to Italy, Charlemagne also came to Rome.
What did Charlemagne do in Rome? The reason is actually very simple - coronation!
Throughout the Middle Ages, coronation has been a "compulsory course" for the emperors of European countries, and they have been crowned by the pope to be called "real emperors", and before they were crowned, they could only be called "kings".
Charlemagne was no exception, of course, but his title of "Emperor" was somewhat peculiar—a title that Charlemagne was initially reluctant to accept
That's weird! The promotion from King of The Franks to Emperor of the whole Christian world is clearly from manager to chairman! Such a good thing, Charlemagne was actually reluctant? In fact, the reason for this must also start from the fall of the Roman Empire.
First of all, the title of emperor is relative to the king, from the perspective of power, the emperor is obviously greater than the king, the most critical point is that in Europe at that time, "emperor" refers to the leader of the ancient Roman Empire.
As we mentioned earlier, the Roman Empire was divided into two, and the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) was the legitimate successor of the ancient Roman Empire, that is, even if the title of "Emperor" was to be restored, it would not be Charlemagne's turn, but the King of Byzantium.
But because Byzantium and the Papal States were at odds, and Charlemagne saved the Pope's life, the Pope granted this title to Charlemagne, in fact, to repay the favor, and Charlemagne was a wise man, he knew that once he accepted this title, it meant that there was a direct conflict with the Byzantine Empire, and he was not prepared to deal with the Byzantine Empire at that time.
Despite many concerns, after all, it was difficult to be gracious, and on Christmas Day 800, the Pope held a grand coronation for Charlemagne, and Charlemagne suddenly changed from the king of the Frankish kingdom to the "emperor of the entire Roman world".
From my personal point of view, I think there is another layer of meaning behind this incident:
Judging from the precondition of the contradiction between the Pope and the Byzantine Empire, Leo III's insistence on imposing the title of "Emperor" on the head of Charlemagne was obviously to give the Byzantine Empire a downward spiral; and to some extent, Leo III intended to intensify the contradiction between the Frankish Kingdom and the Byzantine Empire.
Because it is impossible for the Pope not to understand the meaning of the title "Emperor", and Leo III's "knowing sin" seems to have no other reasonable explanation than to deliberately intensify the contradiction!
After his coronation, Charlemagne, who became the "Spiritual Roman Emperor," vigorously promoted his Christianity (Catholicism) in Western Europe, and of course, it was not impossible to say that this was his post-coronation obligation.
From this moment on, the Christian church began to diverge – Catholic (Frankish), Orthodox (Byzantine)
Division means confrontation, as we mentioned earlier, the Frankish kingdom is a branch of the "barbarian kingdom", compared with the Byzantine Empire, its orthodox status is obviously several levels behind, coupled with the "barbarian kingdom" itself is independent, before the coronation of Charlemagne, it is difficult to achieve unity of opinion, and now, with Charlemagne as the object of common worship, the inheritance of the barbarian kingdom to Roman civilization is gradually revealed.
Let's talk about the Byzantine Empire, although it is the actual successor of the ancient Roman Empire, but in the process of overlapping contradictions with the pope, its "Roman system" is not so authentic, in other words, the Byzantine Empire's inheritance of the "Roman polity" has become nominal.
In 812, the envoys of the Byzantine Emperor Mikhail I came to the Franks, concluded a peace treaty, and called Charlemagne emperor, which was the first time that the Byzantine Empire called a foreign ruler emperor, and since then, the Roman Empire has re-emerged in the old Western European world!
Here's an interesting question – why did Byzantium voluntarily acknowledge franks' inheritance of the "Roman spirit"?
In medieval Europe, where religion was the main relationship, the pope was the object of nominal respect that all European countries had to be honored, and it was obvious that the contradiction between the Byzantine Empire and the pope could not be resolved overnight, and in the face of Charlemagne, who was crowned by the pope, if the Byzantine Empire had always maintained a hostile attitude, it was bound to fall into the dilemma of being attacked from the belly and back, which the Byzantine emperor did not want to see.
Moreover, the Byzantine Empire already had a new political concept, which originated from the "Roman spirit" but not the "Roman spirit", and in order to independent this idea, it seemed to be the best choice to voluntarily abandon the inheritance of the "Roman spirit"!
In this way, the pattern of Europe underwent earth-shaking changes after the coronation of Charlemagne, and the ancient Roman civilization began to recover in Western Europe, which evolved into a gathering place for Orthodox Christianity.
When one power props up another power that can sit on an equal footing, the struggle between the two will be inevitable. The Pope gave Charlemagne almost theocratic imperial approval, and although the Pope himself was supported and guaranteed, the opposition between theocracy and imperial power began to emerge.
The Pope used the coronation of Charlemagne to spread the influence of the Catholic Church to Western Europe, and after the fall of the Frankish kingdom, he gradually revealed his ambition to control the whole of Western Europe, of course, this is a later story; and after receiving the coronation, Charlemagne did not stay in Italy for long, and returned to Frank, which also shows that Charlemagne did not attach so much importance to the coronation.
In short, whether it is the Pope or Charlemagne, the coronation is actually a formal process of mutual use, even if this form is of great political significance, but in the face of their own political interests, these empty things can be completely left behind!