Carolingian Rule, Monastic Power, and the Foundations of Christian Europe.
This essay will explore how Charlemagne's rule and his successful attempt to refurbish the dream of old Rome was essential to the flourishing and thriving of Monasticism in the later middle ages. This will be demonstrated first by examining the development of the Carolingian Empire and the way in which it was modeled on Roman/Christian ideology and second by looking at the power and stability this gave the Catholic church in the life at that time. This essay will argue, therefore, that the Carolingian period was one where political decisions helped to implant Christianity firmly into the power structures of that time by allowing the church to control learning as well as legal institutions.
