When the Roman empire fell, who would fill the power vacuum in the West?
This map shows the Frankish Holy Roman Empire as it was divided by the Treaty of Verdun.
After the fall of Rome in 476 C.E., many different Germanic tribes fought for control over the remnants of the western empire. Tribes such as the Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Lombards, and other Germanic peoples clashed routinely, sacking the city of Rome and other former Roman outpost cities. One of these tribes, the Franks, managed to consolidate power in old Gaul, now modern France, by the 6th century C.E. They converted en masse to Christianity under the leadership of Clovis. This gained the Franks the support of the pope, the head of the church. This position was solidified by Charles Martel, who gained power in the 700s C.E. with the defeat of Islamic forces who were pushing beyond Spain into Gaul.
Martel established the Carolingian dynasty and gave his son Pepin the Short his empire. By 768 C.E., Pepin’s son Charlemagne had taken the throne and begun to slowly expand the kingdom of the Franks into a new empire. He was so powerful and respected that at a mass (the Catholic religious service) in Rome on Christmas Day, 800 C.E., the pope crowned him the Holy Roman Emperor. By the time of Charlemagne's death in 814 C.E., the Holy Roman Empire spread across much of mainland Europe, abutting the wary Byzantines.
Charlemagne being crowned emperor by Pope Leo III.
A wise ruler, who was barely literate himself, Charlemagne sought to develop a system to control his lands peacefully. He valued education, and established a system of church-run schools connected to town churches and cathedrals. However, as a nod to powerful warlords and nobles, he created feudalism, a system much like the Indian caste system, with tightly regulated levels of power. Ironically, it was the second level of this system that eventually gained the most power. Each level of the feudal pyramid had different rights and responsibilities. The king gave vassals, or lords, land, called fiefs, or manors. These people were responsible for keeping the king in power, as well as growing crops and providing employment for the people at lower levels. Peasants and serfs were essentially slaves who worked for the vassals, and they were bound to the land unless they were freed.
Charlemagne’s empire ended when his grandsons fought for power over it. This conflict was settled by the Treaty of Verdun, which divided the empire into three sections. One remained the Holy Roman Empire, consisting of Italy and Central Europe. The others developed into France and the German states. This division of Charlemagne's empire occurred at the same time as the invasions of the Vikings, a people from the north of Europe. Vikings routinely made raids and military incursions into the Frankish lands, as well as the islands of Ireland and Britain, that were undergoing their own growth of royal powers and systems. By the end of the 11th century C.E., however, Vikings had largely begun to settle down, adopting Christianity and engaging in the trade system that made the Byzantines continually wealthy.
Question
How was the Holy Roman Empire created?
