Thesis Statement Example: Detailed Discussion on Charlemagnes Relationship with the Church

Conclusion: a comparison of between the two emperors and their respective relationship with the Christianity

Introduction

Clovis is regarded as the father of the French nation. He was the first significant king of both the Franks and the entire Western Europe after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. Franks is a very significant tribe in the history of the formation of the French nation as it is directly associated with naming the whole nation: French. After the fall of the western Rome Empire, Clovis easily acquired the blessings from the Christian church in Rome. This happened because the Rome church always allied itself with empire leaders. Clovis is credited for uniting the peoples of what is currently referred to as France and for his contribution in establishing foundations of the medieval political order. This papers thesis statement is: a comparison between Clovis relationship with the church to Charlemagnes relationship with the church.

Clovis tight relationship with the Rome church was at first considered diluted as his wife adhered to the ancient Catholicism despite living and growing up alongside the Burgundians that believed and accepted Arianism, which was a branch of Christianity believed Christ was just one of God's creation and not god. Clovis did not believe in Christianity as he worshiped and prayed the old gods of his people despite his wife's attempts at convincing him to conform to Christianity. However, a series of misfortunes contributed in shaking his belief in the gods of his people as he started adhering and conforming to the Christianity ways. When Clovis' first son died, he assumed it was a sign of bad omen and refused to conform to Clotilde's god: Christianity. However, in the year 496 Clovis lead the franks into war with a large group of tribes from the northeast and as time passed by Clovis was approaching defeat. It was this time that he decided to pray the Christianity god for victory, promising to convert into a Christian if he won. Immediately after the prayer, the rival tribes started fleeing from the Franks. This propelled Clovis and his 3000 men to be baptized and to conform to Christianity fully as a way of fulfilling his promise. Thus, his relationship with the church was directly associated with strength his warriors received from the Christianity god to win wars.

Historically, Charlemagne lived in the years between 742-814 doubling up as the king of the Franks between year 768-814 and holy roman emperor between years 800-14. During Charlemagne's reign, he was involved in various campaigns that resulted into conquering must parts of the Europe: specifically the western side. In all his battles, the conquered had only two choices to make: either become a Christian or die. This formed the basis of his relationship with the Catholic Church to an extent of declaring himself as the defe4nder of the faith. In addition, Charlemagne's raid and the defeat of Lombards, who had attacked Rome and constantly threatened papacy in the year 772, alongside his constant financial contributions that involved huge amounts of money towards the church, put him and the church into very close relations. Whenever Charlemagne lead his men to war or a rain they came back with various valuables after winning the battle, which include monetary valuables, food, and jewels. These were the valuables the emperor used in gifting the church.

Unlike Clovis relationship with the church, Charlemagne's relationship had the church directly benefit from financials and growth of its followers: those conquered. Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor of the Romans due to his selfless effort geared toward the growth and protection of the church. Through being crowned as the emperor and his military subjugation, Charlemagne shaped the new era of modern history by being the foremost secular ruler in the world.