Evening star., 1928-02-26
Continued from Third Page.)

:
pire: but 1t served extremely we'll Il
unity chaotic Europe. and to consoli
date the power of the growing church
It wove Germany. Austria. Italy, Francs
and The Netherlands into one ordered
realm. il gave them a coherent system
of enlightened laws. and thereby the Sc
curity of life and goods which hastenee
the economic recovery Of continent
torn and terrified by pillage and war
It paved the way. across 700 years. fol
the rise Of the modern state.
More immediately it established the
temporal power and spiritual leader
ship Of the papacy. When Charlemagne
permitted Leo III. by all act OF mag
. nificent presumption. to place the no
man crown upon his head he lent the
sanction Of his arms to the political
ascendancy Of the popes IN Italy. ano
sealed that alliance of church and state
which was 10 become the predominant
Characteristic of the Middle Ages
thereafter the popes could platlSloly
claim that no king deserved ooedlence
unless he had been crowned by the
wear Of Christ in Rome: 1t became
and the theory Of the. divine right OF
k;rss-"kincs by the grace of God
vas Sc: upon a road that would not
end until our generation But also 1t
left III the hands Of the popes a power
Of "interdict'-a power to absoive sub
jects from fealty TO their king-whicll
made the papacy. after the death OF
Chariewagne. predominate over the en-
pirc: Il laid upon the state the ooliga-
ton Of maintaining the prerogatives
and inyiolabilitv of the church in its
property and personnel and 1t initiated
those earthly territorial rights which
were to form the problem OF the "tem-
porai power"
This power had its origin IN the sup
posed Donation Of Constantine" We
find no mention Of this among cotem-
porory historians before the eighth GEN.
tury then Adrian I writes to Charlie
r.aC.,e exhorting him TO initiate the
generosity Of Constantine. and tells him
how the first Christian emperor, healed
Of the leprosy and baptised by st. Sill
ves.er. gratefully withdrew to Constan-
tinople. and resigned to the popes the
perpetual sovereignty OF Italy and the
provinces Of the West Charlemagne
responded with simple generosity. and
donated TO the popes that central Sec
ton Q. Italy which became the fouN-
dstion of the papal states. An event in
h!sto,y-even wnen it has never taken
place-is like a movement among the
stars: il has endless results in space
and time.
Crowned and secure Charlemagne
returned 10 France. waged further wars
and then retired 10 the prosaic life Of
his court and his concubines. His vir-
s~>n nf.sl4 rI y.l M
contributed literally 10 the birth rate.
But these were modest vices for SO
great king. and indicated merely cne
side o. varied appetite which ranged
from eggs and maidens to philosophy.
Though he himself could hardly read.
end strove in vain. between venison
and venerv. TO learn the now rare ac-
complisilnlent Of writing. he ordered
the cierics and scholars of his time tin
T69) 70 open the schools Of every parish
20 such OF the people as were lucky
enough to be males. and 10 give them
again the iustrumentalities Of civiliZa-
ton. He felt the darkness of his age
and envied the cultural attainments Of
the ancient kings. Of whom some tradi-
ton had filtered down through the de-
cay OF letters and Of social memory.
One hundred years before his birth
the supply Of papyrus had run short,
O. trade IN it had ceased: now only
costly parchment could be HAD and II
seemed sacrileglous % use this for any
thing but hymns and prayers. The
towns, those crossroads Of commerce.
where ideas had been exchanged as well
as goods. had melted away into the
agricultural hirteriand, and rural iso-
lation had nourist1ed stupidity and
superstition. The great cities that had
housed and cherished observation-disclosures,
Alexandria. Carthage and Rome-had
been sacked by invaders. or their Ii
h-aries had been destroyed, and many
precious manuscripts Of classic genius
had been lost through indifference. or
orertra ced with pious lore ST. Jerome
rad condemned the pursuit of learn
.sng-tnose who enjoyed profane htera-
1ure we're in his Judgment doomed TO
he'll. and they might consider them
selves fortunate IL God did not, as they
read the classics. strike them dead. II
Z was better TO recite the rosary than
to readPiato or Cicero. Ignorance was
looked Upon as the mother Of 6evo-
ton: astronomy became astroiogy.
chemistry became alchemy and biology
became mere fables OF talking animals.
Gregory. Bishop OF Tours I'd. 594l. Ia
merted IL bad Latin the illiteracy OF
his age: Woe 70 our time. for the
study OF books has per.shec from among
us"
To establish a center for diffusion and
emulation from which the taste for let
terg rni2at trickle down TO the people
Ctsriemagne called TO his aid the great
English scholar Alcuin and bade him
establish a school in the royal palace
where young princes and mobiles might
study Latin. and 50 bridge the gap that
had grown between them and the an
cien. mind. Charles himself, as mod
Z est at greatness always is. sat now and
then amo.g the students, and strovc 10
lift himself from the level OF king 10
that ot an educated man. There in
thai schooi the European mind vas
born again.
Feudzlism.
When Charles the Great died. In the
year oiz. he ;atal flaw Of monarchies
2 spoeayel: His son and her was a
Yaeotocr!ly IL whose hands the great
.ea.n fell ~ pieces Cnariemagne him
Sest hac weskenec IT BY grants Of land
20 his generals III payment for their
services. These soldiers tco07l.eS) be-
EzGle cca1teE. VicoyLteS afc counts. these
je&ce.s icuceSj became dukes. and these
guardians o! the marches marks.
frontiers became nlargraYeg and mar
Cu16es. the feL6al power 1prouted In a
hundred places a. once in an empire TOO
UrT.ei6y 70 te .unc except by con-
<t1Tp3ty of gepiuses. or With such ins,ru-
tne:ita.!taes ot oyces as had passed with
he fail ef Rome. From the ninth cen
r fury ~ the thirteenth The feucsi barof.s
4. were supreme. an1 established during
thst perio6 the aFjstrcracies that dom
s1ased Europe unt;i the revolutions ot
jess in England. 1879 hi France. 1917 III
/. EUhSla. end 1919 In Germany
H. 3orY1e measure the new system oWec
SIS origin 70 ancient Rome, The cyn-
C9ef!ny empire hzc left governors :og
sscll sJk)sct c0n1ain these governors