The policy of Charles in his period of sole
rule (771-814) is Janus-headed; it looks forward and looks back. A true
Austrasian, he is faithful to the old Frankish ideal of military conquest; but
he gives it a new meaning, and besides fulfilling the projects of his
predecessors goes beyond the horizon of their most ambitious enterprises. In
his friendship for the Pope, in his care for ecclesiastical reform, he is his
father's son; but the relations of the son with the Church have a new purpose
and involve more than one breach with the past. His administration is largely
guided by the traditional standard of royal duty; he is a notable steward of
his demesnes; he is the reliever of the poor, the refuge of the defenceless,
the champion of justice. But he is also a far-sighted reformer adapting old
administrative methods to the requirements of a new political fabric. In fact,
to epitomise all these antitheses in one, he is the heir of an old barbarian
monarchy and also the founder of a new Empire.
The story of his conquests reads like the
epitome of a lost romance - so varied are the incidents, so jejune the details
afforded by contemporary sources.
(1) In 773 he crossed the Alps, at the prayer of
Pope Hadrian, because the Lombard King Didier had seized some cities comprised
in Pepin's Donation and was even threatening Rome. Pavia was starved into surrender,
Didier relegated to a monastery; Charles annexed the whole of Lombard territory
except Spoleto (which submitted to the Pope) and Benevento. He assumed the
title of King of the Lombards; but beyond garrisoning a few towns and
appointing a few Frankish counts made no attempt to displace Lombard officials
or alter the Lombard modes of government. He visited Hadrian at Rome, renewed
the Donation of Pepin, and concluded a pact of eternal friendship with the
Papacy.
