Who is the best? I will look closely at three different men/leaders. I will then decide who the best leader was. We will examine Gregory the Great, as well as, his achievements. Charlemagne, who drove one of the fiercest armed forces. In summary, Mohammed, who “is considered by Muslims as being the last and greatest prophet from heaven” . These men were all rulers at a point in time, we will look at their prominent accomplishments and see who the best ruler was out of the three. Gregory the Great was a man of great quality because he had “self-confidence and a strong will, “But his wide range of work in politics, liturgy, monasticism and even music earned him the title the Great" . He gave up his “brilliant political career …show more content…
“He then became Pope in 590 A.D.” , it is significant because by him becoming pope he was able to start other monasteries and had people under his command. Gregory the Great was exceedingly wise and wrote something called a “Pastoral Care” . This was a book for the men that worked in the church for him that were unfamiliar with their duties, the book would explain to them what to do and how to do it. Gregory had made a remarkably strong foundation for the Roman Catholic Church, so that when he someday died his hard work would still carry on. “March 12th, 604” Gregory the great had passed away. “Future popes built on the foundation laid by Gregory and became more powerful and had more authority” . “Gregory sought to expand and standardize the church in the more remote territories” , which is why he was so powerful and had so much authority. During the Middle Ages, there was a man named Charlemagne, he was like most in Europe and was unsure of how to write, however, that was the least of his worries owing to the fact that he was the man the pope would call upon for help to face different battles. The pope then called upon him and ask him to defend Rome from the Lombards. Charlemagne and …show more content…
“Charlemagne’s efforts brought peace for the first time in hundreds of years” . He was a magnificent man and kept remarkable control over the nobles in his kingdom. His determination and willingness to try to conquer all that he did, was what made him into the man we talk about today. Mohammed was a boy born in 570 A.D. who would later transform the lives of many in the world. At a very young age, he began working on a caravan. Then, at the age of twenty, “he began working for a rich widow named Khadija” . Soon after getting married, he had four beautiful daughters. Furthermore, Mohammed learned to set time away for what was important to him, which was his god named Allah. He “often went alone to a cave where he prayed” . “One day he returned from the cave and told his wife he had heard a frightening voice tell him he was to be the messenger of Allah, his name for god” . Mohammed was unsure of the voice he heard and whether to believe it. His wife reassured him that “he was to be a great prophet who would lead the Arabs away from the worship of idols” . He continued to pray in the cave and get incipient information about this incipient religion he was to commence, it was the religion
his religion that when he prayed, he would start to cry. He goes on to explain, “I wept
Einhard, in his The Life of Charlemagne, makes clear the fundamental integration of politics and religion during the reign of his king. Throughout his life, Charles the Great endeavored to acquire and use religious power to his desired ends. But, if Charlemagne was the premiere monarch of the western world, why was religious sanction and influence necessary to achieve his goals? In an age when military power was the primary means of expanding one's empire, why did the most powerful military force in Europe go to such great lengths to ensure a benevolent relationship with the church? One possibility may be found in the tremendous social and political influence of Rome and her papacy upon the whole of the continent. Rather than a force to be opposed, Charlemagne viewed the church as a potential source of political power to be gained through negotiation and alliance. The relationship was one of great symbiosis, and both componants not only survived but prospered to eventually dominate western Europe. For the King of the Franks, the church provided the means to accomplish the expansion and reformation of his empire. For the Holy Roman Church, Charles provided protection from invaders and new possibilities for missionary work.
Saint Gregory of Tours was born around the year 538 at Arverni, which is now Clermont-Ferrand. He belonged to the Gallo-Roman family, which was a very prestigious family. He was also related to the houses of Gaul. Gregory’s original name was Georgius Florentius. He took the name Gregory to honor his late grandfather who was named Gregory. His Grandfather was the Bishop of Langres. When Gregory was young, his father died and he went to live with his Uncle. His uncle, Gallus, was the Bishop of Clermont. Gallus educated him until his death in 554. Gregory’s mother left to live with friends in Burgandy and left her son to Avitus who became Bishop of Clermont after Gallus. Avitus taught Gregory all about the Scriptures. Gregory was not too impressed with the scriptures. Gregory got seriously ill and wasn’t supposed to recover. He did recover though and this made him more mindful of God and the scriptures. Gregory then became a friend with the Bishop of Tours whose name was Euphronius. Euphronius died in 573 and Gregory succeeded him as Bishop of Tours.
Charlemagne, also known as Charles the Great, became the undisputed ruler of Western Europe, “By the sword and the cross.” (Compton’s 346) As Western Europe was deteriorating Charlemagne was crowned the privilege of being joint king of the Franks in 768 A.D. People of Western Europe, excluding the church followers, had all but forgotten the great gifts of education and arts that they had possessed at one time. Charlemagne solidly defeated barbarians and kings in identical fashion during his reign. Using the re-establishment of education and order, Charlemagne was able to save many political rights and restore culture in Western Europe.
Charlemagne is known to be one of the most notable leaders from the Frankish reign and era. After Pepin the Short died in 768, his lands, the Frankish kingdom which he established had been divided by tradition between his two sons, Charlemagne and Carloman. However, after Carloman's death and the quick disposition of his two sons, the heirs to his portion of the kingdom, Charlemagne soon became the sole leader of the Franks. This consolidation of power on Charlemagne’s part soon left him in a position of great supremacy and soon he began the military conquests that would mark his reign. By doing so, he not only was able to extend his control by establishing a supreme Frankish empire but also elated him into the realm of a ‘great’ leader. The first ten years of his reign were marked by the traditional business of his house- fighting and military conquest. However, soon afterwards his military campaigns took on another role, not only that of conquest, expansion and plunder but now could be seen within his campaigns a growing sense of his Christian mission. One of the most notable crusades of this era is perhaps his fight against the Saxons, whom to Charlemagne were a fierce pagan people, settled along the course of the Wiser and Elbe rivers and east of the Rhine.
Charlemagne was “a key figure in European history”. He was the king of the Franks of the Carolingian dynasty. When he reigned (768-814), Charlemagne accomplished much in his own land and outside of it. He is called the Father of Europe and Charles the Great. The Carolingian Dynasty “peaked under… Charlemagne (after whom the dynasty in named)...” But, even with these great accomplishments, was Charlemagne a good king? Before this issue is addressed, it must be known what qualities make a good king.
„« He was a roman Catholic missionary of the congregation of the sacred hearts of Jesus and Mary.
...ut who lost heart at the last moment and succeeded only in slashing him across the eyes. The pope summoned Charlemagne to Rome and bestowed the crown of Emperor and Augustus upon him. The Pope’s attackers fled when they heard that Charlemagne was coming but they were found and punished some were imprisoned and other condemned to death.
Representing the power that Charlemagne had over the
... time when much of the barbarian west was only nominally Christian, Benedict’s Rule kept alive the spirit of pursuing a life of gospel perfection” (Reid 50). “Benedict’s rule, which was a synthesis of several rules, could be applied to any number of monasteries and locations” (Vidmar 79). This universality of his rule helped to stabilize not only monasticism and the church, but also rub off on the common people and nobility that the monastics encountered.
The ultimate promise of Christianity is undoubtedly the access to God. In contemporary times, we call that participation in the divine life. St. Gregory Palamas, the, “Light of Orthodoxy,” is honored on the Second Sunday of Great Lent. St. Gregory lived from 1296-1359 AD as the Archbishop of Thessalonica. Gregory asserted that the prophets in fact had greater knowledge of God, because they had actually seen or heard God himself. Palamas is recognized as a Saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Byzantine Catholic Churches that are in communion with Rome revere him in the liturgy, and Pope John Paul II has been repeatedly cited as a great theological writer as well as a saint. Palamas’ works proposes to us an in-depth mystical theology of God and His grace, inspiring us to a deeper personal relationship and union with God. Therefore, ‘theology in the highest sense is not knowledge of God but possession of God’.
Apart from effecting regime changes and initiating dialogues between Christianity and other faiths, there are other credits to his fame. He was deeply involved in the rites of the Catholic Church and pushed for reforms wherever possible. However, there have also been areas where he had taken a rather conservative stance, for e.g. abortion and alternative sexuality. Nevertheless, the contribution to Catholicism, Christianity and the world at large can never be undermined. It is rarely that such great leaders are born.
The Papacy is the office of the Pope. The word pope comes from the Latin form of the word “Papa” which means father. The office of the Pope or rather the papacy is responsible for a wide variety of things. Specifically the Papacy’s main responsibility is the spiritual well being of the members of the Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church rose to power in the 6th century and lasted throughout the 9th century. There were several different circumstantial and also coincidental factors that contributed to the high regard of the church by the 6th century. The beginning was the church’s unsolicited popularity. This could be linked to its relationship with the early apostles. The Roman Church was the first in the empire to be established by the Apostles. Since the 4th century the Roman Empire was being primed to receive the church as the highest power in its land. When the barbarians started their invasion on Rome the church had a very powerful leader at the time. Pope Gregory I was responsible for Rome’s finances, food, water supply, and policing. He put a new face to the Papacy. He established a new Liturgy of the church. Liturgy means a service to the people.
Pope’s father, the son of an Anglican vicar, had converted to Catholism causing the family many problems. The reason why is because at this time Catholics suffered from repressive legislation and prejudice. Catholics were not allowed to enroll in universities or hold employment. This made it impossible for Pope to have a successful education that was often interrupted. He was ex...
Perhaps no other event was as influential to the rise of papacy in Rome as the decline of the Roman empire. With the decline of the empire, the church became the last refuge of stability. Without the protection of the empire, Rome was subject to poverty, disrepair, and attack from enemies.1 The rise of the papacy was a response to this situation. It was further cemented by the leadership of such men as Leo I and Gregory I, the latter sometimes referred to as the father of the medieval papacy.2 Finally, the granting of lands and authority to the bishop of Rome greatly increased the power of the Roman church.3