Frankish Empire Vs Byzantine Empire

As we established in class, the key tenets of civilizations are a written and spoken language, city-state with a government, and a code of law. Following the collapse of the Roman Empire in West 476 AD, one can see these developments in three important civilizations. The Byzantine, Muslim, and the Frankish Kingdoms. The Byzantine Empire was the first of Rome's great heirs to civilization. In many ways, Byzantium was a continuance of Rome, as it was founded by the emperor Constantine in 324 AD. When Rome finally fell to persistent barbarian attacks in the fifth century, Constantinople assumed the full responsibility of the Roman Empire. In that regard, Byzantium was a true heir to Roman Civilization.
In the sixth century, another emperor assumed the throne in Constantinople which was Justinian. Most of Justinian's successes came second-handed which illustrates how effective he was at being a delegator. During his tenure, he recruited a banker, John the Cappadocian to rework the Empire's …show more content…
The attack of the Lombard’s in Ravenna and the lack of Byzantine presence in Rome due to the Muslim onslaughts in the eighth century, also paved the way for the great Frankish King. In 797 AD, things really heated up when Irene of Athens, captured her son, Constantine VI--the Emperor and had him killed by gouging out his eyes. Once the assassination was complete, Irene assumed the position of Emperor, which was not looked highly upon by Roman pontiff. Therefore, in 799-800 when Pope Leo III experienced issues with an unruly mob he reached out to Charlemagne, not Irene, for aid. In gratitude for Charlemagne saving the Church, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne the Holy Roman Emperor, which signaled the joining of Germanic Power, the Church, and the heritage of the Roman Empire. This event was a crucial one in the Making of