George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 10

[64] Christian church proclaimed the brotherhood of all

Chap. II.}

men as members of a catholic religion. At the time when society longed for regeneration through the establishment of order, it needed only a prince of sympathy with the common man,¹ unclouded vision, inventive genius, and irresistible will,² to make his way with the acclamations of the world to the nearest possible realization of these two ideas. As the reward of the German who smote the Saracens at Poitiers, the office and title of king, with the concurrence of the pope, passed into his family. His grandson, Charlemagne, carried Christianity to the North Sea by force of arms, prescribing to the lowland Saxons alike religion and allegiance; and dividing their territory into bishoprics, with endowments of land and local authority. Having achieved the union of Germany, he laid the foundations of his power in the class of free Germans. Of these he would not suffer the number to be diminished, or the rights to be abridged. After gaining the sway over western Europe, he crossed the Alps, brought back the fugitive head of the church to the city of Rome, and on Christmas eve of the year 800, which then was the eve of the new year and the new century, in the basilica of St. Peter, with an acclaiming congregation, who were present to represent all western Christendom, he was crowned by his client the pope as emperor of Rome and of the world. The crown signified the highest authority over Rome and over Italy. The pope of the day, who was his dependent