incial territories. Another sect of Christianity would be started, and this one benefited it. Benedict was the leader of the aesthetics and the model for communal life. He stressed work and prayer, and monks were to bind themselves to a single monastery for life (Weaver 66). Monks were the “great librarians of the west” and responsible for the preservation of learning during the Dark Ages (Weaver 66). If it were not for these “great librarians,” Christianity would cease to grow as it had in the past. The role of monks in the civilization of the west after the fall of Rome “was of utmost importance (Weaver 66).”Yet another significant event for the spread and development of Christianity was the crowning of Gregory the Great as Pope of the church. Gregory tightened his control over the bishops to avoid corruption and centralized power in his office (Von Voorst 119). This helped strengthen the secular or temporal power of the papacy (Weaver 84).On December 25, 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne, originally king of the Franks, emperor. His empire consisted of most of Italy, France, Germany, and most of present day Austria. Charlemagne even began a movement to solidify, educate and reform his empire and it was on of the high point of civilization before the 11th century (Weaver 86). However, this did not last, as the empire crumbled following Charlemagne’s death.The Pope, due to a Barbarian attack on Rome crowned Otto Holy Roman Emperor in 962. At the time, Otto was king of present day Germany and he treated the church as part of his royal domain and wanted a holy papacy. This would lead to the occasion that the pope would be strong enough to control the secular ruler and that sometimes the emperor or king would be strong enough to control the pope (Weaver 72).A very significant event in Christian history was Holy Roman Emperor Henry’s solution of the three popes. Henry appoint...
