Mazza ! 1
Treat your Bishops Right
Jake Mazza
Western Civilization I: Ancient to 1500
November 29, 2017
Mazza ! 2
If you look at early christianity you could easily see how the church helped shape society
as a whole. Whether you see laws based on christian text or you see the influence the bishops for
the church have on politics. There is no better time to analyze the treatment of a bishops worth
than during Einhard (c.775-840), Life of Charlemagne which explains Charlemagne’s (829-36)
treatment vs. Gregory of Tours (538-94 Course Packet) History of the Franks which explains
Chilperics (539-84) treatment of his bishops while King of Soissons. The differences between
Charlemagne and Chilperic are drastic in the way they treated there bishops, and they deserve
thorough scrutiny. Chilperic rejecting there help obviously caused a rocky relationship compared
to the love the bishops had for Charlemagne.
If you begin to analyze Chilperics life his lack of respect for his bishops is almost to
noticeable. He never takes there word into consideration and he attempted to force them to
