| The political situation in Italy in the 8th century was complicated.The military threat and territorial expansion of the Lombard Kingdom,the Byzantine Empire and other regimes caused the Holy See to fall into a serious crisis of survival during this period.In order to safeguard the authority of Pope and the long-term development of the Holy See,since the beginning of the mid-8th century,popes have actively sought assistance from the Carolingian court in the West,and frequently sent letters to the Carolingian rulers,pouring out their own demands.And these letters,which contain the emotional outpourings and psychological trajectories of the popes,were also have been collected as much as possible in Codex Carolinus.The Codex Carolinus is a collection which was collected and compiled by important officials of the Carolingian court under the order of Charlemagne in 791,and it contains over 90 important letters sent by several popes to the Carolingian court in the 8th century.In these private or public letters,popes draw on their religious and moral capital to gradually penetrate their own understanding of the situation and personal writing intentions in the process of recalling history and telling the present.With the constantly evolving personnel structure in these letters,the words from the Lateran gradually rose to become an important vehicle for their demands and assertions of authority.This paper is titled "the Survival and Continuation Appeal of the Pope in the Second Half of the 8th Century",and uses several letters sent by the popes to the Carolingian Court in the mid-to-late 8th century as the core historical material.This paper attempts to discover the demands of the popes hidden behind these letters by examining and analyzing them and the related original documents,so as to reveal the particularities of the popes’ internal and external policies in the second half of the 8th century under different circumstances,as well as their far-reaching influence on the future development of the Holy See.The first chapter is the introduction,which starts from the origin of the research and discusses the academic significance and value of this study.Secondly,introduce the current research status in relevant fields both domestically and internationally,and provide a brief summary.Finally,it is a compendium of the ideas,methods,and innovations of this study.The second chapter is a discussion about the relevant information of the Codex Carolinus.It mainly explains the textual content,writing style,birth background of the Codex Carolinus,as well as the proofreading experience and evaluation of later scholars,so as to reveal the unique value of this historical document for studying the development history of the Pope in the 8th century.The third chapter mainly discusses the complex historical background of Italy in the early 8th century.The eastward movement of the Byzantine Empire’s front forced the Pope to deal with the southward expansion of the Lombards on his own.In order to fill the power vacuum created by the Byzantine Empire’s inability to look westward,the Pope actively assumed the responsibility of a leader of central Italy.It was during this period that the personal prestige of the Pope began to rise.The fouth chapter focuses on analyzing Pope Stephen Ⅱ’s policy shift and his political demands for independence and autonomy.Faced with the military expansion of the Lombards,and after unsuccessfully seeking help from the Byzantine Empire,Stephen Ⅱ actively turned to the Carolingian Empire.Thanks to the assistance of the Frankish king Pippin Ⅲ,Stephen Ⅱ not only overcame the territorial crisis,but also successfully fulfilled his political demands for establishing an autonomous regime.At the same time,Stephen Ⅱ further clarified the close alliance between the Pope and the Franks through his position as pope.With the initial formation of "the Republic of St.Peter" led by the Pope,ensuring the long-term stability of this regime has become the focus affair of successive papal.The fifth chapter mainly discusses Pope Paul I’s flexible policy adjustment in the face of multiple external crises.Faced with the dual pressure from the Lombard Kingdom and the Byzantine Empire in the mid-8th century,Paul I began to proactively adjust his strategies.For the relationship between the Holy See and the Lombard Kingdom,he abandoned the hostile posture upheld by hispredecessor,Pope Stephen Ⅱ,and replaced it with cooperation and communication.At the same time,in response to the new campaign of iconoclasm launched by the Byzantine Empire,Paul also stood his ground and resisted the Byzantines’ religious and spiritual assaults,thus ensuring the continued stability of "the Republic of St.Peter" and the close relationship between the Pope and the Franks.The sixth chapter focuses on the changes in the internal and external situation of "the Republic of St.Peter" in the second half of the eighth century and the personal choices of Pope Stephen Ⅲ.The political marriage between the Franks and the Lombards once again led to a serious external crisis for "the Republic of St.Peter".In this situation,Pope Stephen Ⅲ,by means of strong diplomacy,finally reached a consensus with the Lombards and the Franks.At the same time,on the internal issues,in response to the papal election system and the dissident factions within the Holy See,Pope Stephen Ⅲ formulated practical solutions,and laying an important foundation for his successor,Pope Hadrian I,to assert the authority of the pope and to develop "the Republic of St.Peter".The seventh chapter provides a specific analysis of Pope Hadrian I’s hardline foreign policy.After being elected as the new pope,Hadrian I showed a very strong attitude in his foreign interactions with both the Lombards and the Franks.Not only did he refuse to live in harmony with the Lombards,but also led the Frankish army to Italy again after Pope Stephen Ⅱ.After the collapse of the Lombard regime in 774,Hadrian I attempted to further expand the territorial boundaries,which triggered a territorial dispute between him and the Charlemagne,the king of the Frankish kingdom.In the end,at the repeated demands of Hadrian I,the Franks gradually reached an agreement with the Pope on the issue of territorial boundaries.Thus,the development of the "the Republic of St.Peter" has also entered a new phase. |
