August 17, 2025 • 10 mins
On a crisp April morning in 799, Pope Leo III walked through the streets of Rome leading a religious procession when armed men suddenly burst from the crowd, threw him to the ground, and attempted to gouge out his eyes and slice off his tongue. This brutal assault left Leo bleeding and unconscious, but it would paradoxically lead to the greatest expansion of papal authority in centuries. This episode explores how personal attack became political transformation, setting the stage for the creation of the Holy Roman Empire.
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Unlock an ad-free podcast experience with Caloroga Shark Media! Get all our shows on any player you love, hassle free! For Apple users, hit the banner on your Apple podcasts app. For Spotify or other players, visit caloroga.com/plus. No plug-ins needed!
Subscribe now for exclusive shows like 'Palace Intrigue,' and get bonus content from Deep Crown (our exclusive Palace Insider!) Or get 'Daily Comedy News,' and '5 Good News Stories’ with no commercials! Plans start at $4.99 per month, or save 20% with a yearly plan at $49.99. Join today and help support the show!
We now have Merch! FREE SHIPPING! Check out all the products like T-shirts, mugs, bags, jackets and more with logos and slogans from your favorite shows! Did we mention there’s free shipping? Get 10% off with code NewMerch10 Go to Caloroga.com
Get more info from Caloroga Shark Media and if you have any comments, suggestions, or just want to get in touch our email is info@caloroga.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Calarogu Shark media. On a crisp April morning in seven
ninety nine, Pope Leo the Third walked through the streets
of Rome at the head of a solemn religious procession.
The occasion was the Greater Litanies, a traditional ceremony honoring
(00:23):
Saint Mark through chanted prayers and responses that wound through
the city's ancient streets. For the Pope, it was meant
to be another routine expression of his spiritual leadership over
the eternal city. Instead, it became the day that nearly
ended his life and ultimately changed the course of European history.
(00:43):
This is White Smoke, Episode twenty four. The attack. As
Leo approached the Flaminian gate, a group of armed men
suddenly burst from the crowd. They scattered the procession, seized
the Pope and threw him to the ground in a
brutal attack that shocked even the violence hardened Romans. They
(01:04):
attempted to gouge out his eyes and slice off his tongue,
following the Byzantine custom of rendering someone permanently unfit for
high office through physical mutilation. The assault left Leo bleeding
and unconscious in the Roman street. His attackers, believing they
had successfully ended his papacy. Yet this moment of apparent
(01:25):
papal weakness would paradoxically lead to the greatest expansion of
papal authority in centuries. Today we explore how personal attack
became political transformation, how papal vulnerability evolved into unprecedented authority,
and how violence in the streets of Rome set the
stage for the creation of the Holy Roman Empire. The
(01:46):
attack on Pope Leo was no random act of urban violence.
It emerged from the bitter factional politics that had plagued
Rome since the collapse of effective imperial control. Leo's predecessor,
Adrian I, had skillfully balanced competing interests during his twenty
three year reign, maintaining careful relationships with both the Byzantine
(02:06):
Empire and the rising Frankish Kingdom while preserving Roman autonomy.
Leo's election in nineteen ninety five immediately disrupted this delicate equilibrium.
Unlike Adrian, who had maintained studied independence, Leo quickly acknowledged
Charlemagne as Patrician of the Romans, essentially recognizing Frankish authority
over the city. This decision infuriated supporters of the previous pope,
(02:31):
who viewed it as an unacceptable surrender of Roman independence
to barbarian control. Leo's immediate submission to Charlemagne represented a
fundamental shift in papal strategy, explains Dr Thomas Noble, Professor
emeritus of history at the University of Notre Dame. Where
Adrian had played Byzantine and Frankish interests against each other
(02:52):
to preserve papal autonomy, Leo explicitly chose the Frankish alliance.
This alignment offered practical benefits but created dangerous enemies among
those committed to traditional Roman independence. The opposition coalesced around
Pascal and Campalus, relatives of the late Pope Adrian, who
commanded significant support among Rome's traditional aristocratic families. They accused
(03:15):
Leo of various improprieties, including adultery in perjury, charges that
carried both spiritual and temporal implications. In an age when
papal authority rested on presumed moral purity, these accusations reflected
deeper tensions about papal legitimacy and authority. Leo came from
humble origins, his father possibly of Arab background, making him
(03:39):
an outsider to Rome's established noble families. His opponents argued
that only someone of aristocratic breeding should hold the papal office,
positioning their attack as defense of traditional Roman values against
foreign influence and social climbing. The assault on Leo embodied
broader conflicts about who could legitimately claim authority in post
(04:00):
imperial Rome, notes Dr Rosamond McKitterick, Professor Emerita of Medieval
History at Cambridge University. The attackers weren't simply opposing a
particular pope, but challenging the entire direction of papal policy
toward Frankish alliance and away from traditional Roman aristocratic control.
(04:20):
The brutal physicality of the attack targeting Leo's eyes and
tongue specifically revealed the attacker's sophisticated understanding of Byzantine imperial politics.
In Constantinople, blinding and tongue removal were established methods for
permanently disqualifying someone from high office, based on the principle
that physical wholeness was necessary for legitimate rule. By attempting
(04:44):
to blind and silence Leo, his attackers sought to create
an irreversible situation a pope without eyes or tongue could
not effectively perform his liturgical duties, read scripture, or communicate
with distant churches. The attack aimed not just to re
remove Leo from office, but to make his restoration impossible
by destroying his capacity to function as pope. However, the
(05:08):
assault's very brutality created unexpected consequences. Leo's miraculous survival, with
his sight and speech intact or quickly recovered, appeared to
many Romans as divine intervention. What his enemies intended as
definitive disqualification instead became evidence of supernatural protection, strengthening rather
(05:29):
than weakening, Leo's claims to legitimate authority. Leo's escape from
Rome and flight across the Alps to Charlemagne's court at
Paderborn transformed what might have remained a local Roman dispute
into a European crisis with continental implications. This journey, undertaken
by a reigning pope seeking refuge from his own subjects,
(05:51):
represented an unprecedented acknowledgment of papal dependence on Frankish protection.
The symbolism was unmistakable. The successor to See Saint Peter,
spiritual father of Western Christianity, had been driven from the
Eternal City by fellow Christians, and now sought protection from
a Germanic king whose ancestors had been pagan less than
(06:11):
three centuries earlier. For both participants, this meeting carried profound
implications that extended far beyond resolving immediate Roman factional disputes.
For Charlemagne, Leo's arrival offered extraordinary opportunities. The Frankish king
had spent decades building an empire that stretched from the
Atlantic to the Danube, from the North Sea to the Mediterranean,
(06:35):
Yet despite his military achievements and territorial control, he remained
merely a king in a world where imperial authority carried
unique prestige and legitimacy. Charlemagne's protection of Leo provided the
legal and moral foundation for claims to imperial authority, explains
doctor Alessandro Barbero, professor of medieval history at the University
(06:57):
of Eastern Piedmont. By positioning him as defender of the
papal office against its enemies, Charlemagne assumed a role traditionally
associated with Roman emperors. This protection created obligations and expectations
that would reshape the relationship between secular and spiritual authority.
The negotiations at Paderborn, though unrecorded in detail, clearly established
(07:21):
mutual dependence. Leo needed Frankish military protection to return safely
to Rome and maintain his position against continued opposition. Charlemagne
needed papal blessing to legitimize his expanding authority and claims
to imperial dignity. This arrangement reflected broader transformations in early
medieval politics. Traditional sources of legitimacy Roman citizenship, senatorial approval,
(07:46):
imperial appointment had largely disappeared in the post imperial world.
New forms of authority required different kinds of validation, particularly
religious sanction that could transcend ethnic and tribal divisions. Leo's
(08:07):
return to Rome in November seven ninety nine, escorted by
Frankish officials and armed with a commission to investigate the
charges against him, demonstrated the practical effectiveness of this alliance.
The commission, composed of both Frankish and Roman representatives, formally
exonerated Leo while arresting and exiling his principal accusers. The
(08:28):
success of Leo's restoration revealed the new balance of power
in Rome. Notes doctor Julia Smith, professor of Medieval history
at the University of Oxford. Traditional Roman aristocratic opposition could
not overcome the combination of papal spiritual authority and Frankish
military power. This successful collaboration established precedents that would influence
(08:52):
church state relations for centuries. Yet tensions remained. Leo's dependence
on foreign protection compromised his authority among Romans who valued
independence from barbarian control. Meanwhile, Charlemagne's intervention in papal affairs
established expectations of continued influence over church governance that would
(09:13):
create future conflicts. The restored Leo now possessed something his
attackers had never anticipated, a powerful northern ally willing to
use military force to protect papal interests. The relationship forged
through crisis would soon produce consequences that neither Leo nor
Charlemagne could have fully anticipated. When the bloodied Pope first
appeared at the Frankish court, as the year eight hundred dawned,
(09:38):
both men understood that their alliance had created new possibilities.
Leo had proven that papal authority could survive even the
most brutal physical assault when backed by effective secular power.
Charlemagne had demonstrated his role as protector of the Church,
the traditional function of Roman emperors. The stage was set
(09:58):
for Christmas Day, eight one hundred, when these mutual obligations
would culminate in a ceremony that would transform European civilization
for the next millennium. The attack intended to destroy papal authority,
had instead created the conditions for its unprecedented expansion. What
happened in Saint Peter's Basilica that Christmas morning would prove
(10:20):
that sometimes the greatest triumphs emerge from the most devastating defeats.
White Smoke is a production of Calaroga Shark media, portions
of which were made with the help of Al Narration
Calarogu Shark media. On a crisp April morning in seven
ninety nine, Pope Leo the Third walked through the streets
of Rome at the head of a solemn religious procession.
The occasion was the Greater Litanies, a traditional ceremony honoring
(00:23):
Saint Mark through chanted prayers and responses that wound through
the city's ancient streets. For the Pope, it was meant
to be another routine expression of his spiritual leadership over
the eternal city. Instead, it became the day that nearly
ended his life and ultimately changed the course of European history.
(00:43):
This is White Smoke, Episode twenty four. The attack. As
Leo approached the Flaminian gate, a group of armed men
suddenly burst from the crowd. They scattered the procession, seized
the Pope and threw him to the ground in a
brutal attack that shocked even the violence hardened Romans. They
(01:04):
attempted to gouge out his eyes and slice off his tongue,
following the Byzantine custom of rendering someone permanently unfit for
high office through physical mutilation. The assault left Leo bleeding
and unconscious in the Roman street. His attackers, believing they
had successfully ended his papacy. Yet this moment of apparent
(01:25):
papal weakness would paradoxically lead to the greatest expansion of
papal authority in centuries. Today we explore how personal attack
became political transformation, how papal vulnerability evolved into unprecedented authority,
and how violence in the streets of Rome set the
stage for the creation of the Holy Roman Empire. The
(01:46):
attack on Pope Leo was no random act of urban violence.
It emerged from the bitter factional politics that had plagued
Rome since the collapse of effective imperial control. Leo's predecessor,
Adrian I, had skillfully balanced competing interests during his twenty
three year reign, maintaining careful relationships with both the Byzantine
(02:06):
Empire and the rising Frankish Kingdom while preserving Roman autonomy.
Leo's election in nineteen ninety five immediately disrupted this delicate equilibrium.
Unlike Adrian, who had maintained studied independence, Leo quickly acknowledged
Charlemagne as Patrician of the Romans, essentially recognizing Frankish authority
over the city. This decision infuriated supporters of the previous pope,
(02:31):
who viewed it as an unacceptable surrender of Roman independence
to barbarian control. Leo's immediate submission to Charlemagne represented a
fundamental shift in papal strategy, explains Dr Thomas Noble, Professor
emeritus of history at the University of Notre Dame. Where
Adrian had played Byzantine and Frankish interests against each other
(02:52):
to preserve papal autonomy, Leo explicitly chose the Frankish alliance.
This alignment offered practical benefits but created dangerous enemies among
those committed to traditional Roman independence. The opposition coalesced around
Pascal and Campalus, relatives of the late Pope Adrian, who
commanded significant support among Rome's traditional aristocratic families. They accused
(03:15):
Leo of various improprieties, including adultery in perjury, charges that
carried both spiritual and temporal implications. In an age when
papal authority rested on presumed moral purity, these accusations reflected
deeper tensions about papal legitimacy and authority. Leo came from
humble origins, his father possibly of Arab background, making him
(03:39):
an outsider to Rome's established noble families. His opponents argued
that only someone of aristocratic breeding should hold the papal office,
positioning their attack as defense of traditional Roman values against
foreign influence and social climbing. The assault on Leo embodied
broader conflicts about who could legitimately claim authority in post
(04:00):
imperial Rome, notes Dr Rosamond McKitterick, Professor Emerita of Medieval
History at Cambridge University. The attackers weren't simply opposing a
particular pope, but challenging the entire direction of papal policy
toward Frankish alliance and away from traditional Roman aristocratic control.
(04:20):
The brutal physicality of the attack targeting Leo's eyes and
tongue specifically revealed the attacker's sophisticated understanding of Byzantine imperial politics.
In Constantinople, blinding and tongue removal were established methods for
permanently disqualifying someone from high office, based on the principle
that physical wholeness was necessary for legitimate rule. By attempting
(04:44):
to blind and silence Leo, his attackers sought to create
an irreversible situation a pope without eyes or tongue could
not effectively perform his liturgical duties, read scripture, or communicate
with distant churches. The attack aimed not just to re
remove Leo from office, but to make his restoration impossible
by destroying his capacity to function as pope. However, the
(05:08):
assault's very brutality created unexpected consequences. Leo's miraculous survival, with
his sight and speech intact or quickly recovered, appeared to
many Romans as divine intervention. What his enemies intended as
definitive disqualification instead became evidence of supernatural protection, strengthening rather
(05:29):
than weakening, Leo's claims to legitimate authority. Leo's escape from
Rome and flight across the Alps to Charlemagne's court at
Paderborn transformed what might have remained a local Roman dispute
into a European crisis with continental implications. This journey, undertaken
by a reigning pope seeking refuge from his own subjects,
(05:51):
represented an unprecedented acknowledgment of papal dependence on Frankish protection.
The symbolism was unmistakable. The successor to See Saint Peter,
spiritual father of Western Christianity, had been driven from the
Eternal City by fellow Christians, and now sought protection from
a Germanic king whose ancestors had been pagan less than
(06:11):
three centuries earlier. For both participants, this meeting carried profound
implications that extended far beyond resolving immediate Roman factional disputes.
For Charlemagne, Leo's arrival offered extraordinary opportunities. The Frankish king
had spent decades building an empire that stretched from the
Atlantic to the Danube, from the North Sea to the Mediterranean,
(06:35):
Yet despite his military achievements and territorial control, he remained
merely a king in a world where imperial authority carried
unique prestige and legitimacy. Charlemagne's protection of Leo provided the
legal and moral foundation for claims to imperial authority, explains
doctor Alessandro Barbero, professor of medieval history at the University
(06:57):
of Eastern Piedmont. By positioning him as defender of the
papal office against its enemies, Charlemagne assumed a role traditionally
associated with Roman emperors. This protection created obligations and expectations
that would reshape the relationship between secular and spiritual authority.
The negotiations at Paderborn, though unrecorded in detail, clearly established
(07:21):
mutual dependence. Leo needed Frankish military protection to return safely
to Rome and maintain his position against continued opposition. Charlemagne
needed papal blessing to legitimize his expanding authority and claims
to imperial dignity. This arrangement reflected broader transformations in early
medieval politics. Traditional sources of legitimacy Roman citizenship, senatorial approval,
(07:46):
imperial appointment had largely disappeared in the post imperial world.
New forms of authority required different kinds of validation, particularly
religious sanction that could transcend ethnic and tribal divisions. Leo's
(08:07):
return to Rome in November seven ninety nine, escorted by
Frankish officials and armed with a commission to investigate the
charges against him, demonstrated the practical effectiveness of this alliance.
The commission, composed of both Frankish and Roman representatives, formally
exonerated Leo while arresting and exiling his principal accusers. The
(08:28):
success of Leo's restoration revealed the new balance of power
in Rome. Notes doctor Julia Smith, professor of Medieval history
at the University of Oxford. Traditional Roman aristocratic opposition could
not overcome the combination of papal spiritual authority and Frankish
military power. This successful collaboration established precedents that would influence
(08:52):
church state relations for centuries. Yet tensions remained. Leo's dependence
on foreign protection compromised his authority among Romans who valued
independence from barbarian control. Meanwhile, Charlemagne's intervention in papal affairs
established expectations of continued influence over church governance that would
(09:13):
create future conflicts. The restored Leo now possessed something his
attackers had never anticipated, a powerful northern ally willing to
use military force to protect papal interests. The relationship forged
through crisis would soon produce consequences that neither Leo nor
Charlemagne could have fully anticipated. When the bloodied Pope first
appeared at the Frankish court, as the year eight hundred dawned,
(09:38):
both men understood that their alliance had created new possibilities.
Leo had proven that papal authority could survive even the
most brutal physical assault when backed by effective secular power.
Charlemagne had demonstrated his role as protector of the Church,
the traditional function of Roman emperors. The stage was set
(09:58):
for Christmas Day, eight one hundred, when these mutual obligations
would culminate in a ceremony that would transform European civilization
for the next millennium. The attack intended to destroy papal authority,
had instead created the conditions for its unprecedented expansion. What
happened in Saint Peter's Basilica that Christmas morning would prove
(10:20):
that sometimes the greatest triumphs emerge from the most devastating defeats.
White Smoke is a production of Calaroga Shark media, portions
of which were made with the help of Al Narration
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