How Did Charlemagne Influence The Empire Of Europe

What we today call Europe is very different from what was called Europe in the eighth and ninth centuries. Charlemagne had a large impact on the Empire he was the Emperor of and he considered himself the "rex, pater Europae", which means "king, father of Europe". One of the debate in academic research about Charlemagne and his influence on Europe can be questioned as the following interrogation : did Charlemagne and his empire shape Europe and if he did, in what way?

According to Barraclouch, the unity imposed by the Franks wasn't we could today call European unity or European integration. He considered, the term wasn't appropriate term at this time. In his academic research he shared his opinion on the role of the Carolingian Empire

Barraclough writes in his research that the Franks spread the notion of a Christian Empire as a unifying force in Europe. The imperial power remained inserted in Carolingian conceptions. The empire claimed to represent Europe and to be a Christian Empire. Delanty agreed and wrote about the fact that the Frankish kingdom was very important for the formation of the medieval Christendom later in history and it reflected the Christian move from the Mediterranean to the North of Europe. As Tierney and Painter mentioned, the coronation of Charlemagne created the symbol for several centuries of unity in western Europe. It symbolized an ordered western Christian society, totally different from the Byzantine or from the Islamic civilizations. With his coronation, Charlemagne's Empire became associated to Christianity. This combination produced a political and cultural identity for Europe, for many centuries. It gave to Europe a civilizational unity. The papacy became the centre of gravity of Europe again. According to Rietbergen, Charlemagne used his predecessors tradition of authority and reviewed them. That's how he established Christianity among all the lands he conquered. The Carolingian empire by spreading Roman Christianity became "a transcontinental church". Northern and central Europe adopted the common Christian ideology which at the time was presented as an universal one. It helped the Papacy to create a common history that according to them was needed. Even Eastern Europe was part of the Christian culture, which under Charlemagne's reign meant that it was part of the European culture. Palmer and Colton, said that, later, in Christian countries people came together within the spreading system of the Latin church. While Tierney and Painter agreed on the fact that Charlemagne forced conquered people to become