Charlemagne

1293 Words3 Pages

Charlemagne, also known as Charles the Great and Charles I, was not only a king of France, but a commanding historical figure. Charlemagne is believed to have been born sometime around the year 742. He became King of the Franks in 768 and went on to become the Emperor of the Carolingian Empire in 800, before his death in 814.

Charlemagne’s father, King Pepin (the short), officially put an end to the Merovingian line of kings to become King of the Franks, and willed that Francia be divided between both Charlemagne and his brother Carloman upon his death in 768. The divided rule was short lived, ○“Carloman had succumbed to disease after ruling two years in common with his brother, at his death Charles was unanimously elected King of the Franks” (Einhard 27). By the time Charlemagne was elected King of the Franks, his country had already occupied the majority of France, all of the Netherlands, and Belgium, most of Switzerland, and a sizeable portion of Germany. During his reign of forty-seven years he added even more territories including: Saxony, Bavaria, parts of Austria, the Kingdom of Lombardy, and the Spanish March, which was in the Pyrenees along the French border. During his reign Charlemagne managed to amass a kingdom that became the largest in the history of Western Europe, after the collapse of the Roman Empire.

After Pope Leo III called on Charlemagne for assistance after being brutalized by the Romans, ○“Charles accordingly went to Rome, to sent in order the affairs of the Church, which were in great confusion, and passed the whole winter there” (Einhard 56). Following his tending to the Pope and the Church, on December 25, 800, Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the Romans and Augustus by Pope Leo III. After being g...

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... used strategy and intuition to his advantage to secure and maintain a kingdom that flourished throughout his rein. His actions are that of a true leader and make it easy to see why he was known as Charles the Great.

Works Cited

"Charlemagne." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 21 Apr. 2011. .

○○○○○○Einhard. The Life of Charlemagne. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1991. Print.

"Einhard." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 21 Apr. 2011. .

○○○○Painter, Sidney. Foreword. The Life of Charlemagne. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1991. Print.

Snell, Melissa. "Charlemagne Study Guide - Important Facts." Medieval History - Life in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. About.com. Web. 20 Apr. 2011. .

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