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Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, King of the Franks
Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, King of the Franks (742-814), was a strong
leader who unified Western Europe through military power and the blessing of the
Church. His belief in the need for education among the Frankish people was to
bring about religious, political, and educational reforms that would change the
history of Europe.
Charlemagne was born in 742 at Aachen, the son of Pepin(or Pippin) the Short and
grandson of Charles Martel. His grandfather, Charles, had begun the process of
unifying western Europe, in the belief that all people should be Christian.
Charlemagne's father, Pepin, continued this process throughout his rule and
passed his beliefs on to Charlemagne. All three, in addition to the political
unification, believed that the church should be reformed and reorganized under
the Pope, which helped their rise to power as the Carolingian Dynasty. (Holmes
74)
Upon Pepin's death in 768, Charlemagne and his brother, Carloman, each inherited
half of the Frankish kingdom. Pepin, in the Merovingian tradition of the time,
split his kingdom between his two sons. Three years later Carloman died and
Charlemagne took control of the entire kingdom. He inherited great wealth and a
powerful army, built by his father and grandfather. Charlemagne used the army
and his own skillful planning to more than double the size of the Frankish
Kingdom. (Halsall 15)
The world of Charlemagne was a heathen one, with many warring tribes or kingdoms.
Many of these tribes were conquered by Charlemagne, among them the Aquitanians,
the Lombards, the Saxons, the Bretons, the Bavarians, the Huns, and the Danes.
The longest of these battles was against the Saxons, lasting thirty-three years.
Charlemagne actually defeated them many times, but due to their faithlessness
and their propensity to return to their pagan lifestyle, the Saxons lost many
lives in the prolonged battles with the Franks. With each conquest the Frankish
kingdom grew, and with growth came additional power and responsibility for
Charlemagne. In each area of Europe that was taken over by Charlemagne, he
removed the leaders if they would not convert to Christianity and appointed new
ones, usually someone with high position in the Church. Those people who
refused to convert or be baptized in the church were put to death. (Holmes 75)
The Church played a vital role in the kingdom of Charlemagne. It gave a sense
of stability to Charlemagne's rule, and he in turn provided stability in the
Church. The people conquered by Charlemagne, after being converted to
Christianity, were taught through the Bible a unified code of right and wrong.
It was necessary for the Church to play a role in this education of the people,
In the Frankish empire, there were numerous different cultures which inhabited it. A cultural dividing line can be draw down the Rhine River. On the left bank of the Rhine, you had the lands of Christian, Romanised Gaul, while on the right bank of the Rhine resided pagan Germania.* Culturally, linguistically and religiously, these two cultures could not have been more different from each other. In Gaul, the people had become Romanised and Christianised over the centuries by their roman overlords. Gaul was also heavily settled by the Franks, since they were feodrati for Rome. When the Western Roman Empire fell, it was easy for the Franks to move in and assume control over the territory. With the Franks conversion to Christianity in 496 The Franks were able to mix well with the Gallo-Roman land owners and peasants, leading Gaul to slowly transform itself into Francia.* The coronation of Charlemagne further enhanced his authority over his Gallic dominions by linking himself with the old Western Roman Empire.* This allowed him to be seen as a legitimate successor to the emperors of old, instead of a chieftain of a conquering
Throughout his essay, Einhard makes constant references to Charlemagne’s piety. He notes that the king “cherished with great fervor and devotion the principles of the Christian religion.” Charlemagne built the basilica at Aix-la-Chapelle, and “was a constant worshipper at this church.” (Einhard, 48)…. He embodied the Christian doctrine to give to the poor, and had close relationships to the popes in Rome. A pessimist might find reason to believe these actions were purely opportunistic or at least had mixed motives—his relationships with the Vatican were monetarily beneficial—but Einhard’s inclusion of Charlemagne’s will removes all doubt. “In this division he is especially desirous to provide…the largess of alms which Christians usually make.” (Einhard, 52). In death, Charlemagne gave much of his wealth to the Church via the archbishops of each city in his empire, and further stipulated that upon the death of one of them, a portion of the remaining inheritance should go directly to the poor, as should the profit of the sale of his library.
The most famous work about Charlemagne is a book entitled The Two Lives of Charlemagne which consists of two separate biographies published into one book and tells the story of Charlemagne's life as two different people experienced it. Apart from this, there are many other places you can turn to learn more about the life of the king of the Franks, including letters, capitularies, inventories, annals, and more. However, each of these sources seem to paint a different picture of Charlemagne. In one, he seems to be a very average guy; in another, a mythical being, almost god-like; and a strong and firm political leader in yet another. It is because of this of this that we will never really know exactly who Charlemagne was or what he was like, but we do have an idea of what he did and how he lived thanks to those who decided to preserve it.
Charlemagne’s father, Pepin, died of dropsy on 24 September, 768 and left his two sons, Charlemagne and Carloman, with William, the Duke of Aquitania. After Pepin died, the whole kingdom was divided evenly between the two sons. It was split in such a way that Charlemagne would govern the part that belonged ...
Charlemagne, also known as Charles the Great, was the king of the franks. He was highly influenced by Constantine and his christian empire. Charlemagne supported christian art and commissioned the contraction of a palace and chapel in Germany, which severed as the center of his power. His time was known as the Carolingian Renaissance, where he revived many imperial roman traditions such as the early Christian tradition of depicting Christ as a statuesque youth. In his time marvelous illuminated manuscripts. After the rule of Charlemagne, as Carolingian art began to subside, entered the new ruler Otto III. Otto III was both influenced by Constantine and Charlemagne. Ottonian art focused on geometry, ivory plaques, and small artwork as well as elegantly illuminated manuscripts, lavish metal work, intricate carvings and Romanesque churches and cathedrals. Both Ottonian and Carolingian architecture mainly focused on geometrical shapes when constructing their churches and cathedrals. Unlike Charlemagne, Ottonian’s created a lot of metal work mainly in the form of manuscripts as a cover for books.The influence of Early Christianity reflected on both rulers through its art portraying stories from their christian belief’s.
Charlemagne is a known for his success to try to maintain his empire. This new empire will embrace the unity of Christian faith. Under Charlemagne, new lands are conquered and a Renaissance is embraced. He even tries to revive the Christian faith. Charlemagne is a man that hopes to be an inspiration to the next generation. These deeds of Charlemagne is seen in the Two Lives of Charlemagne. In the Two lives of Charlemagne, both Notker’s and Einhard’s goal is to portray Charlemagne as a man of good character, a man that accomplishes many deeds and a man that hopes to provide an outlet for the next generation.
“In the light of our present day educational systems the idea of Church controlled education may appear to some as inefficient. However, the pioneering done in Virginia under the direction of the Established Church serve4 as a good example for the American educational ideal” (Duffy, 1946).
Throughout the middle ages, many empires were working on expanding their territory, but it was not always a success unless they had the appropriate leadership to guide them in the right direction. The main empire that grew to extraordinary lengths is that of the Roman Empire. Through many conquests and battles and with an amicable government, it attained its fortune. However, on the other hand, there was another government that shared similarities with that of Rome; this was the empire of Charlemagne, otherwise known as the Carolingian Empire, but it failed to have a prosperous eternity.
In 768 A.D., Charlemagne at the age of 26, along with his brother Carloman inherited the kingdom of Franks. However, in 771 A.D. Carloman died, making Charlemagne the sole ruler of the kingdom. At this time the northern part of Europe was out of order and unruly. In the south, the Roman Catholic Church was asserting itself alongside the Lombard kingdom in Italy. While in Charlemagne’s own kingdom, the people were becoming and acting as barbarians and neglecting education and faith.
Being in control of a country takes dedication because there are several contributions needed to keep their people happy. In Charlemagne’s reign, he had great tactics in persuading his people through influential lectures and victorious wars. Charlemagne was a very ambitious lord, who many soldiers and people looked up to because of his superiority in executing laws that would benefit his country. They followed his way of ruling, which was mainly performed by the court officials to initiate the plans and suggest new ideas to the lord. The rapid increase of Charlemagne and his ruling started due to the influence of the Germanic tribe, Juedo-Christian, and Greco-Roman cultures throughout the Middle Ages. These cultures had demonstrated the important aspects of being a leader. From these traditional beliefs, the change of governing a country has become different than it used to because of how it affected the power of the ruler. Through these three cultural traditions, the spread of the Charlemagne’s reign and his creations during the Middle Ages will be known for several centuries to come.
Any woman that is a relative of Charlemagne is regarded highly by Einhard. Charlemagne’s mother, sister and daughters are written about with the highest respect. They are portrayed as honorable, calm women who never caused any trouble. Charlemagne’s Bertrada, despite being a woman, was highly active in politics. Bertrada seemed to favor Charlemagne over her son other son Carloman. Her diplomatic skills may have helped Charlemagne’s success in his early years. She even arranged a marriage with Desiderius’ daughter, Desiderata, to secure an alliance with Lombardy. Even though her influenced may have diminished over the years her relationship with her son remained excellent. She lived with Charlemagne in court. The only time their relationship became strained was when Bertrada suggested to Charlemagne to marry Desiderate. When Charles sent Desiderata back to Lombardy, Bertrada was not pleased with her son. But this did not stop her from having a loving relationship with her son. Einhard writes: “Bertrada, also spent her old age in great honor with him. He treated her with the greatest respect, to the point that there was never any trouble between them [.]” Bertrada continued to live with Charlemagne until she died in 783. Charlemagne ensured that his mother was buried alongside her husband at St. Denis Basilica. Einhard also makes mention to Charlemagne’s sister. Gisela. Gisela was intended to marry the heir of the Byzantium Empire however she dedicated herself to the religious life. She served as an abbess at the convent at Chelles. Charlemagne is said to have “treated her with the greatest affection.” Charlemagne even had one of his daughters named after his sister.
income for the Church came to it in the shape of power and prestige, when the
Einhard, in his The Life of Charlemagne, makes clear the fundamental integration of politics and religion during the reign of his king. Throughout his life, Charles the Great endeavored to acquire and use religious power to his desired ends. But, if Charlemagne was the premiere monarch of the western world, why was religious sanction and influence necessary to achieve his goals? In an age when military power was the primary means of expanding one's empire, why did the most powerful military force in Europe go to such great lengths to ensure a benevolent relationship with the church? One possibility may be found in the tremendous social and political influence of Rome and her papacy upon the whole of the continent. Rather than a force to be opposed, Charlemagne viewed the church as a potential source of political power to be gained through negotiation and alliance. The relationship was one of great symbiosis, and both componants not only survived but prospered to eventually dominate western Europe. For the King of the Franks, the church provided the means to accomplish the expansion and reformation of his empire. For the Holy Roman Church, Charles provided protection from invaders and new possibilities for missionary work.
Religion is among one of the aspects that defines culture. This was a key concept for those living in the Middle Ages, whose lives were dominated by religion. More specifically, those in high positions of the church dominated their lives because the church provided a unified culture, or belief system. In fact, in the Early Middle Ages, rulers needed the support of the church to legitimize their rule. This was the case for Charlemagne, who united much of Western Europe and converted his subjects to Christianity. Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor of the Romans in 800(History). “The assumption of the title of emperor of Charlemagne in
The Roman Catholic Church had complete influence over the lives of everyone in medieval society including their beliefs and values. The Church’s fame in power and wealth had provided them with the ability to make their own laws and follow their own social hierarchy. With strong political strength in hand, the Church could even determine holidays and festivals. It gained significant force in the arts, education, religion, politics as well as their capability to alter the feudal structure through their wealth and power.