The rule of Emperor Charlemagne over the Carolingian Empire in the West marked a reawakening of the imperial ideal, a reemergence of education and a literate landed elite, and a rebirth of centralized government. Though he would not preside over the rebirth of Rome, Charlemagne’s left a legacy which would influence the development of western European government and cultural institutions for centuries to come. His Europe was new, though born from and tied to the old. On Christmas Day, 800, Pope Leo III crowned King Charlemagne of the Franks Emperor of the Romans, and thereafter until the death of the Emperor it appeared as if the Roman Empire in the West was to be reborn (The Carolingian Era, 9/27). Bennet writes that Charlemagne “took to the …show more content…
His desire to recreate empire in the West was paired with an understanding of the infrastructure, communication, and economics (The Carolingian Era, 9/27). Thus, in the spirit of empire building, and because the Frankish kingdom remained significantly poorer than Byzantium in the East, Charlemagne began minting his own silver coinage in Aachen, which would become the standard for his empire. In addition to this, he also invested in reinvigorating trade at the port of Marseilles, and in the rebuilding of the old Roman roads. These improvements and reforms, though designed to aid the Carolingian Empire, had the more significant effect of returning a degree of economic stability of Western Europe, and preparing it for further development in the centuries to …show more content…
Einhard, Charlemagne’s biographer, notes that Charlemagne read and “was fond… of St. Augustine’s … City of God,” and that he was literate and educated in multiple tongues (Einhard). Education was evidently important to Charlemagne, and when he discovered that many of the priests in his localities could not understand the Latin they read each Sunday he became furious, and instituted and program of education through his monasteries to ensure literacy among the clergy (The Carolingian Era, 9/27). His efforts proved successful, and seeing this he expanded his monastic grammar schools to his nobles, and eventually to their children, embedding in Frankish culture an appreciation for literacy and education. The Carolingian Renaissance, as it came to be known, resulted in the rebirth of literacy in the West, the copying of more than 40,000 historic texts, and the development of uncial, or Carolingian miniscule script, a derivative of the standard Latin script which incorporated lowercase letters and spaces between words—it is the foundation for even modern typeface. These advancements outlived the Carolingian Empire, developing into an intellectual culture in the West which would include the making of encyclopedias, the copying of texts, and the education of the landed elite for centuries to come, and eventually contribute to the
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.
Writing history in the early Middle Ages "was not intended to be simply a matter of keeping a record for posterity." It was to help make the past more presentable and comprehensible to the present, "whether as support for contemporary political ideology or to explain God's purpose for humanity." Works that is widely read and follows these guidelines is writings Einhard and Notker did on Charlemagne. The writings of these two men can be looked at many different ways to decide how they wanted the history of Charlemagne to be perceived. "These histories can function both as a record of the past and as the exploitation of a different world in order to make particular political or polemical points."
While expanding his empire across Europe, Charlemagne did remember that he was indeed a Christian, and converted many of the tribes he conquered, to Christianity. However, when 4,500 Saxons resisted, they were slaughtered ("Charlemagne"). But, for better or for worse, by 1000 AD Christianity had spread like wildfire throughout most of Europe, and the Catholic Church, who had crowned our friend Charlemagne the Emperor, had risen to power. Meanwhile, the Seljuk Turks had taken Jerusalem and were threatening Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire (“Crusades”). Near the end of the eleventh century, Emperor Alexius wrote a letter to Pope Urban the II that called for the assistance of his fellow Christians in West (“Crusades”). And, Pope Urban, was more than happy to assemble an army for such a worthy cause, and he also hoped that it might improve the relations between the two
Throughout the Ages there have been many leaders who were known for their great rule. One of these great men during the 8th century was Charlemagne. The Life of Charlemagne was written by Einhard, a Frankish elite who had the privilege of working in the courts of Charlemagne. The book did not come out till after Charlemagne’s death but, it goes through his life in a thematic fashion. Einhard sets the book by first addressing deeds, habits, and then administration. This writing was one of the first of its kind. While there were many biographies written on the lives of saints known as hagiography, this was the first of its kind to be written about a secular ruler since the time of Antiquity. I will begin by talking about Charlemagne’s rise to power, then about his character and personality, and finally his relationship with his family.
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.
“The apprenticeship of a King” describes how Charlemagne gained power through conquest and diplomacy. In 768, King Pippin died and his kingdom was divided between his two sons. Charles, the elder, and the younger was Carloman. The author says that little is known of Charles’ boyhood. When he was of the right age, it is recorded that he worked eagerly at riding and hunting. It was the custom of the Franks to ride and be practiced in the use of arms and ways of hunting. We may reasonably infer that acquiring these skills formed a major part of his early education. Charles was not a “man of letters” and the author makes no attempt at explaining this other than to point out that literacy was considered unimportant at that time for anyone other than the clergy and Charles didn’t become interested in “letters” until later in life. Bullough explains a number of experiences in public duties and responsibilities, which were assigned to Charles by his father, thus, giving him an apprenticeship to rule the kingdom. For some reason tension between Charles and his brother began shortly after their accession. The author explains a number of conflicts. The younger brother died however, at the end of 771 and a number of prominent people in his kingdom offered allegiance to Charles. Bullough names and explains those subjects. The result was the re-uniting of those territories, which helped to establish the kingdom of the Franks.
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.
Charlemagne was born in 742 A.D., to a very famous and well-known family. Charlemagne’s grandfather was Charles Martel, the man who was responsible for the defeat of the Saracens. Charlemagne was also the eldest son of Bertrade (also known as Bertha Greatfoot) and Pepin the Short, the first to become king of the Franks. With the almost full extinction of schools in the 8th century, many historians say that Charlemagne received very little education, but did learn the art of reading from Bertrade.
...e had so far. The Church found that learning and culture was very important in spreading the beliefs of God. They wanted several people to start earning an education, so civilians could read the books that were related to cultural beliefs. These three traditions have impacted the Middle Ages during Charlemagne’s reign. He incorporated these studies from other cultures into his way of governing the country. His court and the Church were led by using these standards, which proves the equal balance of these two groups. The Western culture has changed in many ways, however, Charlemagne’s influence has not stopped becoming an impact throughout this culture and many more.
He had a vision of what it meant to be a great king. He followed the history of the kings after Alexander the Great. He believed he had to increase the social, political and intellectual organization of his society. This distinguished himself from any other ruler from the past three hundred years. Charlemagne wanted to recreate what the Roman Empire once was capable of, but even better. As he traveled, he made sure he created a great educational system. He built a chain of schools and provided classes for chil...
The collection Two Lives of Charlemagne contains two different biographies of Charlemagne who was a king of the Franks and a christian emperor of the West in the 8th century. The first biographical account was written by his courtier Einhard who knew him personally and well. On the other hand, the second account was penned by Notker the Stammerer was born twenty-five years after the king’s death. Even though these two versions indicate the same king’s life, there were many differences between the two. Einhard’s writing focused on the emperor’s official life and his military campaign. However, Notker provided more of a perspective about the king’s legacy and seemed more hyperbolic as well as mythical. This paper will compare and contrast the
The Relationship of Political and Religious Societies in the Age of Charlemagne, Based of Einhard's The life of Charlemagne sections 15-33
Charlemagne, a Frank decendent, had reunited parted of the empire including: France, Italy, and Germany. He restored law and stability in those regions along with his successor, the Carolingians until Viking invasions which returned unstability and disorder back to the region. By the eleventh century, Europe was divided, unstable, and lawless, especially France. France was divided into two parts with two different languages. “France was even divided linguistically with two distinct languages, Languedor, and Languedoc- prevailing in the north and south respectively” (5, Asbridge).
Einhard, Charlemagne’s biographer said that, “He also tried to write, and used to keep tablets and blank pages in bed under his pillow so that in his leisure hours he might accustom his hand to form the letters; but as he did not begin his efforts at an early age but late in life, they met with poor success” (Einhard, Hollister 86). Given Charlemagne’s love of learning, it is logical that the movement started in the center of the Palace, and then slowly spread throughout the empire into places such as Fulda, St. Gall, and Lorsch (Charles Dawson 200). The main instructor of this time was Alcuin, the leader of the school in York, he was brought in and taught according to the tradition of seven liberal arts, in the style of Isidore and the Venerable Bede (Christopher Dawson). In reality, Alcuin was not necessarily a teacher of great merit, he simply was a schoolmaster (Christopher Dawson). However, to the fractured world of the post-Roman world, this was exactly what was needed to pull them out of the depths of ignorance (Christopher Dawson).
The Church played a vital role in the kingdom of Charlemagne. It gave a sense