Charlemagne: A Great Leader In The Middle Ages

Charlemagne in the historical context made many contributions to the modern world as well as the Carolingian dynasty during his reign. After his father passed away, he united the Franks and went to several conquest to expand his kingdom in 768 (Coffin, 176). Charlemagne was believed to be a very serious Christian king. In one of the longest conquest in Saxon, which lasted about 20 years, he had forced conversion to all the people who

The first account of Charlemagne's life was by his courtier, Einhard, who thought it would be a tragedy if history forgot such a noble ruler. Furthermore, not only does he believe that it should be him to write about Charlemagne's life, but only him. He

He also encouraged Romanesque building and architecture and was studying the languages of Latin and Greek which were spoken amongst the Romans. “He was not simply content with his native tongue but even spent time learning foreign languages. Of these he learned Latin well enough to pray in it as much as in his own native language, but he was able to understand Greek better than he could speak it. He was so fluent that he even seemed verbose.” Einhard continues to go on and describe how Charlemagne encouraged studious behavior and his attempt to preserve learning in his community, which very much emulates Roman society.

Charlemagne was the king of the Franks and emperor of the Romans from 800-814. During his reign Charlemagne built a kingdom that included almost all of western and central Europe and he started Carolingian Renaissance. His empire had two main territories, East and west Francia that is now the major parts of two important European entities. West Francia is modern-day France, and East Francia became first the Holy Roman Empire and then the modern state of Germany.

The two lives of Charlemagne as told by Einhard and Notker the Stammerer are very different accounts of the life of the great Emperor. Einhard gives us a historical overview of the life of Charlemagne who lived from 742 to 814 A.D. Charlemagne was also known as Charles the Great and the King of the Franks.Charles was one of four children born to Pepin the Short, A Mayor of the Palace of the Carolingian Empire. He had one brother, Carloman and two sisters, Gisela and Pepin.Since women at the time didn’t inherit power, when Pepin the Short died, the kingship of the Carolingian Empire was divided and shared by Charlemagne and his brother, Carloman. Unfortunately, Carloman died early and unexpectedly as a young man and

The Life of Charlemagne, written by the Frankish scholar Einhard, is a biography on the personal life and achievements of Charlemagne, a ruler of the Franks and the king of Italy. He ruled from 774-800. Einhard, a male Frankish scholar, was born to noble parents in the Main Valley, around 770 A.D. He was educated in the monastery of Fulda, and shortly after sent to the palace school of Charlemagne in Aachen. Eventually becoming a personal adviser and a close friend to the king of the Franks, he influenced the king in all the ways of higher thinking and even inspired the king to desire a higher education for himself. The king even tried his hand at learning to write, however to no avail. Einhard was able to give deeper insight into the life of Charlemagne, as he was present during many of the events that took place. He also had the advantage of hearing firsthand accounts from the king. The Life of Charlemagne is thought to have been written between 829 to 836, composed by Einhard while living in Seligenstadt. Einhard wrote the accounts of Charlemagne so that there would be a historical account describing the emperor’s day to day life. “His two immediate reasons for writing were the personal knowledge which he possessed of Charlemagne, and the debt of gratitude which he owed to this remarkable king and emperor.” He was a man that possessed a drive for knowledge and insight into the future. By working under Charlemagne, he was able to grow in that knowledge and even

After reading two versions of “The Life of Charlemagne”, one written by a person who lived with Charlemagne, and one who didn’t, it is evident that Charlemagne is portrayed in a negative way by the author, the Monk of St. Gall, and in a positive way by Einhard. Einhard was very close to Charlemagne. He lived at the same time and with Charlemagne himself. His version of “The Life of Charlemagne” was writing right after his death. The Monk of St. Gall wrote his version more than 70 years after Charlemagne’s death. He did not live with or even at the same time as Charlemagne. This is probably one of the reasons the view on the ruler are completely different.

The Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family which managed to take control over the entirety of the Franks and form what is known as the Carolingian Empire. Being a Frankish noble family meant that they originally began as a Germanic tribe until 496 A.D when Clovis I, the first ruler of the Franks united all of the Frankish tribes underneath his rule. Charlemagne was born to Pepin the Younger, king of the Franks from the years 751-768 A.D who was also the first of the Carolingians to become King, and his wife, the Frankish queen, Bertrada of Laon. The day and month of his birth is agreed by scholars to be the 2nd of April but the year of his birth is a much discussed and debated topic amongst scholars since some sources claim that he was born in 742 (before the marriage of his parents meaning that he is a bastard not fit for the throne), 747 (his birthday would have fallen upon Easter day which would have been mentioned by historians at the time but was not) or more popularly the year of 748. The exact location of his birth is not known but is speculated to be either Aachen in Germany or Liege in Belgium amongst other cities.

Charlemagne returns from his campaign in Italy, and musters an Frankish army of available troops in Bavaria. He then marches to Saxony, probably to Eresburg. Charlemagne marches north, down the Weser to the Aller River, making camp near Verden

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 was a man with many different titles king of the Franks, Holy Roman Emperor and patron of the Carolingian Renaissance. First known as Charles I. born in the year 742, he was the son of Pepin the short and Bertada of Laon. After the death of his father Pepin and brother Carloman, Charlemagne was crowned on Emperor of Romans by Pope Leo III on Christmas day in 800 A.D.

Charlemagne was born in 742 at Aachen, the son of Pepin(or Pippin) the Short and

Charles was a German known for his swimming skill, expressive eyes and merry disposition. He supported the Frankish policy that included supported all Germans, a close understanding with papacy, and supported church reforms. Charlemagne made it his duty to defend the church and the pope to maintain the faith. To him, the pope was a Frankish bishop but he also recognized that the pope had a spiritual prestige. He even visited Rome in 774 A.D. to mark the first visit of Frankish sovereign. During his visit, the donation of Pepin was confirmed although the terms were undisclosed. The pope in return crowned Charles son, the Pepin, king of Italy in 781 A.D..

A lot of people would consider Charlemagne as a great leader of France because he had placed his people first and that is rare to find within a kingdom. Charlemagne was fortunate to inherit a vast kingdom where he was knowledgeable in military and very wealthy; “He used these assets to double the territory under Carolingian control”( Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia). During his reign, he was known to like people and ideas. But he noticed that most of the people and the leaders that worked for him weren’t very educated. After the fall of Rome, Charlemagne took Europe from the dirt and polished the kingdom by revolutionizing education. That encouraged him to build an educational system based on monasteries, which led to what scholars have called “The Carolingian Renaissance”. During this revival, Charlemagne had established schools, revolutionized writing and prepared important religious texts.

How are great leaders remembered in history? Charlemagne, also known as Charles the Great, is referred to as the Father of Europe due to his instrumental role in shaping the political landscape of the continent. Many moments helped to shape Charles’s legacy including events such as his father dying and the expansion of his kingdom, the Carolingian Renaissance, and him being crowned Emperor of the Romans.