Charlemagne Essay

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

While this was all going, vikings were raiding from the North. Their homeland in Scandinavia was cold and barren and they needed to supplement their food storage, so they would travel South along the maze of rivers and invade villages in Medieval Europe, adding to the poverty of the area. Art, much like education, also became an item that only religious institutions possessed. Art was deemed nonessential by most people in the area and was not made by most people. After a period of inorder, a new civilization emerged for a short period of time, the Carolingian Empire. Charlemagne, the second ruler of the empire, was the most ambitious ruler and the most well-known. His political changes that he made caused many cultural changes to be made. Charlemagne established control over what modern day France, Italy, and Germany would be today. He was a genius military leader and conquered a lot of land. However, at the end of his reign, the Treaty of Verdun was made, splitting the empire into three sections: a Western region, a ‘middle’ region, and the Eastern region thus dividing their cultures further. This would later have a more profound difference on their cultures as they develop separately from each other.

The fall of Western Roman Empire in late 5th century led to its vast territory being divided in numerous kingdoms without any central authority. Charlemagne became the King of the Franks in 768. He then successfully led a series of campaigns throughout his reign to unite most of Western Europe under a sole emperor for the first time since the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The expanded Frankish state Charlemagne founded was called the Carolingian Empire.

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

numerous factors contributed to the fall of the Carolingian Empire but the department of Frankish lands among male individuals of the Carolingian dynasty become one of the most important causes for its downfall because it led to fragmentation of Charlemagne’s empire. In reality, the creation of the Carolingian Empire become in a few quantity a end result of a fortunate accident. the primary Carolingian King of the Franks, Pepin the quick (751-768) turned into sole ruler because his brother Carloman renounced his role as Mayor of the Palace and went into monastery in 747. Charlemagne and his successor Louis the Pious, alternatively, ruled the whole Carolingian Empire due to premature loss of life in their brothers and co-rulers.

Charlemagne, the greatest king of the dark ages, shaped the standards of Europe and influenced the people for thousands of years, solidifying the idea that the dark ages weren’t so dark. After the death of his father, Frankish king Pippin III, in 768, the realm was divided into two sections. Charlemagne and his brother, Carloman, both received the sections, and a feud started almost immediately. When Carloman died in 771, Charlemagne took control of both sections in hopes of reuniting the Frankish realm. He was king of the Franks from 768-814, and he was also the first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 800-814 (Frassetto). Because of his generosity, attractive personality, and need for knowledge, Charlemagne was a very respected leader. During his reign, he was able to conquer and gain control over almost all of the mainland of Europe. Though it took over 50 battles to do so, he was able to unite a large portion of

The two lives of Charlemagne as told by Einhard and Notker are two medieval sources about the accounts of the life Charlemagne. Modern sources by Matthew Innes and Rosamond Mckitterick discuss how history was recorded during the medieval period and how it was suppose to be viewed in the early ages. Observing each of these sources helps get an understanding of how the writing of history is important in recorded history and how it affected how the history of Charlemagne was recorded.

Born in about 742, Charlemagne was the son of King Pepin III (known as Pepin the Short). Pepin and his brother together ruled the Franks, whose kingdom included parts of present-day France, Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands. Upon Pepin 's death in 768, Charlemagne and his brother Carloman inherited the kingdom. When Carloman died three years later, Charlemagne became the sole ruler.

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.

During the years of St. Augustine, the Roman Empire fell in the west. It was being replaced by regional barbarian kingdoms, and was entering what some historians call the dark ages. It was a traditional, authoritative empire, with vast free-trade and a centralized government. It transformed into a Europe of economic localism, and filled with a minority of educated people. It was now a Christian Europe. A very important person during this new Europe was the Frankish king Charlemagne. His rule was known throughout the world, and Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne the "Emperor of the Romans." On top of this title, he still held all of his other titles. Charlemagne made tons of contributions during this time in Europe. He had

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, or Charles the Great, reigned during a time of much turmoil and upheaval in Europe during middle ages. Charlemagne’s background and family history contributed much to his rise to power. The triumphs of his past lineage prepared him to take on the task of governing the Frankish Empire, and defending it from invaders. Charlemagne accomplished much during his supremacy. He not only brought education back into medieval Europe, but also invented an efficient way to govern his people. His conquests against the many adversaries of the Holy Roman Empire expanded his empire across the majority of Europe. His conquests also formed strong ties between the Catholic Church and the State. Charlemagne’s drive to convert Europe’s primitive