Charlemagne by the Sword and the Cross Essay

Charlemagne was one of the most successful rulers of his time period. How did he build and govern his empire the way he did? He used a combination of his personal charisma and intelligence, the feudal system, the Church, and war in order to create the greatest Empire since the time of the Romans. His dislike of corruption, and his power in battle all contributed to his success as Emperor.

Charlemagne was a well known great king during the middle ages. He was a good leader in war and peace, conquering and uniting, much of Europe. He encouraged education, culture, and art.

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.

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

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.

Even though he could not read or write he was a German speaker who learned Latin and some Greek. Charlemagne ordered books to be sent to the capital Aachen, where they got copied and translated. The writing back was not very clear so Charlemagne ordered a new clear form of writing Carolingian miscue script to be used. Charlemagne had many achievements in the military. He fought in more than 50 battles, and introduced new weapons like the cavalry and stirrup, used clever tactics like a pincer movement which is when you surround the enemy attacking from both sides, and he also used military intelligence. The people Charlemagne conquered were forced to convert to Christianity and if they refused, they were executed like 4 500 people in Saxony were all executed because they refused. Charlemagne was very determined we know this because he fought the Saxons for 10 years until they finally gave in. Charlemagne created a new political and social system, so that he wouldn’t lose power over his kingdom. Charlemagne divided his lands and gave some to the bishops of the church, counts, or heads of noble’s families and created a team of officials to check the loyalty. This made sure that he ruled for a long period of time. This system is called feudalism/ feudal system and spread through medieval

Many Historians disagree to what Charlemagne and his successors achieved during their time and whether it’s a success or a failure. The Carolingian era was an era completely devoted to revolt. Charlemagne needed help since he had his hands tied things what was happening in his land. Since Charlemagne was not content with a subordinate position even more now that they byzantine empire was fighting off the Muslims and couldn’t exert his power in the west. So in his mind Charlemagne decided that he wanted to recreate the power, prestige and culture of the western Roman Empire. Charlemagne accomplished this by using the early stages of the feudalistic system appointing Counts, and Dukes. After that he began encouraging the growth of land

Charlemagne, was a man influenced in learning and education, in fact William the Conqueror made alterations to the English language dictionary. He incorporated various words from other languages such as French. Yet, stronger in education, Charlemagne was surrounded by scholars from different areas and he opened a palace school where he recruited the best teachers. Adding to this, both conquerors, incorporated religion in their skills of conquering. This means, faith was an important element on how they ruled and their actions. However, Charlemagne and William indeed were very different. In fact, Charlemagne’s rule was maintained by the strength of his personality, meaning a unified royal authority came first. While William the Conqueror was desperate on winning more lands and was brutal on battles, Charlemagne focused his reign on education and

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

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

Charles Martel, or Charles the Hammer, considered one of the greatest to hold the title “Mayor of the Palace”, succeeded the position in 732 (Abrams 186). He gained high admiration and respect from the Frankish people for his feats against the Muslims trying to gain passage into Europe (Abrams 186), and imparted much wisdom to an equally respected ruler, his grandson, Charlemagne. By this time, the Franks thought of the mayors more as kings instead of stewards considering that they had complete control over the empire and its people. Charlemagne’s Father, Pepin III, more commonly known as Pepin the Short, assumed the position of Mayor in 751 (Davis 54). During his reign, Pepin defended Rome against a barbarian tribe called the Lombards, which strengthened the relationship between the church and the state that later would contribute to Charlemagne’s sovereignty as Holy Roman Emperor (Davis 54). Pepin died in 768, dividing the now much larger Frankish empire between his two sons Charlemagne and Carolmen (Davis 54). Carolmen died in 771 and left Charlemagne as the sole ruler of the Frankish empire (Davis 54). The era when the mayors ruled the Franks up until Charlemagne’s death acquired the title “The Carolingian Dynasty” in Western Europe (Jenkins 123). From the passing of both his Father and brother, Charlemagne continued into his kingship over the Frankish Empire.

     Charlemagne was born on about 742. He was the oldest son of the Frankish leader Pepin the Short. Pepin was the mayor of the palace under the

Born around April 2, 742 to Bertrada of Laon and Pepin the Short. Pepin was the mayor of the Palace within Austrasia and Neustria which consisted of the Frankish kingdom and later became the king of Franks. Little is known about Charlemagne’s childhood. At 26, along with his brother Carloman were both proclaimed king of the Franks in 768 CE after his father’s death. According to Britannica, “Almost immediately the rivalry between the two brothers threatened the unity of the Frankish kingdom…

Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, was a powerful king who reunited most of Western Europe through his conquests. He was an able administrator and brought about economic reforms to bring prosperity in his kingdom. Charlemagne is famous for his work towards the development of education like building of schools and standardization of curriculum. He ended the Dark Age in Western Europe by initiating the Carolingian Renaissance, a period of cultural enhancement. Charlemagne also took several steps to spread Christianity in his vast empire, paving the way for making it the dominant religion in Europe. Here are the 10 major accomplishments and achievements of Charlemagne, who is called the Father of Europe due to his immense contribution in the development of the continent.

Charlemagne was born April 2, 742. Charlemagne became king of the Franks in 768 CE when his father died. Charles The Great also known as Karl der Grosse was one of Medieval Europe's most famous kings. He was very important because as emperor charlemange was one of the greatest. After his dad Pepin the Short died Charles and his younger brother Carloman split half of what his father owned after his brother died he took over the rest. Charlemagne was a very determined man. Charlemagne was important king because he expanded the territory, he had a large powerful military, and because he helped his people through religion. (history)