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
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
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.
Throughout the reign of Charlemagne, he imposed many crucial developments which were key to the success of his empire. First off, up until this point in history so far, high positions in government tended to be given to people who came from wealthy and noble families. This meant that these people holding high positions felt as if they were entitled to their positions, often felt they were in a higher social class from the common person, and thought they did not have to agree with the absolute ruler on everything since they are a noble in their own right. When Charlemagne inherited the throne, he set up a new system where high ranking officials, called counts, were selected by him and only him, and could include even the lowest peasant in
When Charlemagne was expanding his Empire he wanted to make sure his land did not have arising conflicts due to the political system. Charlemagne realize that he cannot have total control of his Empire. Therefore, he decided that he will have a feudal system. He assigned certain nobles to rule a certain land to control. Charlemagne was using the old traditions to ensure that he can have loyalty. The Frankish kings “rely on the Germanic custom of gift giving in order to secure their followers loyalty” (146 Backman). Charlemagne wanted to ensure that his Kingdom was functional and was aware with certain issues that certain parts of the kingdom was facing. He wanted to establish order and resolve a certain problem before it cause people to go
Charlemagne, also known as “Charles the Great” is a significant figure in the history of Europe. Son of Pepin the Short, Charlemagne set out to be a great ruler. “The age of Charlemagne” as it was so called, started after the result of missions among Pagans. During his ruling he did some beneficial things for his people, but in the end mostly bad things. At first he was thought to be a great ruler and then people really started to dislike him.
As emperor, Charlemagne had a made many accomplishments through his reign. The first being the Aachen Cathedral in Germany. He hired architect Eudes of Metz, he wanted something similar to the San Vitale Basilica in Ravenna, Italy. He admired
The key to Charlemagne's amazing conquests was his ability to organize. During his reign he sent out more than 50 military expeditions. He rode as commander at the head of at least half of them. He moved his armies over wide reaches of country with
Charlemagne's importance as a leader grew because he made many important cultural reforms in his empire. He established a system of justice or law courts in which nobles and clergymen traveled throughout the kingdom bringing law to everyone. He stimulated trade for the Empire. Charlemagne started a palace school with a teacher called Alculin who taught children to serve the church and royalty. Along with his foundings he asked other palaces to start schools or education classes. His changes lead to preservation of clasical literature. As more schools spread Charlemagne had the smartest men in the kingdom. He united many different people culturally and permited conquered people to keep their own laws and customs. He also
Many factors contributed to the fall of the Carolingian Empire. One of the most imperative was the division of Frankish lands among male members of the Carolingian dynasty. This would be one of the main causes for the empire’s downfall because it led to disintegration of Charlemagne’s empire. Charlemagne looked to build a massive empire that was stable and united but when it was divided up it would loose both. This would be a major downfall and it would lead to other problems. Before the Empire was split up Charlemagne’s successor Louis the Pious, ruled the entire Carolingian Empire alone because of premature death of their brothers and co-rulers. This would standout because the empire was able to thrive since it had one soul leader. This
Thus, Charlemagne became the first recognized emperor since the fall of Western Rome and the first Holy Roman Emperor. Soon, Aachen is made the capital and Pope Leo III consecrated Charlemagne’s palace and its attached Palatine Chapel. With stronger religious authority in the bag, Charlemagne also set his sights on promoting the arts and culture of early Christian Rome. Subsequently, Charlemagne favored Roman building techniques, which can be seen in the style and structure of the Palatine
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..
Charles the great or Charlemagne was considered, according to many “not just another roman emperor that was crowned by the pope but rather God’s emperor”(Rosewain). At the beginning of his triumph he spent most of his life in warfare, fighting to conquer and unite the kingdom. He earned a reputation as a great warrior because of his great skills, such as strategy, decision-making and leadership. Allowing him to become the king of the Franks, where he fought many battles to conquer the lands of the kingdom and convert the people into Christians. Just like Constantine, Charlemagne wanted to protect the Christians and the culture. He would give money to the church and protect the popes. He wasn’t only considered a great king and leader to many
On December 25th in the year 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne the emperor of the Franks, leading to his Carolingian empire influence and creating the Holy Roman Empire. Charlemagne’s motivation for his empire was “Renovatio Romani Imperii,” which translates into “Renewal of the Roman Empire.” This was a two-pronged approach through religion in both culture and intellect. In an increasingly pagan world, Charlemagne created meaning by saving Christianity through establishing unity of the church throughout Europe. It is thought that by his work renewing the faith, enough people came to know of it and the culture that it stood the test of time.