Charlemagne

Charlemagne

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagne

Charlemagne ( 2 April 742 – 28 January 814), also known as Charles the Great (Karolus Magnus) or Charles I,

was King of the Franks who united most of Western Europe during the early Middle Ages and laid the foundations for modern France and Germany.

He took the Frankish throne in 768 and became King of Italy from 774.

From 800 he became the first Holy Roman Emperor — the first recognized emperor in Western Europe since the fall of the Western Roman Empire three centuries earlier.

While Charlemagne already ruled his kingdom without the help of the Pope, recognition from the emperor of Christendom granted him divine legitimacy.^[2]

The expanded Frankish state Charlemagne founded was called the Carolingian Empire.

 

The oldest son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon,

Charlemagne became king in 768 following the death of his father.

He was initially co-ruler with his brother Carloman I. Carloman's sudden death in 771 under unexplained circumstances left Charlemagne as the undisputed ruler of the Frankish Kingdom.

Charlemagne continued his father's policy towards the papacy and became its protector,

removing the Lombards from power in northern Italy, and

leading an incursion into Muslim Spain.

He also campaigned against the Saxons to his east, Christianizing them upon penalty of death, leading to events such as the Massacre of Verden.

Charlemagne reached the height of his power in 800 when he was crowned Emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day at Old St. Peter's Basilica.

Called the "Father of Europe" (pater Europae),^[3] Charlemagne united most of Western Europe for the first time since the Roman Empire.

His rule spurred the Carolingian Renaissance, a period of energetic cultural and intellectual activity within the Church. Both the French and German monarchies considered their kingdoms to be descendants of Charlemagne's empire.

Charlemagne died in 814, having ruled as emperor for just over thirteen years. He was laid to rest in his imperial capital of Aachen in what is today Germany. His son Louis the Pious succeeded him.