Charlemagne

=Declan Vick = Charlemagne

 Charlemagne, also known as Charles I and Charles the Great was the king of the Lombards, Franks, and Romans in the 700s and 800s CE. Since he was born so long ago several details of his early life are debated. He was born around 742 and died around 814. His great leadership causes some to call him the father of Europe.  Charlemagne was born around 742 to Bertrada of Laon and Pepin the Short, in what is now either Belgium or Germany, depending on the source. Not much is known about his early life but because of his noble birth he most likely had a very good education for leadership, and in his adult years was able to understand multiple languages. His father was a king, and after his death in 768 the Frankish lands were divided between Charles and his brother Carloman. Although tensions rose between the two Carloman died in 771, and Charlemagne took control of all his Frankish holdings. One reason many find him to be a great ruler is that he respected and honored old Frankish customs but also introduced new policies to advance the kingdom. Charles the Great honored the Frankish traditions of war with his desire for conquest and, because of the kingdom’s relationship with the Papal States, a mission to spread Christianity. Throughout his military career he took many territories for his kingdom like Bavaria, Saxony, and Lombard territory in Northern Italy. With his military successes he made the Frankish kingdom a power to be reckoned with. Charlemagne’s accomplishments were not only on the battlefield, however. He had religious duties as well, which he fulfilled throughout his career by taking control of Christian matters like spreading and enforcing the faith. These moves garnered support from Papal figures as well as the people; and at the time he was known as the leader of the “new Israel.” Charlemagne was also responsible for a cultural revival in his kingdom, which historians now call the Carolingian Renaissance. Charlemagne put educated clerics in his court to help advise the renewal. This group helped spread teachings around the land; those of Latin and Christianity. A royal place for manuscript duplication, a scriptorium, was established. This helped creating a new writing system and art forms useful in books. The court of clerics also created poetry, historiography, and biblical interpretations. This showed the court’s intelligence and great intellectual prowess. The consequences of Charlemagne’s cultural renewals with increased use of written documents, enriched religious texts, and new improvements to visual arts like architecture. After 30 years of rule as the Frankish king with numerous accomplishments on and off the battlefield the Pope crowned him as the first Holy Roman Emperor. This was a great honor, as Charlemagne was then the defender of Christianity across the lands. This accomplishment gave him a new title, as well as now also being called the “new Constantine.” After a very successful life, Charles died in January of 814 of an unspecified sickness.  Charlemagne’s rule changed all of Europe. He renewed the Roman Empire, which provided the ideology of a united Europe. Although Charlemagne’s actions were successful, leaders such as Adolf Hitler took inspiration from his beliefs and aspirations. His religious reforms also united most of Western Europe under a single religious entity. Charlemagne’s court of clerics also provided things like libraries, schools, and textbooks that would be foundations for numerous other innovations in the future. Through his accomplishments, he has left a resounding mark on his Frankish home and all of Europe. Through his life he was awarded many titles, the greatest of which being //Europae pater//: father of Europe. = =