Charlemagne PowerPoint Presentation

At the end of the Roman Empire, Visigoths ruled most of Gaul.

Then the Franks arrived from Germany and took over!

Clovis was the son of a Frank chieftain and became leader of the Franks at age 15 !

Within a few years he had defeated the Visigoths and other German tribes in Gaul.

According to legend, Clovis called upon the Christian God to help him defeat his enemies and then won. He immediately was baptized and became the 1st Christian King of the Franks.

When Clovis died, his 4 sons took over the kingdom. This line became known as the Merovingian House or the “Do-Nothing Kings”. They let the Mayor of the Palace take over running the kingdom and fighting any enemies

Charles Martel was the most famous “Mayor of the Palace” and was actually more powerful than the King.

When Charles heard that Muslims from Spain had invaded Frank territories (modern day France), and won. He stopped the advance of the Muslims at the Battle of Tours in western France. The Muslim advance would be halted at Western Europe.

Pepin the Short Pepin the Short, as mayor of the palace, possessed all powers of the king. He appealed to the Pope asking whether he or the do-nothing Merovingian King should have all the power The Pope replied, “the one who wields the power should be king.” In return for being made king, the Pope wanted protection against the Lombards Pepin was made king in 751 The Merovingian House changed to the Carolingian House, and would now officially rule the Franks.

1. When Charlemagne’s father, Pepin, died,

he divided the kingdom of the Franks between his 2 sons: Charles and Carloman

2. Carloman died -(Poisoned 2. Carloman died -(Poisoned?) so Charles became king of all the Franks - and hired a secretary (Einhard) to record his life.

3. The Lombards invade Italy and threaten the Pope. He asks Charles to bring an army to Italy to stop the Lombards. Charles helped the Pope by defeating the Lombards in Italy. LOMBARDS !

Muslims had conquered Arabia, the Middle East, North Africa, and almost all of Spain by the time Charles was king of the Franks.

But not all of Spain. Christians still controlled the top part of Spain

4. Charles tried to conquer Northern Spain from Muslims but lost. Pamplona Land of the Basques Saragossa 4. Charles tried to conquer Northern Spain from Muslims but lost. His friends Roland and Oliver were killed.

5. Charles created  new churches and schools with help from Alcuin ( a monk from Britain)

6.  German Saxons and their leader Widdukind worshipped nature gods at a sacred tree called the Irmunsul. Charles defeated the Saxons & Widdukind became a Christian.       

7.  In 791 A.D. Charles created his capital at Aachen (modern day Germany)

8. On Christmas day 800 A.D. the Pope crowned Charles "Holy Roman Emperor." Charles became known as :  Charlemagne - Charles The Great.

Importance of Crowning Revived the idea of a restored Roman Empire which would again unite the territories of Western Europe Raised a question: Whose authority is supreme? The State’s or the Church’s? Later popes would insist that their authority would supersede that of the kings, pointing out that a pope crowned Charlemagne. They would claim a power to not only appoint kings but depose them.

9.  In 814 A.D Charlemagne died of a fever, age 71, in Aachen.

10.  Charlemagne’s only surviving son - Louis I became the new emperor. Louis I was a very weak king, and when he died, his 3 sons split the Carolingian Empire. In the Treaty of Verdun, they agreed to divide the empire into 3 separate kingdoms: Charles the Bald received West Frankland, Louis the German received East Frankland, and Lothair ruled land between his two brothers. The Modern countries of France, Germany, and Italy closely correspond to these divisions.

Fall of the Carolingian Empire During 9th and 10th centuries, the Carolingian Empire was besieged by invaders on all sides. Muslim raiders came from North Africa and devastated the Mediterranean coast of Europe The Magyars, later known as the Hungarians, came from the East and ravaged the Eastern borders of the Empire. The most feared invaders were the Vikings. The Vikings were Germanic tribes from the northern modern-day countries of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. The empire disintegrated as the nobility replaced the Carolingian kings. A new political system emerged known as Feudalism or The Feudal System. This system would rule Europe for almost 400 years.