C HARLEMAGNE : K ING OF THE F RANKS AND E MPEROR OF THE H OLY R OMAN E MPIRE By: Whitney Wright & Martha Lamb

C HILD HOOD  He was born April 2 nd,742 in Northern Europe.  The son of King Pepin the Short and Bertrada of laon.  Charlemagne or “Charles the Great” was named after his grandfather Charles Martel.

G AINING POWER Pippen(father) divided the Kingdom of Franks up among his sons Charlemagne and Carloman I. He died in 768, and they inherited the land. In 771 Carloman I died and at age 29 Charlemagne became the sole ruler of the kingdom.

C HARLEMAGNE ’ S R ULE  At the beginning of Charlemagne’s rule the Franks had already started to fall back into their barbarian ways of completely neglecting religion and education.  Also the Catholics in the south were using their power to recover the land that was taken over by the Lombard Kingdom of Italy.  In 772 he launched a 30 year military campaign which helped him in being fully recognized as the undisputed leader of Western Europe in 800. He sent out over 50 military expeditions.  Charlemagne ‘s power and rule influenced over France, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, it also included half of present day Germany and Italy as well as parts of Austria and Spain.  The organization of a central government over such a vast region helped Charlemagne restore the unity of the Old Roman Empire.  Also it lead to the development of modern Europe.

C ORONATION In 800, while Charlemagne knelt in prayer in Saint Peter's in Rome, Pope Leo III placed a golden crown on the bowed head of the king. (It is said that Charlemagne was surprised by this action and would not have gone to the church if he had known of the popes plan.)

T URNING P OINT IN H ISTORY - After Charles was coroneted in 800 this event was looked to as the turning point in Medieval history. This action filled a power vacancy that had existed since He created the missi who provided access to imperial justice in the farthest corners of the empire. His court in Aachen became the centre of cultural revival. - The Carolingian minuscule was created at this time as well and providing a writing system that was used to communicate over most of Europe.

O RDER I N E UROPE BY THE SWORD AND THE CROSS By the Sword and the Cross Charlemagne became the master of Western Europe. He wanted to retrieve all that was lost, so he had the Bishops and Abbots open up schools for the children close by the churches. His era is often referred to as the Carolingian Renaissance because of the vast increase in scholarship, literature, and architecture. It was a complete classical interest spread. Through Charlemagne's leadership learning and order were restored to Medieval Europe.

C AROLINGIAN R ENAISSANCE Charlemagne never wanted to stop learning. He learned to read Latin and some Greek, but could not master writing. When eating he would invite scholars to read to him instead of having a jester performing. He invited many scholars and poets to assist him in the promotion of the religious and cultural revival. He set up money standards to encourage commerce, tried to build a Rhine-Danube canal, and urged better farming methods. He invited a English monk to Aachen's who brought and taught classical Latin, which later became a huge step in leading to the development of medieval Latin.

He died in 814. He was buried at the Aachen Cathedral which he had founded. Charlemagne was succeeded by his only legitimate son of adult age at his death, Louis the Pious. Death of Charlemagne

F ACTS : Charlemagne was a devoted father, and he had a large family: three sons and three daughters by Hildegarde, two daughters by Fastrada, and at least seven other children by various women. - Let my armies be the rocks and the trees and the birds in the sky. - To have another language is to possess a second soul. QUOTES