1. Charlemagne Becomes Emperor

2. Introduction Pepin the Short, a Frankish King, dies in 768
He left his kingdom to his 2 sons
The oldest dies, leaving Charles the Great, AKA Charlemagne, the new king

4. Charlemagne Extends His Empire
He built an empire that challenged that of Rome
He conquered new lands, spreading Christianity
He reunited western Europe and by 800 AD, he had an empire larger that the Byzantine
He was without a doubt, the most powerful king in Western Europe

6. Charlemagne and the Pope
In 800, he traveled to Rome to defend a mob that was attacking the pope
Pope Leo III thanked him by crowning him “Emperor”
This was a historic event because the pope was expressing his authority to crown a western European a “Roman Emperor”
This event joined 3 forces:
Germanic Power
The Catholic Church
The Roman Empire

8. Charlemagne Leads a Revival
He strengthened his power by weakening that of the nobles
To do this, he hired royal agents to ensure that landowners were governing justly
He kept a close watch on large estates
Regularly visited every part of his kingdom
He encouraged learning and opened schools

9. Charlemagne’s Death Feudalism
A year before his death, he crowned his son Emperor
His son proved to be a weak leader, and left his kingdom to his 3 sons who fought for control of it
In 843, they signed the Treaty of Verdun which divided the Kingdom into 3 parts
As a result, Kings lost power, and central authority ended
The lack of strong rulers led to a new system of governing and landowning called:
Feudalism