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Charlemagne succeeded in uniting the majority of Western and Central Europe, and was the first recognized emperor to rule in the west after the fall of the Western Roman Empire approximately three centuries earlier. Charlemagne's rule saw a program of political and social changes that had a lasting impact on Europe in the Middle Ages.
Jan 31, 2014 · Nearly 200 years passed before the next king inserted himself into Charlemagne’s eternal rest. In 1349, some of his bones were removed to individual reliquaries by Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV. He had a gold reliquary made to contain a thigh bone, and the Bust of Charlemagne to contain the skullcap.
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Charlemagne was an 8th-century Frankish king who has attained a status of almost mythical proportions in the West. Among other things, he was responsible for uniting most of Europe under his rule by power of the sword, for helping to restore the Western Roman Empire and becoming its first emperor, and for facilitating a cultural and intellectual renaissance, the ramifications of which were felt in Europe for centuries afterward.
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How did Charlemagne become emperor of the Holy Roman Empire?
Charlemagne was crowned “emperor of the Romans” by Pope Leo III in 800 CE, thus restoring the Roman Empire in the West for the first time since its dissolution in the 5th century. Charlemagne was selected for a variety of reasons, not least of which was his long-standing protectorate over the papacy. His protector status became explicit in 799, when the pope was attacked in Rome and fled to Charlemagne for asylum. The ensuing negotiations ended with Leo’s reinstallation as pope and Charlemagne’s own coronation as Holy Roman emperor.
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Around the time of the birth of Charlemagne—conventionally held to be 742 but likely to be 747 or 748—his father, Pippin III (the Short), was mayor of the palace, an official serving the Merovingian king but actually wielding effective power over the extensive Frankish kingdom. What little is known about Charlemagne’s youth suggests that he received practical training for leadership by participating in the political, social, and military activities associated with his father’s court. His early years were marked by a succession of events that had immense implications for the Frankish position in the contemporary world. In 751, with papal approval, Pippin seized the Frankish throne from the last Merovingian king, Childeric III. After meeting with Pope Stephen II at the royal palace of Ponthion in 753–754, Pippin forged an alliance with the pope by committing himself to protect Rome in return for papal sanction of the right of Pippin’s dynasty to the Frankish throne. Pippin also intervened militarily in Italy in 755 and 756 to restrain Lombard threats to Rome, and in the so-called Donation of Pippin in 756 he bestowed on the papacy a block of territory stretching across central Italy which formed the basis of a new political entity, the Papal States, over which the pope ruled.
When Pippin died in 768, his realm was divided according to Frankish custom between Charlemagne and his brother, Carloman. Almost immediately the rivalry between the two brothers threatened the unity of the Frankish kingdom. Seeking advantage over his brother, Charlemagne formed an alliance with Desiderius, king of the Lombards, accepting as his wife the daughter of the king to seal an agreement that threatened the delicate equilibrium that had been established in Italy by Pippin’s alliance with the papacy. The death of Carloman in 771 ended the mounting crisis, and Charlemagne, disregarding the rights of Carloman’s heirs, took control of the entire Frankish realm.
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Oct 11, 2020 · The article below contains everything you need to know about the birth story, family, reign, and accomplishments of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor. Fast Facts: Charlemagne. Date of Birth: c. 742. Place of Birth: Aachen, Frankish Kingdom. Date of Death: January 814. Place of Death: Aachen. Burial place: A cathedral in Aachen (present ...
Nov 9, 2009 · As a way to acknowledge Charlemagne’s power and reinforce his relationship with the church, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor of the Romans and first ruler of the vast Holy Roman Empire ...
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Aachen Cathedral ( German: Aachener Dom) is a Catholic church in Aachen, Germany and the cathedral of the Diocese of Aachen . One of the oldest cathedral buildings in Europe, it was constructed as the royal chapel of the Palace of Aachen of Emperor Charlemagne, who was buried there in 814. From 936 to 1531, the original Palatine Chapel saw the ...
Mar 25, 2019 · Charlemagne (Charles the Great, also known as Charles I, l. 742-814) was King of the Franks (r. 768-814), King of the Franks and Lombards (r. 774-814), and Holy Roman Emperor (r. 800-814). He is among the best-known and most influential figures of the Early Middle Ages for his military successes which united most of Western Europe, his ...
