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Born: April 2, 742 in Liege, Belgium. Died: January 28, 814 in Aachen, Germany. Best known for: Founding father of the French and German Monarchies. Biography: Charlemagne, or Charles I, was one of the great leaders of the Middle Ages. He was King of the Franks and later became the Holy Roman Emperor. He lived from April 2, 742 until January 28 ...
- Life
- Death
- Battles and Campaigns
- Administration
- Appearance
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The Franks (one of the Germanic peoples who had moved their homes over the River Rhine into the Roman Empire as it was falling apart) were, by the year 700, the rulers of Gaul, and a lot of Germania east of the Rhine. They also protected the Papacy and the Roman Catholic faith. When their king Pepin the Short died, his sons, Charlemagne and Carloma...
Charlemagne's politics and plans failed, which led to low self-esteem. His last years were spent in bed in deep depression. He died in 814, leaving his kingdom to his only son, Louis the Pious. The descendants of Charlemagne are called Carolingians. His family line died out in Germany in 911 and in France in 987.
The Saxon Wars, also called the Saxon War or Saxon Uprising were the campaigns and insurrections of the thirty-three years from 772, when Charlemagne first entered Saxony with the intent to conquer.
Organisation
The Carolingian king exercised the bannum, the right to rule and command. Under the Franks, it was a royal prerogative but could be delegated. He had supreme jurisdiction in judicial matters, made legislation, led the army, and protected both the Church and the poor. His administration was an attempt to organise the kingdom, church and nobility around him. As an administrator, Charlemagne stands out for his many reforms: monetary, governmental, military, cultural and ecclesiastical. He is the...
Military
Charlemagne's success rested primarily on novel siege technologies and excellent logistics rather than the long-claimed "cavalry revolution" led by Charles Martel in 730s. However, the stirrup, which made the "shock cavalry" lancecharge possible, was not introduced to the Frankish kingdom until the late eighth century. Horses were used extensively by the Frankish military because they provided a quick, long-distance method of transporting troops, which was critical to building and maintaining...
Economic and monetary reforms
Charlemagne had an important role in determining Europe's immediate economic future. Pursuing his father's reforms, Charlemagne abolished the monetary system based on the gold sou. Instead, he and the Anglo-Saxon King Offa of Merciatook up Pippin's system for pragmatic reasons, notably a shortage of the metal. The gold shortage was a direct consequence of the conclusion of peace with Byzantium, which resulted in ceding Venice and Sicily to the East and losing their trade routes to Africa. The...
Manner
Einhard tells in his twenty-fourth chapter: Charlemagne threw grand banquets and feasts for special occasions such as religious holidays and four of his weddings. When he was not working, he loved Christian books, horseback riding, swimming, bathing in natural hot springs with his friends and family, and hunting. Franks were well known for horsemanship and hunting skills. Charles was a light sleeper and would stay in his bed chambers for entire days at a time due to restless nights. During th...
Language
Charlemagne probably spoke a Rhenish Franconian dialect. He also spoke Latin and had at least some understanding of Greek, according to Einhard (Grecam vero melius intellegere quam pronuntiare poterat, "he could understand Greek better than he could speak it"). The largely fictional account of Charlemagne's Iberian campaigns by Pseudo-Turpin, written some three centuries after his death, gave rise to the legend that the king also spoke Arabic.
Physical appearance
Charlemagne's personal appearance is known from a good description by Einhard after his death in the biography Vita Karoli Magni. Einhard states: The physical portrait provided by Einhard is confirmed by contemporary depictions such as coins and his 8-inch (20 cm) bronze statuette kept in the Louvre. In 1861, Charlemagne's tomb was opened by scientists who reconstructed his skeleton and estimated it to be measured 1.95 metres (6 ft 5 in). A 2010 estimate of his height from an X-ray and CT sca...
Roman road connecting Tongeren to the Herstal region. Jupille and Herstal, near Liege, are located in the lower right cornerMoorish Hispaniain 732Charlemagne (left) and Pepin the Hunchback(10th-century copy of 9th-century original)Charlemagne instructing his son Louis the PiousPeople also ask
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4 days ago · Charlemagne, king of the Franks (768–814), king of the Lombards (774–814), and first emperor (800–814) of what was later called the Holy Roman Empire. His feats as a ruler, both real and imagined, served as a standard to which many European rulers looked for guidance in defining and discharging their royal functions.
- Why is Charlemagne famous?Charlemagne was an 8th-century Frankish king who has attained a status of almost mythical proportions in the West. Among other things, he was respo...
- 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...
- What lands did Charlemagne conquer?The first three decades of Charlemagne’s reign were characterized by extensive military campaigning. His campaign against the Saxons proved to be h...
- What was the Carolingian Renaissance?Charlemagne facilitated an intellectual and cultural golden age during his reign that historians call the Carolingian Renaissance—after the Carolin...
- What was Charlemagne’s family life like?Charlemagne’s father, Pippin III, was of nonroyal birth. Pippin III was actually the mayor of the palace belonging to the previous dynasty, the Mer...
Jun 12, 2018 · Charlemagne. He was acknowledged as the chief protector and co-adjutor of the Holy See. His reign was marked by the consolidation of Christian Europe and the bloom of learning that led to the establishment of great Christian schools in the later centuries. His greatness earned him the title “Father of Europe.”.
Charlemagne was born around the year 742 C.E. He lived during what is known as medieval times. Think of castles and knights and ladies. That is the medieval times. Charlemagne was a Frank. The Franks were a Germanic people who lived in what is now known as Belgium, France, Luxemborg, the Netherlands and Germany.
Charlemagne Early Life. Charlemagne was born in the year 742 in modern-day Belgium, the son of Pepin the Short, who ruled the kingdom of the Franks, an area of modern-day France and parts of ...
Apr 2, 2014 · (742-814) Synopsis. Charlemagne, also known as Charles I and Charles the Great, was born around 742 A.D., likely in what is now Belgium. Crowned King of the Franks in 768, Charlemagne expanded the ...
