At The Age of Charlemagne
In 800, Europe faced a time of unity. Charlemagne was the grandson of Charles Martel At that time, Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, built an empire across France and Germany and even a part of Italy. He built it up upon the Frankish empire which was made by Clovis. Charlemagne was very tall, he even reached up to 6 feet. He spent most of his time towering his people from his castle. He also spent most of his time fighting Muslims, Saxons, and Avars and Slavs, and even the Lombards. Charlemagne loved battle and he was a very successfukll monarch as he was able to conquer many areas and he was able to reunite Europe. He also reunited much of the Roman empire which was split far away from each other.
Charlemagne: A Holy Roman Emperor
In the late 8oo, Pope Leo III called for Charlemagne to help him defeat some rebellious nobles who often created conflicts. Delightfully, Charlemagne was able to defeat those nobles on December 25th 800, and as a result, Pope Leo III wanted to award him for what he have done. So, Pope Leo III saw that it would be significant if he would crown Charlemagne as a Holy Roman Emperor. By doing that, significant and a brilliant event had ocurred as a Christian Pope had crowned a German King as a Roman Emperor. Unfortunately, this event led to a problem because the emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire in Constantinople was angered. He believed that he was the sole Roman Ruler not a German king.ope actually widened the split between East and West Christian worlds. It also led to a desperate power struggle between future Germanic kings and Roman Catholic Popes.
Charlemagne's Government
Charlemagne tried to control his entire big empire and create it as a Christian Empire. He always worked with the church closely in order to spread Christianity all over his empire. During his reign, missionaries convinced Saxons and Slavs to convert to Christianity. Like any other great monarch, Charlemagne appointed to powerful nobles to rule certain areas over his kingdom. As any other business inquery nowadays, in the pastk, Charlemagne gave land to the nobles and in return they provided him with support, soldiers, and even advices. Charlemagne even sent out officials to check if justice was done, and grievances were listened to and if the roads were in a good condition with no problems all over his empire. These officials were called missi dominici.
Charlemagne stated:
" Let the missi make a diligent investigation whenever any man claims that an injustice has been done to him by anyone... and they shall administer the law fully and justly in the case of the holy churches of God and of the poor, of wards and of widows, and of the whole people." |
A Revival of Learning
Charlemagne aimed to make his capital at Aachen a second Rome. He was determined to revive Latin learning throughout his empire.
Keeping Accurate Records
Charlemagne saw the need to keep complete and accurate records in his empire. He appointed officals to write clear reports. HE thought that education had declined so much that even the clergy, members of the church, was ignorant.
Promoting Education and Learning
Charlemagne set up a palace school at aachen. He even appointed to a respected scholar, Alcuin of York, to run the school. Alcuin's curriculum was based and focused on Latin learning. The Latin language became the model of the medieval education in Europe. Alcuin's curriculum included Grammar, Rhetoric, Logic, Astronomy, Arithmetic, Science, History, Music, and Math.
Keeping Accurate Records
Charlemagne saw the need to keep complete and accurate records in his empire. He appointed officals to write clear reports. HE thought that education had declined so much that even the clergy, members of the church, was ignorant.
Promoting Education and Learning
Charlemagne set up a palace school at aachen. He even appointed to a respected scholar, Alcuin of York, to run the school. Alcuin's curriculum was based and focused on Latin learning. The Latin language became the model of the medieval education in Europe. Alcuin's curriculum included Grammar, Rhetoric, Logic, Astronomy, Arithmetic, Science, History, Music, and Math.
Charlemagne's Accomplishments During His Reign
This is a more detailed article from: http://history-world.org/middle_ages.htm on what hed accomplished during all of his reign.
Under Pepin's son, Charlemagne (Charles the Great), who ruled from 768 to 814, the Frankish state and the Carolingian House reached the summit of their power. Charlemagne's biographer, Einhard, described the king as a natural leadertall, physically strong, and a great horseman who always led the charge at the hunt. Although he was primarily a successful warrior-king, leading his armies on yearly campaigns, Charlemagne also tried to provide an effective administration for his kingdom. In addition, he had great appreciation for learning and attempted to further the arts in his court.
Taking advantage of feuds among the
Muslims in Spain, Charlemagne sought to extend his kingdom southward. In 778 he crossed the Pyrenees and met with some success. As the Frankish army headed back north, it was met by the Christian Basques, who attacked the Franks from the rear. In this skirmish the Frankish leader, a count named Roland,
was killed. The memory of his heroism was later recorded in the great medieval epic, the Chanson de Roland (Song of Roland). On later expeditions the Franks drove the Muslims back to the Ebro River and estalished a frontier area known as the Spanish March, or Mark, centered near Barcelona. French immigrants moved into the area, later called Catalonia, giving it a character culturally distinguishable from the rest of Spain.
Charlemagne conquered the Bavarians and the Saxons, the last of the independent Germanic tribes. It took thirty-two campaigns to subdue the Saxons, who lived between the Rhine and Elbe rivers. Charlemagne divided Saxony into bishoprics, built monasteries, and instituted severe laws against paganism. Eating meat during the penitential period of Lent, cremating the dead (an old pagan practice), and pretending to be baptized were offenses punishable by death.
Like his father before him, Charlemagne was concerned with Italian politics. The Lombards resented the attempts of the papacy to expand civil control in northern Italy. At the request of the pope, Charlemagne attacked the Lombards in 774, defeated them and proclaimed himself their king. While in Italy, he reaffirmed his father's alliance with the church through theDonation of Pepin.
The empire's eastern frontier was continually threatened by the Avars, Asiatic nomads related to the Huns, and the Slavs. In six campaigns Charlemagne almost eliminated the Avars and then set up his own military province in the valley of the Danube to guard against any future plundering by eastern nomads. Called the East Mark, this territory later was named Austria.
Under Pepin's son, Charlemagne (Charles the Great), who ruled from 768 to 814, the Frankish state and the Carolingian House reached the summit of their power. Charlemagne's biographer, Einhard, described the king as a natural leadertall, physically strong, and a great horseman who always led the charge at the hunt. Although he was primarily a successful warrior-king, leading his armies on yearly campaigns, Charlemagne also tried to provide an effective administration for his kingdom. In addition, he had great appreciation for learning and attempted to further the arts in his court.
Taking advantage of feuds among the
Muslims in Spain, Charlemagne sought to extend his kingdom southward. In 778 he crossed the Pyrenees and met with some success. As the Frankish army headed back north, it was met by the Christian Basques, who attacked the Franks from the rear. In this skirmish the Frankish leader, a count named Roland,
was killed. The memory of his heroism was later recorded in the great medieval epic, the Chanson de Roland (Song of Roland). On later expeditions the Franks drove the Muslims back to the Ebro River and estalished a frontier area known as the Spanish March, or Mark, centered near Barcelona. French immigrants moved into the area, later called Catalonia, giving it a character culturally distinguishable from the rest of Spain.
Charlemagne conquered the Bavarians and the Saxons, the last of the independent Germanic tribes. It took thirty-two campaigns to subdue the Saxons, who lived between the Rhine and Elbe rivers. Charlemagne divided Saxony into bishoprics, built monasteries, and instituted severe laws against paganism. Eating meat during the penitential period of Lent, cremating the dead (an old pagan practice), and pretending to be baptized were offenses punishable by death.
Like his father before him, Charlemagne was concerned with Italian politics. The Lombards resented the attempts of the papacy to expand civil control in northern Italy. At the request of the pope, Charlemagne attacked the Lombards in 774, defeated them and proclaimed himself their king. While in Italy, he reaffirmed his father's alliance with the church through theDonation of Pepin.
The empire's eastern frontier was continually threatened by the Avars, Asiatic nomads related to the Huns, and the Slavs. In six campaigns Charlemagne almost eliminated the Avars and then set up his own military province in the valley of the Danube to guard against any future plundering by eastern nomads. Called the East Mark, this territory later was named Austria.