Charlemagne (pronounced /ˈʃɑrlɨmeɪn/; Latin: Carolus Magnus or Karolus Magnus, meaning Charles the Great) (747 – 28 January 814) was King of the Franks from 768 to his death. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Events By Place Asia Abu Muslim unites the Abbasid Empire against the Umayyads Ibrahim the Imam leader Events 1077 - Walk to Canossa: The Excommunication of Henry IV Holy Roman Emperor is lifted Events By Place Europe Charlemagne dies in Aachen, aged 67 or 72 (depending on source Louis the Pious The Franks were originally led by dukes (military leaders and reguli (petty kings He expanded the Frankish kingdoms into a Frankish Empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. Carolingian Empire is a historiographical term sometimes used to refer to the realm of the Franks under the Carolingian dynasty. Western Europe at its most general meaning means 'all the countries in the West of Europe ' Central Europe is the Region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Eastern and During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800 as a rival of the Byzantine Emperor in Constantinople. Pope Leo III (died June 12, 816) was Pope from 795 to 816 Protected by Charlemagne from his enemies in Rome he subsequently strengthened Events 274 - Roman Emperor Aurelian Events By Place Europe September 15 - Oldest known mention of Monkey. This is a list of the Emperors of the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly known as the Byzantine Empire by modern historians Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis, or gr ἡ Πόλις hē Polis, Latin: la CONSTANTINOPOLIS His rule is also associated with the Carolingian Renaissance, a revival of art, religion, and culture through the medium of the Catholic Church. The Carolingian Renaissance was a period of intellectual and cultural revival occurring in the late eighth and ninth centuries with the peak of the activities Through his foreign conquests and internal reforms, Charlemagne helped define both Western Europe and the Middle Ages. Western Europe at its most general meaning means 'all the countries in the West of Europe ' He is numbered as Charles I in the regnal lists of France, Germany, and the Holy Roman Empire. List of Queens and Empresses of France Wikipedia_talkFeatured_lists#Proposed_change_to_all_featured_lists for an explanation of this and other inclusion tags below Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The Holy Roman Emperor (Römischer Kaiser or Römisch-Deutscher Kaiser Romanorum Imperator was the elected monarch ruling over the many varying numbers of states
The son of King Pippin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, he succeeded his father and co-ruled with his brother Carloman I. Pepin or Pippin (714 &ndash 24 September 768) called the Short, and often known as Pepin the Younger or Pepin III, was Bertrada of Laon, also called Bertha Broadfoot, (720 – July 12, 783) was a Frankish queen Carloman I ( 28 June, 751 – December 4, 771) was the King of the Franks from 768 until his death in 771 The latter got on badly with Charlemagne, but war was prevented by the sudden death of Carloman in 771. Charlemagne continued the policy of his father towards the papacy and became its protector, removing the Lombards from power in Italy, and waging war on the Saracens, who menaced his realm from Spain. History See also History of the Papacy Catholics recognize the Pope as a successor to Saint Peter, who Jesus named as the "shepherd" and The Lombards ( Latin Langobardi, whence the alternative names Langobards and Longobards) were a Germanic people originally from Saracen was a term used by Europeans in the Middle Ages for Fatimids at first then later for all who professed the religion of Islam. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. It was during one of these campaigns that Charlemagne experienced the worst defeat of his life, at Roncesvalles (778). The Battle of Roncevaux Pass ( French and English spelling Roncesvalles in Spanish, Orreaga in Basque) was a He also campaigned against the peoples to his east, especially the Saxons, and after a protracted war subjected them to his rule. The Saxons or Saxon people were a Confederation of Old Germanic tribes. By forcibly converting them to Christianity, he integrated them into his realm and thus paved the way for the later Ottonian dynasty. The Ottonian dynasty was a dynasty of Germanic Kings (919-1024 named after its first emperor but also known as the Saxon dynasty after the family's origin
Today he is regarded not only as the founding father of both French and German monarchies, but also as the father of Europe: his empire united most of Western Europe for the first time since the Romans, and the Carolingian renaissance encouraged the formation of a common European identity. List of Queens and Empresses of France Wikipedia_talkFeatured_lists#Proposed_change_to_all_featured_lists for an explanation of this and other inclusion tags below This article lists the German monarchs, ruling over the territory of Germany from the creation of a separate Eastern Frankish Kingdom in 843 until the end of monarchy [1] Pierre Riché reflects:
| “ | . . . he enjoyed an exceptional destiny, and by the length of his reign, by his conquests, legislation and legendary stature, he also profoundly marked the history of western Europe. [2] | ” |
Contents |
Background
By the 6th century, the Franks were Christianised, and the Frankish Empire ruled by the Merovingians had become the most powerful of the kingdoms which succeeded the Western Roman Empire. The Franks or Frankish people (Franci or gens Francorum) were West Germanic tribes first identified in the 3rd century as an Ethnic group The Germanic peoples underwent gradual Christianization in the course of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Francia or Frankia, later also called the Frankish Empire (imperium Francorum Frankish Kingdom (Latin regnum Francorum, "Kingdom of the The Merovingians (also Merovings) were a Salian Frankish dynasty that came to rule the Franks in a region (known as Francia in Latin The Western Roman Empire refers to the western half of the Roman Empire, from its division by Diocletian in 285 the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern But following the Battle of Tertry, the Merovingians declined into a state of powerlessness, for which they have been dubbed do-nothing kings (rois fainéants). The Battle of Tertry was an important engagement in Merovingian Gaul between the forces of Austrasia on one side and those of Neustria and Roi fainéant is a French language phrase meaning "do-nothing king" Almost all government powers of any consequence were exercised by their chief officer, the mayor of the palace or major domus. Mayor of the Palace was an early medieval Title and Office, also called Majordomo, from the Latin title Maior domus ("superior
In 687, Pippin of Herstal, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, ended the strife between various kings and their mayors with his victory at Tertry and became the sole governor of the entire Frankish kingdom. Pepin (also Pippin, Pipin, or Peppin) of Herstal (c 635 &ndash 16 December 714) was the Mayor of the Palace Pippin himself was the grandson of two most important figures of the Austrasian Kingdom, Saint Arnulf of Metz and Pippin of Landen. Saint Arnulf of Metz was born of an important Frankish family at an uncertain date around 582 Pepin (also Peppin, Pipin, or Pippin) of Landen (c 580 &ndash 27 February 640) also called the Elder or Pippin the Middle was eventually succeeded by his illegitimate son Charles, later known as Charles Martel (the Hammer). Charles "The Hammer" Martel (Carolus Martellus Charles "the Hammer" (ca After 737, Charles governed the Franks without a king on the throne but desisted from calling himself "king". Charles was succeeded by his sons Carloman and Pippin the Short, the father of Charlemagne. Carloman (between 706 and 716 &ndash 17 August 754 was the eldest son of Charles Martel, Major domo or Mayor of the palace and duke Pepin or Pippin (714 &ndash 24 September 768) called the Short, and often known as Pepin the Younger or Pepin III, was To curb separatism in the periphery of the realm, the brothers placed on the throne Childeric III, who was to be the last Merovingian king. Childeric III (died about 753 was the last King of the Franks in the Merovingian dynasty from 743 to his deposition in 751
After Carloman resigned his office, Pippin had Childeric III deposed with Pope Zachary's approval. In 751, Pippin was elected and anointed King of the Franks and in 754, Pope Stephen II again anointed him and his young sons, now heirs to the great realm which already covered most of western and central Europe. In sources prior to the 1960s this pope is sometimes called Stephen III and Pope-elect Stephen is sometimes called Stephen II. Thus was the Merovingian dynasty replaced by the Carolingian dynasty, named after Pippin's father Charles Martel. The Carolingian dynasty (known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolings, or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family with its origins in the
Under the new dynasty, the Frankish kingdom spread to encompass an area including most of Western Europe. The division of that kingdom formed France and Germany;[3] and the religious, political, and artistic evolutions originating from a centrally-positioned Francia made a defining imprint on the whole of Western Europe. The History of France has been divided into a series of separate historical articles navigable through the list to the right Despite the lack of a German nation state prior to 1871 the History of Germany dates back to the era of the Germanic tribes. A religion is a set of Tenets and practices often centered upon specific Supernatural and moral claims about Reality, the Cosmos Politics Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions Art refers to a diverse range of Human activities creations and expressions that are appealing to the Senses or Emotions of a human individual
Personal traits
Date and place of birth
Charlemagne is believed to have been born in 742; however, several factors have led to a reconsideration of this date. First, the year 742 was calculated from his age given at death, rather than from attestation in primary sources. Another date is given in the Annales Petarienses, April 1, 747. In that year, April 1 was at Easter. Easter ( Greek: Πάσχα Pascha or Pasxa) is the most important religious feast in the Christian Liturgical year. The birth of an emperor at eastertime is a coincidence likely to provoke comment, but there was no such comment documented in 747, leading some to suspect that the Easter birthday was a pious fiction concocted as a way of honoring the Emperor. Other commentators weighing the primary records have suggested that his birth was one year later, in 748. At present, it is impossible to be certain of the date of the birth of Charlemagne. The best guesses include April 1, 747, after April 15, 747, or April 1, 748, in Herstal (where his father was born, a city close to Liège in modern day Belgium), the region from where both the Merovingian and Carolingian families originate. Events 527 - Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne Events 1450 - Battle of Formigny: Toward the end of the Hundred Years' War, the French attack and nearly annihilate English Events 527 - Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne Herstal is a Municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liege along the Meuse river. Liège (ljɛːʒ Older English: Luick, Walloon: Lidje, German: Lüttich; Latin: Leodium, Dutch The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those He went to live in his father's villa in Jupille when he was around seven, which caused Jupille to be listed as a possible place of birth in almost every history book. Jupille (fully Jupille-sur-Meuse) is a former Belgian municipality Other cities have been suggested, including, Prüm, Düren, Gauting and Aachen. Prüm (ˈpʁʏm is a medium sized city in the Westeifel ( Rhineland-Palatinate) Germany. Düren is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, capital of Düren district. Gauting is a municipality in the district of Starnberg, in Bavaria, Germany with a population of approx ( Ripuarian: Oche, Dutch: Aken, Spanish: Aquisgrán, Italian: Aquisgrana, French,
Language
Charlemagne's native tongue is a matter of controversy. A first language (also mother tongue, native language, arterial language, or L1) is the language a human being learns from birth His mother speech was probably a Germanic dialect of the Franks of the time, but linguists differ on the identity and periodisation of the language, some going so far as to say that he did not speak Old Frankish as he was born in 742 or 747, by which time Old Frankish had become extinct. The Germanic languages are a group of related languages that constitute a branch of the Indo-European (IE Language family. A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος dialektos) is a variety of a Language that is characteristic of a particular group of Linguistics is the scientific study of Language, encompassing a number of sub-fields Old Frankish is reconstructed from its descendant, Old Low Franconian, also called Old Dutch, and from loanwords to Old French. Old Dutch (aka Old West Low Franconian) is a branch of Old Low Franconian spoken and written during the early Middle Ages (c Old French was the Romance Dialect continuum spoken in territories which span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium Linguists know very little about Old Frankish, as it attested mainly as phrases and words in the law codes of the main Frankish tribes (especially those of the Salian and Ripuarian Franks), which are written in Latin interspersed with Germanic elements. [4]
The area of Charlemagne's birth does not make determination of his native language easier. Most historians agree he was born around Liège, like his father, but some say he was born in or around Aachen, some fifty kilometres away. Liège (ljɛːʒ Older English: Luick, Walloon: Lidje, German: Lüttich; Latin: Leodium, Dutch ( Ripuarian: Oche, Dutch: Aken, Spanish: Aquisgrán, Italian: Aquisgrana, French, At that time, this was an area of great linguistic diversity. If we take Liège (around 750) as the centre, we find Low Franconian in the north and northwest, Gallo-Romance (the ancestor of Old French) in the south and southwest and various Old High German dialects in the east. The Gallo-Romance branch of Romance languages includes French, Occitan, Arpitan, and several other languages spoken in modern France If Gallo-Romance is excluded, that means he either spoke Old Low Franconian or an Old High German dialect, probably with a strong Frankish influence.
Apart from his native language he also spoke Latin "as fluently as his own tongue" and understood a bit of Greek: Grecam vero melius intellegere quam pronuntiare poterat, "He understood Greek better than he could pronounce it. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly "[5]
Names of Charlemagne
Because of the number of languages spoken within his Empire, and his wide European fame, Charlemagne's name has been preserved in many different languages in different forms. The language of Charlemagne itself does not exist anymore, but evolved into the Franconian languages. 300px|right|thumb|The Franconian languages in Europe|'''Legend'''{{legend|#a0f288|Low Franconian dialects in [[the Netherlands]]
Charlemagne's birth-name, "Charles" was derived from his grandfather, Charles Martel. Charles "The Hammer" Martel (Carolus Martellus Charles "the Hammer" (ca The name derives from "karl", a Germanic stem meaning "man" or "free man",[6] related to the English "churl". A churl (etymologically the same name as Charles / Carl and Old High German „karal“ in its earliest Anglo-Saxon meaning was simply "a man" The earliest extant forms of Charlemagne's name are in the Latinate form, "Carolus" or "Karolus".
In many Slavic languages, the very word for "king" derives from Charles' Slavicised name.
Modern variants in Germanic languages (except English) are:
- Danish, Norwegian and Swedish: Karl den Store
- Dutch: Karel de Grote
- German: Karl der Große
- Luxembourgish: Karel de Groussen
- West Frisian: Karel de Grutte
The Germanic name was Latinised (Latin: Carolus Magnus) and preserved in the modern Romance languages (as well as English):
- Catalan: Carlemany
- French: Charlemagne and Charles le Grand, from the Old French Charles le Magne
- Italian: Carlo Magno and Carlomagno
- Portuguese: Carlos Magno
- Spanish: Carlomagno
- Walloon: Tchårlumagne and Tchåle li Grand
Modern variants in the Slavic languages influenced by the Germanic name are:
- Croatian: Karlo Veliki
- Czech: Karel Veliký
- Polish: Karol Wielki
- Slovak: Karol Veľký
- Slovenian: Karel Veliki
The Breton variant is Karl-Veur. The Germanic languages are a group of related languages that constitute a branch of the Indo-European (IE Language family. Danish ( d̥ænsɡ̊ is one of the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the Norwegian ( norsk) is a North Germanic Language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is an official language Swedish ( is a North Germanic language spoken by more than nine million people predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the Dutch ( is a West Germanic language spoken by around 24 million people 22 million of which are from the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Luxembourgish (lb Lëtzebuergesch Luxembourgeois Luxemburgisch Luxemburgs Lussimbordjwès also called Luxembourgian, also spelled Luxemburgish, is one of West Frisian ( Frysk) is a Language spoken mostly in the province of Friesland ( Fryslân) in the north of the Netherlands. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. The Romance languages (sometimes referred to as Romanic languages, or Neolatin languages) are a branch of the Indo-European language family comprising all Catalan ˈkætəˌlæn ( català kətəˈla or) is a Romance language, the national and official language of Andorra, and a co-official French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people Old French was the Romance Dialect continuum spoken in territories which span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. Portuguese ( or língua portuguesa) is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia (Spain and northern Portugal. Walloon ( Walon) is a Romance language spoken as a second language by some in Wallonia, Belgium. The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages) a group of closely related Languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages Croatian language ( hrvatski jezik) is a South Slavic language which is used primarily in Croatia, by Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina in neighbouring Czech (ˈʧɛk čeština ˈʧɛʃcɪna in Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers it is the majority language in the Polish ( język polski, polszczyzna) is the Official language of Poland. The Slovak language ( slovenčina, slovenský jazyk, not to be confused with Slovenščina) sometimes referred to as "Slovakian" Slovene or Slovenian ( slovenski jezik or slovenščina, not to be confused with Slovenčina) is a South Slavic language The Breton language ( Brezhoneg) formerly often called Armoric or Armorican, is a Celtic language spoken by some of the inhabitants of Brittany
Personal appearance
Though no description from Charlemagne's lifetime exists, his personal appearance is known from a good description by Einhard, author of the biographical Vita Caroli Magni. Einhard (also Eginhard or Einhart) (c 775 &ndash March 14, 840 in Seligenstadt, Germany) was a Frankish Einhard tells in his twenty-second chapter:
Charles was large and strong, and of lofty stature, though not disproportionately tall (his height is well known to have been seven times the length of his foot); the upper part of his head was round, his eyes very large and animated, nose a little long, hair fair, and face laughing and merry. Thus his appearance was always stately and dignified, whether he was standing or sitting; although his neck was thick and somewhat short, and his belly rather prominent; but the symmetry of the rest of his body concealed these defects. His gait was firm, his whole carriage manly, and his voice clear, but not so strong as his size led one to expect.
Charles is well known to have been tall, stately, and fair-haired, with a disproportionately thick neck. His skeleton was measured during the 18th century and his height was determined to be 1. 93 m (6 ft 4 in[7]). The Roman tradition of realistic personal portraiture was in complete eclipse in his time, where individual traits were submerged in iconic typecastings. An icon (from Greek εἰκών eikōn, "image" is a religious work of art most commonly a painting from Eastern Christianity. Charlemagne, as an ideal ruler, ought to be portrayed in the corresponding fashion, any contemporary would have assumed. The images of enthroned Charlemagne, God's representative on Earth, bear more connections to the icons of Christ in majesty than to modern (or antique) conceptions of portraiture. Christ is the English term for the Greek ( Khristós) meaning "the anointed " Charlemagne in later imagery (as in the Dürer portrait) is often portrayed with flowing blond hair, due to a misunderstanding of Einhard, who describes Charlemagne as having canitie pulchra, or "beautiful white hair", which has been rendered as blonde or fair in many translations. Albrecht Dürer (ˈalbʀɛçt ˈdyʀɐ ( May 21, 1471 &ndash April 6, 1528) was a German painter, Printmaker
Dress
Charlemagne wore the traditional, inconspicuous and distinctly non-aristocratic costume of the Frankish people, described by Einhard thus:
He used to wear the national, that is to say, the Frank dress: next to his skin a linen shirt and linen breeches, and above these a tunic fringed with silk; while hose fastened by bands covered his lower limbs, and shoes his feet, and he protected his shoulders and chest in winter by a close-fitting coat of otter or marten skins.
He wore a blue cloak and always carried a sword with him. The typical sword was of a golden or silver hilt. Gold (ˈɡoʊld is a Chemical element with the symbol Au (from its Latin name aurum) and Atomic number 79 Silver (ˈsɪlvɚ is a Chemical element with the symbol " Ag " (argentum from the Ancient Greek: ἀργήντος - argēntos gen The hilt (sometimes called the haft) of a Sword is its handle consisting of a guard, grip and pommel. He wore fancy jewelled swords to banquets or ambassadorial receptions. Nevertheless:
He despised foreign costumes, however handsome, and never allowed himself to be robed in them, except twice in Rome, when he donned the Roman tunic, chlamys, and shoes; the first time at the request of Pope Hadrian, the second to gratify Leo, Hadrian's successor.
He could rise to the occasion when necessary. On great feast days, he wore embroidery and jewels on his clothing and shoes. He had a golden buckle for his cloak on such occasions and would appear with his great diadem, but he despised such apparel, according to Einhard, and usually dressed like the common people. A diadem is a type of crown, specifically an ornamental headband worn by Eastern monarchs and others as a badge of royalty
Rise to power
Early life
Charlemagne was the eldest child of Pippin the Short (714 – 24 September 768, reigned from 751) and his wife Bertrada of Laon (720 – 12 July 783), daughter of Caribert of Laon and Bertrada of Cologne. Events 622 - Prophet Muhammad completes his hegira from Mecca to Medina. Bertrada of Laon, also called Bertha Broadfoot, (720 – July 12, 783) was a Frankish queen Events 1191 - Saladin 's garrison surrenders ending the two-year Siege of Acre. Events Births Deaths April 30 — Hildegard, wife of Charlemagne July 12 — Bertrada Caribert (also spelled Charibert and Heribert Count of Laon, son of Martin of Laon, was the maternal grandfather of Charlemagne. Bertrada of Cologne (690-721 CE the maternal grandmother of Charlemagne, was the Countess of Laon, married to Caribert, Count of Laon Records name only Carloman, Gisela, and a short-lived child named Pippin as his younger siblings. Carloman I ( 28 June, 751 – December 4, 771) was the King of the Franks from 768 until his death in 771 The semi-mythical Redburga, wife of King Egbert of Wessex, is sometimes claimed to be his sister (or sister-in-law or niece), and the legendary material makes him Roland's maternal uncle through a lady Bertha. Redburga or Raedburh was the wife of king Egbert of Wessex and may have been the sister-in-law of Charlemagne as the sister of his fourth wife Luitgard Egbert (also spelt Ecgberht) (died 839 was King of Wessex from 802 until 839 Roland ( Italian: Orlando or Rolando, Frankish: Hruodland, Dutch: Roeland, Spanish: Roldán
Much of what is known of Charlemagne's life comes from his biographer, Einhard, who wrote a Vita Caroli Magni (or Vita Karoli Magni), the Life of Charlemagne. Einhard (also Eginhard or Einhart) (c 775 &ndash March 14, 840 in Seligenstadt, Germany) was a Frankish Einhard says of the early life of Charles:
It would be folly, I think, to write a word concerning Charles' birth and infancy, or even his boyhood, for nothing has ever been written on the subject, and there is no one alive now who can give information on it. Accordingly, I determined to pass that by as unknown, and to proceed at once to treat of his character, his deed, and such other facts of his life as are worth telling and setting forth, and shall first give an account of his deed at home and abroad, then of his character and pursuits, and lastly of his administration and death, omitting nothing worth knowing or necessary to know.
On the death of Pippin, the kingdom of the Franks was divided—following tradition—between Charlemagne and Carloman. Charles took the outer parts of the kingdom, bordering on the sea, namely Neustria, western Aquitaine, and the northern parts of Austrasia, while Carloman retained the inner parts: southern Austrasia, Septimania, eastern Aquitaine, Burgundy, Provence, and Swabia, lands bordering on Italy. The territory of Neustria or Neustrasia, meaning "new land" originated in 511 made up of the regions from Aquitaine to the English Channel, Aquitaine (Aquitània Akitania archaic Guyenne / Guienne (Occitan Guiana) is one of the 26 Regions of France, in the south-western part of Austrasia (rarely Austria, both meaning "eastern land" formed the north-eastern portion of the Kingdom of the Merovingian Franks, comprising Septimania was the western region of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis that passed under the control of the Visigoths in 462 when Septimania was ceded to Burgundy (Bourgogne Burgund is a region historically situated in modern-day France and Switzerland, inhabited in turn by Celts ( Gauls) Provence ( Provençal Occitan: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm is a region of southeastern France Swabia, Suabia, or Svebia ( German: Schwaben, Schwabenland or Ländle) is both a historic and linguistic Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest
Joint rule
On 9 October, immediately after the funeral of their father, both the kings withdrew from Saint Denis to be proclaimed by their nobles and consecrated by the bishops, Charlemagne in Noyon and Carloman in Soissons. Events 768 - Carloman I and Charlemagne are crowned Kings of The Franks. Saint-Denis is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. For another meaning see Noyan Noyon ( Latin: Noviomagus Veromanduorum) is a small (14471 inhabitants in 1990 but historic Soissons is a commune in the Aisne department in Picardie in northern France, located on the Aisne River, about 100
The first event of the brothers' reign was the rising of the Aquitainians and Gascons, in 769, in that territory split between the two kings. Gascon (Gascon; French,) is a dialect of the Occitan language. Years before Pippin had suppressed the revolt of Waifer, Duke of Aquitaine. Waifer (aka Waifar, Waiofar, Waifre, Guyver or Gaifier) was the Duke of Aquitaine from 748 to 767 succeeding his newly-monastic The Duke of Aquitaine ( French: Duc d'Aquitaine) ruled the historical region of Aquitaine under the supremacy of the Frankish and later the Now, one Hunald (seemingly other than Hunald the duke) led the Aquitainians as far north as Angoulême. Hunald (also known as Hunoald, Hunuald, Chunoald, Chunold, Hunold, or Hunaud) Duke of Aquitaine (735-744 or Angoulême is a commune in western France, capital of the Charente department. Charlemagne met Carloman, but Carloman refused to participate and returned to Burgundy. Charlemagne went to war, leading an army to Bordeaux, where he set up a camp at Fronsac. ( Gascon: Bordèu) is a port city in southwest France, with one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area at a 2008 estimate Hunold was forced to flee to the court of Duke Lupus II of Gascony. Lupo II (died 778 is the third-attested historical Duke of Gascony ( dux Vasconum or princeps) appearing in history for the first time in 769 Lupus, fearing Charlemagne, turned Hunold over in exchange for peace. He was put in a monastery. Aquitaine was finally fully subdued by the Franks.
The brothers maintained lukewarm relations with the assistance of their mother Bertrada, but in 770 Charlemagne signed a treaty with Duke Tassilo III of Bavaria and married a Lombard Princess (commonly known today as Desiderata), the daughter of King Desiderius, in order to surround Carloman with his own allies. Tassilo III (b circa 741 d circa 796 was Duke of Bavaria from 748 to 787 the last of the house of the Agilolfings. Desiderata was one of four daughters of Desiderius, king of the Lombards, and his queen Ansa. Desiderius (also known as Daufer or Dauferius; Didier in French and Desiderio in Italian) was the last king of the Though Pope Stephen III first opposed the marriage with the Lombard princess, he would soon have little to fear from a Frankish-Lombard alliance. Pope Stephen III, (720 &ndash January 24, 772) Pope August 1 or August 7, 768 &ndash January 24
Less than a year after his marriage, Charlemagne repudiated Desiderata, and quickly remarried to a 13-year-old Swabian named Hildegard. Hildegard ( 758 - 30 April 783) was the daughter of Count Gerold of Vinzgouw and Emma of Alamannia, daughter of Hnabi The repudiated Desiderata returned to her father's court at Pavia. Pavia (pronounced Pavìa,) the ancient Ticinum, is a town and Comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south The Lombard's wrath was now aroused and he would gladly have allied with Carloman to defeat Charles. But before war could break out, Carloman died on 5 December 771. Events 63 BC - Cicero reads the last of his Catiline Orations. Events By Place Europe December 4 — Carloman I King of the Franks, dies leaving his brother Charlemagne king of Carloman's wife Gerberga fled to Desiderius' court with her sons for protection. Gerberga (8th century was the wife of Carloman I King of the Franks, and sister-in-law of Charlemagne.
Italian campaigns
Conquest of Lombardy
At the succession of Pope Hadrian I in 772, he demanded the return of certain cities in the former exarchate of Ravenna as in accordance with a promise of Desiderius' succession. Pope Adrian, or Hadrian I, (d December 25, 795) was Pope from February 9 772 to December 25 795 The Exarchate of Ravenna or of Italy was a centre of Byzantine power in Italy, from the end of the 6th century to 751, when the Desiderius instead took over certain papal cities and invaded the Pentapolis, heading for Rome. A pentapolis, from the Greek words penta 'five' and Polis 'city(-state' is geographic and/or institutional grouping of five cities Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Hadrian sent embassies to Charlemagne in autumn requesting he enforce the policies of his father, Pippin. Desiderius sent his own embassies denying the pope's charges. The embassies both met at Thionville and Charlemagne upheld the pope's side. Thionville (Diedenhofen Diedennuewen Diedenhoven is a town and commune in the Moselle département, in the Lorraine Charlemagne promptly demanded what the pope had demanded and Desiderius promptly swore never to comply. Charlemagne and his uncle Bernard crossed the Alps in 773 and chased the Lombards back to Pavia, which they then besieged. Bernard or Bernhard (born c 720 was a son of Charles Martel by his mistress Ruodhaid. Charlemagne temporarily left the siege to deal with Adelchis, son of Desiderius, who was raising an army at Verona. Adalgis (died 788 was the son of Desiderius and the prince of the Langobards or Lombardia in Italy. Verona is a city and provincial capital in Veneto, Northern Italy. The young prince was chased to the Adriatic littoral and he fled to Constantinople to plead for assistance from Constantine V Copronymus, who was waging war with the Bulgars. Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis, or gr ἡ Πόλις hē Polis, Latin: la CONSTANTINOPOLIS Constantine V (718&ndash September 14, 775) was Byzantine emperor from 741 to 775 Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Ε΄ Kōnstantinos The Bulgars (also Bolgars or proto-Bulgarians) were a seminomadic people probably of Turkic descent originally from Central Asia,
The siege lasted until the spring of 774, when Charlemagne visited the pope in Rome. There he confirmed his father's grants of land, with some later chronicles claiming—falsely—that he also expanded them, granting Tuscany, Emilia, Venice, and Corsica. Tuscany (Toscana is a region in Italy. It has an area of 22990 km² and a population of about 3 Venice ( Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venesia or Venexia) is a city in Northern Italy, the capital of the Corsica (Corse Corsican and Italian: Corsica) is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily The pope granted him the title patrician. The term " patrician " originally referred to a group of elite families in Ancient Rome, including both their natural and He then returned to Pavia, where the Lombards were on the verge of surrendering.
In return for their lives, the Lombards surrendered and opened the gates in early summer. Desiderius was sent to the abbey of Corbie and his son Adelchis died in Constantinople a patrician. An abbey (from Latin abbatia derived from Syriac abba "father" is a Christian Monastery or Corbie is a commune of the Somme département, in northern France. Charles, unusually, had himself crowned with the Iron Crown and made the magnates of Lombardy do homage to him at Pavia. The Iron Crown of Lombardy ( Corona Ferrea) is both a reliquary and one of the most ancient royal insignia of Europe Only Duke Arechis II of Benevento refused to submit and proclaimed independence. Arechis II (also Aretchis, Arichis, Arechi or Aregis; died August 26 787) was Duke (and later Prince of Charlemagne was now master of Italy as king of the Lombards. He left Italy with a garrison in Pavia and few Frankish counts in place that very year.
There was still instability, however, in Italy. In 776, Dukes Hrodgaud of Friuli and Hildeprand of Spoleto rebelled. Hrodgaud or Rodgand was the Duke of Friuli from 774 to 776. Probably he was already duke under Desiderius, even if some Frankish Hildeprand was the Duke of Spoleto from 774 to 789 When Theodicius of Spoleto died fighting at the Siege of Pavia in 774 the Lombards Charlemagne rushed back from Saxony and defeated the duke of Friuli in battle. The Free State of Saxony (Freistaat Sachsen ˈzaksən Swobodny Stat Sakska is the easternmost federal state of Germany. The duke was slain. The duke of Spoleto signed a treaty. Their co-conspirator, Arechis, was not subdued and Adelchis, their candidate in Byzantium, never left that city. This article is about the city See also Byzantine Empire. Byzantium ( Greek: Βυζάντιον Latin: la BYZANTIVM Northern Italy was now faithfully his.
Southern Italy
In 787 Charlemagne directed his attention towards Benevento, where Arechis was reigning independently. Benevento is a town and Comune of Campania, Italy, capital of the Province of Benevento, 50 km northeast of Naples. He besieged Salerno and Arechis submitted to vassalage. Salerno is a town in southern Italy, capital of the province of the same name in the region of Campania. A vassal (also called feodary or fedary) in the terminology that both preceded and accompanied the feudalism of Medieval Europe, However, with his death in 792, Benevento again proclaimed independence under his son Grimoald III. Grimoald III (died 806 was the Lombard Prince of Benevento from 788 until his own death Grimoald was attacked by armies of Charles' or his sons' many times, but Charlemagne himself never returned to the Mezzogiorno and Grimoald never was forced to surrender to Frankish suzerainty. Geography Southern Italy forms the lower "boot" of the Italian peninsula containing the ankle (Abruzzo and Molise and southern Lazio the toe (Calabria and the heel Suzerainty (ˈsjuːzərənti RP or /ˈsjuːzəreɪnti/ RP) (/ˈsuːzərənti/ GA) is a situation in which a Region or people is a
Charles and his children
During the first peace of any substantial length (780–782), Charles began to appoint his sons to positions of authority within the realm, in the tradition of the kings and mayors of the past. In 781 he made his two younger sons kings, having them crowned by the Pope. The elder of these two, Carloman, was made king of Italy, taking the Iron Crown which his father had first worn in 774, and in the same ceremony was renamed "Pippin". Pepin (April 773 &ndash 8 July 810) was the son of Charlemagne and King of Italy (781-810 under the authority of his father The younger of the two, Louis, became king of Aquitaine. Louis the Pious (778 &ndash 20 June 840) also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was the King of Aquitaine from 781 and co-Emperor The Duke of Aquitaine ( French: Duc d'Aquitaine) ruled the historical region of Aquitaine under the supremacy of the Frankish and later the He ordered Pippin and Louis to be raised in the customs of their kingdoms, and he gave their regents some control of their subkingdoms, but real power was always in his hands, though he intended each to inherit their realm some day. Nor did he tolerate insubordination in his sons: in 792, he banished his eldest, though illegitimate, son, Pippin the Hunchback, to the monastery of Prüm, because the young man had joined a rebellion against him. Pepin (or Pippin) the Hunchback, (c 769 &ndash 811 was the eldest son of Charlemagne by Himiltrude.
The sons fought many wars on behalf of their father when they came of age. Charles was mostly preoccupied with the Bretons, whose border he shared and who insurrected on at least two occasions and were easily put down, but he was also sent against the Saxons on multiple occasions. In 805 and 806, he was sent into the Böhmerwald (modern Bohemia) to deal with the Slavs living there (Czechs). Bohemia (Čechy; Bohemia Czechy is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands, currently the Czechs (Češi ˈt͡ʃɛʃɪ archaic Čechové) are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic He subjected them to Frankish authority and devastated the valley of the Elbe, forcing a tribute on them. Pippin had to hold the Avar and Beneventan borders, but also fought the Slavs to his north. The Caucasian Avars are a modern people of Caucasus, mainly of Dagestan. He was uniquely poised to fight the Byzantine Empire when finally that conflict arose after Charlemagne's imperial coronation and a Venetian rebellion. Finally, Louis was in charge of the Spanish March and also went to southern Italy to fight the duke of Benevento on at least one occasion. The Marca Hispanica (or Spanish March, also March of Barcelona) was a Buffer zone beyond the province of Septimania, created by Charlemagne He took Barcelona in a great siege in the year 797 (see below).
Charlemagne's attitude toward his daughters has been the subject of much discussion. He kept them at home with him, and refused to allow them to contract sacramental marriages – possibly to prevent the creation of cadet branches of the family to challenge the main line, as had been the case with Tassilo of Bavaria – yet he tolerated their extramarital relationships, even rewarding their common-law husbands, and treasured the bastard grandchildren they produced for him. Tassilo III (b circa 741 d circa 796 was Duke of Bavaria from 748 to 787 the last of the house of the Agilolfings. He also, apparently, refused to believe stories of their wild behaviour. After his death the surviving daughters were banished from the court by their brother, the pious Louis, to take up residence in the convents they had been bequeathed by their father. At least one of them, Bertha, had a recognised relationship, if not a marriage, with Angilbert, a member of Charlemagne's court circle. Saint Angilbert (died 18 February 814) was a Frank who served Charlemagne as a diplomat abbot poet and semi-son-in-law
Spanish campaigns
Roncesvalles campaign
According to the Muslim historian Ibn al-Athir, the Diet of Paderborn had received the representatives of the Muslim rulers of Zaragoza, Gerona, Barcelona, and Huesca. An Oath of fealty, from the Latin fidelitas ( Faithfulness) is a pledge of Allegiance of one person to another The chansons de geste, Old French for "songs of Heroic deeds lineages" are the epic poems that appear at the dawn of French literature TemplateInfobox Muslim scholars --> Abu al-Hassan Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad, better known as Ali 'izz al- Din A Muslim (مسلم pronounced Muslim, not Muzlim) is an adherent of the Religion Zaragoza, also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza province and of the autonomous community and former Barcelona ( Catalan bəɾsəˈlonə Spanish baɾθeˈlona is the capital and most populous city of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia Huesca (Uesca Latin: Osca; Greek:, Ptol ii 6 § 68 is a city in Aragon, Spain. Their masters had been cornered in the Iberian peninsula by Abd ar-Rahman I, the Umayyad emir of Córdoba. The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe, and includes modern day Spain, Portugal, Andorra Abd ar-Rahman I Arabic (عبد الرحمن الداخل (known as the "Falcon of Andalus" or "The Falcon of the Quraish " (born 731 ruled from 756 through The Caliphate of Córdoba (Arabic خلافة قرطبة ruled the Iberian peninsula ( Al-Andalus) and North Africa from the city of These Moorish or "Saracen" rulers offered their homage to the great king of the Franks in return for military support. The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of Muslim (and earlier non-Muslim people of Berber and Arab descent Seeing an opportunity to extend Christendom and his own power and believing the Saxons to be a fully conquered nation, he agreed to go to Spain. Christendom usually refers to Christianity as a territorial phenomenon Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
In 778, he led the Neustrian army across the Western Pyrenees, while the Austrasians, Lombards, and Burgundians passed over the Eastern Pyrenees. The Pyrenees (Pirineos French: Pyrénées; Catalan: Pirineus; Occitan: Pirenèus; Aragonese: Perinés The armies met at Zaragoza and received the homage of Sulayman al-Arabi and Kasmin ibn Yusuf, the foreign rulers. Zaragoza, also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza province and of the autonomous community and former Zaragoza did not fall soon enough for Charlemagne, however. Indeed, Charlemagne was facing the toughest battle of his career and, in fear of losing, he decided to retreat and head home. He could not trust the Moors, nor the Basques, whom he had subdued by conquering Pamplona. The Basques (Euskaldunak are a people who inhabit a region spanning over parts of north-central Spain and southwestern France. For other meanings see Pamplona (disambiguation. Pamplona ( Basque: Iruñea or Iruña) is the capital city of Navarre He turned to leave Iberia, but as he was passing through the Pass of Roncesvalles one of the most famous events of his long reign occurred. Roncesvalles (Roncevaux Orreaga is a small village and Municipality of northern Spain ( Navarre Cities) in the province of Navarre The Basques fell on his rearguard and baggage train, utterly destroying it. The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, less a battle than a mere skirmish, left many famous dead: among which were the seneschal Eggihard, the count of the palace Anselm, and the warden of the Breton March, Roland, inspiring the subsequent creation of the Song of Roland (Chanson de Roland). The Battle of Roncevaux Pass ( French and English spelling Roncesvalles in Spanish, Orreaga in Basque) was a A seneschal was an officer in the houses of important nobles in the Middle Ages. The marches of Neustria were creations of the Carolingian king of West Francia covering the ancient Merovingian kingdom of Neustria. Roland ( Italian: Orlando or Rolando, Frankish: Hruodland, Dutch: Roeland, Spanish: Roldán The Song of Roland (La Chanson de Roland is the oldest remaining major work of French literature.
Wars with the Moors
The conquest of Italy brought Charlemagne in contact with the Saracens who, at the time, controlled the Mediterranean. Saracen was a term used by Europeans in the Middle Ages for Fatimids at first then later for all who professed the religion of Islam. Pippin, his son, was much occupied with Saracens in Italy. Charlemagne conquered Corsica and Sardinia at an unknown date and in 799 the Balearic Islands. Corsica (Corse Corsican and Italian: Corsica) is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily Sardinia (sɑrˈdɪnɪə Sardegna Sardigna or Sardinnya is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily) The Balearic Islands ( Catalan and official Illes Balears; Spanish: Islas Baleares) are an Archipelago in the western Mediterranean The islands were often attacked by Saracen pirates, but the counts of Genoa and Tuscany (Boniface) kept them at bay with large fleets until the end of Charlemagne's reign. Piracy is Robbery committed at sea or sometimes on shore without a commission from a sovereign Nation (as distinct from Privateering Genoa ( Genova, ˈdʒɛːnova in Italian; Zena in Genoese and Ligurian; Genua in Latin and archaically in English Boniface I (died 823 was appointed governor of Italy by Charlemagne after the death of King Pepin. Charlemagne even had contact with the caliphal court in Baghdad. The Caliph is the Head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah Baghdad (بغداد) is the Capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is also coterminous In 797 (or possibly 801), the caliph of Baghdad, Harun al-Rashid, presented Charlemagne with an Asian elephant named Abul-Abbas and a mechanical clock, out of which came a mechanical bird to announce the hours. Hārūn al-Rashīd (and Persian: هارون الرشيد) also spelled Harun ar-Rashid; English: Aaron the Upright, Aaron the The Asian or Asiatic Elephant ( Elephas maximus) sometimes known by the name of one of its subspecies &ndash the Indian Elephant, is one of Abul-Abbas was an Asian Elephant given to Emperor Charlemagne by the Caliph of Baghdad, Harun al-Rashid, in 798
In Hispania, the struggle against the Moors continued unabated throughout the latter half of his reign. Hispania was the name given by the Romans to the whole of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Portugal, Spain, Andorra, Gibraltar His son Louis was in charge of the Spanish border. In 785, his men captured Gerona permanently and extended Frankish control into the Catalan littoral for the duration of Charlemagne's reign (and much longer, it remained nominally Frankish until the Treaty of Corbeil in 1258). Catalonia (Cataluña Catalunya Aranese: Catalonha) is an Autonomous Community in the northeast part of Spain. The Treaty of Corbeil was an agreement signed on May 11, 1258, in Corbeil (today Corbeil-Essonnes, in the region of Île-de-France The Muslim chiefs in the northeast of Islamic Spain were constantly revolting against Córdoban authority and they often turned to the Franks for help. Al-Andalus (الأندلس was the Arabic name given to those parts of the Iberian Peninsula governed by Muslims or The Frankish border was slowly extended until 795, when Gerona, Cardona, Ausona, and Urgel were united into the new Spanish March, within the old duchy of Septimania. Cardona is a town ìn Catalonia, Spain, in the province of Barcelona; about 90 km northwest of the city of Barcelona, on a hill almost surrounded Osona, or Ausona (in Latin and Castilian) was one of the Catalan counties of the Marca Hispanica in the Early Urgell (Spanish Urgel) is one of the historical Catalan counties, bordering on the counties of Pallars and Cerdanya. The Marca Hispanica (or Spanish March, also March of Barcelona) was a Buffer zone beyond the province of Septimania, created by Charlemagne Septimania was the western region of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis that passed under the control of the Visigoths in 462 when Septimania was ceded to
In 797 Barcelona, the greatest city of the region, fell to the Franks when Zeid, its governor, rebelled against Córdoba and, failing, handed it to them. Barcelona ( Catalan bəɾsəˈlonə Spanish baɾθeˈlona is the capital and most populous city of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia The Umayyad authority recaptured it in 799. However, Louis of Aquitaine marched the entire army of his kingdom over the Pyrenees and besieged it for two years, wintering there from 800 to 801, when it capitulated. The Pyrenees (Pirineos French: Pyrénées; Catalan: Pirineus; Occitan: Pirenèus; Aragonese: Perinés The Franks continued to press forwards against the emir. Emir ( Arabic: ar أمير;, female أميرة; emira;) ( Farsi and Urdu: امیر) They took Tarragona in 809 and Tortosa in 811. Tarragona (tərəˈɣonə in Catalan) is a city located in the south of Catalonia and east of Spain, by the Mediterranean Sea. Tortosa ( Latin: Dertusa or Dertosa, Arabic: طرطوشة Ṭurṭūšah) is the capital of the comarca The last conquest brought them to the mouth of the Ebro and gave them raiding access to Valencia, prompting the Emir al-Hakam I to recognise their conquests in 812. The Ebro ( Ebre) is Spain 's most voluminous river Its source is in Fontibre ( Cantabria) The Christian Kingdom of Valencia, located in the Eastern shore of the Iberian Peninsula, was one of the component realms of the Crown of Aragon. Al-Hakam Ibn Hisham Ibn Abd-ar-Rahman I (الحكم بن هشام was Umayyad Emir of Cordoba from 796 until 822 in the Al-Andalus ( Moorish
Eastern campaigns
Saxon Wars
Charlemagne was engaged in almost constant battle throughout his reign, often at the head of his elite scara bodyguard squadrons, with his legendary sword Joyeuse in hand. The SCARA acronym stands for Selective Compliant Assembly Robot Arm or Selective Compliant Articulated Robot Arm. Joyeuse was the name of Charlemagne 's personal Sword. The name translates as "joyful" After thirty years of war and eighteen battles—the Saxon Wars—he conquered Saxonia and proceeded to convert the conquered to Roman Catholicism, using force where necessary. The Saxon Wars were the campaigns and insurrections of the more than thirty years from 772, when Charlemagne first entered Saxony with the intent to conquer
The Saxons were divided into four subgroups in four regions. Nearest to Austrasia was Westphalia and furthest away was Eastphalia. Westphalia (Westfalen) is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Bielefeld, Bochum, Dortmund, Gelsenkirchen, Münster Eastphalia (Ostfalen Eastphalian: Oostfalen) is a historical region in northern Germany, encompassing eastern Lower Saxony and western In between these two kingdoms was that of Engria and north of these three, at the base of the Jutland peninsula, was Nordalbingia. For the sunken atoll in India see Angria Bank. Angria is also the name of a Paracosm (fictional world created and written about by English novelist This article is about the region of Denmark. For the World War I naval battle see Battle of Jutland. Nordalbingia (Nordalbingien was one of the four administrative regions of the medieval Duchy of Saxony, the others being Angria, Eastphalia, and
In his first campaign, Charlemagne forced the Engrians in 773 to submit and cut down an Irminsul pillar near Paderborn. An Irminsul ( Old Saxon, probably "great/mighty pillar" or "arising pillar" was a kind of Pillar which is attested as playing an important role Paderborn (paːdɐˈbɔʁn is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The campaign was cut short by his first expedition to Italy. He returned in the year 775, marching through Westphalia and conquering the Saxon fort of Sigiburg. He then crossed Engria, where he defeated the Saxons again. Finally, in Eastphalia, he defeated a Saxon force, and its leader Hessi converted to Christianity. Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings He returned through Westphalia, leaving encampments at Sigiburg and Eresburg, which had, up until then, been important Saxon bastions. Obermarsberg, previously Eresburg, is one of seventeen quarters in the municipality of Marsberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. All Saxony but Nordalbingia was under his control, but Saxon resistance had not ended.
Following his campaign in Italy subjugating the dukes of Friuli and Spoleto, Charlemagne returned very rapidly to Saxony in 776, where a rebellion had destroyed his fortress at Eresburg. The Saxons were once again brought to heel, but their main leader, duke Widukind, managed to escape to Denmark, home of his wife. Blessed Widukind or Wittekind (c 730&ndash808 was a Saxon leader Duke of Saxony (corresponding to modern-day Westphalia and the chief antagonist The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe Charlemagne built a new camp at Karlstadt. In 777, he called a national diet at Paderborn to integrate Saxony fully into the Frankish kingdom. Many Saxons were baptised.
In the summer of 779, he again invaded Saxony and reconquered Eastphalia, Engria, and Westphalia. At a diet near Lippe, he divided the land into missionary districts and himself assisted in several mass baptisms (780). This article is about the district Lippe. For the like-named river see Lippe River. He then returned to Italy and, for the first time, there was no immediate Saxon revolt. In 780 Charlemagne decreed the death penalty for all Saxons who failed to be baptised, who failed to keep Christian festivals, and who cremated their dead. Saxony had peace from 780 to 782.
He returned in 782 to Saxony and instituted a code of law and appointed counts, both Saxon and Frank. The laws were draconian on religious issues, and the indigenous forms of Germanic polytheism were gravely threatened by Christianisation. Germanic paganism refers to the religious beliefs of the Germanic peoples preceding Christianization. This stirred a renewal of the old conflict. That year, in autumn, Widukind returned and led a new revolt, which resulted in several assaults on the church. In response, at Verden in Lower Saxony, Charlemagne allegedly ordered the beheading of 4,500 Saxons who had been caught practising their native paganism after conversion to Christianity, known as the Massacre of Verden. Verden (Aller, or Verden (ˈfeːɐdn is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, on Lower Saxony ( German: Niedersachsen ch is pronounced before an s --> lies in north-western Germany and is second The Massacre of Verden (Blutgericht von Verden was an alleged massacre of Saxons in 782 near the present town of Verden in Lower Saxony, The massacre triggered two years of renewed bloody warfare (783-785). During this war the Frisians were also finally subdued and a large part of their fleet was burned. The Frisians are an ethnic group of Germanic people living in coastal parts of The Netherlands and Germany. The war ended with Widukind accepting baptism.
Thereafter, the Saxons maintained the peace for seven years, but in 792 the Westphalians once again rose against their conquerors. The Eastphalians and Nordalbingians joined them in 793, but the insurrection did not catch on and was put down by 794. An Engrian rebellion followed in 796, but Charlemagne's personal presence and the presence of Christian Saxons and Slavs quickly crushed it. The last insurrection of the independence-minded people occurred in 804, more than thirty years after Charlemagne's first campaign against them. This time, the most unruly of them, the Nordalbingians, found themselves effectively disempowered from rebellion. According to Einhard:
The war that had lasted so many years was at length ended by their acceding to the terms offered by the King; which were renunciation of their national religious customs and the worship of devils, acceptance of the sacraments of the Christian faith and religion, and union with the Franks to form one people.
The heathen resistance in Saxony was at an end.
Submission of Bavaria
In 788, Charlemagne turned his attention to Bavaria. Bavaria ( German:, with an area of 70553 Km² (27241 square miles and almost 12 He claimed Tassilo was an unfit ruler on account of his oath-breaking. The charges were trumped up, but Tassilo was deposed anyway and put in the monastery of Jumièges. Jumièges is a commune of the Seine-Maritime département, in Normandy, France. In 794, he was made to renounce any claim to Bavaria for himself and his family (the Agilolfings) at the synod of Frankfurt. The Agilolfings were a family of either Frankish or Bavarian nobility that ruled the Duchy of Bavaria on behalf of their Merovingian suzerains A synod (also known as a council) is a council of a church, usually a Christian church convened to decide an issue of doctrine administration or application Bavaria was subdivided into Frankish counties, like Saxony.
Avar campaigns
In 788, the Avars, a pagan Asian horde which had settled down in what is today Hungary (Einhard called them Huns), invaded Friuli and Bavaria. The Caucasian Avars are a modern people of Caucasus, mainly of Dagestan. Hungary (Magyarország 'mɔɟɔrorsaːg) officially in English the Republic of Hungary ( Magyar Köztársaság, literally Magyar (Hungarian Republic The Huns were an early confederation of Central Asian equestrian nomads or semi-nomads with a Turkic core of aristocracy Charles was preoccupied until 790 with other things, but in that year, he marched down the Danube into their territory and ravaged it to the Raab. The Danube (In Donau from earlier Danuvius, Celtic *dānu, meaning "to flow run" Slovak and Polish Dunaj Raab is a market town ( Marktgemeinde) in the district of Schärding in Upper Austria in Austria. Then, a Lombard army under Pippin marched into the Drava valley and ravaged Pannonia. Drava or Drave ( German: Drau; Italian, Croatian, and Slovene: Drava; Hungarian: Dráva Pannonia is an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, The campaigns would have continued if the Saxons had not revolted again in 792, breaking seven years of peace.
For the next two years, Charles was occupied with the Slavs against the Saxons. Pippin and Duke Eric of Friuli continued, however, to assault the Avars' ring-shaped strongholds. Eric (also Heirichus or Ehericus; died 799 was the Duke of Friuli ( dux Foroiulensis) from 789 to his death The great Ring of the Avars, their capital fortress, was taken twice. The booty was sent to Charlemagne at his capital, Aachen, and redistributed to all his followers and even to foreign rulers, including King Offa of Mercia. ( Ripuarian: Oche, Dutch: Aken, Spanish: Aquisgrán, Italian: Aquisgrana, French, Offa was the King of Mercia from 757 until his death in July 796 Soon the Avar tuduns had thrown in the towel and travelled to Aachen to subject themselves to Charlemagne as vassals and Christians. A tudun was a governor resident in a town or other settlement in Ancient Bulgarian/Avar/Gokturk empires particularly those of the Bulgars and the Khazars. This Charlemagne accepted and sent one native chief, baptised Abraham, back to Avaria with the ancient title of khagan. For other titles related to and uses of Khan, see that article Origin The title Abraham kept his people in line, but in 800 the Bulgarians under Krum had swept the Avar state away. The First Bulgarian Empire (Първo Българско царство Părvo Bălgarsko Tsarstvo) was a Medieval Bulgarian state founded in AD 632 In the 10th century, the Magyars settled the Pannonian plain and presented a new threat to Charlemagne's descendants. Hungarians (or Magyars, magyarok are an Ethnic group primarily associated with Hungary.
Slav expeditions
In 789, in recognition of his new pagan neighbours, the Slavs, Charlemagne marched an Austrasian-Saxon army across the Elbe into Abotrite territory. The Elbe ( die Elbe Low German: de Ilv) is one of the major Rivers of Central Europe. The Obotrites (Abodriten also commonly known as the Obodrites, Abotrites, or Abodrites, were a confederation of medieval West Slavic tribes The Slavs immediately submitted under their leader Witzin. He then accepted the surrender of the Wiltzes under Dragovit and demanded many hostages and the permission to send, unmolested, missionaries into the pagan region. The Veleti (Wieleten Wieleci or Wilzi(ans (also Wiltzes; German Wilzen) were a group of medieval West Slavic tribes within the territory The army marched to the Baltic before turning around and marching to the Rhine with much booty and no harassment. Baltic Seven Islandsgif|right|thumb|330px|A contemporary transnational Euroregion encompasses the islands of the Baltic countries The tributary Slavs became loyal allies. In 795, the peace broken by the Saxons, the Abotrites and Wiltzes rose in arms with their new master against the Saxons. Witzin died in battle and Charlemagne avenged him by harrying the Eastphalians on the Elbe. Thrasuco, his successor, led his men to conquest over the Nordalbingians and handed their leaders over to Charlemagne, who greatly honoured him. The Abotrites remained loyal until Charles' death and fought later against the Danes.
Charlemagne also directed his attention to the Slavs to the south of the Avar khaganate: the Carantanians and Slovenes. The South Slavs are a southern branch of the Slavic peoples that live in the Balkans mainly throughout the former Yugoslavia (meaning "Land of Carantania, also known as Carentania (Karantanija Karantanien in old Slovene Onomastics Korotan) was a Slavic Principality Slovenes or Slovenians ( Slovene Slovenci, dual Slovenca, singular Slovenec, feminine Slovenke, dual Slovenki These people were subdued by the Lombards and Bavarii and made tributaries, but never incorporated into the Frankish state.
Imperium
Imperial diplomacy
Matters of Charlemagne's reign came to a head in late 800. In 799, Pope Leo III had been mistreated by the Romans, who tried to put out his eyes and tear out his tongue. Pope Leo III (died June 12, 816) was Pope from 795 to 816 Protected by Charlemagne from his enemies in Rome he subsequently strengthened Leo escaped, and fled to Charlemagne at Paderborn, asking him to intervene in Rome and restore him. Charlemagne, advised by Alcuin of York, agreed to travel to Rome, doing so in November 800 and holding a council on December 1. Alcuin of York (Alcuinus or Ealhwine, nicknamed Albinus or Flaccus (c Events 800 - Charlemagne judges the accusations against Pope Leo III in the Vatican On December 23 Leo swore an oath of innocence. Events 962 - Byzantine-Arab Wars: Under the future Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, Byzantine troops stormed the city At Mass, on Christmas Day (December 25), when Charlemagne knelt the altar to pray, the pope crowned him Imperator Romanorum ("Emperor of the Romans") in Saint Peter's Basilica. Mass is a fundamental concept in Physics, roughly corresponding to the Intuitive idea of how much Matter there is in an object Events 274 - Roman Emperor Aurelian Old Saint Peter's Basilica was the building that once stood on the spot where the Basilica of Saint Peter stands today in Rome. In so doing, the pope was effectively attempting to transfer the office from Constantinople to Charles. Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis, or gr ἡ Πόλις hē Polis, Latin: la CONSTANTINOPOLIS Einhard says that Charlemagne was ignorant of the pope's intent and did not want any such coronation:
[H]e at first had such an aversion that he declared that he would not have set foot in the Church the day that they [the imperial titles] were conferred, although it was a great feast-day, if he could have foreseen the design of the Pope.
Many modern scholars suggest that Charlemagne was indeed aware of the coronation; certainly he cannot have missed the bejeweled crown waiting on the altar when he came to pray. In any event, he would now use these circumstances to claim that he was the renewer of the Roman Empire, which had apparently fallen into degradation under the Byzantines. However, Charles would after 806 style himself, not Imperator Romanorum ("Emperor of the Romans", a title reserved for the Byzantine emperor), but rather Imperator Romanum gubernans Imperium ("Emperor ruling the Roman Empire").
The Iconoclasm of the Isaurian Dynasty and resulting religious conflicts with the Empress Irene, sitting on the throne in Constantinople in 800, were probably the chief causes of the pope's desire to formally acclaim Charles as Roman Emperor. Iconoclasm, Greek for "image-breaking" is the deliberate destruction within a culture of the culture's own religious Icons and other symbols or monuments Leo III the Isaurian ' or the Syrian ' ( Greek: Λέων Γ΄ Leōn III) (c Irene Serantapechaina, known as Irene of Athens or Irene the Athenian ( Greek: Ειρήνη η Αθηναία Eirēnē) (c He also most certainly desired to increase the influence of the papacy, honour his saviour Charlemagne, and solve the constitutional issues then most troubling to European jurists in an era when Rome was not in the hands of an emperor. Thus, Charlemagne's assumption of the imperial title was not an usurpation in the eyes of the Franks or Italians. It was though in Byzantium, where it was protested by Irene and her successor Nicephorus I — neither of whom had any great effect in enforcing their protests.
The Byzantines, however, still held several territories in Italy: Venice (what was left of the Exarchate of Ravenna), Reggio (Calabria, the toe), Brindisi (Apulia, the heel), and Naples (the Ducatus Neapolitanus). Venice ( Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venesia or Venexia) is a city in Northern Italy, the capital of the The Exarchate of Ravenna or of Italy was a centre of Byzantine power in Italy, from the end of the 6th century to 751, when the Reggio di Calabria (Italian pronunciation /ˈrɛʤo ˌdikaˈlabrja/ Calabrian dialect: Rìggiu, Greek-Calabrian: Righi, Greek: Calabria ( Latin: Brutium) is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of Brindisi can also refer to a song in which a company is exhorted to drink such as the "Tea-Cup Brindisi" in Gilbert and Sullivan 's " The Apulia ( Italian: Puglia) is a region in southeastern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east the Ionian Sea Naples ( Napoli, Neapolitan: Nàpule) is a historic City in southern Italy, the Capital of the The Duchy of Naples ( Ducatus Neapolitanus) began as a Byzantine province that was constituted in the seventh century in the reduced coastal lands that the Lombards These regions remained outside of Frankish hands until 804, when the Venetians, torn by infighting, transferred their allegiance to the Iron Crown of Pippin, Charles' son. The Pax Nicephori ended. The Pax Nicephori was an 803 Peace treaty concluded between the two emperors of Europe Charlemagne in the West and Nicephorus I in the East Nicephorus ravaged the coasts with a fleet and the only instance of war between the Byzantines and the Franks, as it was, began. It lasted until 810, when the pro-Byzantine party in Venice gave their city back to the Byzantine Emperor and the two emperors of Europe made peace: Charlemagne received the Istrian peninsula and in 812 Emperor Michael I Rhangabes recognised his status as Emperor. This article is about a geographical region bordering the Adriatic Sea Michael I Rangabe ( Greek: Μιχαήλ Α΄ Ραγγαβέ Mikhaēl I Rangabe) (died January 11, 844) was Byzantine Emperor
Danish attacks
After the conquest of Nordalbingia, the Frankish frontier was brought into contact with Scandinavia. Terminology and usage As a cultural term "Scandinavia" has no official definition and is subject to usage by those who identify with the culture in question as well The pagan Danes, "a race almost unknown to his ancestors, but destined to be only too well known to his sons" as Charles Oman described them, inhabiting the Jutland peninsula had heard many stories from Widukind and his allies who had taken refuge with them about the dangers of the Franks and the fury which their Christian king could direct against pagan neighbours. Norse paganism is a term used to describe the religious traditions which were common amongst the Germanic tribes living in Nordic countries prior to and The term Dane may refer to People with a Danish ancestral or ethnic identity whether living in Denmark, emigrants or the descendants of emigrants Sir Charles William Chadwick Oman ( January 12 1860 &ndash June 23 1946) was a British military historian of the early This article is about the region of Denmark. For the World War I naval battle see Battle of Jutland.
In 808, the king of the Danes, Godfred, built the vast Danevirke across the isthmus of Schleswig. King Godfred (ruled 804 - 810 was a Danish Viking king the younger son of King Sigfred. The Dannevirke (in Old Norse Danavirki; in German Danewerk &ndash all meaning "Danish creation" or "Danes' work" is a An isthmus is a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas This defence, last employed in the Danish-Prussian War of 1864, was at its beginning a 30 km long earthenwork rampart. The Danevirke protected Danish land and gave Godfred the opportunity to harass Frisia and Flanders with pirate raids. Frisia ( West Frisian: Fryslân; North Frisian: Fraschlönj, Freesklöön, Freeskluin, Fresklun, and Flanders (Vlaanderen Flandre Flandern is a geographical region located in parts of present day Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. He also subdued the Frank-allied Wiltzes and fought the Abotrites.
Godfred invaded Frisia and joked of visiting Aachen, but was murdered before he could do any more, either by a Frankish assassin or by one of his own men. Godfred was succeeded by his nephew Hemming and he concluded the Treaty of Heiligen with Charlemagne in late 811. Hemming (died 812 was a king in Denmark from 810 until his death The Treaty of Heiligen was signed at Heiligen in 811 between King Hemming of Denmark and Charlemagne.
Death
In 813, Charlemagne called Louis the Pious, king of Aquitaine, his only surviving legitimate son, to his court. In Greek mythology, Persephone ( Kore or Cora) was the embodiment of the Earth's fertility at the same time that she was the Queen of the Underworld A sarcophagus is a Funeral receptacle for a Corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone Louis the Pious (778 &ndash 20 June 840) also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was the King of Aquitaine from 781 and co-Emperor Aquitaine (Aquitània Akitania archaic Guyenne / Guienne (Occitan Guiana) is one of the 26 Regions of France, in the south-western part of There he crowned him with his own hands as co-emperor and sent him back to Aquitaine. He then spent the autumn hunting before returning to Aachen on 1 November. Events 996 - Emperor Otto III issues a deed to Gottschalk Bishop of Freising which is the oldest known document using the name Ostarrîchi In January, he fell ill with pleurisy (Einhard 59). Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is an Inflammation of the pleura the lining of the Pleural cavity surrounding the Lungs Pleurisy has a variety He took to his bed on 21 January and as Einhard tells it:
He died January twenty-eighth, the seventh day from the time that he took to his bed, at nine o'clock in the morning, after partaking of the Holy Communion, in the seventy-second year of his age and the forty-seventh of his reign. Events 1189 - Philip II of France and Richard I of England begin to assemble troops to wage the Third Crusade. The Eucharist, also called Holy Communion or Lord's Supper and other names is a Christian Sacrament by which in a common interpretation those
He was buried on the day of his death, in Aachen Cathedral, although the cold weather and the nature of his illness made such a hurried burial unnecessary. The Aachen Cathedral frequently referred to as the " Imperial Cathedral " (in German: Kaiserdom is a Roman Catholic church in Aachen A later story, told by Otho of Lomello, Count of the Palace at Aachen in the time of Otto III, would claim that he and Emperor Otto had discovered Charlemagne's tomb: the emperor, they claimed, was seated upon a throne, wearing a crown and holding a sceptre, his flesh almost entirely incorrupt. Otto III (980 &ndash January 23, 1002) was the fourth ruler of the Saxon or Ottonian dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1165, Frederick I re-opened the tomb again, and placed the emperor in a sarcophagus beneath the floor of the cathedral. Frederick I Barbarossa (1122 &ndash 10 June 1190) was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned [8] In 1215 Frederick II would re-inter him in a casket made of gold and silver. Frederick II ( December 26, 1194 &ndash December 13, 1250) of the Hohenstaufen dynasty was a Pretender to the title
Charlemagne's death greatly affected many of his subjects, particularly those of the literary clique who had surrounded him at Aachen. An anonymous monk of Bobbio lamented:
| “ | From the lands where the sun rises to western shores, People are crying and wailing. . . the Franks, the Romans, all Christians, are stung with mourning and great worry. . . the young and old, glorious nobles, all lament the loss of their Caesar. . . the world laments the death of Charles. . . O Christ, you who govern the heavenly host, grant a peaceful place to Charles in your kingdom. Alas for miserable me. [9] | ” |
He was succeeded by his surviving son, Louis, who had been crowned the previous year. His empire lasted only another generation in its entirety; its division, according to custom, between Louis's own sons after their father's death laid the foundation for the modern states of France and Germany. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe.
Administration
As an administrator, Charlemagne stands out for his many reforms: monetary, governmental, military, cultural and ecclesiastical. Monetary policy is the process by which the Government, Central bank, or monetary authority of a country controls (i the Supply of Money, For the government of parliamentary systems see Executive (government. A military is an Organization authorized by its Nation to use force usually including use of Weapons in defending its Country (or by attacking Ecclesiology (from Greek grc ἐκκλησίᾱ ekklēsiā, "congregation church" and grc -λογία -logia) is the study of the He is the main protagonist of the "Carolingian Renaissance".
Economic and monetary reforms
Charlemagne had an important role in determining the immediate economic future of Europe. Pursuing his father's reforms, Charlemagne abolished the monetary system based on the gold sou, and he and the Anglo-Saxon King Offa of Mercia took up the system set in place by Pippin. Anglo-Saxon monarchs were the rulers of the various kingdoms which arose in England following the withdrawal of the Romans in the fifth century Offa was the King of Mercia from 757 until his death in July 796 There were strong pragmatic reasons for this abandonment of a gold standard, notably a shortage of gold itself, a direct consequence of the conclusion of peace with Byzantium and the ceding of Venice and Sicily, and the loss of their trade routes to Africa and to the east. This standardisation also had the effect of economically harmonising and unifying the complex array of currencies in use at the commencement of his reign, thus simplifying trade and commerce.
He established a new standard, the livre carolinienne (from the Latin libra, the modern pound), and based upon a pound of silver – a unit of both money and weight – which was worth 20 sous (from the Latin solidus (which was primarily an accounting device, and never actually minted), the modern shilling) or 240 deniers (from the Latin denarius, the modern penny). The livre was the currency of France until 1795 Several different livres existed some concurrently The ancient Roman units of measurement were built on the Hellenic system with Egyptian, Hebrew, and Mesopotamian influences The pound, a unit of currency originated in England as the value of a pound mass of Silver. Silver (ˈsɪlvɚ is a Chemical element with the symbol " Ag " (argentum from the Ancient Greek: ἀργήντος - argēntos gen The solidus (the Latin word for solid) was originally a Gold coin issued by the Romans. The shilling is a unit of Currency used in current and former Commonwealth countries and was continued to be used in countries that left the commonwealth The denier was a French Coin created by Charlemagne in the Early Middle Ages. The Roman Currency system included the denarius (plural denarii) after 211 BC a small Silver coin, A penny (pl pence or pennies) is a Coin or a unit of Currency used in several English -speaking countries During this period, the livre and the sou were counting units, only the denier was a coin of the realm.
Charlemagne instituted principles for accounting practice by means of the Capitulare de villis of 802, which laid down strict rules for the way in which incomes and expenses were to be recorded. Accountancy or accounting is the measurement statement or provision of assurance about financial information primarily used by Lenders managers,
The lending of money for interest was prohibited, strengthened in 814, when Charlemagne introduced the Capitulary for the Jews, a draconian prohibition on Jews engaging in money-lending. The Capitulary for the Jews is a piece of legislation attributed to Charlemagne and dated to 814 AD
In addition to this macro-management of the economy of his empire, Charlemagne also performed a significant number of acts of micro-management, such as direct control of prices and levies on certain goods and commodities.
Charlemagne applied the system to much of the European continent, and Offa's standard was voluntarily adopted by much of England. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland After Charlemagne's death, continental coinage degraded and most of Europe resorted to using the continued high quality English coin until about 1100.
Education reforms
A part of Charlemagne's success as warrior and administrator can be traced to his admiration for learning. His reign and the era it ushered in are often referred to as the Carolingian Renaissance because of the flowering of scholarship, literature, art, and architecture which characterise it. The Carolingian Renaissance was a period of intellectual and cultural revival occurring in the late eighth and ninth centuries with the peak of the activities A scholarship is an award of access to an institution or a financial aid award for an individual student scholar for the purpose of furthering their Education Literature is the Art of written works Literally translated the word means "acquaintance with letters" (from Latin littera letter Art refers to a diverse range of Human activities creations and expressions that are appealing to the Senses or Emotions of a human individual The term architecture (from Greek αρχιτεκτονικήarchitektoniki) can be used to mean a process a profession or documentation Charlemagne, brought into contact with the culture and learning of other countries (especially Visigothic Spain, Anglo-Saxon England and Lombard Italy) due to his vast conquests, greatly increased the provision of monastic schools and scriptoria (centres for book-copying) in Francia. Most of the surviving works of classical Latin were copied and preserved by Carolingian scholars. Indeed, the earliest manuscripts available for many ancient texts are Carolingian. It is almost certain that a text which survived to the Carolingian age survives still. The pan-European nature of Charlemagne's influence is indicated by the origins of many of the men who worked for him: Alcuin, an Anglo-Saxon from York; Theodulf, a Visigoth, probably from Septimania; Paul the Deacon, Lombard; Peter of Pisa and Paulinus of Aquileia, Italians; and Angilbert, Angilramm, Einhard and Waldo of Reichenau, Franks. Alcuin of York (Alcuinus or Ealhwine, nicknamed Albinus or Flaccus (c For their language see Anglo-Saxon language. Anglo-Saxon is the term usually used to describe the invading Tribes in the south York ( is an historic Walled city sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. Theodulf of Orléans (ca 750-60 to 821 was the Bishop of Orléans (ca The Visigoths (Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, or Wisi were one of two main branches of the Goths, an East Septimania was the western region of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis that passed under the control of the Visigoths in 462 when Septimania was ceded to Paul the Deacon (c 720 &ndash 13 April probably 799 also known as Paulus Diaconus, Warnefred and Cassinensis (i Peter of Pisa ( 744 - 799) was a Grammarian of the Early middle ages. Saint Paulinus II (between 730 and 740 - 802 was an Italian ecclesiastic scholar and poet who served as the Patriarch of Aquileia. The' Italian people' are a Southern European Ethnic group located primarily in Italy, Switzerland, France and by virtue of a wide-ranging Saint Angilbert (died 18 February 814) was a Frank who served Charlemagne as a diplomat abbot poet and semi-son-in-law Einhard (also Eginhard or Einhart) (c 775 &ndash March 14, 840 in Seligenstadt, Germany) was a Frankish Waldo of Reichenau (sometimes Walto) (c 740 - 814, Paris) was a Carolingian Abbot and Bishop.
Charlemagne took a serious interest in scholarship, promoting the liberal arts at the court, ordering that his children and grandchildren be well-educated, and even studying himself under the tutelage of Paul the Deacon, from whom he learned grammar, Alcuin, with whom he studied rhetoric, dialect and astronomy (he was particularly interested in the movements of the stars), and Einhard, who assisted him in his studies of arithmetic. The term liberal arts refers to a particular type of educational Curriculum broadly defined as a Classical education. His great scholarly failure, as Einhard relates, was his inability to write: when in his old age he began attempts to learn – practicing the formation of letters in his bed during his free time on books and wax tablets he hid under his pillow – "his effort came too late in life and achieved little success", and his ability to read – which Einhard is silent about, and which no contemporary source supports – has also been called into question. [10]
Writing reforms
During Charles' reign, the Roman half uncial script and its cursive version, which had given rise to various continental minuscule scripts, were combined with features from the insular scripts that were being used in Irish and English monasteries. Lorsch Codex redirects here For the 12th-century monastery catalogue see Lorsch codex. Uncial is a Majuscule script commonly used from the 3rd to 8th centuries AD by Latin and Greek Scribes From the 8th century to the For the indie rock band see Cursive (band. Cursive is any style of handwriting that is designed for writing down notes and Insular script was a medieval script system used in Ireland and Britain (Latin insula, "island" Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Carolingian minuscule was created partly under the patronage of Charlemagne. Carolingian or Caroline minuscule is a script developed as a writing standard in Europe so that the Roman alphabet could be easily recognized Alcuin of York, who ran the palace school and scriptorium at Aachen, was probably a chief influence in this. Scriptorium, literally "a place for writing" is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European Monasteries devoted to the copying of manuscripts by monastic The revolutionary character of the Carolingian reform, however, can be over-emphasised; efforts at taming the crabbed Merovingian and Germanic hands had been underway before Alcuin arrived at Aachen. The new minuscule was disseminated first from Aachen, and later from the influential scriptorium at Tours, where Alcuin retired as an abbot. Tours is a city in France the Préfecture (capital city of the Indre-et-Loire département, on the lower reaches of the river
Political reforms
Charlemagne engaged in many reforms of Frankish governance, but he continued also in many traditional practices, such as the division of the kingdom among sons.
Organisation
The Carolingian king exercised the bannum, the right to rule and command. The government administration and organisation of the Carolingian Empire were forged in the court of Charlemagne in the decades around the year 800 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, however, it was entirely dependent upon the efficiency, loyalty and support of his subjects.
Imperial coronation
Historians have debated for centuries whether Charlemagne was aware of the Pope's intent to crown him Emperor prior to the coronation (Charlemagne declared that he would not have entered Saint Peter's had he known), but that debate has often obscured the more significant question of why the Pope granted the title and why Charlemagne chose to accept it once he did.
Roger Collins points out (Charlemagne, pg. 147) "That the motivation behind the acceptance of the imperial title was a romantic and antiquarian interest in reviving the Roman empire is highly unlikely. ". For one thing, such romance would not have appealed either to Franks or Roman Catholics at the turn of the ninth century, both of whom viewed the Classical heritage of the Roman Empire with distrust. Classical antiquity (also the classical era or classical period) is a broad term for a long period of cultural History centered on the Mediterranean The Franks took pride in having "fought against and thrown from their shoulders the heavy yoke of the Romans" and "from the knowledge gained in baptism, clothed in gold and precious stones the bodies of the holy martyrs whom the Romans had killed by fire, by the sword and by wild animals", as Pippin III described it in a law of 763 or 764 (Collins 151). Furthermore, the new title — carrying with it the risk that the new emperor would "make drastic changes to the traditional styles and procedures of government" or "concentrate his attentions on Italy or on Mediterranean concerns more generally" (Collins 149) — risked alienating the Frankish leadership.
For both the Pope and Charlemagne, the Roman Empire remained a significant power in European politics at this time, and continued to hold a substantial portion of Italy, with borders not very far south of the city of Rome itself — this is the empire historiography has labelled the Byzantine Empire, for its capital was Constantinople (ancient Byzantium) and its people and rulers were Greek; it was a thoroughly Hellenic state. Indeed, Charlemagne was usurping the prerogatives of the Roman Emperor in Constantinople simply by sitting in judgement over the Pope in the first place:
By whom, however, could he [the Pope] be tried? Who, in other words, was qualified to pass judgement on the Vicar of Christ? In normal circumstances the only conceivable answer to that question would have been the Emperor at Constantinople; but the imperial throne was at this moment occupied by Irene. That the Empress was notorious for having blinded and murdered her own son was, in the minds of both Leo and Charles, almost immaterial: it was enough that she was a woman. The female sex was known to be incapable of governing, and by the old Salic tradition was debarred from doing so. As far as Western Europe was concerned, the Throne of the Emperors was vacant: Irene's claim to it was merely an additional proof, if any were needed, of the degradation into which the so-called Roman Empire had fallen.
—John Julius Norwich, Byzantium: The Early Centuries, pg. John Julius Cooper 2nd Viscount Norwich CVO (born 15 September 1929) is an English historian travel writer and television personality 378
For the Pope, then, there was "no living Emperor at the that time" (Norwich 379), though Henri Pirenne (Mohammed and Charlemagne, pg. Charles the Bald ( 13 June 823 – 6 October 877) Holy Roman Emperor (875–877 as Charles II) and King of West Francia Henri Pirenne ( December 23 1862, Verviers - October 25 1935, Uccle) was a leading Belgian historian 234n) disputes this saying that the coronation "was not in any sense explained by the fact that at this moment a woman was reigning in Constantinople. " Nonetheless, the Pope took the extraordinary step of creating one. The papacy had since 727 been in conflict with Irene's predecessors in Constantinople over a number of issues, chiefly the continued Byzantine adherence to the doctrine of iconoclasm, the destruction of Christian images; while from 750, the secular power of the Byzantine Empire in central Italy had been nullified. By bestowing the Imperial crown upon Charlemagne, the Pope arrogated to himself "the right to appoint . . . the Emperor of the Romans, . . . establishing the imperial crown as his own personal gift but simultaneously granting himself implicit superiority over the Emperor whom he had created. ". And "because the Byzantines had proved so unsatisfactory from every point of view—political, military and doctrinal—he would select a westerner: the one man who by his wisdom and statesmanship and the vastness of his dominions . . . stood out head and shoulders above his contemporaries. ".
With Charlemagne's coronation, therefore, "the Roman Empire remained, so far as either of them [Charlemagne and Leo] were concerned, one and indivisible, with Charles as its Emperor", though there can have been "little doubt that the coronation, with all that it implied, would be furiously contested in Constantinople. " (Norwich, Byzantium: The Apogee, pg. 3) How realistic either Charlemagne or the Pope felt it to be that the people of Constantinople would ever accept the King of the Franks as their Emperor, we cannot know; Alcuin speaks hopefully in his letters of an Imperium Christianum ("Christian Empire"), wherein, "just as the inhabitants of the [Roman Empire] had been united by a common Roman citizenship", presumably this new empire would be united by a common Christian faith (Collins 151), certainly this is the view of Pirenne when he says "Charles was the Emperor of the ecclesia as the Pope conceived it, of the Roman Church, regarded as the universal Church" (Pirenne 233).
What we do know, from the Byzantine chronicler Theophanes (Collins 153), is that Charlemagne's reaction to his coronation was to take the initial steps toward securing the Constantinopolitan throne by sending envoys of marriage to Irene, and that Irene reacted somewhat favorably to them. Theophanes may refer to St Theophanes, the name of several saints including Theophan the Recluse (Russian 19th century Only when the people of Constantinople reacted to Irene's failure to immediately rebuff the proposal by deposing her and replacing her with one of her ministers, Nicephorus I, did Charlemagne drop any ambitions toward the Byzantine throne and begin minimising his new Imperial title, and instead return to describing himself primarily as rex Francorum et Langobardum.
The title of emperor remained in his family for years to come, however, as brothers fought over who had the supremacy in the Frankish state. The papacy itself never forgot the title nor abandoned the right to bestow it. When the family of Charles ceased to produce worthy heirs, the pope gladly crowned whichever Italian magnate could best protect him from his local enemies. This devolution led, as could have been expected, to the dormancy of the title for almost forty years (924-962). Finally, in 962, in a radically different Europe from Charlemagne's, a new Roman Emperor was crowned in Rome by a grateful pope. This emperor, Otto the Great, brought the title into the hands the kings of Germany for almost a millennium, for it was to become the Holy Roman Empire, a true imperial successor to Charles, if not Augustus. Otto I the Great ( 23 November 912 &ndash 7 May 973) son of Henry I the Fowler and Matilda of Ringelheim, was Duke Augustus ( Latin: IMPERATOR·CAESAR·DIVI·FILIVS·AVGVSTVS September 23 63 BC – August 19 AD 14) born Gaius Octavius Thurinus, was
Divisio regnorum
In 806, Charlemagne first made provision for the traditional division of the empire on his death. For Charles the Younger he designated Austrasia and Neustria, Saxony, Burgundy, and Thuringia. The Free State of Thuringia (Freistaat Thüringen is located in central Germany. To Pippin he gave Italy, Bavaria, and Swabia. Swabia, Suabia, or Svebia ( German: Schwaben, Schwabenland or Ländle) is both a historic and linguistic Louis received Aquitaine, the Spanish March, and Provence. Provence ( Provençal Occitan: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm is a region of southeastern France There was no mention of the imperial title however, which has led to the suggestion that, at that particular time, Charlemagne regarded the title as an honorary achievement which held no hereditary significance.
This division may have worked, but it was never to be tested. Pippin died in 810 and Charles in 811. Charlemagne then reconsidered the matter, and in 813, crowned his youngest son, Louis, co-emperor and co-King of the Franks, granting him a half-share of the empire and the rest upon Charlemagne's own death. The only part of the Empire which Louis was not promised was Italy, which Charlemagne specifically bestowed upon Pippin's illegitimate son Bernard. Bernard (797 Vermandois, Normandy – 17 April 818, Milan, Lombardy) was the King of Italy from 810 to
Cultural significance
Charlemagne had an immediate afterlife. The Coronation of Charlemagne is a Painting by the workshop of the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. Raphael Sanzio, usually known by his first name alone (in Italian Raffaello) (April 6 or March 28 1483 – April 6 1520 was an Italian painter and The author of the Visio Karoli Magni written around 865 uses facts gathered apparently from Einhard and his own observations on the decline of Charlemagne's family after the dissensions of civil war (840–43) as the basis for a visionary tale of Charles' meeting with a prophetic spectre in a dream. The Visio Karoli Magni ("Vision of Charles the Great" full title Visio Domini Karoli Regis Francorvm ("Vision of the Lord Charles King
Charlemagne, being a model knight as one of the Nine Worthies, enjoyed an important afterlife in European culture. The Nine Worthies ( les neuf preux) were nine historical scriptural mythological or semi-legendary figures who in The Middle Ages, were believed to personify the One of the great medieval literary cycles, the Charlemagne cycle or the Matter of France, centres on the deeds of Charlemagne—the King with the Grizzly Beard of Roland fame—and his historical commander of the border with Brittany, Roland, and the paladins who are analogous to the knights of the Round Table or King Arthur's court. Literary cycles are groups of stories grouped around common figures often (though not necessarily based on mythical figures or loosely on historic ones The Matter of France, also known as the Carolingian cycle, is a body of Legendary history that springs from the Old French Medieval literature The Matter of France, also known as the Carolingian cycle, is a body of Legendary history that springs from the Old French Medieval literature The Song of Roland (La Chanson de Roland is the oldest remaining major work of French literature. Brittany (Breizh bʁejs Bretagne; Gallo: Bertaèyn) is a former independent Celtic kingdom and Duchy, now incorporated into Roland ( Italian: Orlando or Rolando, Frankish: Hruodland, Dutch: Roeland, Spanish: Roldán A paladin (from Latin palatinus, plural palatini; cf derivative spellings below was a high-level official in numerous countries of medieval King Arthur is a legendary British leader who according to medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against the Saxon invaders Their tales constitute the first chansons de geste. The chansons de geste, Old French for "songs of Heroic deeds lineages" are the epic poems that appear at the dawn of French literature
Charlemagne himself was accorded sainthood inside the Holy Roman Empire after the twelfth century. A saint (from the Latin sanctus) is a human being to whom has been attributed (and who has generally demonstrated a high level of Holiness and Sanctity His canonisation by Antipope Paschal III, to gain the favour of Frederick Barbarossa in 1165, was never recognised by the Holy See, which annulled all of Paschal's ordinances at the Third Lateran Council in 1179. Canonization is the act by which a particular Christian church declares a deceased person to be a Saint and is included in the canon or list of recognized saints Antipope Paschal III (or Paschal III) was Antipope from 1164 to September 20, 1168. Frederick I Barbarossa (1122 &ndash 10 June 1190) was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome, commonly known as the Pope, and is the preeminent Episcopal see of the Roman Catholic The Third Council of the Lateran met in March 1179 as the 11th Ecumenical council. However, he has been acknowledged as cultus confirmed. Beatification (from Latin beatus, blessed via Greek μακάριος makarios) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic church The process of Beatification and Canonization has undergone various changes in the history of the Catholic Church
Charlemagne is sometimes credited with supporting the insertion of the filioque into the Nicene Creed. Filioque, a Latin phrase meaning "and (from the Son" In Western Christianity, it was added to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed The Nicene Creed (ˈnaɪsiːn is an ecumenical Christian statement of faith accepted in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Assyrian Church of The Franks had inherited a Visigothic tradition of referring to the Holy Spirit as deriving from God the Father and Son (Filioque), and under Charlemagne, the Franks challenged the 381 Council of Constantinople proclamation that the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father alone. Pope Leo III rejected this notion, and had the Nicene Creed carved into the doors of Old St. Peter's Basilica without the offending phrase; the Frankish insistence lead to bad relations between Rome and Francia. Pope Leo III (died June 12, 816) was Pope from 795 to 816 Protected by Charlemagne from his enemies in Rome he subsequently strengthened Old Saint Peter's Basilica was the building that once stood on the spot where the Basilica of Saint Peter stands today in Rome. Later, the Roman Catholic Church would adopt the phrase, leading to dispute between Rome and Constantinople. Some see this as one of many pre-cursors to the East-West Schism centuries later. The East-West Schism, or the Great Schism, divided medieval Christendom into Eastern (Greek and Western (Latin branches which later became known as the [11]
In the Divine Comedy the spirit of Charlemagne appears to Dante in the Heaven of Mars, among the other "warriors of the faith". The Divine Comedy
According to folk etymology, Charlemagne was commemorated in the old name Charles's Wain for the Big Dipper in the constellation of Ursa Major. Folk etymology is a term used in two distinct ways A commonly held misunderstanding of the origin of a particular word a False etymology. This article is about the asterism; for other uses see Big Dipper (disambiguation. Ursa Major ( is a Constellation visible throughout the year in most of the northern hemisphere
French volunteers in the Wehrmacht and later Waffen-SS during the World War II were organised in a unit called 33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne (1st French). The 33 Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS Charlemagne (französische Nr A German Waffen-SS unit used "Karl der Große" for some time in 1943, but then chose the name 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg instead.
The city of Aachen has, since 1949, awarded an international prize (called the Karlspreis der Stadt Aachen) in honour of Charlemagne. The Karlspreis ( Charlemagne Prize; Prix Charlemagne; full name originally Internationaler Karlspreis der Stadt Aachen It is awarded annually to "personages of merit who have promoted the idea of western unity by their political, economic and literary endeavours. "[12] Winners of the prize include Count Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi, the founder of the pan-European movement, Alcide De Gasperi, and Winston Churchill. Count Richard Nikolaus Eijiro von Coudenhove-Kalergi ( German: Richard Nikolaus Eijiro Graf Coudenhove-Kalergi, Japanese:) ( Tokyo, November Alcide De Gasperi ( 3 April 1881 &ndash 19 August 1954) was an Italian Statesman and Politician. Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC, PC (Can ( 30 November 1874
Charlemagne is memorably quoted by Henry Jones (played by Sean Connery) in the film, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born August 25 1930) is an Academy Award - Golden Globe - and BAFTA Award -winning Scottish Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a 1989 Adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg from a story co-written by Executive producer Immediately after using his umbrella to induce a flock of seagulls to smash through the glass cockpit of a pursuing German fighter plane, Henry Jones remarks "I suddenly remembered my Charlemagne: 'Let my armies be the rocks and the trees and the birds in the sky'. "Parasol" redirects here For other uses see Umbrella (disambiguation, Umbrella (song or Parasol (disambiguation Gulls (often informally Seagulls) are birds in the family Laridae " Despite the quote's popularity since the movie, there is no evidence that Charlemagne actually said this. [2]
The Economist, the weekly news and international affairs newspaper, features a one page article every week entitled "Charlemagne", focusing on European government. The Economist is an English-language weekly news and International affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd and edited in London
Family
Marriages and heirs
Charlemagne had twenty children over the course of his life with eight of his ten known wives or concubines.
- His first relationship was with Himiltrude. Himiltrude (c 742-c780? was the mother of Charlemagne 's first-born son Pippin the Hunchback. The nature of this relationship is variously described as concubinage, a legal marriage or as a Friedelehe. Concubinage is the state of a woman or youth in an ongoing quasi-matrimonial relationship with a man of higher social status Friedelehe is the term for a postulated form of Germanic Marriage said to have existed during the Early Middle Ages. [13] Charlemagne put her aside when he married Desiderata. The union produced two children:
- Amaudru, a daughter[14]
- Pippin the Hunchback (c. Pepin (or Pippin) the Hunchback, (c 769 &ndash 811 was the eldest son of Charlemagne by Himiltrude. 769-811)
- After her, his first wife was Desiderata, daughter of Desiderius, king of the Lombards, married in 770, annulled in 771
- His second wife was Hildegard (757 or 758-783), married 771, died 783. Desiderata was one of four daughters of Desiderius, king of the Lombards, and his queen Ansa. Desiderius (also known as Daufer or Dauferius; Didier in French and Desiderio in Italian) was the last king of the The Lombards ( Latin Langobardi, whence the alternative names Langobards and Longobards) were a Germanic people originally from Hildegard ( 758 - 30 April 783) was the daughter of Count Gerold of Vinzgouw and Emma of Alamannia, daughter of Hnabi By her he had nine children:
- Charles the Younger (c. 772-4 December 811), Duke of Maine, and crowned King of the Franks on 25 December 800
- Carloman, renamed Pippin (April 773-8 July 810), King of Italy
- Adalhaid (774), who was born whilst her parents were on campaign in Italy. "December 4th" redirects here For the song by Jay-Z, see December 4th (song. For the Telephone number N11 code see 8-1-1. Events By Place Byzantine Empire July 26 — The Franks were originally led by dukes (military leaders and reguli (petty kings Pepin (April 773 &ndash 8 July 810) was the son of Charlemagne and King of Italy (781-810 under the authority of his father Events 939 - The Major Occultation or Ghaybat el-Kubra of Muhammad al-Mahdi 1099 - First Crusade: 15000 For the area code see Area code 810 Events By Place Byzantine Empire October 1 — A man with a Sword makes She was sent back to Francia, but died before reaching Lyons
- Rotrude (or Hruodrud) (775-6 June 810)
- Louis (778-20 June 840), twin of Lothair, King of Aquitaine since 781, crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 813, senior Emperor from 814
- Lothair (778-6 February 779/780), twin of Louis, he died in infancy[15]
- Bertha (779-826)
- Gisela (781-808)
- Hildegarde (782-783)
- His third wife was Fastrada, married 784, died 794. Rotrude (or sometimes referred to as Hruodrud) ( 775 - June 6, 810) was the second daughter of Charlemagne from his marriage to Events 1508 - Maximilian I Holy Roman Emperor, is defeated in Friulia by Venetian forces; he is forced to sign a three-year For the area code see Area code 810 Events By Place Byzantine Empire October 1 — A man with a Sword makes Louis the Pious (778 &ndash 20 June 840) also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was the King of Aquitaine from 781 and co-Emperor Events 451 - Battle of Chalons: Flavius Aetius ' defeats Attila the Hun. Events By Place Europe After the death of Louis the Pious, his sons Lothar, Charles the Bald and Louis the German The Duke of Aquitaine ( French: Duc d'Aquitaine) ruled the historical region of Aquitaine under the supremacy of the Frankish and later the The Holy Roman Emperor (Römischer Kaiser or Römisch-Deutscher Kaiser Romanorum Imperator was the elected monarch ruling over the many varying numbers of states Events By Place Europe August 15 — Battle of Roncevaux Pass (Roncesvalles Charlemagne 's army suffers a terrible Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar defeats the combined army of Pompeian followers and Numidians under Metellus Scipio Events By Place Europe Offa of Mercia defeats Cynewulf of Wessex and takes Bensington Events By Place Byzantine Empire Constantine VI becomes Byzantine Emperor with Irene as guardian Gisela (c 781 &ndash 808 was a daughter of Charlemagne from his marriage to Hildegard. Fastrada (765-794 was an East Frankish noblewoman She became the third wife of Charlemagne, marrying him in 784 By her he had:
- Theodrada (b. Theodrada (born 784 was a daughter of Charlemagne (742-814 from his marriage to Fastrada. 784), abbess of Argenteuil
- Hiltrude (b. An abbess ( Latin abbatissa fem form of abbas Abbot) is the female superior, or Mother Superior, of an Abbey Argenteuil is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. 787)
- His fourth wife was Luitgard, married 794, died childless
Concubinages and illegitimate children
- His first known concubine was Gersuinda. Luitgard (died June 4, 800) was the fourth and last wife of Charlemagne. By her he had:
- Adaltrude (b. 774)
- His second known concubine was Madelgard. By her he had:
- Ruodhaid (775-810), abbess of Faremoutiers
- His third known concubine was Amaltrud of Vienne. An abbess ( Latin abbatissa fem form of abbas Abbot) is the female superior, or Mother Superior, of an Abbey Faremoutiers Abbey (Notre-Dame de Faremoutiers was founded Circa 620 by Burgundofara (Saint Fara By her he had:
- Alpaida (b. 794)
- His fourth known concubine was Regina. Regina (born c780 was a Concubine of Charlemagne who bore him two illegitimate sons both of whom became holy men By her he had:
- Drogo (801-855), Bishop of Metz from 823 and abbot of Luxeuil Abbey
- Hugh (802-844), archchancellor of the Empire
- His fifth known concubine was Ethelind. Drogo, also known as Dreux or Drogon ( June 17 801 - December 8, 855) was an illegitimate son of Frankish Luxeuil Abbey was one of the oldest and best-known monasteries in Burgundy, located in the " Département " of Haute-Saône in Franche-Comté Hugh (802-844 was the illegitimate son of Charlemagne and his Concubine Regina, with whom he had one other son Bishop Drogo of Metz (801-855 An archchancellor (archicancellarius Erzkanzler or chief chancellor a title given to the highest dignitary of the Holy Roman Empire and also used occasionally during the By her he had:
- Richbod (805-844), Abbott of Saint-Riquier
- Theodoric (b. 807)
References
Notes
- ^ Riché, Preface xviii
- ^ Riché, xviii.
- ^ Oman, Charles. The Dark Ages 476–919 Rivingtons: London, 1914. Regards Charlemagne's grandsons as the first kings of France and Germany, which at the time comprised the whole of the Carolingian Empire save Italy.
- ^ Original text of the Salic law.
- ^ Einhard, Life, 25.
- ^ Etymology of "Charles/Karl/Karel"
- ^ chronique. com: [1]
- ^ Chamberlin, Russell, The Emperor Charlemagne, pp. 222–224
- ^ Dutton, PE, Carolingian Civilization: A Reader
- ^ Dutton, Paul Edward, Charlemagne's Mustache
- ^ Riche, Pierre, The Carolingians, p. 124
- ^ Chamberlin, Russell, The Emperor Charlemagne, p. ???
- ^ Charlemagne's biographer Einhard (Vita Karoli Magni, ch. Einhard (also Eginhard or Einhart) (c 775 &ndash March 14, 840 in Seligenstadt, Germany) was a Frankish 20) calls her a "concubine" and Paulus Diaconus speaks of Pippin's birth "before legal marriage", whereas a letter by Pope Stephen III refers to Charlemagne and his brother Carloman as being already married (to Himiltrude and Gerberga), and advises them not to dismiss their wives. Paul the Deacon (c 720 &ndash 13 April probably 799 also known as Paulus Diaconus, Warnefred and Cassinensis (i Pope Stephen III, (720 &ndash January 24, 772) Pope August 1 or August 7, 768 &ndash January 24 Gerberga (8th century was the wife of Carloman I King of the Franks, and sister-in-law of Charlemagne. Historians have interpreted the information in different ways. Some, such as Pierre Riché (The Carolingians, p. 86. ), follow Einhard in describing Himiltrude as a concubine. Others, for example Dieter Hägemann (Karl der Große. Herrscher des Abendlands, p. 82f. ), consider Himiltrude a wife in the full sense. Still others subscribe to the idea that the relationship between the two was "something more than concubinage, less than marriage" and describe it as a Friedelehe, a form of marriage unrecognized by the Church and easily dissolvable. Friedelehe is the term for a postulated form of Germanic Marriage said to have existed during the Early Middle Ages. Russell Chamberlin (The Emperor Charlemagne, p. 61. ), for instance, compared it with the English system of common-law marriage. This form of relationship is often seen in a conflict between Christian marriage and more flexible Germanic concepts.
- ^ Gerd Treffer, Die französischen Königinnen. Von Bertrada bis Marie Antoinette (8. -18. Jahrhundert) p. 30.
- ^ "By [Hildigard] Charlemagne had four sons and four daughters, according to Paul the Deacon: one son, the twin of Lewis, called Lothar, died as a baby and is not mentioned by Einhard; two daughters, Hildigard and Adelhaid, died as babies, so that Einhard appears to err in one of his names, unless there were really five daughters. " Thorpe, Lewis, Two Lives of Charlemagne, p. 185
Bibliography
- Riché, Pierre (1993). The Carolingians: A Family Who Forged Europe. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 0-8122-1342-4
- Einhard [1880] (1960). Einhard (also Eginhard or Einhart) (c 775 &ndash March 14, 840 in Seligenstadt, Germany) was a Frankish The Life of Charlemagne, trans. Samuel Epes Turner, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-06035-X.
- Oman, Charles (1914). Sir Charles William Chadwick Oman ( January 12 1860 &ndash June 23 1946) was a British military historian of the early The Dark Ages, 476-918, 6th ed. , London: Rivingtons.
- Painter, Sidney (1953). Sidney Painter (1902-1960 was a twentieth-century American Medievalist at Johns Hopkins University. A History of the Middle Ages, 284-1500. New York: Knopf.
- Santosuosso, Antonio (2004). Antonio Santosuosso (born 1936 is a Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Western Ontario in London Ontario. Barbarians, Marauders, and Infidels: The Ways of Medieval Warfare. Boulder, Colo. : Westview Press. ISBN 0-8133-9153-9.
- Scholz, Bernhard Walter; with Barbara Rogers (1970). Carolingian Chronicles: Royal Frankish Annals and Nithard's Histories. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-08790-8. Comprises the Annales regni Francorum and The History of the Sons of Louis the Pious
- Charlemagne: Biographies and general studies, from Encyclopædia Britannica, full-article, latest edition. The Encyclopædia Britannica is a general English-language encyclopaedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica Inc
- Barbero, Alessandro (2004). Charlemagne: Father of a Continent, trans. Allan Cameron, Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-23943-1.
- Becher, Matthias (2003). Charlemagne, trans. David S. Bachrach, New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-09796-4.
- Ganshof, F. L. (1971). François-Louis Ganshof ( 14 March 1895 –1980 was a Belgian historian of the middle ages The Carolingians and the Frankish Monarchy: Studies in Carolingian History, trans. Janet Sondheimer, Ithaca, N. Y. : Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-0635-8.
- Langston, Aileen Lewers; and J. Orton Buck, Jr (eds. ) (1974). Pedigrees of Some of the Emperor Charlemagne's Descendants. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co. .
- Pirenne, Henri (1939). Henri Pirenne ( December 23 1862, Verviers - October 25 1935, Uccle) was a leading Belgian historian Mohammed and Charlemagne, trans. Bernard Miall, New York: Norton.
- Sypeck, Jeff (2006). Becoming Charlemagne: Europe, Baghdad, and The Empires of A. D. 800. New York: Ecco/HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-079706-1.
- Wilson, Derek (2005). Charlemagne: The Great Adventure. London: Hutchinson. ISBN 0-09-179461-7.
External links
- The Life of Charlemagne by Einhard. At Medieval Sourcebook
- Vita Karoli Magni by Einhard. Latin text at The Latin Library
- A reconstructed portrait of Charlemagne, based on historical sources, in a contemporary style. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. The Latin Library is a website that collects Public domain Latin texts
- The Sword of Charlemagne (myArmoury. com article)
- Works by or about Charlemagne in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
Emperor Charles I the Great Died: 28 January 814 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Pippin the Short | King of the Franks 768 – 814 with Carloman I (768 – 771) Charles the Younger (800 – 811) | Succeeded by Louis the Pious |
| New title Title granted by Pope Leo III | (Holy) Roman Emperor 800 – 814 with Louis the Pious (813 – 814) | |
| Preceded by Desiderius | King of the Lombards 774 – 814 with Pippin of Italy as King of Italy (781 – 810) | Succeeded by Bernard of Italy as King of Italy |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Charlemagne |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Carolus Magnus |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | King of the Franks |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April, 742/747 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Liège, Belgium |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 28, 814 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Aachen, Germany |
Dictionary
Charlemagne
-proper noun
- One of the kings of the Franks in the 8th and 9th century, and the first ever Holy Roman Emperor
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