Charlemagne

Charlemagne, also known as Charles the Great, was a medieval ruler born circa 742 and died 814. He became King of the Franks in 768 after the death of his father Pepin the Short and, through conquest and alliance, built a large Christian empire that covered much of Western Europe. In 800, he was crowned Emperor by Pope Leo III, an event that symbolically revived the Western Roman tradition and established a framework for medieval kingship.

His reign featured extensive military campaigns to expand and consolidate Frankish rule. He defeated the Lombards in Italy, subdued the Saxons in the north, and extended his authority over much of what is now France, Germany, and parts of Italy and Central Europe. Charlemagne promoted Christianity, supported church reform, and sought to bring diverse peoples under a common Christian empire.

To govern the vast realm, Charlemagne relied on counts and the missi dominici, royal agents who inspected local administration. He issued capitularies to standardize laws and practices across the empire and fostered a revival of learning known as the Carolingian Renaissance, centered at the court in Aachen with scholars such as Alcuin of York. A palace school and efforts to improve clerical education helped spread literacy and administrative skills.

Charlemagne’s empire did not long survive him, but its fragmentation after his death, formalized by the Treaty of Verdun in 843, influenced the future political development of Europe. He is often regarded as a unifying figure who fused Roman, Christian, and Germanic traditions, sometimes described as the Father of Europe. He was buried in the Palatine Chapel at Aachen.