Charles The Great Accomplishments

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Both Charles the Great (Charlemagne) and Louis IX of France (St. Louis) ruled over France and unified the nation through troubling times. Starting with Charlemagne, born in 742 and who ruled the Frankish Kingdom from 768 to 814 A.D., was called the Emperor of the Romans and considered by many historians to have created prosperity for Europe in what were considered the “Dark Ages”. A few of his accomplishments included uniting most of Western Europe, becoming the first Holy Roman Emperor, and encouraging stability and growth, all of which changed the way of life in Europe for the centuries to come. What is recorded of these historical events is a little a convoluted but still recorded nonetheless by the Carolingians through annals closely …show more content…

He learned many languages such as Latin and Greek and at one time or another would even pray in Latin (Einhard 36). He studied astronomy intently and payed great attention to the liberal arts, although some of the fields he studied were “picked up” too late in his life for him to gain much knowledge or proficiency in them. With the mixture of these attributes and many others, Charles the Great, Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Emperor of the Romans, amassed a large empire that would rarely ever be seen in Europe again and while under his reign, the Frankish Kingdom prospered and saw the preservation of many arts and pieces of literature that are used to this day to understand what occurred during that period. Some 400 years later, another French prince would come to power by the name of Louis IX or better known as Saint Louis. Born in 1214, Louis’s reign lasted from 1226 to 1270 and like Charlemagne, Louis would face opposition at the start of his reign. Inheriting the throne at a young age of 12, Louis would go on to be the only French king declared a saint and be known for his kindness and generosity to his subject as well as for the lands he regained through diplomacy with the English and his participation in the …show more content…

Both fought in wars to protect France, albeit Charles fought in and started a magnitude of more wars to expand the Frankish Kingdom whereas Louis was involved in far less conflict. This could be boiled down to their personalities for Louis was far more devout than Charles and despised conflict unless it was in the name of God. Regardless of their levels of faith, both donated to churches and also were highly involved in the construction of numerous churches. Additionally, both kings went to war under the name of Christendom against the Muslims. Charlemagne was a brilliant military strategist that annexed much territory through war whilst Louis elected to fight in the battles alongside his men and annexed territory diplomatically through far less

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