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
Although Charlemagne and Julius Caesar lived very different lives; they had some similarities. Caesar was an important military leader who ruled as a Consul during the Roman Empire. Caesar wasn’t afraid to get what he wanted. He wanted control of Gaul and when Pompey told him to leave; he came back and defeated him. Charlemagne was also very focused on military conquests.
How far were the events in Scotland responsible for the failure of Charles I’s Personal Rule?
One way in which they were different was in their personalities. Louis XIV was a pleasant individual, whose “great qualities shone more brilliantly by reason of and exterior so unique and incomparable as to lend an infinite distinction to his slightest actions” (Document 2). He was a personable being and had “the very figure of a hero” (Document 2). Lastly, he was sympathetic and “showed a natural kindness of heart and a sense of justice” (Document 2), making him a great ruler and an even better person.
The most famous work about Charlemagne is a book entitled The Two Lives of Charlemagne which consists of two separate biographies published into one book and tells the story of Charlemagne's life as two different people experienced it. Apart from this, there are many other places you can turn to learn more about the life of the king of the Franks, including letters, capitularies, inventories, annals, and more. However, each of these sources seem to paint a different picture of Charlemagne. In one, he seems to be a very average guy; in another, a mythical being, almost god-like; and a strong and firm political leader in yet another. It is because of this of this that we will never really know exactly who Charlemagne was or what he was like, but we do have an idea of what he did and how he lived thanks to those who decided to preserve it.
Louis XIV was born on September 5, 1638, and ruled as King of France and of Navarre from May 14, 1643 until his death at the age of 76. He took over the throne a few months before his fifth birthday, but didn't actually assume actual control of the government until his First Minister, Jules Cardinal Mazarin, died in 1661. He was to become King of France after his father, Louis XIII, died of tuberculosis. He achieved the role of king by ways of hereditary monarchy, which is one of the ways to become a ruler, as stated by Machiavelli. Louis XIV is known as the 'The Sun King' and also known as 'Louis the Great.' He ruled over France for seventy-two years, which is the longest reign of any French or any other major European ruler and increased the power and influence of France in Europe, by fighting three major wars. These wars are known as the Franco-Dutch War, the War of the League of Augsburg, and the War of the Spanish Succession. Under Louis XIV, France achieved political and military pre-eminence, and also achieved cultural dominance with various cultural figures. He worked to successfully create an absolutist and centralized state.
Of all the absolute rulers in Europe, by far the best example of one, and the most powerful, was Louis XIV of France. Although Louis had some failures, he also had many successes. He controlled France’s money and had many different ways to get, as well as keep his power, and he knew how to delegate jobs to smart, but loyal people.
For the first portion of his quote, “one king”, Louis consolidated his power in many ways. France, as well as many other countries throughout the middle ages and early renaissance, had their power balanced between the nobles and the dynastic ruling class, where nobles controlled their individual provinces and the king would have to rely on his nobles to spread his royal decrees. This was highly demonstrated throughout the Holy Roman Empire during the 16th and parts of the 17th century, where the polygot of cultures, religions, and languages lead Charles V to have to rely on the nobles, confederacy, and a decentralization of government to rule. Because of these sacrifices, Charles V never really ruled his country, nor did he achieve any of his goals. He died a white haired old man, giving his domains to his son and brother. Louis XIV actually achieved his goal in a very different way, by defeating the power of the noble class, while strenghening the middle class, or the bourgeois. Louis built an internal beauracracy within France, and believed that a countries power came from it’s unification and military prowess. These beliefs were largely based on the early years of his rule. Louis XIV became king when he was only 5 years old, so his mother. Anne of Austria, and Cardinal Mazarin, rumored to be her lover, ruled in his place as a child. Mazarin was the ideological heir to Richelieu, w...
The rise of power for Charlemagne was initially a hereditary right, but he used that as a stepping stone to become the most well-known king of all time. The story really begins with the father of Charles, Pepin. The position of mayor of the palace was given to both Pepin and his brother Carloman, who worked together in “splendid harmony.” (137) But after a few years Carloman decided to join the monks and lead a monastery life leaving only Pepin to be the mayor of the palace. Then Pope Zacharias decided that the mayor of the palace, Pepin, deserved to be King due to his influence among his people. While king, he waged war against Waifar, duke of Aquitaine, and this lasted for nine years, by the end of while Pepin died. This left the kingdom to be equally divided among both Charles and Carloman. Charles took up the kingdom of his father, while Carloman took the kingdom of his uncle. There was a lot o...
Louis XIV (Figure 1), the absolute monarch of France from 1643 to 1715, was a model of other European monarchs. Louis was born on 5th of September 1638 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, where located outside of Paris in north central France, and died in 1715 at an age of seventy-seven. After the death of his father Louis XIII in 1963, his mother Anne of Austria and the chief minister Cardinal Jules Mazarin were appointed regent while Louis XIV was young. For the throne, Louis was allowed to attend councils of st...
King Louis XIV's 72 year reign was incredibly influential in shaping French history. King Louis XIV’s childhood was traumatic because of “La Fronde” which was a noble rebellion against the monarchy. This experience taught King Louis XIV to distrust the nobles. It was for this reason that he eventually excluded nobility from the council and surrounded himself with loyal ministers whom he could control. He also separated the aristocracy from the people of France by moving the court to the Palace of Versailles. One of the most notable of King Louis XIV’s decisions was that he refused to appoint another Prime Minister after the death of Prime Minister Mazarin. Every decision, from the declaration of war to the approval of a passport, went through him personally. During his reign as king, France participated in several wars including the War of Devolution, in Anglo-Dutch War, and the War of the Spanish Succession. Another major action he took was the proclamation of the Edict of Fontainebleau, which revoked the Edict of Nantes, imposing religious uniformity through Catholi...
Politically, Louis was corrupt because of his greed. He fought costly wars--in the high numbers of casualties and monetary encouragement--at the drop of a hat. His country was the most powerful, and was very populous. His armies were large in size at peacetime, and even larger in wartime. Their strength, though, was no match for the failure Louis faced in wars. His wars left France almost bankrupt. He wanted larger borders, went to any extent to get them, but lost all of the three times he tried.
Charlemagne Charlemagne, also known as Charles the Great, became the undisputed ruler of Western Europe, “By the sword and the cross.” (Compton’s 346) As Western Europe was deteriorating Charlemagne was crowned the privilege of being joint king of the Franks in 768 A.D. People of Western Europe, excluding the church followers, had all but forgotten the great gifts of education and arts that they had possessed at one time. Charlemagne solidly defeated barbarians and kings in identical fashion during his reign. Using the re-establishment of education and order, Charlemagne was able to save many political rights and restore culture in Western Europe.
Upon evaluating each empire, there are likings between both the Carolingian Empire and the Roman Empire, along with their leaders, Charlemagne and Augustus. Both leaders in their own veneration were experienced military men with dexterity in engaging in war to expand their sway and authority. Each had attained an abundance of land at the beginning of their sovereignty, and during their walk of life had exponentially accumulated an extensive empire. The crucial variance that permitted the Roman Empire to continue to withstand itself was the supervision of the
He had a vision of what it meant to be a great king. He followed the history of the kings after Alexander the Great. He believed he had to increase the social, political and intellectual organization of his society. This distinguished himself from any other ruler from the past three hundred years. Charlemagne wanted to recreate what the Roman Empire once was capable of, but even better. As he traveled, he made sure he created a great educational system. He built a chain of schools and provided classes for chil...