Charles the Great

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Charlemagne

During the sixth century, after the fall of the Roman Empire, the Merovingian rule had little or no power. The mayor of the palace, “Pepin the short,” held the power of the empire. In 752 Pepin dethroned the last Merovingian king and took the throne for himself and restored the power to the monarchy. He shared the kingdom with his brother Carloman. They ruled the land in harmony. Ten years later Pope Stephen crowned Pepin, and thereby solidifying his right to the throne. He had a son named Charlemagne, who later became king and was referred to as “Charles the Great”. This honorable name was bestowed upon him because he was the first king to re-establish order to this unruly empire. Charles united the Frankish empire, encouraged commerce, and brought religion back to the masses. Through Charles’ charisma, knowledge, determination, and loyalty to his people he achieved what no other ruler could have done during this time period and was honored as one of histories most glorified emperors.

Charles was born in 742 AD. During Charles’ childhood he accompanied his father on his military excursions. This gave Charles an early insight into military efforts, which possibly influenced his later military achievements. Charlemagne grew up in the kingdom and his father continued to educate Charles in military and strategic tactics. His mother taught him the finer arts of reading, literature and aristocratic methods. Both of his parents shaped him into the man he later became. Charles was highly educated and well rounded both militarily and socially.

Charlemagne Becomes Emperor

Before “Pepin the Short” died in 768 he divided his kingdom between his two sons, Charles who was twenty-six and Carloman who was seventeen. This division of the empire caused many problems, which created tension between the brothers. Carloman refused to assist Charles in the war against the Aquitanians. Charles was successful in putting down the revolt but he never saw his brother again. Carloman died suddenly in 771, Charles received Carloman’s inheritance, uniting the empire under one ruler once again. By the persuasion of his mother Charles married in 770 to the daughter of Lombard King Desidarius. He dismissed her after a year and conquered the lands of his father in law. This pleased the Pope since Desidarius’ lands surrounded the Papal States.

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