How Did Charlemagne Create A Unified Christian Empire

Charlemagne was the song of Pepin the III. He inherited the Frankish crown in 768. He represents the first full synthesis of Roman, Germanic, and Christian elements to create a unified Christian empire. (Sivers, Desnoyers, & Stow, p 313). He did this with strong authority, a Christian identity, and the idea of spreading Christianity throughout the world. The world’s view of him was as a strong leader, who was to be feared in war.

With attention to effective rule and extensive military campaigns, he constructed the largest empire in Europe since the collapse of Rome. An important part of his ruling was his construction of a palace conquest at Aachen. He also reformed legal practices by instituting the Frankish inquest, which is a forerunner of the jury system (Sivers, Desnoyers, & Stow, p 314).

Charlemagne also increased the power of his empire through intellectual contributions. He created a program of educational reform throughout his empire. Alcuin of York, a leading intellect, was appointed as master of the palace school. Monks also made copies of Roman and Christian texts, including the bible. These copies could help with Charlemagne’s quest to spread Christianity.

As part of his creation of the “Christian” empire, he had active interest in affairs of the church.

He ordered the forced conversion of Saxons to Christian practices. He promoted Christianity in his own kingdom, and intervened in Rome as well. He offered protection against the Lombards, and gave assistance to the pope when he was attacked by rivals. For this, he was crowned emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III (Sivers, Desnoyers, & Stow, p 314). This announced the independence of western Europe from the Byzantine East, and a shift of power away from the Mediterranean and toward Europe. It also gave Charlemagne more

authority.
Charlemagne also battled other empires to promote Christianity as well as expand his own empire. When fighting the Muslims in Spain, their king promised his conversion to Christianity if Charlemagne would return to France. The people said he would never back down from war, and that he lived two hundred years or more (Song of Roland). This is part of the world’s view that Charlemagne is powerful. For example, many of the tribes in Germany submitted to them of their own accord (Einhard).
Much of the world during this time viewed Charlemagne as powerful. For example, “the power of the Franks was always viewed by the Greeks and Romans with a jealous eye, whence the Greek proverb "Have the Frank for your friend, but not for your neighbor." (Einhard). They had no desire to offend him, in case he would try to conquer them as well. They wanted to be on his good side so that he would help them if needed and leave them along otherwise.
During his reign, Charlemagne and his efforts were successful. Part of the reason that I see for his success was his personality. Charlemagne was a generous and pious person. He was kind to foreigners and took great pains to keep them under his protection. (Einhard). He gave to the poor both in his own country and Christians from overseas. He sent lots of gifts to the popes. He was also an eloquent speaker and enjoyed studies, both of which would make one a better ruler.
However, shortly after his death, his empire was torn apart by internal wars and divisions (Sivers, Desnoyers, & Stow, p314). This tells us that his efforts were not successful permanently. His rule was the first unified Europe, but it did not stay this way. So to look at Charlemagne’s success, it varies depending on how you define success. I would say that he was a successful ruler for all that he accomplished during his life. If you only define success on how long your accomplishments last, though, he wouldn’t be so successful.