Research Paper On Charlemagne

Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Empire

Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, was a Medieval Emperor that ruled over Western Europe from 768 to 814. Charlemagne was born around 742 and was the son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon. Pepin the Short was the ruler of the Franks from 751 until his death in 768. After the death of Pepin the Short, Charlemagne and his brother, Carloman I, became the rulers of the Franconians. The death of Carloman I in 771 allowed Charlemagne to become the sole leader of the Franks. Once becoming the leader of the Franks, Charlemagne wanted to unite the Germanic people into one kingdom and convert them to Christianity. He ordered anyone who did not follow Christian traditions be put to death. Charlemagne united

the Germanic people through military campaigns and conquered tribes such as the Lombards, the Avars, and the Saxons. Charlemagne had a three-decades-long war against the Saxons and reportedly ordered the killing of 4,500 Saxons during the Massacre of Verden in 782. In 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne the emperor of the Romans at St.

Peter’s Basilica in Rome. This was the beginning of the Holy Roman Empire. As emperor of the Romans, Charlemagne promoted education and instituted economic and religious reforms. The decline of the original Roman Empire crippled the Western economy and broke the region into different states, while the East flourished under the Byzantine Empire. Charlemagne sought to fix this issue by establishing a standard currency for all of Europe. The new currency made trade easier and the Empire prospered. Charlemagne also encouraged the Carolingian Renaissance, which was a period of renewed emphasis on scholarship and culture. Charlemagne promoted the Carolingian miniscule, which became a basis for the modern printed alphabet. In 813, Charlemagne crowned his son Louis the Pious as co-emperor. After the death of Charlemagne in 814, Louis became the new emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. At that time, Charlemagne’s empire spanned across much of Western Europe and allowed Christianity to survive and spread throughout the West. Today, Charlemagne is considered to be the father of Europe for his ability to unite most of Western Europe. The Holy Roman Empire lasted from 800

to 1806 following a defeat by Napoleon. The land that once occupied the Holy Roman Empire now include modern day Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia , and parts of France, Italy, Slovenia, and Poland.
"Now, sir bishop, I think you have found out that it is not lack of self-restraint but care for others which makes me dine in Lent before the hour of evening."-Charlemagne

Culture is defined as the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, encompassing language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts. There are many choices that my family and I have to make on a daily basis. Everyday, we must decide what to eat, what to wear, and what to accomplish. I would consider my life to be a blend of cultures because of where I live and where my parents were originally born. Since I live in the United States, I have adopted many Western ideals. However, my parents have taught me things about the cultures from Hong Kong and Vietnam that I would do in my day to day life. I believe that I live in the same culture as my parents, but not with my grandparents. My parents and I have adopted Eastern and Western cultures, while my grandparents still live in the culture in which they grew up. I would say that my lives in two different cultures. She would often speak in two different languages and will celebrate American and Chinese traditions.
The culture of the Holy Roman Empire and Charlemagne would most likely have depended on the location within the empire and the time period.

Since the Holy Roman Empire lasted for about a thousand years, there are bound to be multiple cultures throughout the time period. In the early parts of the empire, the people would have followed the cultures of the tribes such as the Franks, Saxons, Lombards, Bavarians, and the Avars. Charlemagne would have most likely followed the Frankish culture since he was born into that tribe. All of these tribes have a different culture, but they are all considered a part of the Holy Roman Empire. The entire empire would have most likely followed Christianity because it was required by Charlemagne. In the later stages of the Empire, the citizens might have had followed the new culture of their time or followed the culture of their ancestors. The Holy Roman Empire and Charlemagne believed that Christianity was the only acceptable religion. The tribes of the empire would most likely have spoke different languages such as Old Franconian, Breton, Gascon etc. The different cultures of each tribe would also have different traditions and

celebrations.

State-building, expansion, and conflict is apparent in the Holy Roman Empire. The Holy Roman Empire was a Feudal Monarchy. The central figure of the government was the emperor, who was elected by the leading princes of the empire, called electors. The entire empire was divided up into different states that were ruled by the archbishop Mainz, archbishop Trier, and archbishop Cologne; and four lay electors, the king of Bohemia, the duke of Saxony, the margrave of Brandenburg, and the count Palatinate of the Rhine.

Work Cited
A.J. Grant, ed. and trans. Early Lives of Charlemagne by Eginhard and the Monk of St. Gall, (London: Chatto & Windus, London, 1926), 59-158.

Barraclough, Geoffrey. “Holy Roman Empire.” Encyclopaedia Britannica, 24 Oct. 2016, www.britannica.com/place/Holy-Roman-Empire

The Gales Group. “Holy Roman Empire.” Encyclopedia, The Gales Group, 2004, www.encyclopedia.com/history/modern-europe/german-history/holy-roman-empire.

History.com Staff. “Charlemagne.” History.com, 2009, www.history.com/topics/charlemagne.

Whipps, Heather. “How Charlemagne Changed the World.” Live Science, .livescience.com/4892-charlemagne-changed-world.html.