What Is The Rise Of Charlemagne's Consolidation Of Power

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After Rome’s fall in 476 CE, Europe began its long dark ages from 5th century to 15th century; there was no definite ruler or civilized culture. Ceaseless battles and wars between the Germanic tribes confined Europe from development, and the churches abused their power, growing more and more. However, continental Europe began to find a ray of hope when the Franks began to unite the splattered tribes. Clovis, the king of Salian Franks, established the Merovingian Empire and consolidated his power in Europe. As the time passed, this empire was in truth controlled by the advisors of the kings, the mayors of the palace, because the do-nothing were kings overly dependent on the mayors. They passed on their jobs to their sons, and the family was …show more content…

Before Charlemagne attacked the Lombards, he sent his wife back to Lombardy and marched into Italy in 773, besieging and capturing Pavia. Despite the previous king being his wife’s own father, Charlemagne continued with his steadfast goal of expanding his empire, and he declared himself as the king of Lombardy in 774, ending two hundred years of Lombard royal rule. However, this was not the end of his military campaigns; after he made the Lombards a district under him, he extended his power to Saxony without rest. Charlemagne attacked the Saxons for a long 32 years from 772 and finally rooted them out in 804, gaining large land in the north. At the beginning of the reign of Charlemagne, the Saxons were small independent political communities, which only combined in time of war. In 772, Charlemagne marched northwards, destroyed the Irminsul, a huge tree trunk which was the center of Saxon religion, and reached Weser. Since Charlemagne had an invincible army, the Engers professed their submission and gave hostages. Still, the recalcitrant Saxons did not surrender …show more content…

Since he united surrounding tribes from his numerous military campaigns, his empire consisted of various people who had their own government, culture, and language. To merge the different people into one empire, he needed constant and thorough governing. First, he divided his vast empire into three hundred districts and assigned a count for secular business, a duke for military matters, and a bishop for religious affairs. The frontiers were ruled by special commanders, the margraves. He personally appointed capable people on position so that he could make sure that they are loyal to him. He held a meeting annually, called “Field of May” and asked the conditions of their regions. Following the initial conquest of these different peoples, one of Charlemagne’s most important tasks was to ensure that they would not turn against him and disrupt the progress of his empire. Dividing his land into such a large number of districts and allowing the people of various cultures rule themselves to a certain extent carried high risk, and he knew this. But he also knew that it was a risk worth taking to maintain and grow the prosperity of his empire. Besides the counts and margraves, he had royal inspectors, called missi dominici, meaning the envoys of the lord, to travel around the counties and supervise them. As a two-man team, missi

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