fbpx
Wikipedia

Charlemagne

January 01, 1970

For other uses, see Charlemagne (disambiguation).

Charlemagne[b] (/ˈʃɑːrləmeɪn, ˌʃɑːrləˈmeɪn/ SHAR-lə-mayn, -⁠MAYN; 2 April 748[a] – 28 January 814) was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian Empire from 800, holding all these titles until his death in 814. Charlemagne succeeded in uniting the majority of Western Central Europe, and was the first recognized emperor to rule in the west after the fall of the Western Roman Empire approximately three centuries earlier. Charlemagne's rule saw a program of political and social changes that had a lasting impact on Europe in the Middle Ages.

Charlemagne
A denarius of Charlemagne dated c. 812–814 with the inscription KAROLVS IMP AVG
(Karolus Imperator Augustus)
King of the Franks
Reign9 October 768 – 28 January 814
Coronation9 October 768
Noyon
PredecessorPepin the Short
SuccessorLouis the Pious
King of the Lombards
ReignJune 774 – 28 January 814
PredecessorDesiderius
SuccessorBernard
Emperor of the Carolingian Empire
Reign25 December 800 – 28 January 814
Coronation25 December 800
Old St. Peter's Basilica, Rome
SuccessorLouis the Pious
Born(748-04-02)2 April 748[a]
Died(814-01-28)28 January 814
Aachen, Francia
Burial
Aachen Cathedral
Spouses
Issue
Among others
DynastyCarolingian
FatherPepin the Short
MotherBertrada of Laon
ReligionChalcedonian Christianity
Signum manus

A member of the Frankish Carolingian dynasty, Charlemagne was the eldest son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon. With his brother Carloman I, he became king of the Franks in 768 following Pepins's death, and became sole ruler in 771. As king, he continued his father's policy to provide protection for the papacy and became its chief defender, removing the Lombards from power in northern Italy in 774. Charlemagne's reign saw a period of expansion that led to the conquests of Bavaria, Saxony, and northern Spain, as well as other campaigns that led Charlemagne to extend his rule over a vast area of Europe. He spread Christianity to his new conquests, often by force, as seen at the Massacre of Verden, perpetrated against the Saxons.

In 800, Charlemagne was crowned as emperor in Rome by Pope Leo III. While historians debate about the exact significance of the coronation, the title represented the height of the prestige and authority he had achieved. Charlemagne's position as the first emperor in the West in over 300 years brought him into conflict with the contemporary Eastern Roman Empire based in Constantinople. Through his assumption of the imperial title, he is considered the forerunner of the line of Holy Roman Emperors that lasted into the nineteenth century. As king and emperor, Charlemagne engaged in a number of reforms in administration, law, education, military organization, and religion which shaped Europe for centuries. The stability of his reign saw the beginning of a period of significant cultural activity known as the Carolingian Renaissance.

Charlemagne died in 814, and was laid to rest in the Aachen Cathedral, within his imperial capital city Aachen. He was succeeded by his only surviving son Louis the Pious. After Louis, the Frankish kingdom would be divided, eventually coalescing into West and East Francia, which would respectively become France and the Holy Roman Empire. Charlemagne's profound impact on the Middle Ages, and the influence on the vast territory he ruled has led him to be called the "Father of Europe". He is seen as a folk hero and founding figure by many European states, and a number of historical royal houses of Europe trace their lineage back to him. Charlemagne has been the subject of artworks, monuments and literature, during and after the medieval period, and has received veneration in the Catholic Church.

Name edit

Various languages were spoken in Charlemagne's world, and he was known to contemporaries as Karlus in the Old High German he spoke; Karlo to Romance speakers; and Carolus (or alternatively Karolus)[2] in Latin, the formal language of writing and diplomacy.[3] Charles is the modern English form of these names. The name Charlemagne, by which the emperor is normally known in English, comes from the French Charles-le-magne, meaning "Charles the Great".[1] In modern German, he is known as Karl der Große.[4] The Latin epithet magnus ('great') may have been associated with him already in his lifetime, but this is not certain. The contemporary Royal Frankish Annals routinely call him Carolus magnus rex ('Charles the great king').[5] As an epithet, it is certainly attested in the works of the Poeta Saxo around 900, and it had become commonly applied to him by 1000 CE.[6]

Charlemagne was named after his grandfather Charles Martel.[7] The name and its derivatives are unattested before their use by Charles Martel and Charlemagne.[8] Karolus was adapted into Slavic languages as their word for king (present in modern languages, e.g. Russian: korol', Polish: król, and Slovak: král), either through the influence of Charlemagne or his great-grandson Charles the Fat.[9]

Early life and rise to power edit

Political background and ancestry edit

 
Francia, early 8th century

By the sixth century, the western Germanic tribe of the Franks had been Christianised, due in considerable measure to the conversion of their king Clovis I to Catholicism.[10] The Franks had established a kingdom in Gaul in the wake of the Fall of the Western Roman Empire.[11] This kingdom, Francia, grew to encompass nearly all of modern France and Switzerland, along with parts of modern Germany and the Low Countries under the rule of the Merovingian dynasty.[12] Francia was often divided under different Merovingian kings, due to the partible inheritance practiced by the Franks.[13] The late 7th century saw a period of war and instability following the murder of King Childeric II, which led to factional struggles among the Frankish aristocrats.[14]

In 687, Pepin of Herstal, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, ended the strife between various kings and their mayors with his victory at the Battle of Tertry.[15] Pepin was the grandson of two important figures of Austrasia: Arnulf of Metz and Pepin of Landen.[16] The mayors of the palace had gained influence as the Merovingian kings' own power waned due to the divisions of the kingdom and several succession crises.[17] Pepin was eventually succeeded by his son Charles, later known as Charles Martel.[18] Charles did not support a Merovingian successor upon the death of King Theuderic IV in 737, leaving the throne vacant.[19] Charles made plans to divide the kingdom between his sons Carloman and Pepin the Short, who succeeded upon his death in 741.[20] The brothers placed the Merovingian Childeric III on the throne in 743.[21] In 747, Carloman abdicated and entered a monastery at Rome. Carloman had at least two sons, and the elder, Drogo took his place.[22]

Birth edit

Charlemagne was the first-born son of Pepin the Short and his wife Bertada,[23] a member of an influential noble Austrasian family.[24] His birth date is uncertain, though was most likely in 748.[25][26][27][28] An older tradition, based on three sources, gives a birth year of 742. The 9th-century biographer Einhard reports Charlemagne as being in his seventy-second year at his death; the Royal Frankish Annals imprecisely gives his age at death as about 71; and his original epitaph called him a septuagenarian.[29] Einhard claimed not to know much of Charlemagne's early life. Some modern scholars believe that, not knowing the emperor's true age, he nonetheless presented an exact date in keeping with the Roman imperial biographies of Suetonius which he used as a model.[30][31] All three sources may have been influenced by Psalm 90: "The days of our years are threescore years and ten".[32]

The German scholar Karl Werner challenged the acceptance of 742 and cited an addition to the Annales Petaviani which record Charlemagne's birth in 747.[33][c] Lorsch Abbey commemorated Charlemagne's date of birth as 2 April from the mid-9th century, and this date is likely to be genuine.[34][35] As the annalists recorded the start of the year from Easter rather than 1 January, the historian Matthias Becher built off of Werner's work and showed that 2 April in the year recorded would have actually been in 748.[25] The date 2 April 748 has therefore become widely accepted among scholars.[36][25][26] Roger Collins, believing that Pepin and Bertrada did not marry until 749, considers that Charlemagne would have been an illegitimate child.[28] Charlemagne's place of birth is also unknown; the Frankish palaces in Vaires-sur-Marne and Quierzy are among the places suggested by scholars.[37] Pepin the Short held an assembly in Düren in 748, but it cannot be proved either that it took place in April or that Bertrada was with him.[38]

Language and education edit

 
Sketch thought to be of Charlemagne c. 800

Einhard speaks of Charlemagne's patrius sermo ('native tongue').[37] Most scholars have identified this as a form of Old High German, probably a Rhenish Franconian dialect.[39][40] Due to the prevalence in Francia of the "rustic Roman", he was probably functionally bilingual in both Germanic and Romance dialects from a young age.[37] Charlemagne also spoke Latin, and according to Einhard could understand and perhaps speak some Greek.[41]

Charlemagne's father Pepin had been educated at the abbey of Saint-Denis, though the extent of Charlemagne's formal education is unknown.[42] He almost certainly was trained in military matters as a youth in Pepin's court,[43] which was itinerant.[44] Charlemagne also asserted his own education in the liberal arts when encouraging their study by his children and others, though it is unknown whether his study was as a child or at court during his later life.[43] The question of Charlemagne's literacy is subject to debate, and there is little direct evidence from contemporary sources. He normally had texts read aloud to him and dictated responses and decrees, though this was not unusual even for a literate ruler at the time.[45] The German historian Johannes Fried considers it likely that Charlemagne would have been able to read,[46] though the medievalist Paul Dutton writes that "the evidence for his ability to read is circumstantial and inferential at best,"[47] and concludes it likely that he never properly mastered the skill.[48] Einhard makes no direct mention of Charlemagne reading, but recorded that he only attempted to learn to write later in life.[49]

Accession and joint reign with Carloman edit

There are only occasional references to Charlemagne in the Frankish annals during his father's lifetime.[50] By 751 or 752, Pepin had deposed Childeric and replaced him as king.[51] Early Carolingian-influenced sources claim that Pepin's seizure of the throne was sanctioned beforehand by Pope Stephen II,[52] but modern historians dispute this.[53][21] It is possible that papal approval came only when Stephen travelled to Francia in 754, apparently to request Pepin's aid against the Lombards, and on this trip anointed Pepin as king, legitimizing his rule.[54][53] Charlemagne had been sent to greet and escort the Pope, and he and his younger brother Carloman were anointed along with their father.[55] Around the same time, Pepin sidelined Drogo, sending him and his brother to a monastery.[56]

 
20th-century painting of Charlemagne's coronation at Noyon in 768.

Charlemagne began issuing charters in his own name in 760. In the following year, he joined his father's campaign against Aquitaine.[57] Aquitaine, led by Duke Hunald was constantly in rebellion during Pepin's reign.[58] Pepin fell ill on campaign there and died on 24 September 768, and Charlemagne and Carloman succeeded their father.[59] They had separate coronations, Charlemagne at Noyon and Carloman at Soissons, each on 9 October.[60] The brothers maintained separate palaces and separate spheres of influence, though they were considered joint rulers of a single Frankish kingdom.[61] The Royal Frankish Annals report that Charlemagne ruled Austrasia and Carloman ruled Burgundy, Provence, Aquitaine, and Alamannia, with no mention made of which brother received Neustria.[61] The immediate concern of the brothers was the ongoing uprising in Aquitane.[62] While they marched into Aquitaine together, Carloman returned to Francia for unknown reasons, and Charlemagne completed the campaign on his own.[62] Charlemagne's capture of Duke Hunald marked the end of the ten years of war that had been waged in the attempt to bring Aquitaine in line.[62]

Carloman's refusal to participate in the war against Aquitaine led to a rift between the two kings.[62][63] It is uncertain why Carloman abandoned the campaign. It is possible that the brothers disagreed over control over the territory,[62][64] or that Carloman was focusing on securing his rule in the north of Francia.[64] Regardless of this strife between the kings, they maintained a joint rule out of practicality.[65] Both Charlemagne and Carloman worked to obtain the support of the clergy and local elites to solidify their positions.[66]

Pope Stephen III was elected in 768, but was briefly deposed by Antipope Constantine II before being restored to Rome.[67] Stephen's Papacy suffered from continuing factional struggles, so he sought the support of the Frankish kings.[68] Both brothers sent troops to Rome, each hoping to exert their own influence.[69] The Lombard king Desiderius also had interests in the affairs in Rome, and Charlemagne attempted to gain him as an ally.[70] Desiderius already had alliances with Bavaria and Benevento through the marriages of his daughters to their dukes,[71] and an alliance with Charlemagne would add to his influence.[70] Charlemagne's mother Betrada went on his behalf to Lombardy in 770, where she brokered a marriage alliance before returning to Francia with Charlemagne's new bride.[72] Desiderius's daughter is traditionally named Desiderata, though she may have been named Gerperga.[73][62] Being anxious at the prospect of a Frankish–Lombard alliance, Pope Stephen sent a letter to both Frankish kings decrying the marriage, while also separately seeking closer ties with Carloman.[74]

Charlemagne had already had a relationship with the Frankish noblewoman Himiltrude, having a son in 769 they named Pepin.[60] Paul the Deacon wrote in his 784 Gesta Episcoporum Mettensium that Pepin was born "before legal marriage", but does not say whether Charles and Himiltrude were never married, were joined in a non-canonical marriage or friedelehe, or if they married after Pepin was born.[75] Pope Stephen's letter described the relationship as a legitimate marriage, but he had a vested interest in preventing Charlemagne from marrying Desiderius's daughter.[76]

Carloman died suddenly on 4 December 771, leaving Charlemagne as sole king of the Franks.[77] He moved immediately to secure his hold on his brother's territory, forcing Carloman's widow Gerberga to flee to Desiderius's court in Lombardy with their children.[78][79] In response, Charlemagne ended his marriage to Desiderius's daughter and married Hildegard, daughter of count Gerold, a powerful magnate from Carloman's kingdom.[79] This was both a reaction to Desiderius's sheltering of Carloman's family[80] as well as a move to secure Gerold's support.[81][82]

King of the Franks and the Lombards edit

Annexation of the Lombard kingdom edit

 
Political map of Europe in 771, showing the Franks and their neighbors.

Charlemagne's first campaigning season as sole king of the Franks was spent on the eastern frontier, in his first war against the Saxons. Saxons had been engaging in border raiding against the Frankish kingdom when Charlemagne responded, destroying the pagan irminsul shrine at Eresburg and seizing the Saxons' gold and silver.[83] The success of the war helped secure Charlemagne's reputation among his brother's former supporters as well as providing funds for further military action.[84] The campaign was the beginning of over thirty years of nearly continuous warfare against the Saxons by Charlemagne.[85]

Pope Adrian I succeeded Stephen III in 772, and sought the return of papal control of cities that had been captured by Desiderius.[86] As he was unable to get results by dealing with the Lombard king directly, Adrian sent emissaries to Charlemagne to gain his support in recovering papal territory. Charlemagne, in response to this appeal and the dynastic threat posed by the presence of Carloman's sons in the Lombard court, gathered his forces in order to intervene.[87] He first sought diplomatic solutions, by offering gold to Desiderius in exchange for the return of the papal territories and his nephews.[88] These overtures were rejected, and Charlemagne's army (with command divided between himself and his uncle Bernard) crossed the Alps to besiege the Lombard capital Pavia in late 773.[89]

Charlemagne's second son, also named Charles, had been born in 772, and Charlemagne brought the child and his wife to the camp at Pavia. Hildegard was pregnant, and gave birth to a daughter named Adelhaid. The baby was sent back to Francia, but died on the way.[89] Charlemagne left Bernard to maintain the siege at Pavia while he took a force to capture Verona, where Desiderius's son Adalgis had taken Carloman's sons.[90] Charlemagne captured the city, and no further record exists of his nephews or of Carloman's wife, and their fates are unknown.[91][92] The historian Janet Nelson likens them to the "princes in the tower" of the Wars of the Roses.[93] Fried puts forth the possibilities that the boys were forced into a monastery, which was a common solution for dynastic issues, or that "an act of murder smooth[ed] Charlemagne’s ascent to power."[94] Adalgis was not captured by Charlemagne and fled to Constantinople.[95]

 
Pope Adrian receiving Charlemagne at Rome

Charlemagne left the siege in April 774 to celebrate Easter at Rome.[96] Pope Adrian arranged for a formal welcome of the Frankish king, and the two swore oaths to each other over the relics of St. Peter.[97] Adrian presented a copy of the agreement between Pepin and Stephen III outlining the papal lands and rights Pepin had agreed to protect and restore.[98] It is unclear to which exact lands and rights the agreement applied, and this would remain a point of dispute for centuries.[99] Charlemagne deposited a copy of the agreement in the chapel above St. Peter's tomb as a symbol of his commitment, then left Rome to continue the siege at Pavia.[100]

Shortly after his return to Pavia, disease struck the besieged Lombards, and they surrendered the city by June.[101] Charlemagne deposed Desiderius and took the title of King of the Lombards for himself.[102] The complete takeover of one kingdom by another was "extraordinary" (Collins),[103] and the authors of The Carolingian World say it was "without parallel".[92] Charlemagne was able to secure the support of the Lombard nobles and Italian urban elites to seize power in what was a mostly peaceful annexation.[103][104] The historian Rosamond McKitterick suggests that the elective nature of the Lombard monarchy eased Charlemagne's takeover;[105] Collins attributes the easy conquest to the Lombard elite's "presupposition that rightful authority was in the hands of the one powerful enough to seize it".[103] Charlemagne shortly returned to Francia with the Lombard royal treasury and with Desiderius and his family, who would be confined to a monastery for the rest of their days.[106]

Frontier wars in Saxony and Spain edit

 
Charlemagne's additions to the Frankish Kingdom

Saxons had taken advantage of Charlemagne's absence in Italy to raid the Frankish borderlands, leading to a Frankish counter-raid in the autumn of 774 and a campaign of reprisal against the Saxons in 775.[107] Charlemagne was soon drawn back to Italy, as Duke Hrodgaud of Friuli rebelled against him.[108] Charlemagne quickly crushed the rebellion and distributed Hrodgaud's lands to Franks, in order to consolidate his rule in Lombardy.[109] He wintered in Italy, and further consolidated his power by issuing charters and legislation, as well as taking Lombard hostages.[110] In the midst of the 775 Saxon and Friulian campaigns, his daughter Rotrude was born in Francia.[111]

Returning north, Charlemagne waged another brief but destructive campaign against the Saxons in 776.[d] This led to the submission of many Saxons, who turned over captives and lands as well as submitting to baptism as Christians.[113] In 777, Charlemagne held an assembly at Paderborn with both Frankish and Saxon men, and many more Saxons came under his rule, but the Saxon magnate Widukind fled to Denmark to make preparations for a new rebellion.[114]

Also present at the Paderborn assembly were representatives of dissident factions from al-Andalus (or Muslim Spain). These included the son and son-in-law of Yusuf ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri, the former governor of Cordóba, who had been ousted by the Caliph Abd al-Rahman in 756. They sought Charlemagne's support for al-Fihri's restoration. Also present was Sulayman al-Arabi, governor of Barcelona and Girona, who wished to become part of the Frankish kingdom and receive Charlemagne's protection, rather than remain under the rule of Cordoba.[115] Charlemagne, seeing an opportunity to strengthen the security of the kingdom's southern frontier and further extend his influence, agreed to intervene.[116] Crossing the Pyrenees, his army found little resistance until an ambush by Basque forces in 778 at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass. The Franks were defeated in the battle and withdrew from the campaign, though with most of their army intact.[117]

Building the dynasty edit

 
Adrian crowning Louis as Charlemagne looks on.

Charlemagne returned to Francia to greet his newly born twin sons Louis and Lothair, who had been born while he was in Spain.[118] Lothair would die in infancy.[119] Again, Saxons had seized on the king's absence to raid. Charlemagne sent an army to Saxony in 779,[120] while he took time to hold assemblies, legislate, and address a famine in Francia.[121] Hildegard gave birth to another daughter, Bertha.[119] Charlemagne himself returned to Saxony in 780, holding assemblies in which he received hostages from Saxon nobles and oversaw their baptisms.[122]

In the spring of 781, Charlemagne and Hildegard traveled with their four younger children to Rome, leaving Pepin and Charles at Worms, to make a journey first requested by Adrian in 775.[119] Adrian baptized Carloman and renamed him Pepin, resulting in him sharing a name with his half brother.[123] Louis and the newly renamed Pepin were then anointed and crowned. Pepin was appointed as king of the Lombards and Louis as king of Aquitaine.[112] This act was not merely nominal, as the young kings were sent to reside in their kingdoms under the care of regents and advisors.[124] A delegation from the Byzantine regent Empress Irene came to meet Charlemagne during his stay in Rome, who agreed to betroth his daughter Rotrude to Irene's son, the Emperor Constantine VI.[125]

Hildegard also gave birth to her eighth child, Gisela during this trip to Italy.[126] After the royal family's return to Francia, she had her final pregnancy, and died from resulting complications on 30 April 783. The child, named after her, died shortly thereafter.[127] Charlemagne commissioned epitaphs for both his wife and daughter, and arranged for mass to be held daily at Hildegard's tomb.[127] Charlemagne's mother Betrada died shortly after Hildegard, on 12 July 783.[128] By the end of the year, Charlemagne was remarried to Fastrada, the daughter of the East Frankish count Radolf.[129]

Saxon resistance and reprisal edit

 
Charlemagne receiving the submission of Widukind at Paderborn in 785, painted c. 1840 by Ary Scheffer.

In summer 782, Widukind returned from Denmark to attack the Frankish positions in Saxony.[130] He defeated a Frankish army, possibly due to rivalry among the Frankish counts leading it.[131] After learning of the defeat, Charlemagne came to Verden but Widukind fled before his arrival. Charlemagne summoned the Saxon magnates to an assembly, and compelled them to turn over prisoners to him as he regarded their previous acts as a treachery. The annals record that Charlemagne had 4,500 Saxon prisoners beheaded in what is called the Massacre of Verden.[132] Fried writes that "although this figure may be exaggerated, the basic truth of the event is not in doubt."[133] The historian Alessandro Barbero regards it as "perhaps the greatest stain on his reputation."[134] Charlemagne issued the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae legal code, most likely in the immediate aftermath of, or as a precursor for, the massacre.[135] Featuring a harsh set of laws that included death penalty for pagan practices, the Capitulatio "constituted a program for the forced conversion of the Saxons" (Barbero)[136] and was "aimed … at suppressing Saxon identity" (Nelson).[137]

Charlemagne's focus for the next several years would be his attempt to complete the subjugation of the Saxons. Concentrating first in Westphalia in 783, he pushed into Thuringia in 784 as his son, Charles the Younger, continued operations in the west. At each stage of the campaigns, the Frankish armies seized wealth and carried Saxon captives into slavery.[138] Unusually, Charlemagne campaigned through the winter rather than resting his army.[139] By 785, Charlemagne had suppressed the Saxon resistance and commanded complete control of Westphalia. That summer, he met Widukind and convinced him to end his resistance. Widukind agreed to be baptized with Charlemagne as his godfather, ending this phase of the Saxon Wars.[140]

Benevento, Bavaria, and Pepin's revolt edit

Charlemagne travelled to Italy in 786, arriving by Christmas. Aiming to extend his influence further into southern Italy, he marched into the Duchy of Benevento.[141] Duke Arechis fled to a fortified position at Salerno, before offering Charlemagne his fealty. Charlemagne accepted his submission along with hostages, who included Arechis's son Grimoald.[142] While in Italy, Charlemagne also met with envoys from Constantinople. Empress Irene had called the 787 Second Council of Nicaea, but did not inform Charlemagne nor invite any Frankish bishops. Charlemagne, probably in reaction to the perceived slight of this exclusion, broke the betrothal between his daughter Rotrude and Constantine VI.[143]

 
Solidus of Benevento with Grimoald's effigy and Charlemagne's name (DOMS CAR RX, the Lord King Charles).

After Charlemagne left Italy, Arechis sent envoys to Irene to offer an alliance. He suggested she send a Byzantine army along with Adalgis, the exiled son of Desiderus, to remove the Franks from power in Lombardy.[144] Before his plans could be finalised, both Aldechis and his elder son Romuald died of illness within weeks of each other.[145] Charlemagne sent Grimoald back to Benevento to serve as duke and return it to Frankish suzerainty.[146] The Byzantine army did invade but were repulsed by the Frankish and Lombard forces.[147]

As affairs were being settled in Italy, Charlemagne turned his attention to Bavaria. Bavaria was ruled by Duke Tassilo, Charlemagne's first cousin who had been installed by Pepin the Short in 748.[148] Tassilo's sons were also grandsons of Desiderius, and therefore a potential threat to Charlemagne's rule in Lombardy.[149] The two neighbouring rulers had a growing rivalry throughout their reigns, but had sworn oaths of peace to each other in 781.[150] In 784, Rotpert, Charlemagne's viceroy in Italy, accused Tassilo of conspiring with Widukind in Saxony and unsuccessfully attacked the Bavarian city of Bolzano.[151] Charlemagne gathered his forces to prepare an invasion of Bavaria in 787. Dividing the army, the Franks launched a three-pronged attack. Quickly realizing the poor position he was in, Tassilo agreed to surrender and recognise Charlemagne as his overlord.[152] The next year, Tassilo was accused of plotting with the Avars to attack Charlemagne. Tassilo was deposed and sent to a monastery, and Charlemagne absorbed Bavaria into his kingdom.[153] Charlemagne spent several of the next years based in Regensburg, largely focused on consolidating his rule Bavaria and warring against the Avars.[154] Successful campaigns against the Avars were launched from Bavaria and Italy in 788,[155] and Charlemagne led campaigns in 791 and 792.[156]

In 789, Charlemagne gave Charles the Younger rule over Maine in Neustria, leaving Pepin the Hunchback as his only son without lands.[157] Charlemagne's relationship with Himiltrude was by this point apparently seen as definitively illegitimate at Charlemagne's court, and Pepin was as a result being sidelined in the succession.[158] In 792, as his father and brothers were all gathered at Regensburg, Pepin conspired with Bavarian nobles to assassinate them and install himself as king. The plot was discovered and revealed to Charlemagne before it could go ahead. Pepin was sent to a monastery and many of his co-conspirators were executed.[159]

The early 790s saw a marked focus on ecclesiastical affairs by Charlemagne. He summoned a council at Regensburg in 792 to address the theological controversy over the Adoptionism doctrine in the Spanish church, as well as to formulate a response to the Second Council of Nicea.[160] The council condemned Adoptionism as a heresy and led to the production of the Libri Carolini, a detailed argument against Nicea's canons.[161] In 794, Charlemagne called another council at Frankfurt.[162] The council confirmed Regensburg's positions on Adoptionism and Nicea, recognised the deposition of Tassilo, set grain prices, reformed the Frankish coinage system, forbade abbesses to give blessings to men, and endorsed prayer in vernacular languages.[163] Soon after the council, Fastrada fell ill and died.[164] Charlemagne married the Alamannian noblewoman Luitgard shortly after.[165][166]

Continued wars with the Saxons and Avars edit

Charlemagne gathered an army after the council of Frankfurt as Saxon resistance continued. This was the beginning of a series of annual campaigns by Charlemagne that would last through 799.[167] The campaigns of the 790s were even more destructive than those of earlier decades, with the annal writers frequently referring to Charlemagne "burning", "ravaging", "devastating", and "laying waste" to the Saxon lands.[168] Charlemagne forcibly removed a large number of Saxons to Francia, installing Frankish elites and soldiers in their place.[169] Charlemagne's extended wars in Saxony led to him establishing his court at Aachen, which had easy access to the frontier. At Aachen, he built a large palace, including a chapel which is now part of the Aachen Cathedral.[170] It was during this period that Einhard joined the court.[171] In the south, Pepin of Italy engaged in further wars against the Avars which led to the collapse of their kingdom and the expansion of Frankish rule eastwards.[172]

During the wars of the 790s, Charlemagne also worked to expand his influence through diplomatic means, with particular attention on the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Britain. Charles the Younger proposed a marriage pact with the daughter of King Offa of Mercia, but Offa insisted that Charlemagne's daughter Bertha also be given as a bride for his own son.[173] Charlemagne refused this arrangement, and the marriage did not occur.[174] Charlemagne and Offa did enter into a formal peace in 796, protecting trade and securing the rights of English pilgrims to pass through Francia on their way to Rome.[175] Charlemagne also served as host and protector of several deposed English rulers who were later restored: Eadbehrt of Kent, Ecgberht, King of Wessex, and Eardwulf of Northumbria.[176][177] Nelson writes that Charlemagne treated the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms "like satellite states," even establishing direct relations with English bishops.[178] Charlemagne also made an alliance with Alfonso II of Asturias, though Einhard describes Alfonso as a "dependent" of Charlemagne.[179]

Reign as emperor edit

Coronation edit

 
Imperial Coronation of Charlemagne, by Friedrich Kaulbach, 1861

Since Leo III became pope in 795, he had faced political opposition. In April 799, his enemies accused him of various crimes and physically attacked him, attempting to remove his eyes and tongue.[180] Leo escaped and fled north to seek Charlemagne's help.[181] Charlemagne continued his campaign against the Saxons before breaking off to meet Leo at Paderborn in September.[182][183] Charlemagne, hearing evidence from both the Pope and his enemies, sent Leo back to Rome along with royal legates, who had instructions to reinstate the Pope and investigate the matter further.[184] It was not until August of the next year that Charlemagne himself made plans to go to Rome, after an extensive tour of his lands in Neustria.[184][185] Charlemagne met Leo in November near Mentana, at the twelfth milestone outside Rome, the traditional location where Roman emperors began their formal entry to the city.[185] Charlemagne presided over an assembly to hear the charges, but believed that no one could sit in judgement of the Pope. Instead, Leo swore an oath on 23 December declaring his innocence of all charges.[186] At mass in St. Peter's Basilica on Christmas Day 800, Leo acclaimed Charlemagne as emperor and crowned him. In doing so, Charlemagne became the first reigning emperor in the west since the deposition of Romulus Augustulus in 476.[187] His son, Charles the Younger, was anointed as king by Leo at the same time.[188]

 
Coronation of Charlemagne, drawing by Julius Schnorr von Karolsfeld, 1840.

Historians differ as to the intentions behind the imperial coronation, the extent to which Charlemagne was aware of it or participated in its planning, and the significance of the events, both to those present, and for Charlemagne's reign.[182] Contemporary Frankish and papal sources differ in their emphasis and representation of events.[189] Einhard insists that Charlemagne would not have entered the church had he known of the Pope's plan; modern historians have regarded his report as truthful, or rejected it as a "literary device" used as a way to signal Charlemagne's humility.[190] Collins argues that the actions surrounding the coronation indicate that it was planned by Charlemagne as early as his meeting with Leo in 799,[191] and Fried writes that Charlemagne planned to adopt the title of emperor by 798 "at the latest."[192] In the years before the coronation, Charlemagne's courtier Alcuin had referred to Charlemagne's realm as an Imperium Christianum ("Christian Empire"), wherein, "just as the inhabitants of the Roman Empire had been united by a common Roman citizenship", presumably this new empire would be united by a common Christian faith.[193] This is the view of the French scholar Henri Pirenne who says "Charles was the Emperor of the ecclesia as the Pope conceived it, of the Roman Church, regarded as the universal Church".[194]

 
Pope Leo III, crowning Charlemagne from Chroniques de France ou de Saint Denis, vol. 1; France, second quarter of 14th century.

For both Leo and Charlemagne, the Roman Empire remained a significant contemporary power in European politics, especially in Italy. The Byzantines continued to hold a substantial portion of Italy, with borders not far south of Rome. Empress Irene had seized the throne from her son Constantine VI in 797, deposing and blinding him.[195] Irene was the first reigning Byzantine empress, and faced opposition in Constantinople both because of her gender and her means of accession.[196] One of the earliest narrative sources for the coronation, the Annals of Lorsch, presented the presence of a female ruler in Constantinople as a vacancy in the imperial title, which therefore provided a justification for Leo to crown Charlemagne.[197] Pirenne disputes this, saying that the coronation "was not in any sense explained by the fact that at this moment a woman was reigning in Constantinople."[198] Leo's main motivations may have been the desire to increase his own standing after his political difficulties, placing himself as a power broker, and securing Charlemagne as a powerful ally and protector.[199] The Byzantine Empire's lack of ability to influence events in Italy and support the papacy were also important in Leo's position.[199] The Royal Frankish Annals emphasize that Leo prostrated himself before Charlemagne after crowning him, an act of submission standard in Roman coronation rituals from the time of Diocletian. This account presents Leo not as Charlemagne's superior, but as merely acting as the agent of the Roman people recognising their acclamation of Charlemagne as emperor.[200]

The historian Henry Mayr-Harting argues that the assumption of the imperial title by Charlemagne was an effort to incorporate the Saxons into the Frankish realm, as they did not have a native tradition of kingship.[201] However, Costambeys et al. note in The Carolingian World that "since Saxony had not been in the Roman empire it is hard to see on what basis an emperor would have been any more welcomed."[199] These authors argue that the decision to take the title of emperor was aimed at furthering Charlemagne's influence in Italy, as an appeal to traditional authority recognised by Italian elites both within and especially outside his current control.[199]

 
The Coronation of Charlemagne, by assistants of Raphael, c. 1516–1517

Collins agrees that becoming emperor gave Charlemagne "the right to try to impose his rule over the whole of [Italy]", and regards this as a motivation for the coronation.[202] He also notes the "element of political and military risk"[202] inherent in the affair, due to the opposition of the Byzantine Empire, as well as potential opposition from the Frankish elite, as the imperial title could draw him further into Mediterranean politics.[203] Collins sees several of Charlemagne actions as attempts to ensure that his new title was cast in a distinctly Frankish context.[204]

Charlemagne's coronation led to a centuries-long ideological conflict between his successors and Constantinople, termed the problem of two emperors,[e] as it could be seen as a rejection or usurpation of the Byzantine emperors' claim to be the universal, preeminent rulers of Christendom.[205] The historian James Muldoon writes that Charlemagne may have had a more limited view of his role, seeing the title as simply representing dominion over the lands he already ruled.[206] Nonetheless, the title of emperor gave Charlemagne enhanced prestige and ideological authority.[207][208] He immediately incorporated his new title into the documents he issued, adopting the formula "Charles, most serene Augustus, crowned by God, great peaceful emperor governing the Roman empire, and who is by the mercy of God king of the Franks and the Lombards"[f] as opposed to the earlier form "Charles, by the grace of God king of the Franks and Lombards and patrician of the Romans."[g][2] The avoidance of the specific claim of being a "Roman emperor" as an opposed to the more neutral "emperor governing the Roman empire" may have been designed to improve relations with the Byzantines.[209] This formulation, alongside the continuation of his earlier royal titles, may also represent a view of his role as emperor as merely being the ruler of the people of the city of Rome, just as he was of the Franks and the Lombards.[209][210]

Governing the empire edit

 
Charlemagne's throne in Aachen Cathedral.

Charlemagne left Italy in the summer of 801 after providing his judgement on several ecclesiastical disputes in Rome.[211] He would not return to Rome again.[207] Although continuing trends and style of rulership established in the 790s,[212] the period of Charlemagne's reign from 801 onward marks a "distinct phase"[213] characterized by a more sedentary rule from Aachen.[207] While there continued to be conflict until the end of Charlemagne's reign, the relative peace of the imperial period saw an increased focus on internal governance. The Franks continued to wage war, although they increasingly focused on defending and securing the empire's frontiers,[214][215] and Charlemagne rarely led armies personally.[216] A significant expansion of the Spanish March counties was achieved through a series of campaigns by Louis against the Emirate of Cordoba, culminating in the capture of Barcelona in 801.[217]

The Capitulare missorum generale issued in 802, called the programmatic capitulary, was an expansive piece of legislation, with provisions governing the conduct of royal officials and requiring that all free men make an oath of loyalty to him.[218][219] The capitulary reformed the institution of the missi dominici, officials who would now be assigned in pairs (a cleric and a lay aristocrat) to administer justice and oversee governance within defined territories.[220] The emperor also ordered the revision of the Lombard and Frankish law codes.[221]

In addition to the missi, Charlemagne also ruled parts the empire through his sons as sub-kings.[222] Though both Pepin and Louis had some devolved authority as kings in Italy and Aquitaine, Charlemagne still had ultimate authority and intervened in matters directly.[223] Charles, their elder brother, had been given rule over lands in Neustria in 789 or 790, and had been made a king in 800.[224]

The 806 charter Divisio Regnorum ('division of the realm'), set the terms of Charlemagne's succession.[225] Charles, as his eldest son in good favour, was given the largest share of the inheritance, with rule of Francia proper along with Saxony, Nordgau, and parts of Alemannia. The two younger sons were confirmed in their kingdoms and gained additional territories, with most of Bavaria and Alemmannia given to Pepin and Provence, Septimania, and parts of Burgundy to Louis.[226] Charlemagne did not address the inheritance of the imperial title.[224] The Divisio also provided that, in the event that any of the brothers predeceased Charlemagne, their own sons would inherit their share, and urged peace among all his descendants.[227]

Conflict and diplomacy with the east edit

 
15th-century woodcut of Charlemagne and Irene.

Following his coronation, Charlemagne sought recognition of his imperial title from Constantinople.[228] Several delegations were exchanged between Charlemagne and Irene in 802 and 803. The contemporary Byzantine chronicler Thophanes claims that Charlemagne made an offer of marriage to Irene, which she was close to accepting.[229] Irene, however, was deposed and replaced by Nikephoros I, who was unwilling to recognize Charlemagne as emperor.[229] The two empires came into conflict over control of the Adriatic Sea (especially Istria and Veneto) several times during Nikephoros' reign. In 810, Charlemagne sent envoys to Constantinople to make peace, giving up his claims to Veneto. Nikephoros died in battle before the envoys could leave Constantinople, but Nikephoros' son-in-law and successor Michael I confirmed the peace, sending his own envoys to Aachen to recognize Charlemagne as emperor.[230] Charlemagne soon issued the first Frankish coins mentioning his imperial title, though papal coins minted in Rome had used the titles as early as 800.[231]

Charlemagne had sent envoys and initiated diplomatic contact with the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid in the 790s, due to their mutual interest in affairs in Spain.[232] As an early sign of friendship, Charlemagne requested an elephant as a gift from Harun. Harun later provided an elephant named Abul-Abbas, which arrived at Aachen in 802.[233] Harun also sought to undermine Charlemagne's relations with the Byzantines, with whom he was at war. As part of his outreach, Harun gave Charlemagne nominal rule of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, as well as other gifts.[234] According to Einhard, Charlemagne "zealously strove to make friendships with kings beyond the seas" in order "that he might get some help and relief to the Christians living under their rule." A surviving administrative document, the Basel roll, shows the work his agents performed on the ground in Palestine in furtherance of this goal.[235][h]

Harun's death lead to a succession crisis, and under his successors, churches and synagogues were destroyed in the caliphate.[236] Unable to intervene directly, Charlemagne sent specially minted coins and arms to the eastern Christians in order to defend and restore their churches and monasteries. The coins with their inscriptions also served as an important tool of imperial propaganda.[237] Johannes Fried writes that deteriorating relations with Baghdad after Harun's death may have been the impetus for the renewed negotiations with Constantinople that would lead to Charlemagne's peace with Michael in 811.[238]

As emperor, Charlemagne became involved in a religious dispute between eastern and western Christians over the recitation of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, the fundamental statement of orthodox Christian belief. The original text of the creed adopted at the Council of Constantinople professed that the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father. However, a tradition developed in Western Europe that the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father "and the Son", inserting the Latin term filioque into the Creed.[239] This difference in tradition did not cause significant conflict until 807, when Frankish monks in Bethlehem were denounced as heretics by a Greek monk for using the filioque form.[239] The Frankish monks appealed the dispute to Rome, where Pope Leo affirmed the text of the creed omitting the phrase and also passed the report on to Charlemagne.[240] Charlemagne summoned a council at Aachen in 809, which defended the use of filioque, and sent this decision to Rome. Leo consented that the Franks could maintain their tradition, but asserted that the canonical creed did not include filioque.[241] Leo commissioned two silver shields with the Creed in Latin and Greek, omitting the filioque, which he hung in St. Peter's Basilica.[239][242] Another product of the council of Aachen was the so-called Handbook of 809, an illustrated calendrical, astronomical and computistical compendium.[243]

Wars with the Danes edit

 
Europe at the death of the Charlemagne in 814

Scandinavia had been brought into contact with the Frankish world through Charlemagne's continuous wars with the Saxons.[244] Raids on Charlemagne's lands by Danes began around 800.[245] Charlemagne engaged in his final campaign in Saxony in 804, taking control of Saxon territory east of the Elbe and removing the Saxon population, giving the land to his Obotrite allies.[246] During this campaign, the Danish king Gudfred, uneasy at the extension of Frankish power, offered to meet with Charlemagne to arrange peace and possibly hand over Saxons that had fled to him.[245][247] These talks were not successful for unknown reasons.[247]

The northern frontier was quiet until 808, when Gudfred, along with some allied Slavic tribes, led an incursion into the Obotrite lands, extracting tribute from over half the territory.[248][245] Charles the Younger led an army across the Elbe in response, but only attacked some of Gudfred's Slavic allies.[249] Gudfred again attempted diplomatic overtures in 809, but it seems no peace was made.[250] Danish pirates raided Frisia in 810, though it is uncertain if they were connected to Gudfred.[251] Charlemagne sent an army to secure Frisia, while he himself led a force against Gudfred, who had reportedly challenged the emperor to face him directly in battle.[216][251] The battle never took place, as Gudfred was murdered by two of his own men before Charlemagne's arrival.[215] Gudfred's nephew and successor Hemming immediately sued for peace, and a commission led by Charlemagne's cousin Wala reached a final settlement with the Danes in 811.[216] The Danes did not pose a threat for the remainder of Charlemagne's reign, but the effects of this war and their earlier expansion in Saxony would help create the factors for the intense Viking raids across Europe later in the ninth century.[252][253]

Final years and death edit

 
A portion of the 814 death shroud of Charlemagne. It represents a quadriga and was manufactured in Constantinople.

The Carolingian dynasty had multiple losses in 810 and 811, as Charlemagne's sister Gisela, his daughter Rotrude, and his sons Pepin the Hunchback, Pepin of Italy, and Charles the Younger died.[254] The deaths of Charles the Younger and Pepin of Italy left Charlemagne's earlier plans for succession in disarray. In the wake of these deaths, he declared Pepin of Italy's son Bernard ruler of Italy, and made his own only surviving son, Louis, heir to the rest of the empire.[255] He also completed a new will detailing the disposal of his property to take place at his death, with bequests to be made the Church as well as for all of his children and grandchildren.[256] Einhard (possibly relying on tropes from Suetonius's The Twelve Caesars) recounts that Charlemagne viewed the deaths of his family members, an accident he suffered falling off a horse, astronomical phenomena, and the collapse of part of the palace in his last years as signs of his own impending death.[257] In his final year, Charlemagne continued to govern with energy, ordering bishops to assemble in five ecclesiastical councils.[258] These culminated in a large assembly at Aachen, where Charlemagne formally crowned Louis as his co-emperor, and Bernard as king, in a ceremony on 11 September 813.[259]

Charlemagne became ill in the autumn of 813 and spent his last months praying, fasting, and studying the Gospels.[257] He developed pleurisy, and became completely bedridden for seven days before dying on the morning of 28 January 814.[260] Thegan, a biographer of Louis, records the emperor's last words as "Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit", quoting from Luke 23:46.[261] Charlemagne's body was prepared and buried in the chapel at Aachen by his daughters and palace officials on the same day.[262] Louis arrived at Aachen thirty days after his father's death, making a formal adventus, taking charge of the palace and the empire.[263] Charlemagne's remains were exhumed by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1165, and reinterred in a new casket by Frederick II in 1215.[264]

 
Proserpina sarcophagus, in which Charlemagne is thought to have been originally buried.
 
The Karlsschrein, in which Frederick II reinterred Charlemagne in 1215.

Legacy edit

Political legacy edit

 
Partition of the Empire after the Treaty of Verdun 843.

The stability and peace of Charlemagne's reign would not outlast him for long. Louis' reign was marked by strife, including multiple rebellions of his own sons. Following Louis' death, the empire was divided among his sons into West, East, and Middle Francia by the Treaty of Verdun.[265] Middle Francia saw several more divisions over subsequent generations.[266] Carolingians would rule with some interruptions in East Francia (later the Kingdom of Germany) until 911,[187] and in West Francia (which would become France) until 987.[267] After 887, the imperial title was held sporadically by a series of non-dynastic Italian rulers[268] before lapsing in 924.[269] The East Francian king Otto the Great conquered Italy and was crowned emperor in 962,[270] founding the Holy Roman Empire which would last as an institution until its dissolution in 1806.[271]

According to historian Jennifer Davis, Charlemagne "invented medieval rulership" and his influence can be seen at least into the nineteenth century.[272] Charlemagne is often given the epithet "the father of Europe" because of the influence of his reign, and the legacy he left across the large area of the continent he ruled.[273] The political structures Charlemagne established remained in place through his Carolingian successors, and continued to have influence into the eleventh century.[274] During his reign, the groundwork was laid for the concentration of power in the hands of military aristocracies that would characterize the later Middle Ages.[275]

Despite the end of ruling Carolingian lines, Charlemagne is considered to be a direct ancestor of several European ruling houses, including the Capetian dynasty,[i] the Ottonian dynasty,[j] the House of Luxembourg,[k] the House of Ivrea[l] and the House of Habsburg.[m] The Ottonians and Capetians, as direct successors of the Carolingans, drew on the legacy of Charlemagne to bolster their legitimacy and prestige. The Ottonians and their successors would continue to hold their German coronations at Aachen through the Middle Ages.[280] The marriage of Philip II of France to Isabella of Hainault, a direct descendant of Charlemagne, was seen as a sign of increased legitimacy for their son Louis VIII, and the French kings' association with Charlemagne continued to be expressed until the monarchy's end.[281] German and French rulers such as Frederick Barbarossa and Napoleon directly cited the influence of Charlemagne and associated themselves with him.[282]

The city of Aachen has, since 1949, awarded an international prize (called the Karlspreis der Stadt Aachen) in honour of Charlemagne. It is awarded annually to those who have promoted the idea of European unity.[282] Winners of the prize include Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi, the founder of the pan-European movement, Alcide De Gasperi, and Winston Churchill.[283]

Carolingian Renaissance edit

 
Charlemagne and Alcuin, 19th century.

Contacts with the wider Mediterranean world through Spain and Italy, and the influx of foreign scholars at court, along with the relative stability and length of Charlemagne's reign led to a cultural revival known as the Carolingian Renaissance.[284] While the beginnings of this revival can be seen under his predecessors Charles Martel and Pepin, Charlemagne took an active and direct role in shaping intellectual life that led to the revival's height.[285] Charlemagne promoted learning as a matter of policy and direct patronage, with the aim of creating a more effective clergy.[286] The Admonitio generalis and Epistola de litteris colendis outlined Charlemagne's policies and aims in promoting education and learning.[287]

Intellectual life at court was dominated by Irish, Anglo-Saxon, Visigothic, and Italian scholars including Dungal of Bobbio, Alcuin of York, Theodulf of Orléans, and Peter of Pisa, though Franks such as Einhard and Angelbert also made substantial contributions.[288] Aside from the intellectual activity at the palace, Charlemagne promoted ecclesiastical schools as well publicly funded schools for the children of the elites and future clergy.[289] Students learned the basic tenets of Latin literacy and grammar, arithmetic, and other subjects of the medieval liberal arts.[290] From their own education, it was expected that priests in even rural parishes were able to provide basic instruction in religious matters and possibly the basic literacy skills required for worship to "the broadest level of Carolingian society."[291]

Carolingian authors produced extensive works including legal treatises, histories, and poetry as well as religious texts.[292][293] Scriptoria at monasteries and cathedrals focused on the copying of both new and old works, and produced an estimated 90,000 manuscripts during the ninth century.[294] The Carolingian minuscule script was developed and popularized during the Renaissance, and used in Medieval copying while influencing modern typefaces.[295] Scholar John J. Contreni considers the educational and learning revival under Charlemagne and his successors as "one of the most durable and resilient elements of the Carolingian legacy.[295]

Memory and historiography edit

Charlemagne was a frequent subject of and inspiration for medieval writers after his death. Einhard's Vita Karoli Magni "can be said to have revived the defunct literary genre of the secular biography."[296] Einhard drew on classical sources, such as Suetonius' The Twelve Caesars, the orations of Cicero, and Tacitus' Agricola, to frame the structure and style of his work.[297] The Carolingian period also saw a revival of the genre of mirrors for princes.[275] The author of the Latin poem Visio Karoli Magni written circa 865 uses facts apparently gathered from Einhard, alongside his own observations on the decline of Charlemagne's family after the dissensions war (840–843) as the basis for a visionary tale of Charles' meeting with a prophetic spectre in a dream.[298] Notker's Gesta Karoli Magni, written for Charlemagne's great-grandson Charles the Fat, presents moral anecdotes (exempla) to highlight the emperor's qualities as a ruler.[299]

 
Charlemagne depicted as a knight, bearing his attributed arms, Castello della Manta, 1420s

Charlemagne as a figure of myth and emulation grew in later centuries; Matthias Becher writes that over 1,000 legends are recorded about Charlemagne, far outstripping subsequent emperors and kings.[300] Later medieval writers depicted Charlemagne as a crusader and Christian warrior.[300][301] Charlemagne is the main figure of the medieval literary cycle known as the Matter of France. Works in this cycle, which originated during the period of the Crusades, centre on characterisations of the emperor as a leader of Christian knights in wars against Muslims. The cycle includes chansons de geste (epic poems) such as the Song of Roland, and chronicles such as the Historia Caroli Magni, or Pseudo-Turpin Chronicle.[302] Charlemagne was depicted as one of the Nine Worthies, becoming a fixture in medieval literature and art as an exemplar of a Christian king.[303]

Attention on Charlemagne became more scholarly in the early modern period as Eindhard's Vita and other sources began to be widely distributed.[304] Political philosophers debated over Charlemagne's legacy; Montesquieu depicted him as the first constitutional monarch and protector of freemen, while Voltaire saw Charlemagne as a despotic ruler and representative of the medieval period as a Dark Age.[305] As early as the sixteenth century, debate between German and French writers had begun contesting Charlemagne's "nationality".[306] These contrasting portraits—a French Charlemagne versus a German Karl der Große—became especially pronounced in the nineteenth century with Napoleon's use of Charlemagne's legacy, and the rise of German nationalism.[301][307] German historiography and popular perception focused especially on the Massacre of Verden, variously emphasised with Charlemagne shown as the "butcher" of the Germanic Saxons, or with the incident downplayed as an unfortunate part of the legacy of a great German ruler.[308] Historical propaganda produced under Nazi Germany initially portrayed Charlemagne as an enemy of Germany, a French ruler who had worked to take away the freedom and native religion of the German people.[309] However, this quickly shifted as Adolf Hitler endorsed a portrait of Charlemagne as a great unifier of disparate German tribes into a common nation.[310] This allowed Hitler to co-opt Charlemagne's legacy as an ideological model for his expansionist policies.[311]

Historiography after World War II focused on Charlemagne as "the father of Europe" rather than a nationalistic figure,[312] a view first advanced in the nineteenth century by the German romantic philosopher Friedrich Schlegel.[301] This view has led to Charlemagne's adoption as a political symbol of European integration.[313] Modern historians increasingly place Charlemagne in the context of the wider Mediterranean world, following the work of Belgian historian Henri Pirenne.[314]

Religious impact and veneration edit

 
Palatine Chapel constructed by Charlemagne at the Aachen palace.

Charlemagne gave much attention to religious and ecclesiastical affairs, holding 23 synods during the course of his reign. His synods were called in order to address specific issues at particular times, but in general dealt with church administration and organization, education of the clergy, and the proper forms of liturgy and worship.[315] Charlemagne used the Christian faith as a unifying factor within the realm, and in turn worked to impose unity within the Church.[316][317] Charlemagne implemented an edited version of the Dionysio-Hadriana book of canon law he acquired from Pope Adrian, required the use of the Rule of St. Benedict in monasteries throughout the empire, and promoted a standardized liturgy that was adapted from the rites of the Roman Church but edited to conform with Frankish practices.[318] Carolingian policies of promoting unity did not eliminate the diverse practices throughout the empire, but did create a shared ecclesiastical identity;[319] Rosamond McKitterick terms this "unison, not unity."[320]

The condition of all his subjects as a "Christian people" was an important concern of Charlemagne.[321] His policies encouraged preaching to the laity, particularly in vernacular languages that they would understand.[322] Charlemagne believed that it was essential to be able to recite the Lord's Prayer and the Apostles' Creed, and he made efforts to ensure the clergy taught these as well as other basics of Christian morality.[323]

Religious historian Thomas F. X. Noble argues that the efforts of Charlemagne and his successors at standardizing the doctrine and practices of Christianity, and in harmonizing Frankish practices, was an essential step in the development of Christianity in Europe, and writes that the distinct Roman Catholic, or Latin Church "as a historical phenomenon, not as a theological or ecclesiological one, is a Carolingian construction."[324][325] He further argues that the medieval European concept of Christendom as an overarching community of Western Christians, rather than remaining a collection of local western traditions, is the result of Carolingian policies and ideology.[326] Charlemagne's doctrinal policies of promoting the use of filioque and opposing the Second Council of Nicea were key steps in the growing divide between Western and Eastern Christianity.[327]

Emperor Otto II attempted to have Charlemagne canonised as a saint in 1000.[328] In 1165, Frederick Barbarossa convinced Antipope Paschal III to elevate him to sainthood.[328] As Paschal's acts were not considered valid, Charlemagne was not recognized as a saint by the Holy See in Rome.[329] Despite this lack of recognition, Charlemagne's cult became observed in Aachen, Reims, Frankfurt, Zurich, and Regensburg, and he has been venerated in France since the reign of Charles V.[330]

Charlemagne also drew attention from figures of the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther criticised Charlemagne's apparent subjugation to the papacy by accepting his coronation from Leo.[305] However, John Calvin and other Protestant thinkers viewed Charlemagne as a forerunner of the Reformation, drawing particular attention to the condemnation of the worship of images and relics in the Libri Carolini, and the conflicts Charlemagne and his successors had with the temporal power of the popes.[329]

Wives, concubines, and children edit

Further information: Carolingian dynasty
 
Charlemagne instructing his son Louis the Pious

Charlemagne had at least twenty children with his wives and other partners throughout his life.[331][332] After the death of his wife Luitgard in 800, he did not remarry but continued to have children with unmarried partners.[338] He was determined that all his children, including his daughters, should receive an education in the liberal arts. His children were also taught skills in accord with their aristocratic status, which included training in riding and weaponry for his sons, and embroidery, spinning and weaving for his daughters.[339]

Rosamond McKitterick writes that Charlemagne exercised "a remarkable degree of patriarchal control … over his progeny," noting that only a handful of his children and grandchildren were raised outside his court.[340] Pepin of Italy and Louis reigned as kings from childhood and resided at their own courts.[124] Careers in the Church were arranged for his illegitimate sons.[341] His daughters were resident either at court or at Chelles Abbey where Charlemagne's sister was abbess, and those at court possibly fulfilled the duties of the queen after 800.[342]

Louis and Pepin of Italy both married and had children during their father's lifetime, and Charlemagne brought Pepin's daughters into his own household after Pepin's death.[343] Rotrude had been betrothed to Emperor Constantine VI, but this betrothal was ended.[344] None of Charlemagne's daughters married, though several had children with unmarried partners: Bertha had two sons, Nithard and Hartnid with Charlemagne's courtier Angilbert; Rotrude had a son named Louis possibly with Count Rorgon; and Hiltrude had a son named Richbod, possibly with a count named Richwin.[345] The Divisio Regnorum issued by Charlemagne in 806 provided that his legitimate daughters be allowed to marry or become nuns after his death. Theodrada entered a convent, but the decisions of his other daughters are unknown.[346]

Appearance and iconography edit

Further information: Iconography of Charlemagne
 
 
Top: Carolingian-era equestrian statuette thought to represent either Charlemagne or his grandson Charles the Bald. Bottom: Bust of Charlemagne, an idealised portrayal and reliquary said to contain Charlemagne's skull cap, produced in the 14th century.

Einhard gives a first-hand description of Charlemagne's appearance later in life:[347]

He was heavily built, sturdy, and of considerable stature, although not exceptionally so, since his height was seven times the length of his own foot. He had a round head, large and lively eyes, a slightly larger nose than usual, white but still attractive hair, a bright and cheerful expression, a short and fat neck, and he enjoyed good health, except for the fevers that affected him in the last few years of his life.

In 1861, Charlemagne's tomb was opened by scientists, who reconstructed his skeleton and measured it at 1.92 metres (6 ft 4 in) in length, roughly equivalent to Einhard's seven feet.[348] A 2010 estimate of his height from an X-ray and CT scan of his tibia was 1.84 metres (6 ft 0 in). This puts him in the 99th percentile of height for his period, given that average male height of his time was 1.69 metres (5 ft 7 in). The width of the bone suggested he was slim in build.[349]

Charlemagne wore his hair short, in an abandonment of the Merovingian tradition of long-haired monarchs.[350] He had a moustache, possibly in imitation of the Ostrogothic king Theoderic the Great, and contrasted with the bearded Merovingian kings.[351] Future Carolingian monarchs would adopt this style.[352] Paul Dutton notes the ubiquitous presence of a crown in portraits of Charlemagne and other Carolingian rulers replacing the earlier Merovingian royal symbol of long hair.[353] A ninth-century statuette depicts either Charlemagne or his grandson Charles the Bald[o] and shows the subject as moustachioed and with short hair,[355] and this appearance is also shown on contemporary coinage.[358]

By the twelfth century, Charlemagne was described as bearded rather than moustachioed in literary sources such as the Song of Roland and the Pseduo-Turpin Chronicle, as well as other sources in Latin, French, and German.[359] The Pseudo-Turpin uniquely claims that his hair was brown.[360] Later art and iconography of Charlemagne would follow suit, generally depicting him in a later medieval style as bearded and with longer hair.[361]

Notes edit

  1. ^ a b Alternative birth years for Charlemagne include 742 and 747. There has been scholarly debate over this topic, see Birth and early life. For full treatment of the debate, see Nelson 2019, pp. 28–29. See further Karl Ferdinand Werner, Das Geburtsdatum Karls des Großen, in Francia 1, 1973, pp. 115–57 (online 17 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine);
    Matthias Becher: Neue Überlegungen zum Geburtsdatum Karls des Großen, in: Francia 19/1, 1992, pp. 37–60 (online 17 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine)
  2. ^
  3. ^ "At 747 the scribe had written: 'Et ipso anno fuit natus Karolus rex' ('and in that year, King Charles was born')."[25]
  4. ^ Charlemagne's third son Carloman was also born in 776 based on the four-year old boy's baptism at Pavia in 780.[112]
  5. ^ German: Zweikaiserproblem, "two-emperors problem"
  6. ^ Latin: Karolus serenissimus augustus a deo coronatus magnus pacificus imperator Romanum gubernans imperium, qui et per misercordiam dei rex francorum atque langobardorum
  7. ^ Latin: Carolus gratia dei rex francorum et langobardorum ac patricius Romanorum
  8. ^ For more on the Basel roll, see: McCormick 2011
  9. ^ Through Beatrice of Vermandois, great-great granddaughter of Pepin of Italy and grandmother of Hugh Capet,[276]
  10. ^ Through Hedwiga, great-great granddaughter of Louis the Pious and mother of Henry the Fowler.[277]
  11. ^ Through Albert II, Count of Namur, great-grandson of Louis IV of France and great-great grandfather of Henry the Blind.[278]
  12. ^ Berengar II of Italy was a great-great-great grandson of Louis the Pious.[279]
  13. ^ Radbot of Klettgau, the founder of the House of Habsburg, married Ida of Lorraine, who descended from Charlemagne through both of her parents; from Cunigunda of France on her father's side and through the Capetians on her mother's side.[citation needed]
  14. ^ The nature of Himiltrude's relationship to Charlemagne is uncertain. A 770 letter by Pope Stephen III describes both Carloman and Charlemagne "by [God's] will and decision...joined in lawful marriage...[with] wives of great beauty from the same fatherland as yourselves."[333] Stephen wrote this in the context of attempting to dissuade either king from entering into a marriage alliance with Desiderius.[76] By 784, at Charlemagne's court, Paul the Deacon wrote that their son Pepin was born "before legal marriage", but whether he means Charles and Himiltrude were never married, were joined in a non-canonical marriage or friedelehe, or if they married after Pepin was born is unclear.[75] Roger Collins,[334] Johannes Fried,[335] and Janet Nelson[336] all portray Himiltrude as a wife of Charlemagne in some capacity. Fried also dates the beginning of their relationship to 763 or even earlier.[337]
  15. ^ Janet Nelson considers it a depiction of Charlemagne,[354] Paul Dutton writes that it was "long thought to depict Charlemagne and now attributed by most to Charles the Bald,"[355] and Johannes Fried presents both as possibilities,[356] but considers it "highly contentious."[357]

References edit

Citations edit

  1. ^ a b Nelson 2019, p. 2.
  2. ^ a b McKitterick 2008, p. 116.
  3. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 2, 68.
  4. ^ Fried 2016, p. 529.
  5. ^ Barbero 2004, p. 413.
  6. ^ Fried 2016, p. 4.
  7. ^ Becher 2005, pp. 42–43.
  8. ^ Nonn 2008, p. 575.
  9. ^ Fried 2016, p. 5.
  10. ^ Waldman & Mason 2006, pp. 270, 274–75.
  11. ^ Heather 2009, pp. 305–306.
  12. ^ Costambeys, Innes & MacLean 2011, p. 35.
  13. ^ Costambeys, Innes & MacLean 2011, p. 35–37.
  14. ^ Costambeys, Innes & MacLean 2011, p. 38.
  15. ^ Frassetto 2003, p. 292.
  16. ^ Frassetto 2003, pp. 292–93.
  17. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 16.
  18. ^ Waldman & Mason 2006, p. 271.
  19. ^ McKitterick 2008, p. 65.
  20. ^ Costambeys, Innes & MacLean 2011, pp. 51–52.
  21. ^ a b McKitterick 2008, p. 71.
  22. ^ Costambeys, Innes & MacLean 2011, p. 55.
  23. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 61, 64-65.
  24. ^ Fried 2016, p. 17.
  25. ^ a b c d Nelson 2019, p. 29.
  26. ^ a b Costambeys, Innes & MacLean 2011, p. 56.
  27. ^ Fried 2016, p. 15.
  28. ^ a b Collins 1998, p. 32.
  29. ^ Barbero 2004, p. 11.
  30. ^ Becher 2005, p. 41.
  31. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 28–28.
  32. ^ Hägermann 2011, p. xxx.
  33. ^ Barbero 2004, p. 350 n7.
  34. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 28.
  35. ^ Barbero 2004, p. 12.
  36. ^ Fried 2016, pp. 15–16.
  37. ^ a b c Nelson 2019, p. 68.
  38. ^ Hägermann 2011, p. xxxiii.
  39. ^ Chambers & Wilkie 2014, p. 33.
  40. ^ McKitterick 2008, p. 318.
  41. ^ Fried 2016, p. 24.
  42. ^ Dutton 2016, pp. 71–72.
  43. ^ a b Dutton 2016, p. 72.
  44. ^ Fried 2016, pp. 14–15.
  45. ^ Dutton 2016, pp. 75–80.
  46. ^ Fried 2016, p. 271.
  47. ^ Dutton 2016, p. 75.
  48. ^ Dutton 2016, p. 91.
  49. ^ Collins 1998, p. 120.
  50. ^ McKitterick 2008, p. 73.
  51. ^ McKitterick 2008, p. 71–72.
  52. ^ Costambeys, Innes & MacLean 2011, p. 32.
  53. ^ a b Costambeys, Innes & MacLean 2011, p. 34.
  54. ^ McKitterick 2008, p. 72.
  55. ^ McKitterick 2008, pp. 72–73.
  56. ^ Costambeys, Innes & MacLean 2011, p. 62.
  57. ^ McKitterick 2008, p. 74.
  58. ^ Costambeys, Innes & MacLean 2011, p. 64.
  59. ^ McKitterick 2008, p. 75.
  60. ^ a b Nelson 2019, p. 91.
  61. ^ a b McKitterick 2008, p. 77.
  62. ^ a b c d e f Costambeys, Innes & MacLean 2011, p. 65.
  63. ^ McKitterick 2008, p. 79.
  64. ^ a b McKitterick 2008, p. 80.
  65. ^ McKitterick 2008, p. 81.
  66. ^ McKitterick 2008, p. 82.
  67. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 99.
  68. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 99, 101.
  69. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 100–101.
  70. ^ a b Nelson 2019, p. 101.
  71. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 84–85, 101.
  72. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 106.
  73. ^ Nelson 2007, p. 31.
  74. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 104–106.
  75. ^ a b Goffart 1986.
  76. ^ a b McKitterick 2008, p. 84.
  77. ^ McKitterick 2008, p. 87.
  78. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 108–109.
  79. ^ a b Costambeys, Innes & MacLean 2011, p. 66.
  80. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 109–110.
  81. ^ McKitterick 2008, p. 89.
  82. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 110–111.
  83. ^ Fried 2016, p. 99.
  84. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 116.
  85. ^ Fried 2016, p. 122.
  86. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 117.
  87. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 117–118.
  88. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 131–132.
  89. ^ a b c Nelson 2019, p. 133.
  90. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 133, 134.
  91. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 134–135.
  92. ^ a b Costambeys, Innes & MacLean 2011, p. 67.
  93. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 130.
  94. ^ Fried 2016, p. 100.
  95. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 146.
  96. ^ Fried 2016, p. 101.
  97. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 135–138.
  98. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 139–140.
  99. ^ Fried 2016, p. 112.
  100. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 139–141.
  101. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 142–144.
  102. ^ Collins 1998, pp. 61–63.
  103. ^ a b c Collins 1998, p. 62.
  104. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 147.
  105. ^ McKitterick 2008, p. 109.
  106. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 147–148.
  107. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 154–156.
  108. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 157–159.
  109. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 159.
  110. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 159–161.
  111. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 157.
  112. ^ a b Fried 2016, p. 136.
  113. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 162–163.
  114. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 164–165.
  115. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 164–166.
  116. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 166.
  117. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 167–170, 173.
  118. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 168, 172.
  119. ^ a b c d Nelson 2019, p. 181.
  120. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 172–173.
  121. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 175–179.
  122. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 173.
  123. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 182–186.
  124. ^ a b Nelson 2019, p. 186.
  125. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 191.
  126. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 182–183.
  127. ^ a b Nelson 2019, p. 203.
  128. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 204–205.
  129. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 205.
  130. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 193.
  131. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 193–195.
  132. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 195–196.
  133. ^ Fried 2016, p. 126.
  134. ^ Barbero 2004, p. 46.
  135. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 196–197.
  136. ^ Barbero 2004, p. 47.
  137. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 197.
  138. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 200–202.
  139. ^ Collins 1998, p. 55.
  140. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 208–209.
  141. ^ Fried 2016, pp. 139–140.
  142. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 228.
  143. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 225–226, 230.
  144. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 234.
  145. ^ Fried 2016, p. 142.
  146. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 240.
  147. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 240–241.
  148. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 186–187.
  149. ^ Fried 2016, p. 152.
  150. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 188–190.
  151. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 213–214.
  152. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 243–244.
  153. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 251–254.
  154. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 294.
  155. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 257.
  156. ^ Fried 2016, p. 157.
  157. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 270.
  158. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 270, 274–275.
  159. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 285–287, 438.
  160. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 283–284.
  161. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 289–292.
  162. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 302.
  163. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 306–314.
  164. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 304.
  165. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 340, 377–379.
  166. ^ Riché 1993, p. 135.
  167. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 319–321.
  168. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 323–324.
  169. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 325–326, 329–331.
  170. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 356–359.
  171. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 340.
  172. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 326, 333.
  173. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 270–271.
  174. ^ Fried 2016, p. 83.
  175. ^ Fried 2016, pp. 84–85.
  176. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 352, 400, 460.
  177. ^ Fried 2016, p. 466.
  178. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 353.
  179. ^ Collins 1998, p. 74.
  180. ^ Costambeys, Innes & MacLean 2011, p. 160.
  181. ^ Collins 1998, p. 152.
  182. ^ a b McKitterick 2008, p. 115.
  183. ^ Collins 1998, p. 143.
  184. ^ a b Costambeys, Innes & MacLean 2011, p. 161.
  185. ^ a b Collins 1998, p. 145.
  186. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 381.
  187. ^ a b Heather 2009, p. 368.
  188. ^ Costambeys, Innes & MacLean 2011, p. 96.
  189. ^ Costambeys, Innes & MacLean 2011, pp. 161, 163, 165.
  190. ^ Costambeys, Innes & MacLean 2011, pp. 165–166.
  191. ^ Collins 1998, p. 147.
  192. ^ Fried 2016, p. 408.
  193. ^ Collins 1998, p. 151.
  194. ^ Pirenne 2012, p. 233.
  195. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 361.
  196. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 370.
  197. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 384.
  198. ^ Pirenne 2012, p. 234n.
  199. ^ a b c d Costambeys, Innes & MacLean 2011, p. 167.
  200. ^ Muldoon 1999, p. 24.
  201. ^ Mayr-Harting 1996.
  202. ^ a b Collins 1998, p. 148.
  203. ^ Collins 1998, p. 149.
  204. ^ Collins 1998, pp. 150–151.
  205. ^ Muldoon 1999, p. 21.
  206. ^ Muldoon 1999, pp. 25–26.
  207. ^ a b c Costambeys, Innes & MacLean 2011, p. 168.
  208. ^ McKitterick 2008, pp. 115–116.
  209. ^ a b Muldoon 1999, p. 26.
  210. ^ Costambeys, Innes & MacLean 2011, pp. 168–169.
  211. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 387–389.
  212. ^ Costambeys, Innes & MacLean 2011, pp. 173–174.
  213. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 472.
  214. ^ Costambeys, Innes & MacLean 2011, p. 170.
  215. ^ a b Nelson 2019, p. 462.
  216. ^ a b c Collins 1998, p. 169.
  217. ^ Collins 1998, pp. 74–75.
  218. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 495–496.
  219. ^ Collins 1998, p. 154.
  220. ^ Fried 2016, pp. 450–451.
  221. ^ Fried 2016, pp. 448–449.
  222. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 409, 411.
  223. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 410–415.
  224. ^ a b Collins 1998, p. 157.
  225. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 429.
  226. ^ Fried 2016, p. 477.
  227. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 432–435.
  228. ^ Costambeys, Innes & MacLean 2011, pp. 167–168.
  229. ^ a b Collins 1998, p. 153.
  230. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 458–459.
  231. ^ McKitterick 2008, pp. 116–117.
  232. ^ Dutton 2016, p. 60.
  233. ^ Dutton 2016, pp. 60–61.
  234. ^ Fried 2016, p. 441.
  235. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 449–452.
  236. ^ Fried 2016, p. 442.
  237. ^ Fried 2016, pp. 442–446.
  238. ^ Fried 2016, p. 444.
  239. ^ a b c Nelson 2019, p. 449.
  240. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 449–450.
  241. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 452–453.
  242. ^ Sterk 1988.
  243. ^ Fried 2016, pp. 488–490.
  244. ^ Fried 2016, p. 461.
  245. ^ a b c Collins 1998, p. 167.
  246. ^ Collins 1998, p. 163.
  247. ^ a b Fried 2016, p. 462.
  248. ^ Fried 2016, pp. 462–463.
  249. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 459.
  250. ^ Collins 1998, p. 168.
  251. ^ a b Fried 2016, p. 463.
  252. ^ Costambeys, Innes & MacLean 2011, p. 171.
  253. ^ Collins 1998, p. 170.
  254. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 440, 453.
  255. ^ Collins 1998, p. 158.
  256. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 468–470.
  257. ^ a b Nelson 2019, pp. 480–481.
  258. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 478–480.
  259. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 476.
  260. ^ Fried 2016, p. 514.
  261. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 481.
  262. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 482–483.
  263. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 483–484.
  264. ^ Fried 2016, p. 520.
  265. ^ Costambeys, Innes & MacLean 2011, pp. 379–381.
  266. ^ Costambeys, Innes & MacLean 2011, p. 394.
  267. ^ Riché 1993, p. 278.
  268. ^ Costambeys, Innes & MacLean 2011, pp. 424–427.
  269. ^ Arnold 1997, p. 83.
  270. ^ Heather 2009, p. 369.
  271. ^ Davies 1996, pp. 316–17.
  272. ^ Davis 2015, p. 434.
  273. ^ Freeman 2017, p. 19.
  274. ^ Costambeys, Innes & MacLean 2011, pp. 407, 432.
  275. ^ a b Fried 2016, pp. 518–519.
  276. ^ Lewis 1977, pp. 246–247 n94.
  277. ^ Jackman 2010, pp. 9–12.
  278. ^ Tanner 2004, pp. 263–265.
  279. ^ Bouchard 2010, pp. 129–131.
  280. ^ Fried 2016, p. 528.
  281. ^ Fried 2016, pp. 527–528.
  282. ^ a b Davis 2015, p. 433.
  283. ^ "Laureates".
  284. ^ Contreni 1984, p. 60.
  285. ^ Contreni 1984, pp. 59, 61, 64.
  286. ^ Contreni 1995, p. 709.
  287. ^ Contreni 1984, p. 64.
  288. ^ Contreni 1984, pp. 61, 68.
  289. ^ Contreni 1984, pp. 65–66.
  290. ^ Contreni 1984, p. 66–67.
  291. ^ Contreni 1995, p. 715.
  292. ^ Contreni 1995, pp. 748–756.
  293. ^ Contreni 1984, pp. 70.
  294. ^ Contreni 1995, p. 711.
  295. ^ a b Contreni 1984, p. 73.
  296. ^ Fried 2016, p. 277.
  297. ^ McKitterick 2008, p. 15–20.
  298. ^ Geary 1987, pp. 275–283.
  299. ^ McKitterick 2008, p. 20.
  300. ^ a b Becher 2005, p. 138.
  301. ^ a b c Fried 2016, p. 539.
  302. ^ Hardman & Ailes 2017, pp. 1–9.
  303. ^ Kuskin 1999, pp. 513, 547–548 fn24.
  304. ^ Becher 2005, p. 142–144.
  305. ^ a b Becher 2005, p. 144.
  306. ^ Becher 2005, p. 142.
  307. ^ Becher 2005, p. 146.
  308. ^ Becher 2005, pp. 146–148.
  309. ^ Fried 2016, p. 541–542.
  310. ^ Fried 2016, p. 542–544.
  311. ^ Fried 2016, p. 542–546.
  312. ^ Becher 2005, p. 148.
  313. ^ Fried 2016, p. 548.
  314. ^ Fried 2016, p. 549–551.
  315. ^ Noble 2015, p. 294.
  316. ^ Noble 2015, pp. 289–290, 295–296.
  317. ^ McKitterick 1996, p. 61.
  318. ^ Noble 2015, pp. 269–297.
  319. ^ McKitterick 1996.
  320. ^ McKitterick 1996, p. 82.
  321. ^ Noble 2015, pp. 287–288.
  322. ^ Noble 2015, p. 294–295.
  323. ^ Noble 2015, pp. 301–302.
  324. ^ Noble 2015, p. 287.
  325. ^ Noble 2015, pp. 306–307.
  326. ^ Noble 2015, pp. 292, 306–307.
  327. ^ Siecienski 2010, p. 87.
  328. ^ a b Fried 2016, p. 537.
  329. ^ a b Becher 2005, p. 143.
  330. ^ Fried 2016, p. 538.
  331. ^ a b c Nelson 2019, pp. xxxiv–xxxv.
  332. ^ a b c Costambeys, Innes & MacLean 2011, p. xxi.
  333. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 105.
  334. ^ Collins 1998, p. 40.
  335. ^ Fried 2016, p. 50-51.
  336. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 91, 107, 285–286.
  337. ^ Fried 2016, p. 50.
  338. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 440.
  339. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 443.
  340. ^ McKitterick 2008, p. 93.
  341. ^ McKitterick 2008, p. 91.
  342. ^ McKitterick 2008, pp. 94–95.
  343. ^ McKitterick 2008, pp. 91–93.
  344. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 225–226.
  345. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 441.
  346. ^ Nelson 2019, p. 435.
  347. ^ Barbero 2004, p. 116.
  348. ^ Barbero 2004, p. 118.
  349. ^ Ruhli, Blumich & Henneberg 2010.
  350. ^ Dutton 2016, pp. 21–22.
  351. ^ Dutton 2016, pp. 24–26.
  352. ^ Dutton 2016, pp. 24, 26.
  353. ^ Dutton 2016, pp. 22–23.
  354. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. xxxvi, 495.
  355. ^ a b Dutton 2016, p. 35.
  356. ^ Fried 2016, p. 216.
  357. ^ Fried 2016, p. 516.
  358. ^ Dutton 2016, pp. 24–25.
  359. ^ Coxon 2021, pp. 31, 196.
  360. ^ Coxon 2021, p. 196.
  361. ^ Dutton 2016, p. 27–30.

Bibliography edit

  • Arnold, Benjamin (1997). Medieval Germany , 500–1300 A Political Interpretation. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-333-61091-6.
  • Barbero, Alessandro (2004). Charlemagne: Father of a Continent. Translated by Allan Cameron. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-23943-2.
  • Becher, Matthias (2005). Charlemagne. Translated by Bachrach, David S. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-09796-2.
  • Bouchard, Constance (2010). Those of My Blood: Creating Noble Families in Medieval Francia. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-81220-140-6.
  • Chambers, William Walker; Wilkie, John Ritchie (2014). A Short History of the German Language (RLE Linguistics E: Indo-European Linguistics). London: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-91852-3.
  • Collins, Roger (1998). Charlemagne. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0-333-65055-4.
  • Contreni, John J. (1984), "The Carolingian Renaissance", in Treadgold, Warren T. (ed.), Renaissances before the Renaissance: cultural revivals of late antiquity and the Middle Ages, Stanford: Stanford University Press, ISBN 0-8047-1198-4
  • Contreni, John J. (1995). "The Carolingian Renaissance: Education and Literary Culture". In McKitterick, Rosamond (ed.). The New Cambridge Medieval History Volume II:c.700-900. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139055710.
  • Costambeys, Marios; Innes, Matthew; MacLean, Simon (2011). The Carolingian World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-56366-6.
  • Coxon, Sebastian (2021). Beards and Texts: Images of masculinity in medieval German literature. London: UCL Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctv1hggknc. ISBN 978-1-78735-221-6. S2CID 239135035.
  • Davies, Norman (1996). Europe: A History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-820171-7.
  • Davis, Jennifer R. (2015). Charlemagne's Practice of Empire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-07699-0.
  • Dutton, Paul (2016). Charlemagne's Mustache: And Other Cultural Clusters of a Dark Age. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-137-06228-4.
  • Frassetto, Michael (2003). Encyclopedia of Barbarian Europe: Society in Transformation. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-57607-263-9.
  • Freeman, Elizabeth (2017). ""Charles the Great, or Just Plain Charles: Was Charlemagne a Great Medieval Leader?"". Agora. 52 (1): 10–19.
  • Fried, Johannes (2016). Charlemagne. Translated by Lewis, Peter. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674737396.
  • Geary, Patrick J. (1987). "Germanic Tradition and Royal Ideology in the Ninth Century: The Visio Karoli Magni". Frühmittelalterliche Studien. 21: 274–294. doi:10.1515/9783110242195.274. S2CID 165699647.
  • Goffart, Walter (1986). "Paul the Deacon's 'Gesta Episcoporum Mettensium' and the Early Design of Charlemagne's Succession". Traditio. 42: 59–93. doi:10.1017/S0362152900004049. S2CID 151941720.
  • Hägermann, Dieter (2011) [2000]. Carlo Magno: Il signore dell'Occidente [Karl der Grosse: Herrscher des Abendlandes]. Translated by Giuseppe Albertoni. Arnoldo Mondadori Editore.
  • Hardman, Philipa; Ailes, Marianne (2017). The Legend of Charlemagne in Medieval England. Cambridge: DS Brewer. pp. 1–9. ISBN 978-1-84384-472-3.
  • Heather, Peter (2009). Empires and Barbarians:The Fall of Rome and the birth of Europe. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-989226-6.
  • Jackman, Donald C. (2010). Ius hereditarium Encountered III: Ezzo's Chess Match. Editions Enlaplage. pp. 9–12. ISBN 978-1-936466-54-2.
  • Kuskin, William (1999). "Caxton's Worthies Series: The Production of Literary Culture". ELH. 66 (3): 511–551. doi:10.1353/elh.1999.0027. JSTOR 30032085. S2CID 162260451. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  • Lewis, Andrew W. (1977). "Dynastic Structures and Capetian Throne-Right: the Views of Giles of Paris". Traditio. 33 (1): 225–252. doi:10.1017/S0362152900009119. JSTOR 27831029. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  • Mayr-Harting, Henry (1996). "Charlemagne, the Saxons, and the Imperial Coronation of 800". The English Historical Review. 111 (444 November): 1113–1133. doi:10.1093/ehr/CXI.444.1113.
  • McCormick, Michael (2011). Charlemagne's Survey of the Holy Land: Wealth, Personnel, and Buildings of a Mediterranean Church between Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection.
  • McKitterick, Rosamond (1996). "Unity and Diversity in the Carolingian Church". Studies in Church History. 32: 59–82. doi:10.1017/S0424208400015333. S2CID 163254629.
  • McKitterick, Rosamond (2008). Charlemagne: The Formation of a European Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-47285-2.
  • Muldoon, James (1999). Empire and Order:Concepts of Empire 800-1800. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-22226-2.
  • Nelson, Janet L. (2007). Courts, elites, and gendered power in the early Middle Ages Charlemagne and others. Ashgate. ISBN 9780754659334. OCLC 1039829293.
  • Nelson, Janet L. (2019). King and Emperor: A New Life of Charlemagne. Oakland: University of California Press. ISBN 9780520314207.
  • Noble, Thomas F. X. (2015). "Carolingian Religion". Church History. 84 (2): 287–307. doi:10.1017/S0009640715000104. S2CID 231888268.
  • Nonn, Ulrich (2008). "Karl Martell – Name und Beiname". In Ludwig, Uwe; Schlipp, Thomas (eds.). Nomen et Fraternitas. Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde - Ergänzungsbände. Vol. 62. Berlin, New York: DeGruyter. pp. 575–586. doi:10.1515/9783110210477.3.575. ISBN 978-3-11-020238-0.
  • Pirenne, Henri (2012) [1937 posthumous]. Mohammed and Charlemagne. Mineola, NY: Dover. ISBN 978-0-486-12225-0.
  • Riché, Pierre (1993). The Carolingians: A Family Who Forged Europe. Middle Ages Series. Translated by Allen, Michael Idomir. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0812210965.
  • Ruhli, F.J.; Blumich, B.; Henneberg, M. (2010). "Charlemagne was very tall, but not robust". Economics and Human Biology. 8 (2): 289–90. doi:10.1016/j.ehb.2009.12.005. PMID 20153271.
  • Siecienski, Anthony Edward (2010). The Filioque: History of a Doctrinal Controversy. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195372045.
  • Sterk, Andrea (1 October 1988). "The Silver Shields of Pope Leo III: A Reassessment of the Evidence". Comitatus: A Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies. 19: 62–79.
  • Tanner, Heather (2004). Families, Friends and Allies: Boulogne and Politics in Northern France and England. Brill. ISBN 978-9-04740-255-8.
  • Waldman, Carl; Mason, Catherine (2006). Encyclopedia of European Peoples. New York: Facts on File. ISBN 978-0816049646.

Further reading edit

Primary sources in English translation edit

  • Alcuin (1941). The Rhetoric of Alcuin and Charlemagne: A Translation, with an Introduction, the Latin Text, and Notes. Translated by Howell, Wilbur Samuel. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
  • Alcuin (1974). Alcott, Stephen (ed.). Alcuin of York, c. AD 732 to 804: His life and letters. Translated by Alcott, Stephen. York: Sessions Book Trust. ISBN 0-900657-21-9.
  • Bachrach, Bernard S., ed. (1973). Liber Historiae Francorum. Translated by Bachrach, Bernard S. Lawrence, KS: Coronodo Press. ISBN 978-0872910584.
  • Davis, Raymond, ed. (1992). The Lives of the Eighth-Century Popes. Translated by Davis, Raymond. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. ISBN 9780853230182.
  • Einhard; Notker (1969). Two Lives of Charlemagne. Translated by Thorpe, Lewis. London: Penguin. ISBN 9780140442137.
  • Einhard (1998). Dutton, Paul (ed.). Charlemagne's Courtier: The Complete Einhard. Readings in Medieval Civilizations and Cultures. Translated by Dutton, Paul. Petersborough, ON: Broadview Press. ISBN 1-55111-134-9.
  • Dutton, Paul, ed. (2004). Carolingian Civilization: A Reader. Petersborough, ON: Broadview Press. ISBN 978-1-55111-492-7.
  • Goodman, Peter, ed. (1985). Poetry of the Carolingian Renaissance. Translated by Goodman, Peter. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0806119397.
  • King, P.D., ed. (1997). Charlemagne: Translated Sources. Translated by King, P.D. Lancaster: P.D. King. ISBN 978-0951150306.
  • McKitterick, Rosamond; van Espelo, Dorine; Pollard, Richard; Price, Richard, eds. (2021). Codex Epistolaris Carolinus: Letters from the popes to the Frankish rulers, 739-791. Translated by McKitterick, Rosamond; van Espelo, Dorine; Pollard, Richard; Price, Richard. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. ISBN 978-1-80034-871-4.
  • Lyon, H.R.; Percival, John, eds. (1975). The Reign of Charlemagne: Documents on Carolingian Government and Administration. Documents of Medieval History. Translated by Lyon, H.R.; Percival, John. London: Arnold. ISBN 9780713158137.
  • Scholz, Bernhard Walter; Rogers, Barbara, eds. (1970). Carolingian Chronicles: Royal Frankish Annals and Nithard's Histories. Translated by Scholz, Bernhard Walter; Rogers, Barbara. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-08790-7.

Secondary works edit

  • Bachrach, Bernard S. (2011). Early Carolingian Warfare Prelude to Empire. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-2144-2.
  • Cantor, Norman F. (2015). Civilization of the Middle Ages: Completely Revised and Expanded Edition, A. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-244460-8.
  • Collins, Roger (1999). Early Medieval Europe, 300–1000. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-33365-808-6.
  • Collins, Roger (2004). Visigothic Spain, 409–711. History of Spain. Malden, MA; Oxford: Blackwell Pub.
  • Fouracre, Paul (2005). "The Long Shadow of the Merovingians". In Joanna Story (ed.). Charlemagne: Empire and Society. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-71907-089-1.
  • Ganshof, F. L. (1971). The Carolingians and the Frankish Monarchy: Studies in Carolingian History. trans. Janet Sondheimer. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-0635-5.
  • Gregory, Timothy E. (2005). A History of Byzantium. Malden, MA; Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 978-0-63123-513-2.
  • James, David; Ibn al-Qūṭiyya, Muḥammad b ʻUmar (2009). Early Islamic Spain: The History of Ibn al-Qūṭiyya: a study of the unique Arabic manuscript in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, with a translation, notes and comments. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-41547-552-5.
  • Lewers Langston, Aileen; Buck, J. Orton Jr., eds. (1974). Pedigrees of Some of the Emperor Charlemagne's Descendants. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co.
  • McKitterick, Rosamond (1983). The Frankish Kingdoms under the Carolingians, 751-987. London: Logman. ISBN 9780582490055.
  • McKitterick, Rosamond, ed. (1995). The New Cambridge Medieval History Volume II:c.700-900. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139055710.
  • Riché, Pierre (1978). Daily Life in the World of Charlemagne. Middle Ages Series. Translated by McNamara, Jo Ann. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-1342-3.
  • Santosuosso, Antonio (2004). Barbarians, Marauders, and Infidels: The Ways of Medieval Warfare. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. ISBN 978-0-8133-9153-3.
  • Sarti, Laury (2016). "Frankish Romanness and Charlemagne's Empire". Speculum. 91 (4): 1040–58. doi:10.1086/687993. S2CID 163283337.
  • Sypeck, Jeff (2006). Becoming Charlemagne: Europe, Baghdad, and The Empires of A.D. 800. New York: Ecco/HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-079706-5.

External links edit

  • The Making of Charlemagne's Europe (freely available database of prosopographical and socio-economic data from legal documents dating to Charlemagne's reign, produced by King's College London)
  • Internet Medieval Sourcebook, a collection of primary sources of Charlemagne's reign edited by Paul Halsall of Fordham University
  • Einhard. "Vita Karoli Magni". Medieval Latin (in Latin). The Latin Library.
  • Works by or about Charlemagne at Internet Archive
Emperor Charles I the Great
 Died: 28 January 814
Regnal titles
Preceded by King of the Franks
768–814
with Carloman I (768–771)
with Charles the Younger (800–811) 		Succeeded by
New creation
Problem of two emperors
Constantine VI as undisputed
Byzantine emperor
 Holy Roman Emperor
800–814
with Louis the Pious (813–814)
Preceded by King of the Lombards
774–814
with Pepin of Italy (781–810)
with Bernard of Italy (810–814) 		Succeeded by

January 01, 1970
charlemagne, other, uses, disambiguation, ɑːr, ɑːr, shar, mayn, mayn, april, january, king, franks, from, king, lombards, from, emperor, what, known, carolingian, empire, from, holding, these, titles, until, death, succeeded, uniting, majority, western, centra. For other uses see Charlemagne disambiguation Charlemagne b ˈ ʃ ɑːr l e m eɪ n ˌ ʃ ɑːr l e ˈ m eɪ n SHAR le mayn MAYN 2 April 748 a 28 January 814 was King of the Franks from 768 King of the Lombards from 774 and Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian Empire from 800 holding all these titles until his death in 814 Charlemagne succeeded in uniting the majority of Western Central Europe and was the first recognized emperor to rule in the west after the fall of the Western Roman Empire approximately three centuries earlier Charlemagne s rule saw a program of political and social changes that had a lasting impact on Europe in the Middle Ages CharlemagneA denarius of Charlemagne dated c 812 814 with the inscription KAROLVS IMP AVG Karolus Imperator Augustus King of the FranksReign9 October 768 28 January 814Coronation9 October 768NoyonPredecessorPepin the ShortSuccessorLouis the PiousKing of the LombardsReignJune 774 28 January 814PredecessorDesideriusSuccessorBernardEmperor of the Carolingian EmpireReign25 December 800 28 January 814Coronation25 December 800Old St Peter s Basilica RomeSuccessorLouis the PiousBorn 748 04 02 2 April 748 a Died 814 01 28 28 January 814Aachen FranciaBurialAachen CathedralSpousesDesiderata m c 770 annulled 771 Hildegard m 771 d 783 Fastrada m c 783 d 794 Luitgard m c 794 d 800 IssueAmong othersPepin the Hunchback Charles the Younger Pepin of Italy Louis the PiousDynastyCarolingianFatherPepin the ShortMotherBertrada of LaonReligionChalcedonian ChristianitySignum manus A member of the Frankish Carolingian dynasty Charlemagne was the eldest son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon With his brother Carloman I he became king of the Franks in 768 following Pepins s death and became sole ruler in 771 As king he continued his father s policy to provide protection for the papacy and became its chief defender removing the Lombards from power in northern Italy in 774 Charlemagne s reign saw a period of expansion that led to the conquests of Bavaria Saxony and northern Spain as well as other campaigns that led Charlemagne to extend his rule over a vast area of Europe He spread Christianity to his new conquests often by force as seen at the Massacre of Verden perpetrated against the Saxons In 800 Charlemagne was crowned as emperor in Rome by Pope Leo III While historians debate about the exact significance of the coronation the title represented the height of the prestige and authority he had achieved Charlemagne s position as the first emperor in the West in over 300 years brought him into conflict with the contemporary Eastern Roman Empire based in Constantinople Through his assumption of the imperial title he is considered the forerunner of the line of Holy Roman Emperors that lasted into the nineteenth century As king and emperor Charlemagne engaged in a number of reforms in administration law education military organization and religion which shaped Europe for centuries The stability of his reign saw the beginning of a period of significant cultural activity known as the Carolingian Renaissance Charlemagne died in 814 and was laid to rest in the Aachen Cathedral within his imperial capital city Aachen He was succeeded by his only surviving son Louis the Pious After Louis the Frankish kingdom would be divided eventually coalescing into West and East Francia which would respectively become France and the Holy Roman Empire Charlemagne s profound impact on the Middle Ages and the influence on the vast territory he ruled has led him to be called the Father of Europe He is seen as a folk hero and founding figure by many European states and a number of historical royal houses of Europe trace their lineage back to him Charlemagne has been the subject of artworks monuments and literature during and after the medieval period and has received veneration in the Catholic Church Contents 1 Name 2 Early life and rise to power 2 1 Political background and ancestry 2 2 Birth 2 3 Language and education 2 4 Accession and joint reign with Carloman 3 King of the Franks and the Lombards 3 1 Annexation of the Lombard kingdom 3 2 Frontier wars in Saxony and Spain 3 3 Building the dynasty 3 4 Saxon resistance and reprisal 3 5 Benevento Bavaria and Pepin s revolt 3 6 Continued wars with the Saxons and Avars 4 Reign as emperor 4 1 Coronation 4 2 Governing the empire 4 3 Conflict and diplomacy with the east 4 4 Wars with the Danes 4 5 Final years and death 5 Legacy 5 1 Political legacy 5 2 Carolingian Renaissance 5 3 Memory and historiography 5 4 Religious impact and veneration 6 Wives concubines and children 7 Appearance and iconography 8 Notes 9 References 9 1 Citations 9 2 Bibliography 10 Further reading 10 1 Primary sources in English translation 10 2 Secondary works 11 External linksName editVarious languages were spoken in Charlemagne s world and he was known to contemporaries as Karlus in the Old High German he spoke Karlo to Romance speakers and Carolus or alternatively Karolus 2 in Latin the formal language of writing and diplomacy 3 Charles is the modern English form of these names The name Charlemagne by which the emperor is normally known in English comes from the French Charles le magne meaning Charles the Great 1 In modern German he is known as Karl der Grosse 4 The Latin epithet magnus great may have been associated with him already in his lifetime but this is not certain The contemporary Royal Frankish Annals routinely call him Carolus magnus rex Charles the great king 5 As an epithet it is certainly attested in the works of the Poeta Saxo around 900 and it had become commonly applied to him by 1000 CE 6 Charlemagne was named after his grandfather Charles Martel 7 The name and its derivatives are unattested before their use by Charles Martel and Charlemagne 8 Karolus was adapted into Slavic languages as their word for king present in modern languages e g Russian korol Polish krol and Slovak kral either through the influence of Charlemagne or his great grandson Charles the Fat 9 Early life and rise to power editPolitical background and ancestry edit nbsp Francia early 8th century By the sixth century the western Germanic tribe of the Franks had been Christianised due in considerable measure to the conversion of their king Clovis I to Catholicism 10 The Franks had established a kingdom in Gaul in the wake of the Fall of the Western Roman Empire 11 This kingdom Francia grew to encompass nearly all of modern France and Switzerland along with parts of modern Germany and the Low Countries under the rule of the Merovingian dynasty 12 Francia was often divided under different Merovingian kings due to the partible inheritance practiced by the Franks 13 The late 7th century saw a period of war and instability following the murder of King Childeric II which led to factional struggles among the Frankish aristocrats 14 In 687 Pepin of Herstal mayor of the palace of Austrasia ended the strife between various kings and their mayors with his victory at the Battle of Tertry 15 Pepin was the grandson of two important figures of Austrasia Arnulf of Metz and Pepin of Landen 16 The mayors of the palace had gained influence as the Merovingian kings own power waned due to the divisions of the kingdom and several succession crises 17 Pepin was eventually succeeded by his son Charles later known as Charles Martel 18 Charles did not support a Merovingian successor upon the death of King Theuderic IV in 737 leaving the throne vacant 19 Charles made plans to divide the kingdom between his sons Carloman and Pepin the Short who succeeded upon his death in 741 20 The brothers placed the Merovingian Childeric III on the throne in 743 21 In 747 Carloman abdicated and entered a monastery at Rome Carloman had at least two sons and the elder Drogo took his place 22 Birth edit Charlemagne was the first born son of Pepin the Short and his wife Bertada 23 a member of an influential noble Austrasian family 24 His birth date is uncertain though was most likely in 748 25 26 27 28 An older tradition based on three sources gives a birth year of 742 The 9th century biographer Einhard reports Charlemagne as being in his seventy second year at his death the Royal Frankish Annals imprecisely gives his age at death as about 71 and his original epitaph called him a septuagenarian 29 Einhard claimed not to know much of Charlemagne s early life Some modern scholars believe that not knowing the emperor s true age he nonetheless presented an exact date in keeping with the Roman imperial biographies of Suetonius which he used as a model 30 31 All three sources may have been influenced by Psalm 90 The days of our years are threescore years and ten 32 The German scholar Karl Werner challenged the acceptance of 742 and cited an addition to the Annales Petaviani which record Charlemagne s birth in 747 33 c Lorsch Abbey commemorated Charlemagne s date of birth as 2 April from the mid 9th century and this date is likely to be genuine 34 35 As the annalists recorded the start of the year from Easter rather than 1 January the historian Matthias Becher built off of Werner s work and showed that 2 April in the year recorded would have actually been in 748 25 The date 2 April 748 has therefore become widely accepted among scholars 36 25 26 Roger Collins believing that Pepin and Bertrada did not marry until 749 considers that Charlemagne would have been an illegitimate child 28 Charlemagne s place of birth is also unknown the Frankish palaces in Vaires sur Marne and Quierzy are among the places suggested by scholars 37 Pepin the Short held an assembly in Duren in 748 but it cannot be proved either that it took place in April or that Bertrada was with him 38 Language and education edit nbsp Sketch thought to be of Charlemagne c 800 Einhard speaks of Charlemagne s patrius sermo native tongue 37 Most scholars have identified this as a form of Old High German probably a Rhenish Franconian dialect 39 40 Due to the prevalence in Francia of the rustic Roman he was probably functionally bilingual in both Germanic and Romance dialects from a young age 37 Charlemagne also spoke Latin and according to Einhard could understand and perhaps speak some Greek 41 Charlemagne s father Pepin had been educated at the abbey of Saint Denis though the extent of Charlemagne s formal education is unknown 42 He almost certainly was trained in military matters as a youth in Pepin s court 43 which was itinerant 44 Charlemagne also asserted his own education in the liberal arts when encouraging their study by his children and others though it is unknown whether his study was as a child or at court during his later life 43 The question of Charlemagne s literacy is subject to debate and there is little direct evidence from contemporary sources He normally had texts read aloud to him and dictated responses and decrees though this was not unusual even for a literate ruler at the time 45 The German historian Johannes Fried considers it likely that Charlemagne would have been able to read 46 though the medievalist Paul Dutton writes that the evidence for his ability to read is circumstantial and inferential at best 47 and concludes it likely that he never properly mastered the skill 48 Einhard makes no direct mention of Charlemagne reading but recorded that he only attempted to learn to write later in life 49 Accession and joint reign with Carloman edit There are only occasional references to Charlemagne in the Frankish annals during his father s lifetime 50 By 751 or 752 Pepin had deposed Childeric and replaced him as king 51 Early Carolingian influenced sources claim that Pepin s seizure of the throne was sanctioned beforehand by Pope Stephen II 52 but modern historians dispute this 53 21 It is possible that papal approval came only when Stephen travelled to Francia in 754 apparently to request Pepin s aid against the Lombards and on this trip anointed Pepin as king legitimizing his rule 54 53 Charlemagne had been sent to greet and escort the Pope and he and his younger brother Carloman were anointed along with their father 55 Around the same time Pepin sidelined Drogo sending him and his brother to a monastery 56 nbsp 20th century painting of Charlemagne s coronation at Noyon in 768 Charlemagne began issuing charters in his own name in 760 In the following year he joined his father s campaign against Aquitaine 57 Aquitaine led by Duke Hunald was constantly in rebellion during Pepin s reign 58 Pepin fell ill on campaign there and died on 24 September 768 and Charlemagne and Carloman succeeded their father 59 They had separate coronations Charlemagne at Noyon and Carloman at Soissons each on 9 October 60 The brothers maintained separate palaces and separate spheres of influence though they were considered joint rulers of a single Frankish kingdom 61 The Royal Frankish Annals report that Charlemagne ruled Austrasia and Carloman ruled Burgundy Provence Aquitaine and Alamannia with no mention made of which brother received Neustria 61 The immediate concern of the brothers was the ongoing uprising in Aquitane 62 While they marched into Aquitaine together Carloman returned to Francia for unknown reasons and Charlemagne completed the campaign on his own 62 Charlemagne s capture of Duke Hunald marked the end of the ten years of war that had been waged in the attempt to bring Aquitaine in line 62 Carloman s refusal to participate in the war against Aquitaine led to a rift between the two kings 62 63 It is uncertain why Carloman abandoned the campaign It is possible that the brothers disagreed over control over the territory 62 64 or that Carloman was focusing on securing his rule in the north of Francia 64 Regardless of this strife between the kings they maintained a joint rule out of practicality 65 Both Charlemagne and Carloman worked to obtain the support of the clergy and local elites to solidify their positions 66 Pope Stephen III was elected in 768 but was briefly deposed by Antipope Constantine II before being restored to Rome 67 Stephen s Papacy suffered from continuing factional struggles so he sought the support of the Frankish kings 68 Both brothers sent troops to Rome each hoping to exert their own influence 69 The Lombard king Desiderius also had interests in the affairs in Rome and Charlemagne attempted to gain him as an ally 70 Desiderius already had alliances with Bavaria and Benevento through the marriages of his daughters to their dukes 71 and an alliance with Charlemagne would add to his influence 70 Charlemagne s mother Betrada went on his behalf to Lombardy in 770 where she brokered a marriage alliance before returning to Francia with Charlemagne s new bride 72 Desiderius s daughter is traditionally named Desiderata though she may have been named Gerperga 73 62 Being anxious at the prospect of a Frankish Lombard alliance Pope Stephen sent a letter to both Frankish kings decrying the marriage while also separately seeking closer ties with Carloman 74 Charlemagne had already had a relationship with the Frankish noblewoman Himiltrude having a son in 769 they named Pepin 60 Paul the Deacon wrote in his 784 Gesta Episcoporum Mettensium that Pepin was born before legal marriage but does not say whether Charles and Himiltrude were never married were joined in a non canonical marriage or friedelehe or if they married after Pepin was born 75 Pope Stephen s letter described the relationship as a legitimate marriage but he had a vested interest in preventing Charlemagne from marrying Desiderius s daughter 76 Carloman died suddenly on 4 December 771 leaving Charlemagne as sole king of the Franks 77 He moved immediately to secure his hold on his brother s territory forcing Carloman s widow Gerberga to flee to Desiderius s court in Lombardy with their children 78 79 In response Charlemagne ended his marriage to Desiderius s daughter and married Hildegard daughter of count Gerold a powerful magnate from Carloman s kingdom 79 This was both a reaction to Desiderius s sheltering of Carloman s family 80 as well as a move to secure Gerold s support 81 82 King of the Franks and the Lombards editAnnexation of the Lombard kingdom edit nbsp Political map of Europe in 771 showing the Franks and their neighbors Charlemagne s first campaigning season as sole king of the Franks was spent on the eastern frontier in his first war against the Saxons Saxons had been engaging in border raiding against the Frankish kingdom when Charlemagne responded destroying the pagan irminsul shrine at Eresburg and seizing the Saxons gold and silver 83 The success of the war helped secure Charlemagne s reputation among his brother s former supporters as well as providing funds for further military action 84 The campaign was the beginning of over thirty years of nearly continuous warfare against the Saxons by Charlemagne 85 Pope Adrian I succeeded Stephen III in 772 and sought the return of papal control of cities that had been captured by Desiderius 86 As he was unable to get results by dealing with the Lombard king directly Adrian sent emissaries to Charlemagne to gain his support in recovering papal territory Charlemagne in response to this appeal and the dynastic threat posed by the presence of Carloman s sons in the Lombard court gathered his forces in order to intervene 87 He first sought diplomatic solutions by offering gold to Desiderius in exchange for the return of the papal territories and his nephews 88 These overtures were rejected and Charlemagne s army with command divided between himself and his uncle Bernard crossed the Alps to besiege the Lombard capital Pavia in late 773 89 Charlemagne s second son also named Charles had been born in 772 and Charlemagne brought the child and his wife to the camp at Pavia Hildegard was pregnant and gave birth to a daughter named Adelhaid The baby was sent back to Francia but died on the way 89 Charlemagne left Bernard to maintain the siege at Pavia while he took a force to capture Verona where Desiderius s son Adalgis had taken Carloman s sons 90 Charlemagne captured the city and no further record exists of his nephews or of Carloman s wife and their fates are unknown 91 92 The historian Janet Nelson likens them to the princes in the tower of the Wars of the Roses 93 Fried puts forth the possibilities that the boys were forced into a monastery which was a common solution for dynastic issues or that an act of murder smooth ed Charlemagne s ascent to power 94 Adalgis was not captured by Charlemagne and fled to Constantinople 95 nbsp Pope Adrian receiving Charlemagne at Rome Charlemagne left the siege in April 774 to celebrate Easter at Rome 96 Pope Adrian arranged for a formal welcome of the Frankish king and the two swore oaths to each other over the relics of St Peter 97 Adrian presented a copy of the agreement between Pepin and Stephen III outlining the papal lands and rights Pepin had agreed to protect and restore 98 It is unclear to which exact lands and rights the agreement applied and this would remain a point of dispute for centuries 99 Charlemagne deposited a copy of the agreement in the chapel above St Peter s tomb as a symbol of his commitment then left Rome to continue the siege at Pavia 100 Shortly after his return to Pavia disease struck the besieged Lombards and they surrendered the city by June 101 Charlemagne deposed Desiderius and took the title of King of the Lombards for himself 102 The complete takeover of one kingdom by another was extraordinary Collins 103 and the authors of The Carolingian World say it was without parallel 92 Charlemagne was able to secure the support of the Lombard nobles and Italian urban elites to seize power in what was a mostly peaceful annexation 103 104 The historian Rosamond McKitterick suggests that the elective nature of the Lombard monarchy eased Charlemagne s takeover 105 Collins attributes the easy conquest to the Lombard elite s presupposition that rightful authority was in the hands of the one powerful enough to seize it 103 Charlemagne shortly returned to Francia with the Lombard royal treasury and with Desiderius and his family who would be confined to a monastery for the rest of their days 106 Frontier wars in Saxony and Spain edit nbsp Charlemagne s additions to the Frankish KingdomSaxons had taken advantage of Charlemagne s absence in Italy to raid the Frankish borderlands leading to a Frankish counter raid in the autumn of 774 and a campaign of reprisal against the Saxons in 775 107 Charlemagne was soon drawn back to Italy as Duke Hrodgaud of Friuli rebelled against him 108 Charlemagne quickly crushed the rebellion and distributed Hrodgaud s lands to Franks in order to consolidate his rule in Lombardy 109 He wintered in Italy and further consolidated his power by issuing charters and legislation as well as taking Lombard hostages 110 In the midst of the 775 Saxon and Friulian campaigns his daughter Rotrude was born in Francia 111 Returning north Charlemagne waged another brief but destructive campaign against the Saxons in 776 d This led to the submission of many Saxons who turned over captives and lands as well as submitting to baptism as Christians 113 In 777 Charlemagne held an assembly at Paderborn with both Frankish and Saxon men and many more Saxons came under his rule but the Saxon magnate Widukind fled to Denmark to make preparations for a new rebellion 114 Also present at the Paderborn assembly were representatives of dissident factions from al Andalus or Muslim Spain These included the son and son in law of Yusuf ibn Abd al Rahman al Fihri the former governor of Cordoba who had been ousted by the Caliph Abd al Rahman in 756 They sought Charlemagne s support for al Fihri s restoration Also present was Sulayman al Arabi governor of Barcelona and Girona who wished to become part of the Frankish kingdom and receive Charlemagne s protection rather than remain under the rule of Cordoba 115 Charlemagne seeing an opportunity to strengthen the security of the kingdom s southern frontier and further extend his influence agreed to intervene 116 Crossing the Pyrenees his army found little resistance until an ambush by Basque forces in 778 at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass The Franks were defeated in the battle and withdrew from the campaign though with most of their army intact 117 Building the dynasty edit nbsp Adrian crowning Louis as Charlemagne looks on Charlemagne returned to Francia to greet his newly born twin sons Louis and Lothair who had been born while he was in Spain 118 Lothair would die in infancy 119 Again Saxons had seized on the king s absence to raid Charlemagne sent an army to Saxony in 779 120 while he took time to hold assemblies legislate and address a famine in Francia 121 Hildegard gave birth to another daughter Bertha 119 Charlemagne himself returned to Saxony in 780 holding assemblies in which he received hostages from Saxon nobles and oversaw their baptisms 122 In the spring of 781 Charlemagne and Hildegard traveled with their four younger children to Rome leaving Pepin and Charles at Worms to make a journey first requested by Adrian in 775 119 Adrian baptized Carloman and renamed him Pepin resulting in him sharing a name with his half brother 123 Louis and the newly renamed Pepin were then anointed and crowned Pepin was appointed as king of the Lombards and Louis as king of Aquitaine 112 This act was not merely nominal as the young kings were sent to reside in their kingdoms under the care of regents and advisors 124 A delegation from the Byzantine regent Empress Irene came to meet Charlemagne during his stay in Rome who agreed to betroth his daughter Rotrude to Irene s son the Emperor Constantine VI 125 Hildegard also gave birth to her eighth child Gisela during this trip to Italy 126 After the royal family s return to Francia she had her final pregnancy and died from resulting complications on 30 April 783 The child named after her died shortly thereafter 127 Charlemagne commissioned epitaphs for both his wife and daughter and arranged for mass to be held daily at Hildegard s tomb 127 Charlemagne s mother Betrada died shortly after Hildegard on 12 July 783 128 By the end of the year Charlemagne was remarried to Fastrada the daughter of the East Frankish count Radolf 129 Saxon resistance and reprisal edit nbsp Charlemagne receiving the submission of Widukind at Paderborn in 785 painted c 1840 by Ary Scheffer In summer 782 Widukind returned from Denmark to attack the Frankish positions in Saxony 130 He defeated a Frankish army possibly due to rivalry among the Frankish counts leading it 131 After learning of the defeat Charlemagne came to Verden but Widukind fled before his arrival Charlemagne summoned the Saxon magnates to an assembly and compelled them to turn over prisoners to him as he regarded their previous acts as a treachery The annals record that Charlemagne had 4 500 Saxon prisoners beheaded in what is called the Massacre of Verden 132 Fried writes that although this figure may be exaggerated the basic truth of the event is not in doubt 133 The historian Alessandro Barbero regards it as perhaps the greatest stain on his reputation 134 Charlemagne issued the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae legal code most likely in the immediate aftermath of or as a precursor for the massacre 135 Featuring a harsh set of laws that included death penalty for pagan practices the Capitulatio constituted a program for the forced conversion of the Saxons Barbero 136 and was aimed at suppressing Saxon identity Nelson 137 Charlemagne s focus for the next several years would be his attempt to complete the subjugation of the Saxons Concentrating first in Westphalia in 783 he pushed into Thuringia in 784 as his son Charles the Younger continued operations in the west At each stage of the campaigns the Frankish armies seized wealth and carried Saxon captives into slavery 138 Unusually Charlemagne campaigned through the winter rather than resting his army 139 By 785 Charlemagne had suppressed the Saxon resistance and commanded complete control of Westphalia That summer he met Widukind and convinced him to end his resistance Widukind agreed to be baptized with Charlemagne as his godfather ending this phase of the Saxon Wars 140 Benevento Bavaria and Pepin s revolt edit Charlemagne travelled to Italy in 786 arriving by Christmas Aiming to extend his influence further into southern Italy he marched into the Duchy of Benevento 141 Duke Arechis fled to a fortified position at Salerno before offering Charlemagne his fealty Charlemagne accepted his submission along with hostages who included Arechis s son Grimoald 142 While in Italy Charlemagne also met with envoys from Constantinople Empress Irene had called the 787 Second Council of Nicaea but did not inform Charlemagne nor invite any Frankish bishops Charlemagne probably in reaction to the perceived slight of this exclusion broke the betrothal between his daughter Rotrude and Constantine VI 143 nbsp Solidus of Benevento with Grimoald s effigy and Charlemagne s name DOMS CAR RX the Lord King Charles After Charlemagne left Italy Arechis sent envoys to Irene to offer an alliance He suggested she send a Byzantine army along with Adalgis the exiled son of Desiderus to remove the Franks from power in Lombardy 144 Before his plans could be finalised both Aldechis and his elder son Romuald died of illness within weeks of each other 145 Charlemagne sent Grimoald back to Benevento to serve as duke and return it to Frankish suzerainty 146 The Byzantine army did invade but were repulsed by the Frankish and Lombard forces 147 As affairs were being settled in Italy Charlemagne turned his attention to Bavaria Bavaria was ruled by Duke Tassilo Charlemagne s first cousin who had been installed by Pepin the Short in 748 148 Tassilo s sons were also grandsons of Desiderius and therefore a potential threat to Charlemagne s rule in Lombardy 149 The two neighbouring rulers had a growing rivalry throughout their reigns but had sworn oaths of peace to each other in 781 150 In 784 Rotpert Charlemagne s viceroy in Italy accused Tassilo of conspiring with Widukind in Saxony and unsuccessfully attacked the Bavarian city of Bolzano 151 Charlemagne gathered his forces to prepare an invasion of Bavaria in 787 Dividing the army the Franks launched a three pronged attack Quickly realizing the poor position he was in Tassilo agreed to surrender and recognise Charlemagne as his overlord 152 The next year Tassilo was accused of plotting with the Avars to attack Charlemagne Tassilo was deposed and sent to a monastery and Charlemagne absorbed Bavaria into his kingdom 153 Charlemagne spent several of the next years based in Regensburg largely focused on consolidating his rule Bavaria and warring against the Avars 154 Successful campaigns against the Avars were launched from Bavaria and Italy in 788 155 and Charlemagne led campaigns in 791 and 792 156 In 789 Charlemagne gave Charles the Younger rule over Maine in Neustria leaving Pepin the Hunchback as his only son without lands 157 Charlemagne s relationship with Himiltrude was by this point apparently seen as definitively illegitimate at Charlemagne s court and Pepin was as a result being sidelined in the succession 158 In 792 as his father and brothers were all gathered at Regensburg Pepin conspired with Bavarian nobles to assassinate them and install himself as king The plot was discovered and revealed to Charlemagne before it could go ahead Pepin was sent to a monastery and many of his co conspirators were executed 159 The early 790s saw a marked focus on ecclesiastical affairs by Charlemagne He summoned a council at Regensburg in 792 to address the theological controversy over the Adoptionism doctrine in the Spanish church as well as to formulate a response to the Second Council of Nicea 160 The council condemned Adoptionism as a heresy and led to the production of the Libri Carolini a detailed argument against Nicea s canons 161 In 794 Charlemagne called another council at Frankfurt 162 The council confirmed Regensburg s positions on Adoptionism and Nicea recognised the deposition of Tassilo set grain prices reformed the Frankish coinage system forbade abbesses to give blessings to men and endorsed prayer in vernacular languages 163 Soon after the council Fastrada fell ill and died 164 Charlemagne married the Alamannian noblewoman Luitgard shortly after 165 166 Continued wars with the Saxons and Avars edit Charlemagne gathered an army after the council of Frankfurt as Saxon resistance continued This was the beginning of a series of annual campaigns by Charlemagne that would last through 799 167 The campaigns of the 790s were even more destructive than those of earlier decades with the annal writers frequently referring to Charlemagne burning ravaging devastating and laying waste to the Saxon lands 168 Charlemagne forcibly removed a large number of Saxons to Francia installing Frankish elites and soldiers in their place 169 Charlemagne s extended wars in Saxony led to him establishing his court at Aachen which had easy access to the frontier At Aachen he built a large palace including a chapel which is now part of the Aachen Cathedral 170 It was during this period that Einhard joined the court 171 In the south Pepin of Italy engaged in further wars against the Avars which led to the collapse of their kingdom and the expansion of Frankish rule eastwards 172 During the wars of the 790s Charlemagne also worked to expand his influence through diplomatic means with particular attention on the Anglo Saxon kingdoms of Britain Charles the Younger proposed a marriage pact with the daughter of King Offa of Mercia but Offa insisted that Charlemagne s daughter Bertha also be given as a bride for his own son 173 Charlemagne refused this arrangement and the marriage did not occur 174 Charlemagne and Offa did enter into a formal peace in 796 protecting trade and securing the rights of English pilgrims to pass through Francia on their way to Rome 175 Charlemagne also served as host and protector of several deposed English rulers who were later restored Eadbehrt of Kent Ecgberht King of Wessex and Eardwulf of Northumbria 176 177 Nelson writes that Charlemagne treated the Anglo Saxon kingdoms like satellite states even establishing direct relations with English bishops 178 Charlemagne also made an alliance with Alfonso II of Asturias though Einhard describes Alfonso as a dependent of Charlemagne 179 Reign as emperor editCoronation edit nbsp Imperial Coronation of Charlemagne by Friedrich Kaulbach 1861 Since Leo III became pope in 795 he had faced political opposition In April 799 his enemies accused him of various crimes and physically attacked him attempting to remove his eyes and tongue 180 Leo escaped and fled north to seek Charlemagne s help 181 Charlemagne continued his campaign against the Saxons before breaking off to meet Leo at Paderborn in September 182 183 Charlemagne hearing evidence from both the Pope and his enemies sent Leo back to Rome along with royal legates who had instructions to reinstate the Pope and investigate the matter further 184 It was not until August of the next year that Charlemagne himself made plans to go to Rome after an extensive tour of his lands in Neustria 184 185 Charlemagne met Leo in November near Mentana at the twelfth milestone outside Rome the traditional location where Roman emperors began their formal entry to the city 185 Charlemagne presided over an assembly to hear the charges but believed that no one could sit in judgement of the Pope Instead Leo swore an oath on 23 December declaring his innocence of all charges 186 At mass in St Peter s Basilica on Christmas Day 800 Leo acclaimed Charlemagne as emperor and crowned him In doing so Charlemagne became the first reigning emperor in the west since the deposition of Romulus Augustulus in 476 187 His son Charles the Younger was anointed as king by Leo at the same time 188 nbsp Coronation of Charlemagne drawing by Julius Schnorr von Karolsfeld 1840 Historians differ as to the intentions behind the imperial coronation the extent to which Charlemagne was aware of it or participated in its planning and the significance of the events both to those present and for Charlemagne s reign 182 Contemporary Frankish and papal sources differ in their emphasis and representation of events 189 Einhard insists that Charlemagne would not have entered the church had he known of the Pope s plan modern historians have regarded his report as truthful or rejected it as a literary device used as a way to signal Charlemagne s humility 190 Collins argues that the actions surrounding the coronation indicate that it was planned by Charlemagne as early as his meeting with Leo in 799 191 and Fried writes that Charlemagne planned to adopt the title of emperor by 798 at the latest 192 In the years before the coronation Charlemagne s courtier Alcuin had referred to Charlemagne s realm as an Imperium Christianum Christian Empire wherein just as the inhabitants of the Roman Empire had been united by a common Roman citizenship presumably this new empire would be united by a common Christian faith 193 This is the view of the French scholar Henri Pirenne who says Charles was the Emperor of the ecclesia as the Pope conceived it of the Roman Church regarded as the universal Church 194 nbsp Pope Leo III crowning Charlemagne from Chroniques de France ou de Saint Denis vol 1 France second quarter of 14th century For both Leo and Charlemagne the Roman Empire remained a significant contemporary power in European politics especially in Italy The Byzantines continued to hold a substantial portion of Italy with borders not far south of Rome Empress Irene had seized the throne from her son Constantine VI in 797 deposing and blinding him 195 Irene was the first reigning Byzantine empress and faced opposition in Constantinople both because of her gender and her means of accession 196 One of the earliest narrative sources for the coronation the Annals of Lorsch presented the presence of a female ruler in Constantinople as a vacancy in the imperial title which therefore provided a justification for Leo to crown Charlemagne 197 Pirenne disputes this saying that the coronation was not in any sense explained by the fact that at this moment a woman was reigning in Constantinople 198 Leo s main motivations may have been the desire to increase his own standing after his political difficulties placing himself as a power broker and securing Charlemagne as a powerful ally and protector 199 The Byzantine Empire s lack of ability to influence events in Italy and support the papacy were also important in Leo s position 199 The Royal Frankish Annals emphasize that Leo prostrated himself before Charlemagne after crowning him an act of submission standard in Roman coronation rituals from the time of Diocletian This account presents Leo not as Charlemagne s superior but as merely acting as the agent of the Roman people recognising their acclamation of Charlemagne as emperor 200 The historian Henry Mayr Harting argues that the assumption of the imperial title by Charlemagne was an effort to incorporate the Saxons into the Frankish realm as they did not have a native tradition of kingship 201 However Costambeys et al note in The Carolingian World that since Saxony had not been in the Roman empire it is hard to see on what basis an emperor would have been any more welcomed 199 These authors argue that the decision to take the title of emperor was aimed at furthering Charlemagne s influence in Italy as an appeal to traditional authority recognised by Italian elites both within and especially outside his current control 199 nbsp The Coronation of Charlemagne by assistants of Raphael c 1516 1517 Collins agrees that becoming emperor gave Charlemagne the right to try to impose his rule over the whole of Italy and regards this as a motivation for the coronation 202 He also notes the element of political and military risk 202 inherent in the affair due to the opposition of the Byzantine Empire as well as potential opposition from the Frankish elite as the imperial title could draw him further into Mediterranean politics 203 Collins sees several of Charlemagne actions as attempts to ensure that his new title was cast in a distinctly Frankish context 204 Charlemagne s coronation led to a centuries long ideological conflict between his successors and Constantinople termed the problem of two emperors e as it could be seen as a rejection or usurpation of the Byzantine emperors claim to be the universal preeminent rulers of Christendom 205 The historian James Muldoon writes that Charlemagne may have had a more limited view of his role seeing the title as simply representing dominion over the lands he already ruled 206 Nonetheless the title of emperor gave Charlemagne enhanced prestige and ideological authority 207 208 He immediately incorporated his new title into the documents he issued adopting the formula Charles most serene Augustus crowned by God great peaceful emperor governing the Roman empire and who is by the mercy of God king of the Franks and the Lombards f as opposed to the earlier form Charles by the grace of God king of the Franks and Lombards and patrician of the Romans g 2 The avoidance of the specific claim of being a Roman emperor as an opposed to the more neutral emperor governing the Roman empire may have been designed to improve relations with the Byzantines 209 This formulation alongside the continuation of his earlier royal titles may also represent a view of his role as emperor as merely being the ruler of the people of the city of Rome just as he was of the Franks and the Lombards 209 210 Governing the empire edit nbsp Charlemagne s throne in Aachen Cathedral Charlemagne left Italy in the summer of 801 after providing his judgement on several ecclesiastical disputes in Rome 211 He would not return to Rome again 207 Although continuing trends and style of rulership established in the 790s 212 the period of Charlemagne s reign from 801 onward marks a distinct phase 213 characterized by a more sedentary rule from Aachen 207 While there continued to be conflict until the end of Charlemagne s reign the relative peace of the imperial period saw an increased focus on internal governance The Franks continued to wage war although they increasingly focused on defending and securing the empire s frontiers 214 215 and Charlemagne rarely led armies personally 216 A significant expansion of the Spanish March counties was achieved through a series of campaigns by Louis against the Emirate of Cordoba culminating in the capture of Barcelona in 801 217 The Capitulare missorum generale issued in 802 called the programmatic capitulary was an expansive piece of legislation with provisions governing the conduct of royal officials and requiring that all free men make an oath of loyalty to him 218 219 The capitulary reformed the institution of the missi dominici officials who would now be assigned in pairs a cleric and a lay aristocrat to administer justice and oversee governance within defined territories 220 The emperor also ordered the revision of the Lombard and Frankish law codes 221 In addition to the missi Charlemagne also ruled parts the empire through his sons as sub kings 222 Though both Pepin and Louis had some devolved authority as kings in Italy and Aquitaine Charlemagne still had ultimate authority and intervened in matters directly 223 Charles their elder brother had been given rule over lands in Neustria in 789 or 790 and had been made a king in 800 224 The 806 charter Divisio Regnorum division of the realm set the terms of Charlemagne s succession 225 Charles as his eldest son in good favour was given the largest share of the inheritance with rule of Francia proper along with Saxony Nordgau and parts of Alemannia The two younger sons were confirmed in their kingdoms and gained additional territories with most of Bavaria and Alemmannia given to Pepin and Provence Septimania and parts of Burgundy to Louis 226 Charlemagne did not address the inheritance of the imperial title 224 The Divisio also provided that in the event that any of the brothers predeceased Charlemagne their own sons would inherit their share and urged peace among all his descendants 227 Conflict and diplomacy with the east edit nbsp 15th century woodcut of Charlemagne and Irene Following his coronation Charlemagne sought recognition of his imperial title from Constantinople 228 Several delegations were exchanged between Charlemagne and Irene in 802 and 803 The contemporary Byzantine chronicler Thophanes claims that Charlemagne made an offer of marriage to Irene which she was close to accepting 229 Irene however was deposed and replaced by Nikephoros I who was unwilling to recognize Charlemagne as emperor 229 The two empires came into conflict over control of the Adriatic Sea especially Istria and Veneto several times during Nikephoros reign In 810 Charlemagne sent envoys to Constantinople to make peace giving up his claims to Veneto Nikephoros died in battle before the envoys could leave Constantinople but Nikephoros son in law and successor Michael I confirmed the peace sending his own envoys to Aachen to recognize Charlemagne as emperor 230 Charlemagne soon issued the first Frankish coins mentioning his imperial title though papal coins minted in Rome had used the titles as early as 800 231 Charlemagne had sent envoys and initiated diplomatic contact with the Abbasid caliph Harun al Rashid in the 790s due to their mutual interest in affairs in Spain 232 As an early sign of friendship Charlemagne requested an elephant as a gift from Harun Harun later provided an elephant named Abul Abbas which arrived at Aachen in 802 233 Harun also sought to undermine Charlemagne s relations with the Byzantines with whom he was at war As part of his outreach Harun gave Charlemagne nominal rule of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem as well as other gifts 234 According to Einhard Charlemagne zealously strove to make friendships with kings beyond the seas in order that he might get some help and relief to the Christians living under their rule A surviving administrative document the Basel roll shows the work his agents performed on the ground in Palestine in furtherance of this goal 235 h Harun s death lead to a succession crisis and under his successors churches and synagogues were destroyed in the caliphate 236 Unable to intervene directly Charlemagne sent specially minted coins and arms to the eastern Christians in order to defend and restore their churches and monasteries The coins with their inscriptions also served as an important tool of imperial propaganda 237 Johannes Fried writes that deteriorating relations with Baghdad after Harun s death may have been the impetus for the renewed negotiations with Constantinople that would lead to Charlemagne s peace with Michael in 811 238 As emperor Charlemagne became involved in a religious dispute between eastern and western Christians over the recitation of the Niceno Constantinopolitan Creed the fundamental statement of orthodox Christian belief The original text of the creed adopted at the Council of Constantinople professed that the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father However a tradition developed in Western Europe that the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father and the Son inserting the Latin term filioque into the Creed 239 This difference in tradition did not cause significant conflict until 807 when Frankish monks in Bethlehem were denounced as heretics by a Greek monk for using the filioque form 239 The Frankish monks appealed the dispute to Rome where Pope Leo affirmed the text of the creed omitting the phrase and also passed the report on to Charlemagne 240 Charlemagne summoned a council at Aachen in 809 which defended the use of filioque and sent this decision to Rome Leo consented that the Franks could maintain their tradition but asserted that the canonical creed did not include filioque 241 Leo commissioned two silver shields with the Creed in Latin and Greek omitting the filioque which he hung in St Peter s Basilica 239 242 Another product of the council of Aachen was the so called Handbook of 809 an illustrated calendrical astronomical and computistical compendium 243 Wars with the Danes edit nbsp Europe at the death of the Charlemagne in 814 Scandinavia had been brought into contact with the Frankish world through Charlemagne s continuous wars with the Saxons 244 Raids on Charlemagne s lands by Danes began around 800 245 Charlemagne engaged in his final campaign in Saxony in 804 taking control of Saxon territory east of the Elbe and removing the Saxon population giving the land to his Obotrite allies 246 During this campaign the Danish king Gudfred uneasy at the extension of Frankish power offered to meet with Charlemagne to arrange peace and possibly hand over Saxons that had fled to him 245 247 These talks were not successful for unknown reasons 247 The northern frontier was quiet until 808 when Gudfred along with some allied Slavic tribes led an incursion into the Obotrite lands extracting tribute from over half the territory 248 245 Charles the Younger led an army across the Elbe in response but only attacked some of Gudfred s Slavic allies 249 Gudfred again attempted diplomatic overtures in 809 but it seems no peace was made 250 Danish pirates raided Frisia in 810 though it is uncertain if they were connected to Gudfred 251 Charlemagne sent an army to secure Frisia while he himself led a force against Gudfred who had reportedly challenged the emperor to face him directly in battle 216 251 The battle never took place as Gudfred was murdered by two of his own men before Charlemagne s arrival 215 Gudfred s nephew and successor Hemming immediately sued for peace and a commission led by Charlemagne s cousin Wala reached a final settlement with the Danes in 811 216 The Danes did not pose a threat for the remainder of Charlemagne s reign but the effects of this war and their earlier expansion in Saxony would help create the factors for the intense Viking raids across Europe later in the ninth century 252 253 Final years and death edit nbsp A portion of the 814 death shroud of Charlemagne It represents a quadriga and was manufactured in Constantinople The Carolingian dynasty had multiple losses in 810 and 811 as Charlemagne s sister Gisela his daughter Rotrude and his sons Pepin the Hunchback Pepin of Italy and Charles the Younger died 254 The deaths of Charles the Younger and Pepin of Italy left Charlemagne s earlier plans for succession in disarray In the wake of these deaths he declared Pepin of Italy s son Bernard ruler of Italy and made his own only surviving son Louis heir to the rest of the empire 255 He also completed a new will detailing the disposal of his property to take place at his death with bequests to be made the Church as well as for all of his children and grandchildren 256 Einhard possibly relying on tropes from Suetonius s The Twelve Caesars recounts that Charlemagne viewed the deaths of his family members an accident he suffered falling off a horse astronomical phenomena and the collapse of part of the palace in his last years as signs of his own impending death 257 In his final year Charlemagne continued to govern with energy ordering bishops to assemble in five ecclesiastical councils 258 These culminated in a large assembly at Aachen where Charlemagne formally crowned Louis as his co emperor and Bernard as king in a ceremony on 11 September 813 259 Charlemagne became ill in the autumn of 813 and spent his last months praying fasting and studying the Gospels 257 He developed pleurisy and became completely bedridden for seven days before dying on the morning of 28 January 814 260 Thegan a biographer of Louis records the emperor s last words as Into your hands Lord I commend my spirit quoting from Luke 23 46 261 Charlemagne s body was prepared and buried in the chapel at Aachen by his daughters and palace officials on the same day 262 Louis arrived at Aachen thirty days after his father s death making a formal adventus taking charge of the palace and the empire 263 Charlemagne s remains were exhumed by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1165 and reinterred in a new casket by Frederick II in 1215 264 nbsp Proserpina sarcophagus in which Charlemagne is thought to have been originally buried nbsp The Karlsschrein in which Frederick II reinterred Charlemagne in 1215 Legacy editPolitical legacy edit nbsp Partition of the Empire after the Treaty of Verdun 843 The stability and peace of Charlemagne s reign would not outlast him for long Louis reign was marked by strife including multiple rebellions of his own sons Following Louis death the empire was divided among his sons into West East and Middle Francia by the Treaty of Verdun 265 Middle Francia saw several more divisions over subsequent generations 266 Carolingians would rule with some interruptions in East Francia later the Kingdom of Germany until 911 187 and in West Francia which would become France until 987 267 After 887 the imperial title was held sporadically by a series of non dynastic Italian rulers 268 before lapsing in 924 269 The East Francian king Otto the Great conquered Italy and was crowned emperor in 962 270 founding the Holy Roman Empire which would last as an institution until its dissolution in 1806 271 According to historian Jennifer Davis Charlemagne invented medieval rulership and his influence can be seen at least into the nineteenth century 272 Charlemagne is often given the epithet the father of Europe because of the influence of his reign and the legacy he left across the large area of the continent he ruled 273 The political structures Charlemagne established remained in place through his Carolingian successors and continued to have influence into the eleventh century 274 During his reign the groundwork was laid for the concentration of power in the hands of military aristocracies that would characterize the later Middle Ages 275 Despite the end of ruling Carolingian lines Charlemagne is considered to be a direct ancestor of several European ruling houses including the Capetian dynasty i the Ottonian dynasty j the House of Luxembourg k the House of Ivrea l and the House of Habsburg m The Ottonians and Capetians as direct successors of the Carolingans drew on the legacy of Charlemagne to bolster their legitimacy and prestige The Ottonians and their successors would continue to hold their German coronations at Aachen through the Middle Ages 280 The marriage of Philip II of France to Isabella of Hainault a direct descendant of Charlemagne was seen as a sign of increased legitimacy for their son Louis VIII and the French kings association with Charlemagne continued to be expressed until the monarchy s end 281 German and French rulers such as Frederick Barbarossa and Napoleon directly cited the influence of Charlemagne and associated themselves with him 282 The city of Aachen has since 1949 awarded an international prize called the Karlspreis der Stadt Aachen in honour of Charlemagne It is awarded annually to those who have promoted the idea of European unity 282 Winners of the prize include Richard von Coudenhove Kalergi the founder of the pan European movement Alcide De Gasperi and Winston Churchill 283 Carolingian Renaissance edit nbsp Charlemagne and Alcuin 19th century Contacts with the wider Mediterranean world through Spain and Italy and the influx of foreign scholars at court along with the relative stability and length of Charlemagne s reign led to a cultural revival known as the Carolingian Renaissance 284 While the beginnings of this revival can be seen under his predecessors Charles Martel and Pepin Charlemagne took an active and direct role in shaping intellectual life that led to the revival s height 285 Charlemagne promoted learning as a matter of policy and direct patronage with the aim of creating a more effective clergy 286 The Admonitio generalis and Epistola de litteris colendis outlined Charlemagne s policies and aims in promoting education and learning 287 Intellectual life at court was dominated by Irish Anglo Saxon Visigothic and Italian scholars including Dungal of Bobbio Alcuin of York Theodulf of Orleans and Peter of Pisa though Franks such as Einhard and Angelbert also made substantial contributions 288 Aside from the intellectual activity at the palace Charlemagne promoted ecclesiastical schools as well publicly funded schools for the children of the elites and future clergy 289 Students learned the basic tenets of Latin literacy and grammar arithmetic and other subjects of the medieval liberal arts 290 From their own education it was expected that priests in even rural parishes were able to provide basic instruction in religious matters and possibly the basic literacy skills required for worship to the broadest level of Carolingian society 291 Carolingian authors produced extensive works including legal treatises histories and poetry as well as religious texts 292 293 Scriptoria at monasteries and cathedrals focused on the copying of both new and old works and produced an estimated 90 000 manuscripts during the ninth century 294 The Carolingian minuscule script was developed and popularized during the Renaissance and used in Medieval copying while influencing modern typefaces 295 Scholar John J Contreni considers the educational and learning revival under Charlemagne and his successors as one of the most durable and resilient elements of the Carolingian legacy 295 Memory and historiography edit Charlemagne was a frequent subject of and inspiration for medieval writers after his death Einhard s Vita Karoli Magni can be said to have revived the defunct literary genre of the secular biography 296 Einhard drew on classical sources such as Suetonius The Twelve Caesars the orations of Cicero and Tacitus Agricola to frame the structure and style of his work 297 The Carolingian period also saw a revival of the genre of mirrors for princes 275 The author of the Latin poem Visio Karoli Magni written circa 865 uses facts apparently gathered from Einhard alongside his own observations on the decline of Charlemagne s family after the dissensions war 840 843 as the basis for a visionary tale of Charles meeting with a prophetic spectre in a dream 298 Notker s Gesta Karoli Magni written for Charlemagne s great grandson Charles the Fat presents moral anecdotes exempla to highlight the emperor s qualities as a ruler 299 nbsp Charlemagne depicted as a knight bearing his attributed arms Castello della Manta 1420s Charlemagne as a figure of myth and emulation grew in later centuries Matthias Becher writes that over 1 000 legends are recorded about Charlemagne far outstripping subsequent emperors and kings 300 Later medieval writers depicted Charlemagne as a crusader and Christian warrior 300 301 Charlemagne is the main figure of the medieval literary cycle known as the Matter of France Works in this cycle which originated during the period of the Crusades centre on characterisations of the emperor as a leader of Christian knights in wars against Muslims The cycle includes chansons de geste epic poems such as the Song of Roland and chronicles such as the Historia Caroli Magni or Pseudo Turpin Chronicle 302 Charlemagne was depicted as one of the Nine Worthies becoming a fixture in medieval literature and art as an exemplar of a Christian king 303 Attention on Charlemagne became more scholarly in the early modern period as Eindhard s Vita and other sources began to be widely distributed 304 Political philosophers debated over Charlemagne s legacy Montesquieu depicted him as the first constitutional monarch and protector of freemen while Voltaire saw Charlemagne as a despotic ruler and representative of the medieval period as a Dark Age 305 As early as the sixteenth century debate between German and French writers had begun contesting Charlemagne s nationality 306 These contrasting portraits a French Charlemagne versus a German Karl der Grosse became especially pronounced in the nineteenth century with Napoleon s use of Charlemagne s legacy and the rise of German nationalism 301 307 German historiography and popular perception focused especially on the Massacre of Verden variously emphasised with Charlemagne shown as the butcher of the Germanic Saxons or with the incident downplayed as an unfortunate part of the legacy of a great German ruler 308 Historical propaganda produced under Nazi Germany initially portrayed Charlemagne as an enemy of Germany a French ruler who had worked to take away the freedom and native religion of the German people 309 However this quickly shifted as Adolf Hitler endorsed a portrait of Charlemagne as a great unifier of disparate German tribes into a common nation 310 This allowed Hitler to co opt Charlemagne s legacy as an ideological model for his expansionist policies 311 Historiography after World War II focused on Charlemagne as the father of Europe rather than a nationalistic figure 312 a view first advanced in the nineteenth century by the German romantic philosopher Friedrich Schlegel 301 This view has led to Charlemagne s adoption as a political symbol of European integration 313 Modern historians increasingly place Charlemagne in the context of the wider Mediterranean world following the work of Belgian historian Henri Pirenne 314 Religious impact and veneration edit nbsp Palatine Chapel constructed by Charlemagne at the Aachen palace Charlemagne gave much attention to religious and ecclesiastical affairs holding 23 synods during the course of his reign His synods were called in order to address specific issues at particular times but in general dealt with church administration and organization education of the clergy and the proper forms of liturgy and worship 315 Charlemagne used the Christian faith as a unifying factor within the realm and in turn worked to impose unity within the Church 316 317 Charlemagne implemented an edited version of the Dionysio Hadriana book of canon law he acquired from Pope Adrian required the use of the Rule of St Benedict in monasteries throughout the empire and promoted a standardized liturgy that was adapted from the rites of the Roman Church but edited to conform with Frankish practices 318 Carolingian policies of promoting unity did not eliminate the diverse practices throughout the empire but did create a shared ecclesiastical identity 319 Rosamond McKitterick terms this unison not unity 320 The condition of all his subjects as a Christian people was an important concern of Charlemagne 321 His policies encouraged preaching to the laity particularly in vernacular languages that they would understand 322 Charlemagne believed that it was essential to be able to recite the Lord s Prayer and the Apostles Creed and he made efforts to ensure the clergy taught these as well as other basics of Christian morality 323 Religious historian Thomas F X Noble argues that the efforts of Charlemagne and his successors at standardizing the doctrine and practices of Christianity and in harmonizing Frankish practices was an essential step in the development of Christianity in Europe and writes that the distinct Roman Catholic or Latin Church as a historical phenomenon not as a theological or ecclesiological one is a Carolingian construction 324 325 He further argues that the medieval European concept of Christendom as an overarching community of Western Christians rather than remaining a collection of local western traditions is the result of Carolingian policies and ideology 326 Charlemagne s doctrinal policies of promoting the use of filioque and opposing the Second Council of Nicea were key steps in the growing divide between Western and Eastern Christianity 327 Emperor Otto II attempted to have Charlemagne canonised as a saint in 1000 328 In 1165 Frederick Barbarossa convinced Antipope Paschal III to elevate him to sainthood 328 As Paschal s acts were not considered valid Charlemagne was not recognized as a saint by the Holy See in Rome 329 Despite this lack of recognition Charlemagne s cult became observed in Aachen Reims Frankfurt Zurich and Regensburg and he has been venerated in France since the reign of Charles V 330 Charlemagne also drew attention from figures of the Protestant Reformation Martin Luther criticised Charlemagne s apparent subjugation to the papacy by accepting his coronation from Leo 305 However John Calvin and other Protestant thinkers viewed Charlemagne as a forerunner of the Reformation drawing particular attention to the condemnation of the worship of images and relics in the Libri Carolini and the conflicts Charlemagne and his successors had with the temporal power of the popes 329 Wives concubines and children editFurther information Carolingian dynasty Wives and their children 331 332 Himiltrude n 768 770 Pepin the Hunchback c 769 770 811 Desiderata daughter of Desiderius king of the Lombards m 770 771 Hildegard m 771 783 daughter of Gerold of Anglachgau Charles the Younger c 772 773 811 Duke of Maine Adalhaid 773 4 774 born while her parents were on campaign in Italy She was sent back to Francia but died before reaching Lyons 89 Rotrude or Hruodrud c 775 810 Carloman renamed Pepin 777 810 King of Italy Louis 778 840 King of Aquitaine since 781 crowned co emperor in 813 senior Emperor from 814 Lothair 778 779 780 twin of Louis he died in infancy 119 Bertha 779 780 826 Gisela b 782 Hildegard 782 783 Fastrada m 783 794 Theodrada b 785 Abbess of Argenteuil Hiltrude b 787 d after 808 Luitgard m 794 800 Concubines and their children 331 332 Gersuinda Adaltrude Madelgard Ruodhaid d 852 Abbess of Faremoutiers Regina Drogo 801 855 Bishop of Metz Hugh c 802 844 archchancellor of the Empire Adallind Theodoric b 807 Unknown partners Hroudhaid b 784 Richbod 805 844 Abbot of Saint Riquier Bernard fl 843 Abbot of Moutiers Saint Jean Abbey Chrothais d 814 nbsp Charlemagne instructing his son Louis the Pious Charlemagne had at least twenty children with his wives and other partners throughout his life 331 332 After the death of his wife Luitgard in 800 he did not remarry but continued to have children with unmarried partners 338 He was determined that all his children including his daughters should receive an education in the liberal arts His children were also taught skills in accord with their aristocratic status which included training in riding and weaponry for his sons and embroidery spinning and weaving for his daughters 339 Rosamond McKitterick writes that Charlemagne exercised a remarkable degree of patriarchal control over his progeny noting that only a handful of his children and grandchildren were raised outside his court 340 Pepin of Italy and Louis reigned as kings from childhood and resided at their own courts 124 Careers in the Church were arranged for his illegitimate sons 341 His daughters were resident either at court or at Chelles Abbey where Charlemagne s sister was abbess and those at court possibly fulfilled the duties of the queen after 800 342 Louis and Pepin of Italy both married and had children during their father s lifetime and Charlemagne brought Pepin s daughters into his own household after Pepin s death 343 Rotrude had been betrothed to Emperor Constantine VI but this betrothal was ended 344 None of Charlemagne s daughters married though several had children with unmarried partners Bertha had two sons Nithard and Hartnid with Charlemagne s courtier Angilbert Rotrude had a son named Louis possibly with Count Rorgon and Hiltrude had a son named Richbod possibly with a count named Richwin 345 The Divisio Regnorum issued by Charlemagne in 806 provided that his legitimate daughters be allowed to marry or become nuns after his death Theodrada entered a convent but the decisions of his other daughters are unknown 346 Appearance and iconography editFurther information Iconography of Charlemagne nbsp nbsp Top Carolingian era equestrian statuette thought to represent either Charlemagne or his grandson Charles the Bald Bottom Bust of Charlemagne an idealised portrayal and reliquary said to contain Charlemagne s skull cap produced in the 14th century Einhard gives a first hand description of Charlemagne s appearance later in life 347 He was heavily built sturdy and of considerable stature although not exceptionally so since his height was seven times the length of his own foot He had a round head large and lively eyes a slightly larger nose than usual white but still attractive hair a bright and cheerful expression a short and fat neck and he enjoyed good health except for the fevers that affected him in the last few years of his life In 1861 Charlemagne s tomb was opened by scientists who reconstructed his skeleton and measured it at 1 92 metres 6 ft 4 in in length roughly equivalent to Einhard s seven feet 348 A 2010 estimate of his height from an X ray and CT scan of his tibia was 1 84 metres 6 ft 0 in This puts him in the 99th percentile of height for his period given that average male height of his time was 1 69 metres 5 ft 7 in The width of the bone suggested he was slim in build 349 Charlemagne wore his hair short in an abandonment of the Merovingian tradition of long haired monarchs 350 He had a moustache possibly in imitation of the Ostrogothic king Theoderic the Great and contrasted with the bearded Merovingian kings 351 Future Carolingian monarchs would adopt this style 352 Paul Dutton notes the ubiquitous presence of a crown in portraits of Charlemagne and other Carolingian rulers replacing the earlier Merovingian royal symbol of long hair 353 A ninth century statuette depicts either Charlemagne or his grandson Charles the Bald o and shows the subject as moustachioed and with short hair 355 and this appearance is also shown on contemporary coinage 358 By the twelfth century Charlemagne was described as bearded rather than moustachioed in literary sources such as the Song of Roland and the Pseduo Turpin Chronicle as well as other sources in Latin French and German 359 The Pseudo Turpin uniquely claims that his hair was brown 360 Later art and iconography of Charlemagne would follow suit generally depicting him in a later medieval style as bearded and with longer hair 361 Notes edit a b Alternative birth years for Charlemagne include 742 and 747 There has been scholarly debate over this topic see Birth and early life For full treatment of the debate see Nelson 2019 pp 28 29 See further Karl Ferdinand Werner Das Geburtsdatum Karls des Grossen in Francia 1 1973 pp 115 57 online Archived 17 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine Matthias Becher Neue Uberlegungen zum Geburtsdatum Karls des Grossen in Francia 19 1 1992 pp 37 60 online Archived 17 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine Also found in English as Charles the Great Old High German KarlusRomance vernacular KarloLatin Carolus 1 At 747 the scribe had written Et ipso anno fuit natus Karolus rex and in that year King Charles was born 25 Charlemagne s third son Carloman was also born in 776 based on the four year old boy s baptism at Pavia in 780 112 German Zweikaiserproblem two emperors problem Latin Karolus serenissimus augustus a deo coronatus magnus pacificus imperator Romanum gubernans imperium qui et per misercordiam dei rex francorum atque langobardorum Latin Carolus gratia dei rex francorum et langobardorum ac patricius Romanorum For more on the Basel roll see McCormick 2011 Through Beatrice of Vermandois great great granddaughter of Pepin of Italy and grandmother of Hugh Capet 276 Through Hedwiga great great granddaughter of Louis the Pious and mother of Henry the Fowler 277 Through Albert II Count of Namur great grandson of Louis IV of France and great great grandfather of Henry the Blind 278 Berengar II of Italy was a great great great grandson of Louis the Pious 279 Radbot of Klettgau the founder of the House of Habsburg married Ida of Lorraine who descended from Charlemagne through both of her parents from Cunigunda of France on her father s side and through the Capetians on her mother s side citation needed The nature of Himiltrude s relationship to Charlemagne is uncertain A 770 letter by Pope Stephen III describes both Carloman and Charlemagne by God s will and decision joined in lawful marriage with wives of great beauty from the same fatherland as yourselves 333 Stephen wrote this in the context of attempting to dissuade either king from entering into a marriage alliance with Desiderius 76 By 784 at Charlemagne s court Paul the Deacon wrote that their son Pepin was born before legal marriage but whether he means Charles and Himiltrude were never married were joined in a non canonical marriage or friedelehe or if they married after Pepin was born is unclear 75 Roger Collins 334 Johannes Fried 335 and Janet Nelson 336 all portray Himiltrude as a wife of Charlemagne in some capacity Fried also dates the beginning of their relationship to 763 or even earlier 337 Janet Nelson considers it a depiction of Charlemagne 354 Paul Dutton writes that it was long thought to depict Charlemagne and now attributed by most to Charles the Bald 355 and Johannes Fried presents both as possibilities 356 but considers it highly contentious 357 References editCitations edit a b Nelson 2019 p 2 a b McKitterick 2008 p 116 Nelson 2019 pp 2 68 Fried 2016 p 529 Barbero 2004 p 413 Fried 2016 p 4 Becher 2005 pp 42 43 Nonn 2008 p 575 Fried 2016 p 5 Waldman amp Mason 2006 pp 270 274 75 Heather 2009 pp 305 306 Costambeys Innes amp MacLean 2011 p 35 Costambeys Innes amp MacLean 2011 p 35 37 Costambeys Innes amp MacLean 2011 p 38 Frassetto 2003 p 292 Frassetto 2003 pp 292 93 Nelson 2019 p 16 Waldman amp Mason 2006 p 271 McKitterick 2008 p 65 Costambeys Innes amp MacLean 2011 pp 51 52 a b McKitterick 2008 p 71 Costambeys Innes amp MacLean 2011 p 55 Nelson 2019 p 61 64 65 Fried 2016 p 17 a b c d Nelson 2019 p 29 a b Costambeys Innes amp MacLean 2011 p 56 Fried 2016 p 15 a b Collins 1998 p 32 Barbero 2004 p 11 Becher 2005 p 41 Nelson 2019 pp 28 28 Hagermann 2011 p xxx Barbero 2004 p 350 n7 Nelson 2019 p 28 Barbero 2004 p 12 Fried 2016 pp 15 16 a b c Nelson 2019 p 68 Hagermann 2011 p xxxiii Chambers amp Wilkie 2014 p 33 McKitterick 2008 p 318 Fried 2016 p 24 Dutton 2016 pp 71 72 a b Dutton 2016 p 72 Fried 2016 pp 14 15 Dutton 2016 pp 75 80 Fried 2016 p 271 Dutton 2016 p 75 Dutton 2016 p 91 Collins 1998 p 120 McKitterick 2008 p 73 McKitterick 2008 p 71 72 Costambeys Innes amp MacLean 2011 p 32 a b Costambeys Innes amp MacLean 2011 p 34 McKitterick 2008 p 72 McKitterick 2008 pp 72 73 Costambeys Innes amp MacLean 2011 p 62 McKitterick 2008 p 74 Costambeys Innes amp MacLean 2011 p 64 McKitterick 2008 p 75 a b Nelson 2019 p 91 a b McKitterick 2008 p 77 a b c d e f Costambeys Innes amp MacLean 2011 p 65 McKitterick 2008 p 79 a b McKitterick 2008 p 80 McKitterick 2008 p 81 McKitterick 2008 p 82 Nelson 2019 p 99 Nelson 2019 pp 99 101 Nelson 2019 pp 100 101 a b Nelson 2019 p 101 Nelson 2019 pp 84 85 101 Nelson 2019 p 106 Nelson 2007 p 31 Nelson 2019 pp 104 106 a b Goffart 1986 a b McKitterick 2008 p 84 McKitterick 2008 p 87 Nelson 2019 p 108 109 a b Costambeys Innes amp MacLean 2011 p 66 Nelson 2019 pp 109 110 McKitterick 2008 p 89 Nelson 2019 pp 110 111 Fried 2016 p 99 Nelson 2019 p 116 Fried 2016 p 122 Nelson 2019 p 117 Nelson 2019 pp 117 118 Nelson 2019 pp 131 132 a b c Nelson 2019 p 133 Nelson 2019 pp 133 134 Nelson 2019 pp 134 135 a b Costambeys Innes amp MacLean 2011 p 67 Nelson 2019 p 130 Fried 2016 p 100 Nelson 2019 p 146 Fried 2016 p 101 Nelson 2019 pp 135 138 Nelson 2019 pp 139 140 Fried 2016 p 112 Nelson 2019 pp 139 141 Nelson 2019 pp 142 144 Collins 1998 pp 61 63 a b c Collins 1998 p 62 Nelson 2019 p 147 McKitterick 2008 p 109 Nelson 2019 pp 147 148 Nelson 2019 pp 154 156 Nelson 2019 pp 157 159 Nelson 2019 p 159 Nelson 2019 pp 159 161 Nelson 2019 p 157 a b Fried 2016 p 136 Nelson 2019 pp 162 163 Nelson 2019 pp 164 165 Nelson 2019 pp 164 166 Nelson 2019 p 166 Nelson 2019 pp 167 170 173 Nelson 2019 pp 168 172 a b c d Nelson 2019 p 181 Nelson 2019 pp 172 173 Nelson 2019 pp 175 179 Nelson 2019 p 173 Nelson 2019 pp 182 186 a b Nelson 2019 p 186 Nelson 2019 p 191 Nelson 2019 pp 182 183 a b Nelson 2019 p 203 Nelson 2019 pp 204 205 Nelson 2019 p 205 Nelson 2019 p 193 Nelson 2019 pp 193 195 Nelson 2019 pp 195 196 Fried 2016 p 126 Barbero 2004 p 46 Nelson 2019 pp 196 197 Barbero 2004 p 47 Nelson 2019 p 197 Nelson 2019 pp 200 202 Collins 1998 p 55 Nelson 2019 pp 208 209 Fried 2016 pp 139 140 Nelson 2019 p 228 Nelson 2019 pp 225 226 230 Nelson 2019 p 234 Fried 2016 p 142 Nelson 2019 p 240 Nelson 2019 pp 240 241 Nelson 2019 pp 186 187 Fried 2016 p 152 Nelson 2019 pp 188 190 Nelson 2019 pp 213 214 Nelson 2019 pp 243 244 Nelson 2019 pp 251 254 Nelson 2019 p 294 Nelson 2019 p 257 Fried 2016 p 157 Nelson 2019 p 270 Nelson 2019 pp 270 274 275 Nelson 2019 pp 285 287 438 Nelson 2019 pp 283 284 Nelson 2019 pp 289 292 Nelson 2019 p 302 Nelson 2019 pp 306 314 Nelson 2019 p 304 Nelson 2019 pp 340 377 379 Riche 1993 p 135 Nelson 2019 pp 319 321 Nelson 2019 pp 323 324 Nelson 2019 pp 325 326 329 331 Nelson 2019 p 356 359 Nelson 2019 p 340 Nelson 2019 pp 326 333 Nelson 2019 pp 270 271 Fried 2016 p 83 Fried 2016 pp 84 85 Nelson 2019 pp 352 400 460 Fried 2016 p 466 Nelson 2019 p 353 Collins 1998 p 74 Costambeys Innes amp MacLean 2011 p 160 Collins 1998 p 152 a b McKitterick 2008 p 115 Collins 1998 p 143 a b Costambeys Innes amp MacLean 2011 p 161 a b Collins 1998 p 145 Nelson 2019 p 381 a b Heather 2009 p 368 Costambeys Innes amp MacLean 2011 p 96 Costambeys Innes amp MacLean 2011 pp 161 163 165 Costambeys Innes amp MacLean 2011 pp 165 166 Collins 1998 p 147 Fried 2016 p 408 Collins 1998 p 151 Pirenne 2012 p 233 Nelson 2019 p 361 Nelson 2019 p 370 Nelson 2019 p 384 Pirenne 2012 p 234n a b c d Costambeys Innes amp MacLean 2011 p 167 Muldoon 1999 p 24 Mayr Harting 1996 a b Collins 1998 p 148 Collins 1998 p 149 Collins 1998 pp 150 151 Muldoon 1999 p 21 Muldoon 1999 pp 25 26 a b c Costambeys Innes amp MacLean 2011 p 168 McKitterick 2008 pp 115 116 a b Muldoon 1999 p 26 Costambeys Innes amp MacLean 2011 pp 168 169 Nelson 2019 pp 387 389 Costambeys Innes amp MacLean 2011 pp 173 174 Nelson 2019 p 472 Costambeys Innes amp MacLean 2011 p 170 a b Nelson 2019 p 462 a b c Collins 1998 p 169 Collins 1998 pp 74 75 Nelson 2019 pp 495 496 Collins 1998 p 154 Fried 2016 pp 450 451 Fried 2016 pp 448 449 Nelson 2019 pp 409 411 Nelson 2019 pp 410 415 a b Collins 1998 p 157 Nelson 2019 p 429 Fried 2016 p 477 Nelson 2019 pp 432 435 Costambeys Innes amp MacLean 2011 pp 167 168 a b Collins 1998 p 153 Nelson 2019 pp 458 459 McKitterick 2008 pp 116 117 Dutton 2016 p 60 Dutton 2016 pp 60 61 Fried 2016 p 441 Nelson 2019 pp 449 452 Fried 2016 p 442 Fried 2016 pp 442 446 Fried 2016 p 444 a b c Nelson 2019 p 449 Nelson 2019 pp 449 450 Nelson 2019 pp 452 453 Sterk 1988 Fried 2016 pp 488 490 Fried 2016 p 461 a b c Collins 1998 p 167 Collins 1998 p 163 a b Fried 2016 p 462 Fried 2016 pp 462 463 Nelson 2019 p 459 Collins 1998 p 168 a b Fried 2016 p 463 Costambeys Innes amp MacLean 2011 p 171 Collins 1998 p 170 Nelson 2019 pp 440 453 Collins 1998 p 158 Nelson 2019 pp 468 470 a b Nelson 2019 pp 480 481 Nelson 2019 pp 478 480 Nelson 2019 p 476 Fried 2016 p 514 Nelson 2019 p 481 Nelson 2019 pp 482 483 Nelson 2019 pp 483 484 Fried 2016 p 520 Costambeys Innes amp MacLean 2011 pp 379 381 Costambeys Innes amp MacLean 2011 p 394 Riche 1993 p 278 Costambeys Innes amp MacLean 2011 pp 424 427 Arnold 1997 p 83 Heather 2009 p 369 Davies 1996 pp 316 17 Davis 2015 p 434 Freeman 2017 p 19 Costambeys Innes amp MacLean 2011 pp 407 432 a b Fried 2016 pp 518 519 Lewis 1977 pp 246 247 n94 Jackman 2010 pp 9 12 Tanner 2004 pp 263 265 Bouchard 2010 pp 129 131 Fried 2016 p 528 Fried 2016 pp 527 528 a b Davis 2015 p 433 Laureates Contreni 1984 p 60 Contreni 1984 pp 59 61 64 Contreni 1995 p 709 Contreni 1984 p 64 Contreni 1984 pp 61 68 Contreni 1984 pp 65 66 Contreni 1984 p 66 67 Contreni 1995 p 715 Contreni 1995 pp 748 756 Contreni 1984 pp 70 Contreni 1995 p 711 a b Contreni 1984 p 73 Fried 2016 p 277 McKitterick 2008 p 15 20 Geary 1987 pp 275 283 McKitterick 2008 p 20 a b Becher 2005 p 138 a b c Fried 2016 p 539 Hardman amp Ailes 2017 pp 1 9 Kuskin 1999 pp 513 547 548 fn24 Becher 2005 p 142 144 a b Becher 2005 p 144 Becher 2005 p 142 Becher 2005 p 146 Becher 2005 pp 146 148 Fried 2016 p 541 542 Fried 2016 p 542 544 Fried 2016 p 542 546 Becher 2005 p 148 Fried 2016 p 548 Fried 2016 p 549 551 Noble 2015 p 294 Noble 2015 pp 289 290 295 296 McKitterick 1996 p 61 Noble 2015 pp 269 297 McKitterick 1996 McKitterick 1996 p 82 Noble 2015 pp 287 288 Noble 2015 p 294 295 Noble 2015 pp 301 302 Noble 2015 p 287 Noble 2015 pp 306 307 Noble 2015 pp 292 306 307 Siecienski 2010 p 87 a b Fried 2016 p 537 a b Becher 2005 p 143 Fried 2016 p 538 a b c Nelson 2019 pp xxxiv xxxv a b c Costambeys Innes amp MacLean 2011 p xxi Nelson 2019 p 105 Collins 1998 p 40 Fried 2016 p 50 51 Nelson 2019 pp 91 107 285 286 Fried 2016 p 50 Nelson 2019 p 440 Nelson 2019 p 443 McKitterick 2008 p 93 McKitterick 2008 p 91 McKitterick 2008 pp 94 95 McKitterick 2008 pp 91 93 Nelson 2019 pp 225 226 Nelson 2019 p 441 Nelson 2019 p 435 Barbero 2004 p 116 Barbero 2004 p 118 Ruhli Blumich amp Henneberg 2010 Dutton 2016 pp 21 22 Dutton 2016 pp 24 26 Dutton 2016 pp 24 26 Dutton 2016 pp 22 23 Nelson 2019 pp xxxvi 495 a b Dutton 2016 p 35 Fried 2016 p 216 Fried 2016 p 516 Dutton 2016 pp 24 25 Coxon 2021 pp 31 196 Coxon 2021 p 196 Dutton 2016 p 27 30 Bibliography edit Arnold Benjamin 1997 Medieval Germany 500 1300 A Political Interpretation Palgrave Macmillan ISBN 978 0 333 61091 6 Barbero Alessandro 2004 Charlemagne Father of a Continent Translated by Allan Cameron Berkeley University of California Press ISBN 978 0 520 23943 2 Becher Matthias 2005 Charlemagne Translated by Bachrach David S New Haven Yale University Press ISBN 978 0 300 09796 2 Bouchard Constance 2010 Those of My Blood Creating Noble Families in Medieval Francia University of Pennsylvania Press ISBN 978 0 81220 140 6 Chambers William Walker Wilkie John Ritchie 2014 A Short History of the German Language RLE Linguistics E Indo European Linguistics London Routledge ISBN 978 1 317 91852 3 Collins Roger 1998 Charlemagne Toronto University of Toronto Press ISBN 978 0 333 65055 4 Contreni John J 1984 The Carolingian Renaissance in Treadgold Warren T ed Renaissances before the Renaissance cultural revivals of late antiquity and the Middle Ages Stanford Stanford University Press ISBN 0 8047 1198 4 Contreni John J 1995 The Carolingian Renaissance Education and Literary Culture In McKitterick Rosamond ed The New Cambridge Medieval History Volume II c 700 900 Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN 9781139055710 Costambeys Marios Innes Matthew MacLean Simon 2011 The Carolingian World Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0 521 56366 6 Coxon Sebastian 2021 Beards and Texts Images of masculinity in medieval German literature London UCL Press doi 10 2307 j ctv1hggknc ISBN 978 1 78735 221 6 S2CID 239135035 Davies Norman 1996 Europe A History Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 820171 7 Davis Jennifer R 2015 Charlemagne s Practice of Empire Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 1 107 07699 0 Dutton Paul 2016 Charlemagne s Mustache And Other Cultural Clusters of a Dark Age Palgrave Macmillan ISBN 978 1 137 06228 4 Frassetto Michael 2003 Encyclopedia of Barbarian Europe Society in Transformation Santa Barbara CA ABC CLIO ISBN 978 1 57607 263 9 Freeman Elizabeth 2017 Charles the Great or Just Plain Charles Was Charlemagne a Great Medieval Leader Agora 52 1 10 19 Fried Johannes 2016 Charlemagne Translated by Lewis Peter Cambridge MA Harvard University Press ISBN 978 0674737396 Geary Patrick J 1987 Germanic Tradition and Royal Ideology in the Ninth Century The Visio Karoli Magni Fruhmittelalterliche Studien 21 274 294 doi 10 1515 9783110242195 274 S2CID 165699647 Goffart Walter 1986 Paul the Deacon s Gesta Episcoporum Mettensium and the Early Design of Charlemagne s Succession Traditio 42 59 93 doi 10 1017 S0362152900004049 S2CID 151941720 Hagermann Dieter 2011 2000 Carlo Magno Il signore dell Occidente Karl der Grosse Herrscher des Abendlandes Translated by Giuseppe Albertoni Arnoldo Mondadori Editore Hardman Philipa Ailes Marianne 2017 The Legend of Charlemagne in Medieval England Cambridge DS Brewer pp 1 9 ISBN 978 1 84384 472 3 Heather Peter 2009 Empires and Barbarians The Fall of Rome and the birth of Europe New York Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 989226 6 Jackman Donald C 2010 Ius hereditarium Encountered III Ezzo s Chess Match Editions Enlaplage pp 9 12 ISBN 978 1 936466 54 2 Kuskin William 1999 Caxton s Worthies Series The Production of Literary Culture ELH 66 3 511 551 doi 10 1353 elh 1999 0027 JSTOR 30032085 S2CID 162260451 Retrieved 2 December 2023 Lewis Andrew W 1977 Dynastic Structures and Capetian Throne Right the Views of Giles of Paris Traditio 33 1 225 252 doi 10 1017 S0362152900009119 JSTOR 27831029 Retrieved 9 March 2024 Mayr Harting Henry 1996 Charlemagne the Saxons and the Imperial Coronation of 800 The English Historical Review 111 444 November 1113 1133 doi 10 1093 ehr CXI 444 1113 McCormick Michael 2011 Charlemagne s Survey of the Holy Land Wealth Personnel and Buildings of a Mediterranean Church between Antiquity and the Middle Ages Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection McKitterick Rosamond 1996 Unity and Diversity in the Carolingian Church Studies in Church History 32 59 82 doi 10 1017 S0424208400015333 S2CID 163254629 McKitterick Rosamond 2008 Charlemagne The Formation of a European Identity Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 1 139 47285 2 Muldoon James 1999 Empire and Order Concepts of Empire 800 1800 New York St Martin s Press ISBN 0 312 22226 2 Nelson Janet L 2007 Courts elites and gendered power in the early Middle Ages Charlemagne and others Ashgate ISBN 9780754659334 OCLC 1039829293 Nelson Janet L 2019 King and Emperor A New Life of Charlemagne Oakland University of California Press ISBN 9780520314207 Noble Thomas F X 2015 Carolingian Religion Church History 84 2 287 307 doi 10 1017 S0009640715000104 S2CID 231888268 Nonn Ulrich 2008 Karl Martell Name und Beiname In Ludwig Uwe Schlipp Thomas eds Nomen et Fraternitas Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde Erganzungsbande Vol 62 Berlin New York DeGruyter pp 575 586 doi 10 1515 9783110210477 3 575 ISBN 978 3 11 020238 0 Pirenne Henri 2012 1937 posthumous Mohammed and Charlemagne Mineola NY Dover ISBN 978 0 486 12225 0 Riche Pierre 1993 The Carolingians A Family Who Forged Europe Middle Ages Series Translated by Allen Michael Idomir Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania Press ISBN 978 0812210965 Ruhli F J Blumich B Henneberg M 2010 Charlemagne was very tall but not robust Economics and Human Biology 8 2 289 90 doi 10 1016 j ehb 2009 12 005 PMID 20153271 Siecienski Anthony Edward 2010 The Filioque History of a Doctrinal Controversy Oxford University Press ISBN 9780195372045 Sterk Andrea 1 October 1988 The Silver Shields of Pope Leo III A Reassessment of the Evidence Comitatus A Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies 19 62 79 Tanner Heather 2004 Families Friends and Allies Boulogne and Politics in Northern France and England Brill ISBN 978 9 04740 255 8 Waldman Carl Mason Catherine 2006 Encyclopedia of European Peoples New York Facts on File ISBN 978 0816049646 Further reading editPrimary sources in English translation edit Alcuin 1941 The Rhetoric of Alcuin and Charlemagne A Translation with an Introduction the Latin Text and Notes Translated by Howell Wilbur Samuel Princeton Princeton University Press Alcuin 1974 Alcott Stephen ed Alcuin of York c AD 732 to 804 His life and letters Translated by Alcott Stephen York Sessions Book Trust ISBN 0 900657 21 9 Bachrach Bernard S ed 1973 Liber Historiae Francorum Translated by Bachrach Bernard S Lawrence KS Coronodo Press ISBN 978 0872910584 Davis Raymond ed 1992 The Lives of the Eighth Century Popes Translated by Davis Raymond Liverpool Liverpool University Press ISBN 9780853230182 Einhard Notker 1969 Two Lives of Charlemagne Translated by Thorpe Lewis London Penguin ISBN 9780140442137 Einhard 1998 Dutton Paul ed Charlemagne s Courtier The Complete Einhard Readings in Medieval Civilizations and Cultures Translated by Dutton Paul Petersborough ON Broadview Press ISBN 1 55111 134 9 Dutton Paul ed 2004 Carolingian Civilization A Reader Petersborough ON Broadview Press ISBN 978 1 55111 492 7 Goodman Peter ed 1985 Poetry of the Carolingian Renaissance Translated by Goodman Peter Norman OK University of Oklahoma Press ISBN 978 0806119397 King P D ed 1997 Charlemagne Translated Sources Translated by King P D Lancaster P D King ISBN 978 0951150306 McKitterick Rosamond van Espelo Dorine Pollard Richard Price Richard eds 2021 Codex Epistolaris Carolinus Letters from the popes to the Frankish rulers 739 791 Translated by McKitterick Rosamond van Espelo Dorine Pollard Richard Price Richard Liverpool Liverpool University Press ISBN 978 1 80034 871 4 Lyon H R Percival John eds 1975 The Reign of Charlemagne Documents on Carolingian Government and Administration Documents of Medieval History Translated by Lyon H R Percival John London Arnold ISBN 9780713158137 Scholz Bernhard Walter Rogers Barbara eds 1970 Carolingian Chronicles Royal Frankish Annals and Nithard s Histories Translated by Scholz Bernhard Walter Rogers Barbara Ann Arbor University of Michigan Press ISBN 978 0 472 08790 7 Secondary works edit Bachrach Bernard S 2011 Early Carolingian Warfare Prelude to Empire University of Pennsylvania Press ISBN 978 0 8122 2144 2 Cantor Norman F 2015 Civilization of the Middle Ages Completely Revised and Expanded Edition A HarperCollins ISBN 978 0 06 244460 8 Collins Roger 1999 Early Medieval Europe 300 1000 New York Palgrave Macmillan ISBN 978 0 33365 808 6 Collins Roger 2004 Visigothic Spain 409 711 History of Spain Malden MA Oxford Blackwell Pub Fouracre Paul 2005 The Long Shadow of the Merovingians In Joanna Story ed Charlemagne Empire and Society Manchester Manchester University Press ISBN 978 0 71907 089 1 Ganshof F L 1971 The Carolingians and the Frankish Monarchy Studies in Carolingian History trans Janet Sondheimer Ithaca NY Cornell University Press ISBN 978 0 8014 0635 5 Gregory Timothy E 2005 A History of Byzantium Malden MA Oxford UK Blackwell Publishing ISBN 978 0 63123 513 2 James David Ibn al Quṭiyya Muḥammad b ʻUmar 2009 Early Islamic Spain The History of Ibn al Quṭiyya a study of the unique Arabic manuscript in the Bibliotheque Nationale de France Paris with a translation notes and comments London and New York Routledge ISBN 978 0 41547 552 5 Lewers Langston Aileen Buck J Orton Jr eds 1974 Pedigrees of Some of the Emperor Charlemagne s Descendants Baltimore Genealogical Pub Co McKitterick Rosamond 1983 The Frankish Kingdoms under the Carolingians 751 987 London Logman ISBN 9780582490055 McKitterick Rosamond ed 1995 The New Cambridge Medieval History Volume II c 700 900 Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN 9781139055710 Riche Pierre 1978 Daily Life in the World of Charlemagne Middle Ages Series Translated by McNamara Jo Ann Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania Press ISBN 978 0 8122 1342 3 Santosuosso Antonio 2004 Barbarians Marauders and Infidels The Ways of Medieval Warfare Boulder CO Westview Press ISBN 978 0 8133 9153 3 Sarti Laury 2016 Frankish Romanness and Charlemagne s Empire Speculum 91 4 1040 58 doi 10 1086 687993 S2CID 163283337 Sypeck Jeff 2006 Becoming Charlemagne Europe Baghdad and The Empires of A D 800 New York Ecco HarperCollins ISBN 978 0 06 079706 5 External links editCharlemagne at Wikipedia s sister projects nbsp Definitions from Wiktionary nbsp Media from Commons nbsp News from Wikinews nbsp Quotations from Wikiquote nbsp Texts from Wikisource nbsp Textbooks from Wikibooks nbsp Resources from Wikiversity The Making of Charlemagne s Europe freely available database of prosopographical and socio economic data from legal documents dating to Charlemagne s reign produced by King s College London Internet Medieval Sourcebook a collection of primary sources of Charlemagne s reign edited by Paul Halsall of Fordham University Einhard Vita Karoli Magni Medieval Latin in Latin The Latin Library Works by or about Charlemagne at Internet Archive An interactive map of Charlemagne s travels Emperor Charles I the GreatCarolingian dynasty Died 28 January 814 Regnal titles Preceded byPepin the Short King of the Franks768 814with Carloman I 768 771 with Charles the Younger 800 811 Succeeded byLouis the Pious New creationProblem of two emperorsConstantine VI as undisputedByzantine emperor Holy Roman Emperor800 814with Louis the Pious 813 814 Preceded byDesiderius King of the Lombards774 814with Pepin of Italy 781 810 with Bernard of Italy 810 814 Succeeded byBernard of Italy Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Charlemagne amp oldid 1222163103, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.